The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1918-06-26

do you know what a chiropodist
is?"
mo, sir!"
A Gallant Captain.
A captain led his company into a
trench over which shrapnel was
bursting. There was an annoying
whistle of boche bullets from behind
a pileo + debris in front, and he was
told to clean out that nest. He placed
his men, went into the observation
post, returned and directed rapid fire
on several points.
"Fine, boys, fne!" he yelled.
You've flushed the covey! See 'em
swarm! You're the straightest shoot.
ers in the army. Now on the left
again. Good
He clapped his hand to his breast
and fell back into the trench. One of
the boys caught him. and laid him on
the muddy floor He closed his eyes
and relaxed as one, wearied, lays him.
self down to rest. Garry on, boys"
he murmured. And thus he died.
The Dead Soldiers Letter.
Owen Wister tells of french Of
ficer, shot through. the chest, who lay
dying on the field OF Flanders. There
was still life enough to write to his
sweetheart, and this is what he
wrote:
There are two other men lying
near me. do not think there is much
hope for either. One is a Scotch
man and the other German. They
were struck down after me, and when
l came to myself l found them bend
ing over me rendering first aid. The
Scott was pouring water down my
throat from his flask, while the Ger
man was trying to stanch my wound.
The Highlander has leg shattered,
while the German has piece Of shrap-
mel in his side.
"In spite of their own sufferings
they were helping me. The German
gave us a morphia injection and took
one himself. His medical corps had
provided him with the injection and
the needle. Feeling wonderfully at
ease we spoke OF the lives we had
lived before the war. We all spoke
English and we talked of the women
we had left at home. Both the Scot
and the German were married
81 wondered-and perhaps they did
why we had fought each other.
looked at the Britisher, who was fall
ing asleep and in spite Of his drawn
face and mud stained uniform, he
looked the embodiment Of freedom.
Then l thought Of the tri-color of
France, and all that France has done
lor freedom. Then watched the Ger
man who had ceased to speak. He
was trying to read praye rbook. And
while l watched him l realized what
we were fighting for. He was dying
in vain, while the Britisher and my.
self, by our deaths, would contribute
something toward the: cause OF civiliza'
tion and peace"
Thus wrote this young French Off
Ger to the lady of his heart, an Amer
ican lady to whom he was engaged.
The Red Cross found the latter at his
side.
Funny France.
"Wha'de know about that" exclaim-
ed young lieutenant, examining the
bill for his dinner handed him by the
French waiter. They charge for the
We compared our checks.
There was so much for meat. SO much
for coffee, ETC.. and on each bill there
was a charge of ten centimes-two
cents-for the use Of the tablecloth
we were eating on.
There's lots of funny things over
here" said another lieutenant. "You
walk along street at noon and you
won't see knob on the front door
of business house. When they 60 to
dinner, instead of locking the doors
they take the knobs off and put them
in their pockets"
"They are funny people," said
another 1.-THE pedestrian on the
streets has no rights. II a man gets
run over and killed by an automobile
he's arrested for interfering with traf.
fc."
Then we fell to discussing the pc.
culiarities of the French folk. They
always send two men to do a one man
job. Flowing with two horses they
use them tandem. One man drives
the horses, the other holds the plow.
One of the drivers declared he saw a
man walking over plOwed ground driv.
ing team hitched to a harrow, while
man rode the harrow. If q
carpenter is needed, two will come.
One man will hold board while an
other drives nail into it. A French
man never keeps a date-except with
the Huns. II he promises to meet
you at IL o'clock it's sure to be 13
o'clock before he arrives. And that's
funny thing-the way they
keep time. They 60 right along after
IL o'lcock through the teens up to "a.
It sounds funny to hear a fellow scay,
ITS ten minutes past 49," In the
in old Brittany the homes
and stables are under one roof. The
living rooms for the family will be
in one end Of the long stone building
and the stable in the other end.
If town Is located on a running
stream or a river the women folk go
there to do the family washing.
You'll see them squating along the
banks with brush and scrub board,
away like magpies. In the
cities there are laundry boats, built
especially for the work. At Naunt
one big firm owns six such boats. They
are anchored off the bank about fifty
feet. There's a great vat or boiler in
the boat, and all around the edge are
scrub boards. There are sixteen scrub
women to a boat. They take the
clothes out of the boiler, lay them on
tho hoard and wash with soan and