The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1918-03-05
CHAPTER VII.
Rations.

Just doing off; Mr.. Lance Corporal
ibutted in.
In Tommy's eyes lance corporal is
one degree below private. In the
corporal's eyes he is one degree above
q general.
He ordered me to go with him and
help him draw the next days rations,
also told me to take my waterproof.
Every evening, from each platoon or
machine-gun section, a lance corporal
and private go to the Quartermaster
sergeant at the company stores and
draw rations for the following day.
The quarter" as the quartermaster
sergeant is called, receives daily from
the orderly room Captains office)
slip showing the number of men en-
titled to rations, so there is no chance
of putting anything over on him. Many
arguments take place between the
quarter and the platoon noncom, but
the former always wins out, Tommy
says the quarter got his job because
he was burglar in Civil life.
Then I spread the waterproof sheet
on the ground, while the quartermas-
.ter's batman dumped the rations on it.
The corporal was smoking a fag. I
carried the rations back to the billet.
The corporal was still smoking fag.
How I envied him. But when the issue
commenced my envy died, and real
lied that the first requisite of non
commissioned officer On active service
is diplomacy. There were 10 men in
our section, and they soon formed q
semicircle around us after the corpora;
had called out, "Rations up"
The Quartermaster sergeant had
given a slip to the corporal on which
was written list of the rations. Sit
ting on the floor, using wooden box
as table, the issue commenced. On
ithe left of the corporal the rations
were piled. They consisted of the fol-
lowing.
Six loaves of fresh bread, each loaf
of different size, perhaps one out Of
the six being as fiat as pancake, the
result of. an army service corps man
,placing a box of bully beef on it dur
ing transportation,
Three tins of jam. one apple and the
other two plum.
Seventeen Bermuda onions, all Off
ferent sizes.
A piece of cheese in the shaue of a
wedge.
Two one-pound tins of butter.
A handful of raisins.
A tin of biscuits, or as Tommy calls
them "jaw breakers"
A bottle of mustard pickles.
The ''bully beef" spEds, condensed
milk, fresh meat, bacon and ''Macono-
Ichie rations' Ga can filled with meat,
vegetables and greasy water), had been
turned over to the company cock to
make stew for next days dinner. He
lalso received the tea, sugar, salt, pep
per and -four.
Scratching his head, the corporal
studied the slip issued to him by the
quarter. Then in a slow, mystif1ed
voice he read out, "No. section, 19
men. Bread, loaves, six" He looked
.puzzled and soliloquized in a musing
voice:
sSix Ioaves, nineteen men. Let's see,
that's three in loaf for fifteen men
well, to make it even, four of you'll
have to muck in on one loaf
The four that got stuck made howl,
but to no avail. The bread was dished
out. Pretty soon from far corner Of
the billet, three indignant Tommies ac-
;costed the corporal with:
"What do you call this, a loaf Of
bread? Looks more like a sniping
plate"
The corporal answered:
! "Well, don't blame me, didn't bake
it, somebody's got to get it, so shut
iup until I dish out these blinkin' ra-
ltlons.'
! Then the corporal started On the
jam.
"Jam, three tins-apple one, plum
two. Nineteen men, three tins. Six
i'm tin makes twelve men for two tins,
seven in the remaining tin
He passed around the jam, and
there was another riot. Some didn't !
like apple, while others who received |
plum were partial to apple. After a !
while differences were adjusted and
the issue went on. I;
. Bermuda onions. seventeen"
The corporal avoided row by say !
ing that he did not want an onion, and !
] said they make your breath smell, so {
i guessed I would do without one too.
The corporal looked his gratitude.
Cheese, pounds, TWO"
The corporal borrowed jackknife
(corporals are always borrowing), and /.
sliced the cheese-each slicing bring
ing forth a pert remark from the on
lockers as to the corporals eyesight.
! "Raisins, ounces, eight /
By this time the corporars nerves /
had gone west, and in despair he said
- n :,