Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1918-11-07

after that. We had no particular
love for each other, but he was gamer
than the other sentries, and he did not
call me chweinhund every time he saw
! me, so we got on very well together.
His name must have been Schwartz, /
guess, but it sounded like "Swatts" to
"Chink" to him, as everybody else
called me that.
One day he asked me if 1 could
speak French, and said yes. Italian;
yes. Russian; yes. No matter what
language he might have mentioned
would have said yes, because l could
smell something in the wind, and 1
was curious. Then he told me that If
/ went to the hospital and worked
there, / might get better meals and
would not have to go so far for them,
and that my knowing all the languages
/ said I did would help me a great
ways toward getting the job.
Evidently he had been told to get
man for the place, because he APP
pointed me to 1t then and there. He
put me to work right away. We went
over to one of the barracks, where a
case of sickness had been reported,
and found that the invalid was a big
Barbados negro named Jim, a fire.
man from the Voltaire. At one time
Jim must have weighed $50 pounds,
but by this time he was about two
| pounds lighter than a straw hat, but
still black and full of pep. Light as
he was, was no white hope, and 1t
! was all could do to carry him to the
hospital. Swatts kept right along be-
hind me, and every time would stop
to rest, he would poke me with
broom-the only broom saw In Ger
maryland laugh and point to his ear.
Then / thought 1t was frame-up
| and that he was getting even with me,
I but was in for 1t then, and the best
could do was to go through with IL.
/ But was all In when we reached the
hospital. The first thing l saw when
we got In the door was another negro,
! also from Barbados, and as tall and
thin as Jim had once been short and
fat. This black boy and / made a
great team, but / never knew what
his name was. l always called him
| Kate, because night and day he was
whistling the old song, kate, Kate,
! Meet Me at the Garden gate" or words
! to that effect. have walked up many
a night and heard that whistle just
about at the same place as when had
fallen asleep. 1t would not have been
: so bad If he had known all of 1t.
! took Swatts' broom and cleaned
! up, and then asked where the coal or
wood was. This got great laugh. 1t
: was quite humorous to the men who
had shivered there for weeks, maybe,
but to me it was about as funny as a
cry for help. / got wood though, be-
fore had been there long. ILLS.
There was a great big cupboard
that looked more like small house,
built against the wall of the hospital
barracks in one corner of the room.
and not far from the stove. Kate was
the only patient able to be. on his feet,
so thought he would have to lbe my
chief cook and bottle washer for a
while; and, besides, there was some
thing about him that made him look
pretty valuable. I had not recognized
his whistling yet, so Slim looked to be
the right name for him
"Slim, what's xhat big cupboard
for?"
"How'd know Nuthin' in It,"
! "Slim, that would make a fine box
for coal or wood, wouldn't it7'
,, "Um. Whar de coal an woodT
I'm going out and take observa-
lions, Slim. Take the wheel while I'm
gone, and keep your eye peeled for
U-boats." So 1 sneaked out the door
and began looking around.
If you look at the sketch / have
made, it will not take you long to see
that next to us was vacated Russian
barracks. And 1t did not take me
much longer to see it, too. Back to
the hospital and Slim.
|. "Slim, what barracks are next to
us?"
! Russian burrucks, only dey amt
dere now. Been sick"
"And you mean to tell me you don't
know where to get woods"
/: "Sick men been in dem burrucks."
"Sick men here, aren't there? Let's
co."
That did the trick. The black boy
would watch from the hospital win
dows until he saw the coast was clear,
then we would slip into the barracks
next door, and he would watch again.
When there was no sentry near
enough to hear us, crash! and out
would come a dividing board from the
hunks. When we had an armful
apiece, and had broken them up to the
right lengths, all we needed was a lit
tie more watching, and then back to
the hospital and the big cupboard.
Later on, our men told me they used
to watch the smoke that poured from
the hospital chimney all the time and
wonder where on earth we got the
! wood