Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-09-06
THE E.lRS SHOT
81 CORPORAL OSBORNE DE. MNPlLA
SIXTH O3. lEL &ARTiLLERN
who Fired the FIRST Shot Of the A1,aeriean A1-n,4 !.
DE- WAPllA

town ten miles away II the wind was
blowing in the right direction.
In front Of almost every house ln
the village was q manure heap ano
before he had been in town an hour
our commander. decided that these
heaps would have to b. removed.
The edict nearly started a revolt
ton in the village. The villagers
seemad to regard these manurA heaps
them we're. The inhabitants ap-
pointed a committee to call upon the
commander and protest against the
removal Of the historic piles, u ouI
ranking officer was firm and saio
they must 60, The next day we wen,
at the heaps with shovels and carten
the fertilizer to a place a conslner-
able distance from the village. Thu
village srnelied so per cent sweetef
after that, and life was less puroen
some.
Bilieted in Barns.
We were billeted in. barns-historie
barns, I should have said, for there
was every evidence that they ma n3
the first Napoleon. We slept in these
barns along with tho horses, cows,
pigs and chickens, and at night as we
lay in the hay we. could look up
through holes in the root and see the
stars, but it wasn't so hunky-oory
when it rained or showed and the
wei sifted down. through those holes
in the roof. Many a time I walked
up in the morning and wiped away
a miniature drift Of snow from my
eyebrows.
The floors of these barns were Sc
ancient that they were rotten. and
several Of the boys fall through and
sustained ugly bruises. In a wind
storm the barn-billets rocked like
boats at sea, and when the weather
was frigid we had to burrow down
the hay with our blankets to
keep warm. The orders against
smoking in the billets were rigid and
we were not allowed to have lamps
or candles. Some Of us had flash
lights, so we were able to maneuve
around at night without breaking our
necks.
Waking up in the morning in my
barn-billet was an event.
A little red rooster served as our
alarm clock.
This little barnyard pest would
take a position on a high rafter and
start>his devilish little cock-a-doodle-
doc business at about 4 o'clock every
morning.
My buddies would roll over in the
hay. mumbling curses at the agra
waiting little fowl. But l guess the
rooster thought he was being ap-
plauded, for he kept it up harder
than ever, giving us all Of the Shrek
ing variations of his cock-a-doodle
morning song.
Then the boys would reach for
things to throw at their tormentor.
Ehoes, cans, pieces Of wood and ev-
erything within reach would fly up
at the bird. On rare occasions a
missile would reach. its mark, and
then the bird would flutter down to
the barn floor. But by this time all
OF the fowl and animal kingdom
were awake. and further snoozing
was IN impossibility.
Every barnyard cock in the neigh
borhood took up the morning song;
horses began kicking at the sides of
their. stalls. cows mooed for their
grub and pigs grunted for breakfast.
But we got. even with that feather
ed alarm clock, all right. We laid in
a supply of rocks night in the
haymow. and the next morning when
the pest started in his es )Isplitting
clack we let him have a hail Of mis-
siles. A heavy stone landed on the
music box of the fowl, and we had
him for dinner at Don
y, Continued Tomorrow.)