The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1919-01-25
The
RedCross Man
10
BY ROY PERRING.

"Tenshunl S'lutel Make her
snappy- That-a-boyw
"Who wuz the bird, Hal? Looked
like a six-cylinder officer, but they
don't ride in no flivver."
"You are guessln' close, ireland.
Didn't you see the Red Cross on his
jitney? That's the Red Cross Man.
He's got a real handle but few know
what it's like. Every jack from the
G. o. to the ducks in the guardhouse
call him the Red Cross Man. Got 'em
In all the camps"
81 didn't see none at Wheeler's field.
Is he what you call-not preacher
but "a"
mo, Mike, he amt no chaplain, If
that's the handle you wuz huntin' for.
The cross Is a big red one, an the A.
r. C. on his jacket don't stand for
aero reserve corps, but the American
Red Cross. l heard him the other
morning when he tried to start his
flivver after the rain. Captain Welsch
said his language was Biblical, but 1t
wuZn't orthodox, whatever that means.
1t sounded like good old United States
to me. No, he amt no preacher, but
reckon he knows how to talk turkey to
the boys all right. Corporal Murphy
hadn't been giving his folks square
deal; never sent any money home,
a-soakin' his pay shootin' craps two
hours after gettin' it. The corp. tole
me the Red Cross Man talked to i'm
like Dutch uncle, an when he got
through, the corp. had signed a paper
tellin' Uncle Sam to take a strangle
hold on half his pay, an slip it to his
mother. Take it from me, Uncle Sam
mie likes to hear them sort of orders,
an to show how happy he wuz to get
the corps message, he chucked in
twenty more plunkers to the corps fif-
teen an the mothers gettin' thirty-five
per. Sure she amt happy less she's
wraslin' with a dashboard every day,
but the corp. tole me she wuz only
a-takin' in five family washes now, an
the kids wuz goin' to school again.
When the Red Cross Man had a toe
hold on the CORP, he persuaded him to
take out insurance, same as the rest of
us boys, an then he tole him he could
gamble his bloomin' block off with the
rest of his pay. The corp. gets good
nights sleep now on pay day, cause
what's left Of his pay only lasts till
about ten thirty"
as this here Red Cross Man a real
for-sure officer, Hal?"
Rank of Officer.
swell, dino. He ought to be. We
call him captain, or lieutenant and
say sir to i'm. He says he's an off,
Ger without rank. Says the leather
puts and green pants show that he's
part officer and the rests Irish. The
new fellers don't know whether to
s'lute or not. He says we can s'lute
the cross If we feel like 1t, but he don't
care a tinker's hammer whether we
s'lute him or not. We old vets know
i'm an s'lute the cross an the man
that's benin 1t. But officers and pri-
Yates are all the same to him. seen
i'm talkin' to the G. o. the other day,
an he wuzn't actin as though he was
any scared of him. They seemed to
be real friendly-like. But he don't
seem to care whether he's talkin' to
the G. o. or a N. G. They all look
alike to him. He takes chow at our
mess sometimes, an tin dishes don't
upset his stumik any. The boys like
to have him, cause he joshes 'em along
and they forget they'r still In the
States stead in France where they all
want to be. He can deliver the mer.
chandise too. Last winter when Tom
Mason's wife and four kids come down
here from Detroit an got sick, the Red
Cross Man got Tom leave an took
I'm to the burg In his fliyver. Then he
sent Toms wife doc, an some coal
an some eats. Reckon he must a
helped Tom get a discharge so hs
could support his family, though no
body knows nothin' for sure. Slim
Dawson thought he did, though, an
asked the Red Cross Man to help hin
get Off Uncle Sans pay roll. The
Red Cross Man wrote some letters vi
to Sims home town, an when they
come back, he tole Slim his wife and
kids wuz a-drawin' forty-seven fifty
per and they wuz better off with hin
workin' for Uncle Sam, an he'd better
stick aroun' and help make Germany
safe for democracy"
"Must have the spondulix an some
pull, II he's so free with the cash an
knows so many people everywhere"
He Amt No "Plut."
mo, he amt no 'plut.' They say hi
don't draw no pay, an he polishes hi:
own shoes, an In pinch washes hi:
own shirt. But you see, Mike. this
Red Cross Man business IL all over tht
States. When q soldier from Millers
vile gets word his folks is In bed, hs
goes mopin' aroun' like dog was me-
I'D with skunk. He's soured on tn,
whole show, an all the sugar this mar