Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-03
CHAPTER VII.
ltatiOnS.

CHAPTER VII
Rations.
Just before DOING Of. Mr. LANCE
Corporal buttcd liz.
In Tommy's eyes. lance corporal IL
on" degree below private. In the
cotp"ralS eyes he is one degree above
Il general
help him draw the next days rltions.
ais" told mo TO take my Waterproof
Every evening. from each platoo:, or
inachine-Sun section, Il lance-corpora
and private goes TO the qCartermastcr.
sergeant at the COMPANY. stores and
draws rations for the followiu. day
The Quarter" as the quarternaSter-
sergeant is called. receives daily from
the orderly room captains ofc-) a
slip showing the number of men en-
titled 10 rations, so there is no chanc.
Of putting anything over on him. NAM
arguments take place between the
quarter" and the platoon non-cor.
but the former always wins out. Tom
my says the quarter" got his Job be-
cause he was a burglar in civil life
Then | spread the waterproof sheet
on the ground, while the quartcrmas-
ter's batman dumped tho ra,icrs on
IT, The CORPORAL MAS smoking a FAY
carried the rations back to live bill
let. rho corporal was still smokin.
flag. How envied him But when
'he lSSu" commenced. my CIV: died.
and ] realized that the first requisite
Of 4 noncommissioneL officer on active
service is diplomacy. There were
nineteen men in our section. ard they
soon formed a scmicircla around us
after tho corporal had called out: ''Ha-
tons up:"
The uunrtcrmas tcr- sergeant had
given = slip to the corporal on which
was written a lis; Of the rationv Il; =
ting on The floor using a wooden LoX
rs table. the issue commenced On
the left OF the corporal the rati,ns
We're piled They consisted Of the :ol-
lowing:
Six !oaves OF fresh bread each loaf
of Different size. perhaps one out Of
ihc six being y. tat as a pancake. the
result OF ar arrly service corrs man
placing a box OF huily beef on il dur
ing transportation.
Three Tins OF jaai-onc annie and the
other two plum.
Seventeen Bermuda options. all differ
cnt sizes.
a piece OF cheese in the shape OF n
wedge.
Two one pound tins of butter.
y handful Of raisin=.
y tin of biscuits or. as Tommy calls
them. "jawbreakers."
y bottle OF mustard pickles
The bully beet" snuds cordnns ri
milk. fresh meat. bacon and 'Mncono-
!.
vegetables and greasy water had
been turned rvcr 10 the ron rany cool;
to make stow for next cay: dinner.
He also received the tea, sugar. salt
pepper and -four.
Scratching his head, the cornoral
studied the slip issued to him 10y the
quarter Then. n SLOW mystificd
voice. he read out: NO. section. nine
teen men. Bread. loaves, six" He
looked puzzled. and soliloquized in r
musinE voice:
six loaves. nineteen men! Let's see.
that's three in loaf for fifteen men
we'll, to make il even, four of you'll
have TO muck in on one loaf"
The four that got stuck made \ howl
but tc no avail The bread was disherl
out. Pretty soon from far corner
OF the billet. three indignant Tom
mics accostcd the corporal with
What do you call this, Il loaf of
bread? Looks more like sniping
plate"
The corporal answered.:
We'll, don't blame me, I didn't bake
it, somebody's got TO get it. so shut
zip until dish out these blinkin' ra-
tons"
Then the corporal started on the
jam.
Jam. three tins-aprlc. one: plum.
two. Nineteen men, three tins. Six in
n lin, makes twelve men for two tins.
. seven III tie remaining tin.
/ lie passed around the jam. end there
WAS another riot. Some didn't like
/ apple. while othc.'s who received plum
were partial to apple. Ate. awhile
differences were adjusted, and the is
sue went on.
Bermuda onions. seventeen"
The corporal avoided 4 row by say.
ing that he did not want an onion. and
i said the; MAKE YOUR breath smell
so guessed 7 would do without one
too. The corporal looked his graft
tudc
Cheese. pounds. two"
The corporal borrowed 4 jack-knife
(corp"rals arc always borrowing), ant
sliced the cheese. each slcing bringing
forth pert remark from .hc on-look-
crs as to the c"rporars ,ycsight.
"RaisinG-ounces. eicht"
1;y this time the corporate nerves
had gone West, and. in despair, he
said that the r;ts;ns were TO he turn
cd over TO the cook for duff" (plum
pudding) This decision elected n lit
tic "Srousins.'' but quiet was finally
restored.
"EiScuitS--tina, one"
With his borrowed jack-knife. thu.
corporal opened The Tin of biscuits.
and told every one to help themselves
nobody responded to this invitation.
Tommy is fed mp" with biscuits.
"Butter--tins. two"
u Mine in one, ten in tho other"
Another rumpus.
pickles (muStaTd) bottle, one"
| Nineteen names were put I'm steel
helmet. tho last one out winning tho
pickles. On tho next issue there were
only eighteen names, as the winner Is
eliminated until every man In the sec
ton has won a bottle.
(To Be Continued To-Morrow.)