The Era-leader., 1918-12-12
The.
( 4ICrOss Man
-T
BY ROY PERRlNG.
By ROY PERRlNG.
observation-disclosures

like Il SiX-cyllnder Olllcer, pul tne!
don't ride in no fliyver."
you are guessin' close, Ireland.
Didn't YOU see the Red Cross on his
iirney? That's the Red Cross Man
He's GOT a real handle but few know
what it's like. Every jack from the
c. @. to the, ducks in the guardhouse
call him the Red Cross Man. Got 'em
in all the camps"
81 didn't see none at Wheeler'S field.
Is he what you cull-nota a preacher
but d"
s'No. Mike, he amt no chaplain, if
that's the handle you wuz huntin' for.
The cross is a big red one, an the A.
L. c. on his jacket don't stand for
aero reserve corps, but the American
Red Cross. | heard him the other
morning when he tried to start his
fivver after the rain. Captain Welsch
said his language was Biblical, but it
muzn't orthodox, whatever that means.
II sounded like good old United States
to me. No, he amt no preacher, but l
reckon he knows how to talk turkey to
the boys all right. Corporal Murphy
hadn't been giving his folks square
deal; never sent any money home,
a-soakin' his pay .shootin' craps two
hours after gettin' it. The corp. tole
me the Red Cross Man talked TO i'm
like Dutch uncle, an When he got
through, the corp. had signed q paper
tellin' Uncle Sam to take strangle
hold on half his pay, an slip it to his
mother. Take it from me, Uncle Sam
ME likes to hear them sort of orders,
an to show how happy he wuz to get
the corps message, he chucked in
twenty more plunkers to the corps tif-
teen an the mothers gettin' tmrty-fir'
per. Sure she amt happy less She's
wraSlin' with a washboard every day,
but the corp. tole Inc she wuz only
R-takin' in five family washes now, an
the kids vuz goin' to school again.
When tie Red Cross Man had toe
hold on the corp, he persuaded him to
take out insurance, same as the rest OF
us boys, an then he tole him he could
gamble his bloomin' block off with the
rest of his pay. The corp. gets good
nights sleep now on pay day, cause
what's left Of his pay only lasts till
about ten thirty"
"Is this here Red Cross Man real
for-sure officer, Hal?"
swell, / dino. He ought to be. We
eall him captain, or lieutenant, and
say sir to i'm. He says he's an Off
Ger without rank. Says the leather
puts and green pants show that he's
part officer and the rests Irish. The
new fellers don't know whether to
s'lute or not. He says We can S'lute
the cross if we feel like it, but he don t
care tinker's hammer whether We
slute him or not. We old vets know
i'm an s'lute the cross an the man
that's benin it. But officers and pri-
Yates are all the same to him. / seen
i'm talkin' to the G. o. the other day,
| an ne wuzn't actin as though he was
any scared Of him. They seemed to
| be real friendly-like. But he don't
seem to care whether he's talkin' to
| the G. 0. or a n. G. They all look
alike to him. He takes chow at our
mess sometimes, an tin dishes don't
upset his stulnik any. The boys like
to have him, cause he joshes em along
and they forget they'r still in the
States stead in France where they all
want to be. He can deliver the mer.
ehandise too. Last winter when Tom
| hIason's wife and four kids come down
here from Detroit an got sick, the Red
Cross Man got Tom a leave an took
Tin to the burg in his fivver. Then he
sent Toms wife doc, an some coal
an some eats. Reckon he must a
| helped Tom get a discharge so he
gould support his family, though no.
| body knows nothin' for sure. Slim
| Dawson thought he did, though, an
asked the Red Cross Man to help hin
| get off Uncle Sans pay roll. The
Red Cross Man wrote some letters up
| to Sims home town, an when they
rome back, he tole Slim his wife and
kids wuz a-drawin' forty-seyen fifty
per and they wuZ better off with him
k0rkin for Uncle Sam, an he'd better
stick aroun' and help make Germany
safe for democracy"
"Must have the spondulix an some
pull, if he's so free with the cash an
knows SO many people everywhere"
He Amt No "PIut."
"No, he amt no 'plut.' They say he
don't draw no pay, an he polishes his
own shoes, an in pinch washes his
own shirt. But you see, Mike, this
! Red Cross Man business is all over the
States. When soldier from Millers-
vile gets word his folks is in bed, he
gees mopin' aroun' like dog was met
up with a skunk. He's soured On the
whole show, an all the sugar this man
Hoover's saved couldn't sweeten him
up none. His off see he's punk an