Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1918-06-28
CHAPTER xxIl-cOntlnusd.

WIN &NN
-19
This punishment is awarded where
there Is a doubt as to the willful guilt
Of a man who has committed an Of
fence punishable by death.
Then comes the famous field pun
ishment No. 1. Tommy has nicknamed
1t "cruclixlon." It means that a man
is spread-eagled on a timber wheel,
two hours a day for tw%enty-one days.
During this time he only gets water,
bully beef and biscuits for his chow.
You get "crucihed" for repeated minor
offenses.
Next in order is field punishment
No. 2.
This is confinement In the "clink,"
without blankets, getting water, bully
beef and biscuits for ratiOns and doing
all the dirty work that can be found.
This may be for twenty-fOur hours or
twenty days, according to the gravity
of the offense.
Then comes ''pack drill" or default
ers' parade. This consists Of drilling,
mostly at the double, for two hours
with full equipment. Tommy hates
this, because 1t is hard work. Some
times he fills his pack with straw to
tighten 1t, and sometimes he gets
caught. II he gets caught, he grOuses
at everything in general for twenty
one days, from the vantage point Of a
timber wheel.
Next comes &c. B." meaning econ
fined to barracks" This consists of
staying in billets or barracks for TWEEN
ty-four hours to seven days. You also
get an occasional defaulters' parade
and dirty Jobs around the quarters.
The sergeant major keeps what is
known as the crime sheet. When a
man commits an O%ffense, he is
"crimed," that Is, his name, number
and offense is entered on the crime
sheet. Next day at 8 a. m. he goes to
thetOrderly room" before the captain,
who either Furnishes him with &C. b."
or sends him before the o. @. (oficer
commanding battalion). The captain
of the company can only award &C. B."
Tommy many a time has thanked
the king for making that provision in
his regulations.
To gain the title Of a "smart soldier
Tommy has to keep clear Of the crime
sheet, and you have to be darned smart
to do II.
have been on It a few times, most.
ly for yankee impudence."
During our stay of two weeks in
rest bIllets our captain put us through
a course of machine-gun drills, trying
out new stunts and theories.
After parades were over, our guns
crews got together and also tried out
some theories Of their own in reference
to handling guns. These courses had
nothing to do with the advancement OF
the war, consisted mostly of causing
tricky jams in the gun, and then the
rest 0f the crew would endeavor to 10.
cate as quickly as possible the cause
Of tie stOppage. This amused them
for q few days and then things came tC
a %standstill.
One Of the boys on my gun claimed
that he could play a tune while the
gun was actually firing, and demon,
strated this fact one day on the target
range. We were very enthusiastic and
decided to become musicians.
After constant practice I became
quite expert In the tune entitled "Al
Conductors Have Big Feet"
When I had mastered this tune, oul
two weeks rest came to an end, anG
once again we went up the line anC
took over the sector in front Of C.
wood.
At this point the German trenches
ran around the base Of a hill, on the
top Of which was a dense wood. Thi,
wood was infested with machine guns
which used to traverse our lines a
will, and sweep the streets Of a little
village where we were bllleted while
In reserve
There vas n gun in particular
which used 10 get our goats, Il had the
exact range Of our elephant" dugoui
entrance, and every morning, about the
time rOtionS were being brought up, its
bulkts would knock up the dust on the
road; more than one Tommy went
West or to Blighty by running into
them.
This gun gSt our nerves on edge
and Fritz seemed to know 1t, because
he never gave us an hours rest. Our
reputation as machine gunners was al
stake; we tried various rusesI to locate
and put this gun out Of action, but
each a proved to be a failure. and