Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1918-03-28

have taken bath and On, :,
brnnd-new underwear; In fact -. "
plete change of uniform, and ~
turned in for the night. The newt 'e'
ing my shirt would be full of thons =
is common sight to see eight or -.
soldiers sitting under a tree with ), ~
shirts over their knees eneapino -
'shirt hunt" ~
At night about half an hour hos
flights out" you can see the Tom,s,
grouped around candle, irving - :.
dim light, to rid their underweor :.
the vermin. A popular and very or,'a
method is to take your shirt and a.
ers, and run the seams back ana ~
ward in the flame from a candle ass
burn them out. This practice is das
gerous, because you are liable to hn.-
holes in the garments if Won aro sDa
careful. V'
Recruits generally sent to Rrc..-
for a brand of insect powder adrsr
tised as Good for body lice" Tho ID
vertisement is quite right; the powds,
is good for "cooties :" they simr,s
thrive on ii.
The older men of eur battalion ,ro..
wiser and made scratchers ont =,
wood. These were rubbed smooth with
a bit of stone or sand to prevent spin
tiers. They were about eighteen inches
long. and Tommy guarantees that
scratcher of this length will reach
any part of the body which may he a..
tackled. Some of the fellows were la,v
and only made their scratchers twelvs
inches, but many a night when IN
guard, looking over the top from ths
fire step of the front-line trench. thev
would have given thousand "oujdo
for the other six inches.
Once while we were in rest billets a,
Irish Hussar regiment camped in an
open field opposite our billet. After
they had picketed and fed their horses
a general shirt hunt took place The
troopers ignored the call Dinner mn
and kept on with their search for hg
game. They had a curious method Of
procedure. They hung their shirts over
hedge and beat them with their en-
trenching tool handles.
/ asked one of them why they didn't
pick them off by hand, and he an.
swered, "We haven't had bath for
nine weeks or a change of clabber. Il
tried to pick the coolies off my shirt
1 would be here for duration of war
After taking close look at his shirt,
agreed with him; it was alive
The greatest shock a recruit ger
when he arrives at his battalion 10
France is to see the men engaging in
"cootie" hunt. With an air of COZ
tempt and disgust he avoids the com
pany of the older men, until couple
of days later, in a torment of itching
he also has to resort to shirt hunt
or spend many a sleepleSs night
misery. During these hunts there are
lots of pertinent remarks banded bad
and forth among the explorers, sud
as, "Say, Bill, I'll swap you two litte
ones for a big one" or. I've got
black one here that looks like Kalsa
Bill"
One sunny day in the frontllnf
rench, / saw three officers sitting out
tide Of their dugout ("cOoties" are
'especters of rank have even noticed
| suspicious uneasiness about a certain
generaD, one of them was
major, two of them were exploriH
heir shirts paying no attention to tD
occasional shells which passed owe
cad. The major was writing Letter
very now and then he would lay asdt "a
is writing-pad, search his shirt for
ew minutes, get an inspiration, aDa
hen resume writing. At last he Do
she'd his letter and gave it to his run
err" | was curious to see whether
as writing to an insect firm, so wnd
lie runner passed me / engaged nln
| conversation and got a glimpse
lie address on the envelope II va
to Miss Alice Somebody
ondon. The runner" Informed n
lat Miss Somebody was the ma@
veetheart and that he wrote to Dr.
Tery day. Just imagine it, writing
We letter during a "cootie" hunt; oV
Ich is the creed of the trenches