Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-02-22


other two plum,
Seventeen Bermuda onions, all diff
ferent sizes,
piece Of cheese IN the shape of n
wedge,
Two One-pOund tins Of butter,
A handful Of ralslns,
A tin Of biscuits, or as Tommy calls
them "iaw breakers"
bottle Of mustard pickles,
The "bully beef" spuds, condensed
milk, fresh meat, bacon and "MaconO'
chile ratlons" "a can filled with meat,
vegetables and greasy water), had been
turned over TO the company cook to
make n stew for next days dinner. He
also received the tea, sugar, salt, pep
per and -four,
Scratching his head, the corporal
studied the slip Issued to him by the
quarter, Then In a slow, mystlhed
voice he read out, mo, / section, 10
men. Bread, loaves, six" He looked
puzzled and solIlOQulzed In n mualng
voice:
"Slx loaves, nineteen men. Let's see,
that's three In Il loaf for fifteen men
WELL to make It even, four Of you'll
have 10 muck In on one loaf"
The four that got stuck made n howl,
but to no avail, The bread was dshed
out. Pretty soon from far corner OF
the billet, three indignant Tommies nc
costed the corporal with;
"What do you call this, loaf OF
bread2 Looks more like a snIplng
plate"
The corporal answered:
"Well, don't blame me, didn't bake
II; somebody's got to get 1t, so shut
up until dish out these bllnkln ra-
tlons."
Then the corporal started on the
jam.
Jam, three tins-apple one, plum
two. Nineteen men, three tins. Six
in n tin makes twelve men for two tins,
seven In the remaining tin"
He passed around the jam, and
there was another riot, Some didn't
like apple, while others who received
plum were partial to apple. After II
while differences were adjusted and
the issue went on.
Bermuda onions, seventeen"
The corporal avoided n row by say
ing that he did not want an onion, and
| said they make your breath smell, so
I guessed would do without one too.
The corporal looked his gratitude,
"Chcese, pounds, two"
The corporal borrowed n jackknife
/ (corporals are always borrowlng), and
/ sliced the chccse-each slicng bring
ing forth a pert remark from the on
lockers MS to the corpora's eyeSlght,
"RaisinS ounces, eight"
BY this time the COrpOrarS nerves
had gone west and in despair he said
that the raiSns were to be turned over
to the cook for DUR Opium puddIng).
This decision elected a little "grous-
ing" but quiet was finally restored.
biscuits, tins, one"
With his borrowed iackknfe, the
corporal opened the tin of biscuits, and
told everyone to help themselves-no-
body responded to this invitation.
Tommy Is "fed up with biscuits.
Butter, tins, two"
"Nlne in one, ten in the other"
Another rumpus.
pickles, mustard, bottles, one"
Nineteen names were put in steel
helmet, the last one out winning the
pickles. On the next issue there were
only 10 names, as the winner Is ellmi-
mated until every man in the section
has won a bottle.
The rattle Is closely watched, because
Tommy Is suspicious when 1t comes to
gambling with his rations.
When the issue is finished the cor
/ poral sits down and writes a letter
home, asking them If they cannot get
some NJ. p. (member of parllament) to
have him transferred to the Royal Fly
ing corps where he won't have to issue
ratlons
At the different French eStaminets
in the village and at the canteens Tom
my buys fresh eggs, milk, bread and
pastry. Occasionally when he Is flush,
he invests in a tin Of pears or april
cots. His pay Is only shilling day,
"a cents or cent an hour. Just imag-
inc, cent an hour for being under
fire-nOt much chance of getting rich
out there.
When he goes into the fire trench
(front line) TOmmy's menu takes
tumble. He carries in his haversack
what the government calls emergency
or iron rations. JThey are not supposed
to be opened until Tommy dies of star
vstion. They consist of one tin Of
bully beef, four biscuits, little tin
which contains tea, sugar and OXo
cubes concentrated beef tablets).
These are only to be used when the
| enemy establishes curtain of shell
' fire on the communication trenches,
thus preventing the carrying In" of
rations, or when in an attack body
0f troops has been cut off from Its base
Of supplies. ;. ,.tA