The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1918-10-18
American Youths Soon Fall Into
Free and Easy Life Of
the Soldier.
SHAVE N PUBLIC SQUARE
Sight = 50 Commonplace That None
OF ToWnspeople Stop to Look on,
Even When They Take to
"Readino" Shirts.

With the American Army.-It hasn't
taken long for American youths to be-
come acclimated to the fr~ee-and-easy
lives of soldiers. They are as frank
~ as open and as shameless as their
French brothers In arms, and u good
deal more SO than their British com
radeA
A convoy ct American troops halts
Tor q few hours rest Ia some French
town, not too far from the front but
that the distant rumble Of the inces-
SAM cannonade can be heard, with oc-
casionally the alternating buzz-buzz
OF a BOche airplane and the dull boom
or the arches hurled skyward mt 1t.
After "chOwing' ut the rolling kitch-
ems that accompany them and washing
up their mess kits, the doughboys usu-
ally turn to their toilets. Even though
they are parked In the shade under the
tall trees around the public square of
The town. that doesn't feaze them a
oil. They unpack their safety razOrs,
their shaving soap and brushes and
proceed to shave then and there. But
1t IL such a commonplace sight that
none Of the ~townspeople stop to look
on. The French children-"les gosses."
as the Yanks have already learned to
them In r French argot-gather
round. but that is all.
Read" Their Shirts.
Then one doughbOy who thinks he is
a barber enters the nearest house and
O0rrOws a chair. He places 1t on a
box and administers haircuts to such
subjects US will take a chance on his
handiwOrk with the scissors. These
amateur BARRIERS are not so bad, ell
Their, clipping of the hair close, so the
doughboys stand less chance OF hay.
tng gas stick in their hair.
Often the doughboys strip to The
waist and engage in the pleasing pas
time OF reading their Shirts as
American hoboes term it. For, no
matter where a number of men are
c~ongregated without women 70 tidy
up after them, they are bound to have
vermin.
Coolies" the doughboys call feas
and body lice and other forms Of an
imal life that inhnbit their garments.
Whenever they catch a particularly
large specimen they examine it close
~ and that 1t is Of German
origin. has escaped from the Bocle
trenches and has the Iron Cross stamp
ed on its back.
II the Yanks bivouac neal a stream
everybody takes a dip right AWAY.
Their officers always insist that the
men wear some sort OF a breech clout
In swimming, SO the doughboys usu-
ally keep on the drawers Of their b.
v. DIS and then stand naked on the
bank of the stream waiting for them
to dry in the sun
In the line the men shave every
day when 1t is possible. because they
have learned from the French that a
gas mask fits tighter II there is no
stubble OF beard on the chin to let
the deadly fumes seep in and burn
them. They have become used to their
respirators very quickly and wear
tllcIu N3 HUNTS Ut q SlIctCu WITHOUT
It bOthering them.
Adopt British Custom.
They have also adopted the British
custom Of merely nipping the nose
clutch on their nostrils and placing
the breathing plug In their mouths
without strapping the headgear over
their cranlums every time a gas alert
Is sounded.
If gas really materializes they pro-
coed tt adjust the mask according to
regulations. otherwise they unsnip the
nosepiece and spit out the mouth plug
and 50 on about their affairs. Any
time q dud shell handsome that fails