Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1918-12-26
The
Red Gross Man
%
~ Rov PERRIMo.


"Who wuz thc bird. IInl? looked
IKE n ax-eylinder officer, but theg
don't ride In no flyvcr."
"You are guessIn' close, TseMnd.
Didn't you see The Red Cross on hh.
jiiney? That's the Red Crosg Man.
He's got a real handle but few know
what IFS like. Every JACK from tho
G. O. TO the ducks in the guardhouss
call MIN the Red Cross Man. Got ZEN
IN all the camps"
Il didn't sec none at Whcelcr's field.
Is he what you call--not preacher
but a."
mo, Mike, he amt no chaplain, Ii
that's the handle sou wuz huntln' for
The cross is q big red ore, an the A.
r. G. on his jacket don't stand for
aero reserve corps, but the American
Red Cross. heard him the other
morning when he tried to start his
flivver after the rain. Captain Welscb
said his language was Biblical, but It
wuznt orthodox, whatever that means.
1t sounded like good old United States
70 me. No, he amt no preacher but
reckon lie knows how to talk turkey to
the boys all right. Corporal Murphy
hadn't been giving his folks square
deal; never sent amy money home.
a-soaldn' his pay shootin' craps two
hours after gettin'sit The corp. tole
me the Red Cross Man talked to i'm
like a Dutch uncle, an when he got
through, the corp. hid signed paper
teliin' Uncle Sam to take a strange
hold on half his pay, an slip it to his
mother. Take it from me, Uncle Sam
mic likes to hear them sort OF orders,
an to show how happy he wuz to get
the corps message, he chucked In
twenty more plunkers to the corps fir
teen an the mothers gettin thirty-five
per. Sure she amt happy less she's
wraslin' with washboard every day,
but the corp. tole me she wuz only
a.takin' in five family washes now, an
the kids wuz goin' to school again.
When the Red Cross Man had u toe
hold ON the corp, he persuaded him to
take out insurance, Same as the rest OF
us boys, an then he to1e him he could
gamble his bloomin' block off with the
rest Of his pay. The corp. gets q good
nights sleep now ON pay day, cause
what's left of his pay only lasts till
about ten thirty"
us this here Red Cross Man real
for-sure officer. Hal?'
Rank Of Officer.
"Well, dino. lie ought to be. We
Gull him captain, or lieutenant. and
say sir to i'm. He says he's an OFF,
Ger without rank. Says the leather
puts and green pants show that he's
part officer and the rests Irish. The
new feners don't know whether to
s'lute or not. He says we can s'lute
the cross If we feel like 1t. but he don't
care a tinker's hammer whether we
S'lute him or not. We old vets know
i'm an s'lute the cross an the man
that's benin it. But officers and pri-
Yates are all the same to him. seen
Inn talkin' to the G. D. the other day,
an he wuzn't actin as though he was
any scared OF him. They seemed to
be real friendly-like. But he don't
seem to care whether he's tall1in' to
the G. o. or N. G. They all look
alike to him. He takes chow at our
mess sometimes, an tin dishes don't
upset his stumik any. The boys like
to have him, cause he joshes 'em along
and they forget they'r still in the
States stead in France where they all
want to be. He can deliver the mer-
chandise too. Last winter when Tom
wife and four kids come down
here from Detroit an got sick, the Red
Cross Man got Tom leave an took
I'm to the burg in his fiivver. Then he
sent Toms wife a doc, an some coal,
an some eats. Reckon he must a
helped Tom get discharge so he
could support his family, though no
body knows nothin' for sure. Slim
Dawson thought he did, though, an
asked the Red Cross Man to help him
get off Uncle Sans pay roll. The
1
Red Cross Man wrote some letters up
% Sims home town, an when they
come back, he tole Slim his wife and
dds wuz a-drawin' forty-seven fifty
per and they wuz better off with him
Torkin' for Uncle Sam, an he'd better
'tick aroun and help make Germany
'afe for democracy"
Must have the spondulix an some
,ull, IL he's so free with the cash an |
Knows so many people everywhere"
He Amt No APIut."
mo. he amt no pIut.' They say he
lon't draw no pay, an he polishes his
,wn shoes, an in pinch washes his
'wn shirt. gat you see. Mike, this
BED Cross Man business is all over the
states. When a soldier from Millers-
lille gets word his folks Is in bed, he
'oes mopin, aroun' like dog was met
ID with a skunk. He's soured on the |
Vhole show. an all the sugar this man
f0oyer's saved couldn't sweeten him
ID none. His or see he's punk an
hey try to work 1t outer him, hut 1t
My makes i'm bunker. They look for
im to 60 over the hin next. Then the
Red Cross Man hears about 1t. He
.n&-. R.e.s~ a.. 49, cr4n~ - a.. IL ssa.2