Evening star., 1918-08-04
BY SeWell Ford


he's being pinched or not.
whats your name. my manV says
i. wavfn' the Q. Ms order threatenin'.
It's Mike something or other, as l
could have guessed without him near
chockin' to get it out.
Very well. Nike" goes on. as i'm
portant as I knew how. See those
spools over there that you people have
done your best to bury? Wen. those
have been reQuisitioned from the
States Army. Here's the order. Now.
/ want you to get busy with your
drill gang and cut 'em loose"
"But-but see here, boss" sputters
Mike. "tis private contract they're
workin' on and l couldn't be aft
Couldn't. eh" says I. 'Lemme tell
you something. That wire has to go
on a transport that's due to sail the
drst thing in the morning. It's Tor
the Signal Corps and they need It to
stretch headquarters line into Ber-
Sorry. boss" says Mike. "but l
wouldn't dast to"
Sergeant" says I, do your duty.
Uh-huh. That got Mike. all right.
knees and convinced him that he
wouldn't be shot for an hour or so
yet he's SO thankful that he gets those
drills to work in record time.
It was a first-elass hunch. II do
have to admit 1t myself. You should
have seen how neat them rapid nre
machines begun unbuttonin' those big
wooden spools, specially after q cou-
pie Of our doughboy squad. who'd
worked pneumatic riyeters back home:
some hand sledges and crowbars out
Of . tool shed and helped the work
along, while Mike encourages his
gang with a fluent line Of foreman
repartee.
Course. didn't have the whole thing
doped out at the start, but gettin'
away with this first stab only showed
me how easy 1t was IL you wasn't
then on I didn't let much assistance
get away from me. either. Yankin'
the spools out to the street level by
hookin' on the steam roller was my
next play, but commandeerin' Band
blast outfit that was at work half way
down the block was all Mikes idea
They need smoothin' UP bit, boss"
says he.
And inside of half an hour We had
srfS 81 Ave # M them beys Sgo9s sat 9ea so re shs
mil. ~ '
"What next, sirr' asks the sergeant.
Why" says ]. "the fussy old major
who's so hot FOR getting these thfngs
blocks down. Maybe he wants EN-
there. I wonder II we could
"Surew says the sergeant. This
heavy gun bunch can move anything.
Herei I'll show 'em how"
With that he runs crowbar through
the center OF one of the spools, puts a
man on either side to push. and rolls
It along as easy as wheelin' baby
carriage.
swell tactics, sergeant" says I.
"And Just for that I'm goin' to pro-
vide your squad with a little music.
Night as well do this in style, eh?
Wait q minute"
And it wasn't long before was back
from another dash into the park
TOWN. half a drum corps that I'd
borrowed from some junior naval re-
serves that was drillin' over on the
So it was some nifty little parade
that I finally. lines up to lead down
Sth avenue. First there's me, then
the drum corps, then the sergeant and
his men rollin' them spools Of wire.
You'd think New Yorkers were DO
used to parades by this time that
you couldn't get 'em stretchfn' their
necks for anything less'n regiment
French Blue Devils at close range.
gawped at the Belgians. and chummed
with the Anzacs. But, say, this SPOOL
puehtn' stunt was new one on EN-.
Folks just lined the curb and stared.
Then some bird starts to cheer and
on faith
Hey, pipe the new rollin', tanks!"
shouts some one.
sGwan" sings out another wise
guy. Then's wooden bombs they're
Goin' to drop on Willie"
It's the first time I've been counted
in on any Of this hooray stun. and I
can't say hated it. At the same
time I tried not to look too chesty.
But when I wheeled the procession
into the side street and got 'em
punched two deep in front Of the Plu-
toria'B carriage entrance Amt sure
but what I was wearin' kind Of q
satisfied grin.
Not for long. though. The si1-foot
taxi starter in the rear admirafs uni
form Jumps right in with the prompt
protest. He wants to know what the
blinkety-blink I think I'm doin'.
blociin' up his right of way in that
you can't do it! Take 'em awayi"
aAh. keep the lid on, old Goulash."
says I. Sergeant, II he gets messy.
roll one of those spools on him. I'll
be hack shortly"
With that blows into the Plutoria
and hunts up the tea room. The
majors there, all right, and Mr. Ell
Inns, also a couple of ladies. They're
Just bein' served with oolong and
caviar sandwiches.
"Ahi" says the major, as he spots
me. "Our gallant young office lieuten-
ant, Ell? Well. sir, anything to re-
portr'
'.The spools are outside, sir" says l.