The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-30
BUNK FATIGUE
1t Is q Characteristic Habit Of
Soldier.
Will Take Much Effort To
Break Practice.
BY w. S. TRAVIS.
(From Trench and Camp,)

(Fr0m Trench ana Camp
Professional farmers and casual OBJ
servers alike will agree that it is very
rarely that they have seen horses lie
still on their backs for a very long
time. In the first place, they don't
seem to like to; in the second place,
they can't. And the students of hui
mans and human nature from the be-
ginning-those who believe in the
common origin of life, at least-rise
up with one accord and say that no
animal likes to, or can, lie on his back
for long.
Delights of Bunk Fatigue.
But those people had never been in
the army. They didn't know the true
and deep delights of bunk fatigue. If
they had their whole song would
have changed.
Everything in the soldier. the SOL
diers clothes, and the things the army
gives him, tend to cultivate the art of
bunk fatigue. In the first place. a
soldier works pretty hard, and when
The normal civilian position of rest.
in the daylight, at least. is sitting
down. To sit down, it adds gseatly to
the comfort of the situation to have
something TO lean your DdCk against,
and to be able to bend your knees. In
the field or in the barracks there
aren't any backs; and most of the
pants are so tight around the knees
that they walk well, and permit of a
half .knee-bend, but if you sit down
and double up your legs they cut off
| the circulation and your feet get
numb; besides, it is apt to split the
| pants. There are a few exceptions to
| both these rules, but most of them are
| found in those who have followed the
gents tailoring profession. and when
they fix their knees so they are both
graceful and pliable, they sorta
scrunch down on their feet. imagine
| that the floor is a table, and are per.
| fectly at home.
They All Lie Down.
But statistics tell US that tailors are
| not large or many in the army; and
| the rest of the gang gets just as tired
| and just as much in need of rest. So
they lie down. If they lie on the side
something is likely to slide out of their
pockets, or there is a pipe or some
/ thing lumpy in their pockets that it is
not good to lie upon. Moreover. lying
| on the side leaves, as it were, a flank
exposed. and they are likely to get hit
by a friendly shoe or mandolin. Sc
| they lie on their backs. They must lie
| flat on their backs. SO they can let
| one shoe hang over each side and not
| get the blankets muddy. and in that
| position they cover all the bunk.
| So as soon as the rookie gets his
| second shot, at least, he begins to feel
that faint intangible charm of bunk
| fatigue. Sometimes he is able to re-
J sist it, and only fall for few minutes
| at a time: but it is like eating cherry
| pie, or talking to the girls. It's pleas
| ant. He keeps wanting more and
more, and more. Shortly he comes in
| after each meal and drill hour and
flops into that ecstatic state of bunk
| fatigue.
There are abnormal cases, where the
| patient becomes a fiend. Such cases
are commonly classed as d-brickers
But the line is very fine, and it is
almost a case of the pot calling the
kettle black. for every soldier likes his
| bunk fatigue. And now that the wal
| seems over and the boys are going
home. it will take wife. mother. OF
a bare and hungry tummy. consid-
| era BILE work and effort to get the bunk
fatigue habit on the run; and it will
always remain in the soldiers memoir
les as one of the surprisingly many
delights of army life.