Evening star., 1918-08-25
SHRAPNEL
Sidelights on the War
-BY-
OLIVER OWEN KUHN.

Though Salykammergut abounds
with salt, Austrian housewives find
it next to impossible to obtain ade-
quate supplies Of this commodity.
Breakdown In transportation systems
is declared responsible.
Discussing trench rats, soldier at
the front writes:
Rats thrive well and multiply rapS
idly in the trenches. Alas. they never
go scarce of food! One sthinks with
a shudder of their loathsome 'feasts
and impish gambols among the un-
buried dead Of mo mans land" A
constant torment to the soldier, they
steal his rations. disturb his rest, ruin
his harness and spitefully bite him
when he offers resistance. Unless
properly attended to, a rat bite often
results in nasty septic wound
Their favorite tit-bit is the lobe of
the ear
I'm billets also they are ever pres
ent, though it is some satisfaction to
know that here they are on differ
ent diet. If you waken in the night
on your bed Of damp straw in some
old barn or ruin. their beady eyes
peer out of the darkness as though
in gleeful anticipation of a feast.
They may have nibbled holes in your
socks by morning. or lined their nests
! with leaves from your pay book. or
carried off your false teeth II you
| were foolish enough to take them out
before falling asleep. They are bold
and audacious. They have even been
known to knock down lighted can
die and carry it off. leaving the sur
prised poker party in indignant
! amazement.'
Many persons in England have
utilized window boxes and flower pots
for the growing of vegetables. They
decorative but nevertheless useful
vegetables that can be grown In such
small bits of ground.
Soldiers as a rule are plucky fellows
/, when wounded. This story is told of
one:
He came in on a stretcher-face all
bruised and swollen. eyes protruding.
all full of mud and bits of stone.
There wasn't an inch of his body with
out its own bruise or cut.
He'd been standing in II muddy place
| and a big obus had pumped into the
ground just in front of him, and then.
from couple of feet down. had gone
off and up SP had my patient. When
we had got the mud out of his eyes
and nose and ears and had picked out
the bits of stone and things with
which his whole person was studded
/ the lad came to. AS he opened his eyes
1 said to him: You must have had a
pretty rough passage"
He replied: "Nuthing in 1t, sir
nuthing in it. I'll be all right after
I've had shave"
Nurses engaged in the hospitals be-
hind the battle fronts bear up well
when on duty for many hours in oper-
ating rooms. where surgeons do their
! best to make over the wounded men
that come to them. An orderly was on
duty in an operating room for the
first time and was to witness an am
putation. He wondered whether he
would get nervous. He also noticed a
bright-eyed. rosy-cheeked nurse. and
he wondered If she. too. would blanch
under the ordeal Following the oper-
alton. he admitted to the nurse that il
had been his first operation. She con-
graduated him on having borne up SO
well.
! what did you feel like during your
first operation?" he asked the nurse.
, This morning was my first opera
tion." she said. But l didn't know
| that men could stand those things as
. well as women"