The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1918-07-25

that the officers, when selecting man
for servants duty, generally picked the
man who had been out the longest and
knew the ropes.
But from my observation find that
a large percentage of the servants do
go over the top, but behind the lines
they very seldom engage In digging
parties, fatigues, purades or drills.
This work Is as necessary as actually
engaging in an attack. therefore think
II would be safe to say that the all
round work of the two hundred thou
sand Is about equal to fifty thousand
men who are on straight military du-
ties. In numerous instances, of1cers
servants hold the rank of lance-corpo-
rails and they assume the same duties
and authority Of a butler, the one
stripe giving him precedence over the
other servants.
There are lots of amusing stories
told of 20. s."
One day one of our majors went into
the servants billet and commenced
"bllnding'' at them, saying that his
horse had no straw and that he per-
sonally knew that straw had been Is
sued for this purpose. He called the
lnnce-corporal to account. The cor
poral answered, "Blime me, sir, the
straw was issued. but there wasn't
enough left over from the servants
beds; In fact we had to use some of
the ay to 'elp out, sir
1t Is needless to say that the serv-
ants dispensed with their soft beds
that particular night.
Nevertheless II is not the fault OF
the individual officer, 1t is just the sur
yival of a quaint old English custom.
You know an Englishman cannot be
| changed in "a day.
But the average English officer is
good sport. He will sit on fire step
and listen respectfully to Private
Jones' theory of the way the war
should be conducted. This war Is
gradually crumbling the once insur-
mountable wall of caste.
You would be convinced of this If
you could see King George go among
his men Oh an inspecting tour under
fire. or pause before a little wooden
cross in some shell-tossed field with
tears In his eyes as he reads the In
scripton. And little later perhaps
bend over a wounded man on stretch
er, patting him on the head.
More than once In a hospital have
seen a titled Red Cross nurse fetching
and carrying for wounded soldier.
perhaps the one who In civil life de-
livered the coal at her back door. To
day she does not shrink from lighting
his fag or even washing his grimy
body.
Tommy admires Albert of Belgium be-
cause he Is not pusher of men; he
leads them. With him It's not case
of take that trench" 1t Is come on
and we will take It,"
1t Is amusing to notice the different
/ characteristics of the Irish. Scotch and
/ English soldiers. The Irish and Scotch
are very impetuous, especially when 1t
comes to bayonet fighting, while the
Engllshman, though trihe slower,
thoroughly does his bit; he is more
methodical and has the grip of a bull
dog on captured position. He is
slower to think that is the reason why
ne never knows when he is licked.
Twenty minutes before going over
the top the English Tommy will sit on
the fire step and thoroughly examine
the mechanism of his rifle to see that 1t
is In working order and will fire prop
erly. After this examination he Is sat
isfied and ready to meet the Boches.
But the freshman or Scotchman sits
on the fire step, his rifle with bayonet
fixed between his knees, the butt of
which perhaps is sinking into the mud
the bolt couldn't be opened with
| team of horses 1t Is so rusty-but he
splits on his sleeve and slowly polishes
his bayonet when this Is done he also
is ready to argue with Fritz.
1t Is not necessary to mention the
colonials (the Canadians, Australians
and New Zealanders), the whole world
knows what they have done for Eng
land.
The Australian and New Zealander
Is termed the Amaze" taking the
name from the first letters of their of
fetal designation Australian and New
Zealand army corps.
Tommy divides the German army
into three classes according to their
fighting abilities. They rank as fol-
lows: Prussians, Bavarians and Sax
! ons.
When up against a Prussian regi-
ment 1t Is a case Of keep your napper
below the parapet and duck. A bang
bang all the time and war Is on. The
Bavarians are little better. but the
Saxons are fairly good sports and are
willing occasionally to behave as gen.
tlemen and take 1t easy, but you can
not trust any OF them overlong.
At one point Of the line the trenches
were about thlrty-two yards apart.
This sounds horrible. but in fact 1t was
easy, because neither side could shell
the enemy's front.line trench for fear
shells would drop into their own This
eliminated artillery fire.
In these trenches when up against
the Prussians and Bavariaas, Tommy
had hot time of 1t. but when the Sax
ons took over" It was a picnic; they
would yell across that they were Sax
ons and would not fire. Both sides
| xunuld cit on tho nara nor and carry on