Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-10-11
THE ATTABOY SPECIAL
Across France In Fighting Tank
BY Fullerton W. Waldo
Americans call the canned beef eith'
Bv Fullerton w. Waldo.


Americans call the canned beef either
canned bully or canned willy.
Thence | went aficld TO camouflagc
camp, "a curious and cnSrossing place,
,ioing most remarkable work that taS-
IS mechanical ingenuity and the in
,cntivc faculty, and by means merely
the artistic sense.
Exhibit \ was a group Of about 500
women French women - weaving
strips of burlap painted green in and
out OF the mcshes Of chicken wire by
the kilometer.
The burlap was first slashed into
strips by wicked looking carving
knives in the hands of other women.
Then IL was dipped-also by girls-in-
TO barrels of green paint. II was put
through the mcshcs while still moist,
for if the operators wait until 1t is
dry il is much more likely TO abrade
the skin.
They sang and joked at their work;
but it certainly was work of the heavi-
est kind.
They started at 7.30 in the morning
and worked until 6, with an hour and
a half for lunch.
In the luncheon interval they could
buy for two or three cents soup and
bread at d stand arranged by the y.
NJ. G.. A.. which elsewhere had hut
for the men.
The Red Cross had arranged q
charming crechc. decorated with gray
mural paintings. where the women
with children could leave their babes
while they toiled.
Camou;lage for women? That is Il
question that is OF present concern 10
many Americans.
'fhc woman's part at this plant was
that of uncompromising drudgery.
cheerfully carried through by those
who earned every sou OF their pay.
No doubt the American woman is
able 10 work at task that calls on
her to plunge her arms elbow deep in
watts of green paint, or haul about
large bundles of netting (whether Of
wire or strinS)-but let her ask her
self thoushtiully whether this sort OF
work is better worth her while than
another.
The veil must be drawn over vari-
Gus ingenious devices for fooling the
enemy that arc exhibited here. II bet
ter trees are made in Germany | have
yet To see them. There are rows Of
the most lifelike stcel-helmeted heads
and observation POSTS that defy detec.
tioa, .eyen at CLOSE range. But the
pa{fftfng OF such objects rs these does
not call for artists, but for artisans,
and the original designs once created
and the original models once prepared
il becomes hcnccforth merely stere-
otypcd problem of quantitativc supply.
rol the mechanics there is such
work as that OF bending ordinary steel
plates into paint rats and rushing
through them tho strips of burlap as
fast as printing presses throw Off
newspapers. There are drills and
lathcs for the work in steel and iron,
and though women might do this work
il Is not what is ordinarily understood
by the gentle art of camoufiage.
II might be asked. rs not camou-
flage useful on buildings likely to he
bombcd?"
To which the answer is that bomb
inr is generally committed at night
when the camoufagc is useless. al
though to be sure. the deceptive
painting helps TO deceive the aviator
who by davtimc endcavors to locate
important objectives.
Camoufiagc on gun carriages and
tanks is of material assistance, but
in the case OF the tanks especially so
much mud is quickly accumulated as
70 conceal the paint.
The work of installing the decep-
tive object at the front-line trenches
is a perilous enterprise TO which sew
rral members of the staff have sac
rificed their lives. This is an under
taking in which the women cannot be
permitted to have part.
Nobody wants to throw cold water
that shall temper the ardor of femi-
nine enthusiasm for camoufiagc. but
mural decoration Is only part and
very small part. of this applied sci
ence Most OF the work Is just as me-
hanical-monotonou II you villas
the driving of nails at shipyard. or
the boring Of barrels at rifle factory.
II does not require an artist to paint
4 burlap bag to resemble the land
scapc so that n soldier may ensconce
himself in and look like leafy BUSH
After the first one has been pro-
duced. as in the case OF the rough
paintings Of men In steel helmets. RI
fies and bayonets, the copies can be
made by those hard-workins French
women and refugees from every war
distraught country who don boomers
and work long hours for the maximum
wage Of seven francs day, which. to
many Of them. Is n godsend.
"All the art" said a member Of the
staff. 'is in making the first one" The
reproduction pressure Is enormous.
and the supply is racing full-tilt to
keep up with the incessant demand.
Miss Gertrude Lustig, chief nurse at
Camp Bowie. Texas. base hospital. has
been arrested by agents of the depart