The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1919-01-30

man from the VOltaire. At one time
Jim must have weighed 25O poundp,
but BY this time he was about two
pounds lighter than a straw hat, but
still black and full Of pep. Light an
ne was, was no white hope" and II
was all could do to carry him to the
hospital. Swatts kept right along be.
hind me. and every time I would stop
to rest. he would poke me with a
broom-the only broom I saw In Ger.
maryland laugh and point to his ear.
Then 1. thought 1t was q frame-up
and that he was getting even with me,
but was in for It then. and the best
l could do was to go through with It.
But 1 was all in when we reached the
hospital. The first thing l saw when
we got In the door was another negro.
also from Barbadoes, and as tall and
thin as jim had once been short and
Tat. This black boy and I made q
great team. but never knew what
his name was. I 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. I have walked I'D many
a night and heard that whistle lust
about at the same place as when had
fallen asleep. It would not have been
SO bad II he had known all of 1t.
1 took Swatts' broom and cleaned
up. and then asked where the coal or
wood was. This got great laugh. It
was quite humorous to the men who
had shivered there for weeks, maybe,
but to me 1t was about as funny as a
cry for help. got wood though, be-
fore 1 had been there long.
There was great big cupboard
that looked more like small house,
built against the wnll 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,
30 thought he would have to be 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. 80 Slim looked to be
the right name for him.
"Slim. what's that big cupboard
for1"
How'd I knowf Nuthin' in It."
"Slim, that would make a fine box
for coal or'wood, wouldn't itr'
"Um. Whar de coal an wood7" :
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 I sneaked out the door
and began looking around.
made, 1t will not take you long to see
that next to US was a 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
usf'
Russian burrucks. only dey ain't
dere now. Been sick"
And you mean to tell me you don't
know where to get wood7"
"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 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.
We got the same kind of food in the
hospital that was served In the other
barracks, and l would not have had
any more than I used to, except that
sometimes some Of the twenty-sjx pa
tients could not eat their share, and
then. Of course, 1t was mine. One day,
though, we all had extra rations.
Two Russian doctors came to visit
us each day. and once they were fool
ish enough. or kind enough, to ask II
we had received our rations-we had
received them earlier than usual and
they were finished at the time. OF
course, said no. SO they ordered the
Russian In the kitchen to deliver
twenty-eight rations to us. which was
not quite three loaves of bread. We
were that much ahead that day, but II
would not work when I tried the trick
again.
One day German doctor came to
the hospital barracks. He would not
touch anything while he was there
not even open the door. All of the
patients had little cards attached to
their beds-charts Of their condition.
When the German wanted to see these
charts the Russian doctors had to hold
them for him.
l was having q great time at the
hospital. wrecking the barracks next
door each day for wood, along with
Kate. and getting a little more food
sometimes. and was always nice and
warm. thought myself quite q pet.
Compared to what had been up
against, 1t seemed like real comfort