Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1918-03-13
CHAPTER VII.
RationS.

Just doing off Mr.. Lance Corporal
butted in.
In Tommy's eyes q lance corporal is
one degree below a private. In the
corpOrans 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, Il 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
ne was q 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 flag.
How [ envied him. But when the issue
commenced my envy died, and / real
lied that the first requisite of a non
commissioned officer on active service
is diplomacy. There We're 10 men in
our section, and they soon formed a
semicircle around US after the corporal
had called out, "RatiOns up
The quartermaster sergeant had
given q slip to the corporal on which
was written q list Of the rations. Sit
ting on the floor, using a wooden box
as a table, the issue commenced. On
the left Of the corporal the ratiOns
were piled. Tiny consisted of the fol
lowing:
Six Ioavca of fresh bread, each loaf
of different size, perhaps one out Of
tho six being rs lat as & pancake, the
result Of IN army service corps man
placing box Of bully beef on it dur
Ing transportation.
Three tins Of Jam, one apple and the
other two plum.
Seventeen Bermuda onions, all DIFF
fercnt sizes.
4 piece Of cheese in the shape of
wedge.
Two Onc-pOund tins of butter.
A handful Of raisins.
A tin of biscuits, or as Tommy calls
them 'jaw Breakers"
A bottle OF mustard pickles.
G.J,,,IIv, hoof ooD1oDcoH
milk, fresh meat, bacon and "AIacOnO-
chic ratiOns" Ca can filed with meat,
vegetables and greasy water), had been
turned over TO the company cook to
make q stew for next days dinner. He
also received the tea, sugar, salt, pep
per and flour.
Scratching his head, the corporal
studied the slip issued to him by the
quarter. Then in a slow, mystifed
voice he read out, "NO. / section, 10
men. Bread, loaves, six He looked
puzzled and SOliloquiZed in a musing
voice:
"SiX lOaveS, nineteen men. Let's see,
that's three in q 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.:
"WelI, don't blame me, didn't bake
it; somebody's got to get it, so shut
up until I dish out these blinkin' ra-
tons"
Then the corporal started on the
jam.
"Jam, three tins-apple one, plum
two. Nineteen men, three tins. Six
in 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
Mum were partial to apple. After q
while differences were adjusted and
the issue went on.
Bermuda onions. seventeen"
The corporal avoided a 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 a jackknife
(corporals are always borrowing), and
sliced the cheese-each slicing bring