Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-08-15
TWINS IN THE WAR
VERY MUCH alike
Officers Unable to Distinguish
One From the Other-Have
Queer Mixups.
By FRED s. FERGUSON.
Press Staff Correspondent,

With the American forces in Picardy,
June 17.-(by mail).-When you go to
wal twice at the same time in the
same outfit. maybe you can consider
you really are doing your part to whip
the boche. At least Walter and Albert
Grierson are inclined to feel that way
about 1t. The only way It can be done,
however. is to be a twin.
Walter and Albert are twins. Their
father and mother live ata 3212 Lucas
avenue. St. Louis. And IL Mr.. and Mrs.
Grierson think they had a hard time
telling Walter n Albert apart when
they were little. they ought to see the
sergeant and company commander try
ing 1t. After you know how to identify
h twins it's easy. Walter Cor IL Il
AlbertO has a mole on one foot. But
h sergeant can't tell the twins to
take off their shoes every time he
wants 60 pick n of them for some
particular job. The result is that Wall
ter and Albert are fighting the wal
both together and separately, for them
selves and for each other, and in ad-
dition are-and also is-carrying on a
mail courtship.
They are writing Clendine and Ceral-
dine Smalley, who live in Sheldon, III.
Glendine and Geraldine are twins.
Walter or Albert is writing G1endine
and Albert or Walter is writing Geral-
dine.
Waiter. or Albert-anyhow one OF
the twins-first told the story as he
sat in the window Of the United Press
billet n warm evening in Picardy.
Wagons, guns and annons were roll
ng n rumbling by. The twins are
with an engineering outfit and it was
too early yet for them to set out for
their work of stringing wire, and dig
ging trenches and dugouts. AS Walter,
or Walter, talked Of Delmar, the bridge,
the river and other things of home, the
other one came UP. 1t was k seeing
double. Their tin hats were even at
the same angle.
Nobody Knows the Difference.
You see. it's like this" said Albert.
When Walter"-that identified Al
Walter is working and is
tired and I'm fresh. I slip out and re-
ieve him and nobody knows the DIFF
ference. Then II I get tired he comes
out and relieves me. n so long as one
OF us is where or the other is sup
posed to be-welL there you are"
No one in the company knows n
fro mthe other. On n occasion a new
sergeant was in charge OF the detach-
Teent working on q dugout. Albert and
Walter were working from opposite
staes. Just as Walter left the dugout
with . wheelbarrow filled with dirt Al
bert left the other end Of the runway
and came down another path with his
empty. The sergeant didn't know there
we're two Of them. Every time no looked
UP he saw a Grierson loading and
starting off with a w~heelbarrow. The
sergeant figured this man Grierson was
doing twice as much work as any other
man on the Job n q to the leu
tenant to tell him about it. Then he
iearneA there were two of them.
Before enlisting in he army together
the 0riersons worked IN different
banks In st. Louis. 1t so happened that
each vas at the pas book window in
his respective bank. Depositors with
accounts in both banks began to con-
slider taking the pledge IL they went
from one bank directly to the other
until they learned how things stood.
The sergeant and the company COM
mander have given 1t up. They assign
Albert and Walter to work and 90 long
as a 0rierson IL there, that II good
enonglA
The WINS are over mere because they
want to help win the war. They are
not yet Fl. therefore they would not
have been drafted, but they are doing
h wa double.