Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1918-04-12

l
A dull rumbllng could be heard. Tn,
sun was shining. I turned to the mai
on my left and asked, "what's th,
noise. Billr He did not know, but hi
face was Of q pea-green color. jim
on my right. also did not know, bu
suggested that ! ''awsk" the sergeant
Coming towards us was an old griE
sled sergeant, properly fed M with
the war. 10 "awsked" him.
Think It's going 20 rain, sergeantf'
He looked ht me In contempt. and
grunted. "'ow's Il a.goln' ter rain with
the bloomin' sun s-shinin'f' looked
guilty.
'Them's the guns up the line. me
lad. and you'll yet enough OF 'em be-
fore you gets back to Blighty."
My knees seemed 10 wilt, and
squeaked out weak ''oh"
Then we started our march up to the
line In ten-kilo tricks. After the firs,
days march We arrived at our rest
blllets. In France they call them res;
billets. because while In them Tommy
works seven days q week and on the
eighth day Of the week he 10 given
twenty.four hours ION his own"
Our billet was q spacious affair, q
large barn on the left side Of the road.
which had one hundred entrances,
ninety.hine for shells. rats, wind and
rain, and the hundredth one for Tom.
my. ! was tired out. and using my
shrapnel.proof helmet (shrapnel proof
until piece OF shrapnel hits ~, or
tin hat. for q pillow. lay down In the
straw. and was soon fast asleep. |
must have slept about two hours, when
l nwoke with prIcklIng sensation all
over me. As I thought. the straw had
worked through my uniform. woke
up the fellow lying on my loft. who had
been up the line before. aud asked
him:
Does the straw bother you. mater
It's worked through my uniform and
can't sleep"
In sleepy voice he answered,
~rhat Amt straw. them's coolies"
From that time on my friends the
"cooties" were constantly with me.
"Cooties." or body lice. are the bane
OF T0nmy's existence.
The aristocracy of the trenches very
seldom call them "cooties," they speak
Of them as fieas.
To an American fiea means a small
insect armed with bayonet, who Is
wont to Jab II Into you aud then hop
skip and jump TO the next place to be
attacked. There IL an advantage IN
having fieas on you instead Of "cootIes'
In that In one OF his extended Jumps
said flea IL liable to land on the fell
low next to you; he has the typical
energy and push OF the American,
while the "cootie" has the bulldog
tenacity of the Engllshnan; he holds
on and consolldates or digs 10 until
his meal Is finished.
There Ia no way to get rid Of them
permanently. No matter how often
you bathe. and that IL not very often.
or how many times you change your
underwear, your friends the "cooties"
are always In evidence. The billets are
Infested with them, especially ~ II
there Is straw on the floor.
have taken n bath and put on
brand-new underwear |: in fact, com.
plete change Of uniform, and then
turned In for the night. The next morn.
Ing my shirt wonld be full Of them. Il
is common sight to see eight or ten |
soldiers sitting under a tree with their |
shirts over their knees engaging In a |
"shlrt hunt"
At night about half an hour before |
lights out" you can see the Tommies
grouped around candle, trying, In its
dim light. to rid their underwear of
the vermin. A popular and very Quick
method is to take your shirt and draw
ers, and run the seams back and for
ward In the fame from a candle and
burn them out. This practice is dan.
gerous. because you are liable TO burn
holes In the garments IL you are not
Recruits generally sent to BliRhty
FOR brand Of Insect powder adver-
Used as Good for body lice" The ad.
Vertisement is quite right; the powder
$ good for "cooties;" they simply
thrive on It.
The older men of our battalion were
wiser and made scratchers out of
wood. These Were rubbed smooth with
bit Of stone or sand to prevent splIp.
ers. They were about eighteen inches
ong, and Tommy guarantees that a
'cratcher Of this length will reach
my part Of the body which may be at.
acked. Some of the fellows were lazy
nd only made their scratchers twelve
inches, but many night when on
'uard, looking over the top from the
Ire step Of the frOnt-line trench, they
you'd have given thousand "Quld"
or the other six inches.
Once while we were In rest bIIlets nm
rlsh Hussar regiment camped In an
pen field opposite our billet. After
hey had plcketed and fed their horses,