The Washington herald., 1918-02-11

ing. in It's dim light, TO rid their un-
derwear Of the vermin- A popular and
very quick method is TO take your
shirt and drawers. and run the seams
back and forward in the flame from
the candle and burn them out Thii
practice Is dangerous. because you
are liable to burn holes In the gar
ments IL you are not careful
Recruits generally sent TO Blighty
for a brand OF insect powder adverS
tised as Good for body lice" The
advertisement Is quite right: the pow,
der is good for "cooties," they simply
thrive on il.
The older men OF our battalion wert
wiser and made scratchers out OF
wood These were rubbed smooth
with q bit Of stone or sand TO pre-
vent splinters. They were abou
eighteen. inches long. and Tommy
guarantees that q scratcher OF thin
length will reach any part Of the body
which may be attacked. Some OF tho
fellows were lazy and only made
their scratchers twelve inches, but
many a night when on guard. lOokins
over the top from the fire step OF tho
front-line trench. they would have
given a thousand "ouid" for thS
other six inches.
Once while We were IN rest biIletf
an Irish Hussar regiment camped in
an open field opposite our billet. AfteI
they had picketed and fed theiI
horses, a general shirt hunt toof
place. The troopers ignored the cat
Dinner up" and kept on with theiI
search for big game. They had
curious method Of procedure. They
hung their shirts over a hedge anc
beat them with their entrenching too
handles.
I asked one OF them why they DIDN'T
pick them OF by hand, and he an.
swered, we haven't had a bath foI
nine weeks or a change OF clabber. II
tried 70 pick the 'cooties' OF my
shirt, / would be here for duration
Of war" After taking a close loOt
at his shirt, I agreed with him. u
was alive.
The greatest shock a recruit gets
when he arrives at his battalion in
France is to see the men engaging in
''cootie' hunt. With an air Of con-
tempt and disgust he avoids the com.
pany Of the older men. until a couple
OF days later, in a torment OF itching
he also has to resort to a shirt hunt
or spend many a sleepless night OF
misery. During these hunts there ars
lots Of pertinent remarks banded
back and forth among the explorers
such as. Say. Bill. I'll swap you two
little ones for a big one" or. I've
got a black one here that looks like
Kaiser Bill"
One sunny day in the front-lint
trench, saw three soldiers sitting
outside Of their dugout C'cooties" arS
no respecters OF rank; I have even
noticed a suspicious uneasiness about
a certain well-known EeneraD, one
OF them was a major. two OF them
were exploring their shirts. paying no
attention to the occasional shells
which passed overhead. The major
was writing 8 letter; every now and
then he would lay aside his writing
pad, search his shirt for a few min
utes, get an inspiration. and then re-
sumo writing. At last be finished his
letter and gave Il to his runner"
was curious to see whether he was
writing 10 an insect firm. so when
the runner passed me 1 engaged him
in conversation and got a glimpse az
the address on the envelope. 1t was
addressed TO Miss Alice Somebody, in
London. The runner Informed me
that Miss Somebody was the majors
sweetheart and that he wrote to her
every day. Just imagine It, writing
love letter during a 'cootie" hunts
but such is the creed of the trenches
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW.