Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-03-18


self, he grabs his rifle and rushes out
Ito fall in line.
Right Dress" and he looks down the
lime of eyes until he can see the cap
tain on the other end. Front Is given
and you stand at attention like statue
as the inspecting officer comes down
the line. And when he gives the man
next to you-er-to understand that his
screwheads haven't been cleaned in a
week and that he is carrying some
hing that looks like a lunch in the
trigger guard, then you can see all
kinds Of dirty pots and pans and
"spuds" that need peeling, staring you
in the face, but when he comes In
front OF you, takes your rife, and gives
you the once over, you feel that every
button you have on your blouse is un-
buttoned, that youl face is dirty, and
you imagine you can see rust getting
ell over the officers hands as he turns
your rifle over and over looking at 1t
carefully. But If he hands your rifle
| eek to you without saying word,
,asses on to the next hopeful, you feel
hat after all officers are just men and
have hearts like other mortals. Then
it's squads east and west until noon or
some nice manoeuvre which the kind
hearted major has figured out for pas
time for the boys. In this case we
merely form skirmish line with five
races interval and imagine that you
are attacking some piece Of woods or a
farm house and run half bent about
| 25 yards and fall like log wherever
you happen to be when your squad
leader yells down. Whether 1t be In a
patch Of thorn bushes or on pile of
rocks you duck. You keep this up for
three or four hours, and then you 90
to dinner. Oh, its great fun, but It's
rough on your clothes.
| Now, unlike breakfast, you have the
privilege of ordering whatever you like
for dinner, but Of course, you never get
| it. You get whatever the cooks have
prepared, which generally is some
form Of beef, "spuds." prunes, soup,
coffee and bread. Of course this isn't
the rule, because occasionally we get
change, such as army beans, jam, syr-
up, etc., but it is so far between visits
that it can hardly be remembered.
At 1.2O we fall in again and do some
more close order drill and oayonet
practice. Everybody has to put their
minds on this and If you don't snap
into it." you are put into the awk-
ward squad, or "humpback squad" or
"the lame ducks" or the third Army
/ of Occupation" whichever term you
choose to use, until you can snap into
it."
Then we have about an hour Of ath-
letics, which consists OF baseball. Soc
cor and Rugby football and races OF
different kinds.
At $50 we come in and get ready
for retreat. When you get ready for
retreat you must imagine that you are
going to pay your respects to the king
and primp accordingly. First you have
to scrape all this affectionate and cling
ing Francaise mud off your hobs
which when collected, would make a
good sized brick. Then an application OF
oil or shoe clubbing improves the ap-
pearance. Then if you've been skir-
mishing you brush all the mud of,
take your rifle and side arms and go
out to pay your respects to "Old Glo-
ry." When this formation is over you
then go for supper, where you find the
remains of old "Brindle." staring you
in the face again.
| Honestly, since being in France
have slept with so many COWS and
helped to eat so many cows that when
I go back home I'll be ashamed to look
the old family cow in the face.
| Of course no army meal would be
Ecomplete without old "spuds", coffee
and bread. Then the days work is
over. We 60 to our billet, build up
our fire of French wood, which requires
as much pains to make 1t burn as II
does for us to obtain it, on account OF
scarcity; light our incandescent can
dies, draw straws to see who sits on
our good pine morris" chair and who
| sits on the floor, light our cigarettes;
then our congenial group, represent
ling the states of New York, Pennsylva-
MIA, Alabama, North Carolina and
South Carolina, decide who has heard
the latest line of dope on when we
are going home. Finally when one
fellow holds that we are going next
month, and another believes that we
are going to the Rhine, we become dis
gusted and change the subject.
| You've all heard of the "cootie," with
which every American "doughboy" is
or has been acquainted, and which
Guy Empey made famous
| Well, last night we were sitting
around the fire talking about the times
while the war was going on that we
had slept in dugouts. on the side or the
road or in the woods, when one fel-
low asked another if he had had any
"cooties" about his person. My North
Carolina friend said that he did not
have any "cooties," but that since be-
ing in the army he had eaten so many
potatoes that he had found potato
bugs crawling around on him.
At $50 taps" sounds and everybody
takes his overcoat and blouse, makes a
pillow of them, removes his shoes, ties
his socks to something substantial sc
that the rats can't carry them OH
climbs up the ladder to his bunk ano
laws his weary bones down to rest sat-
isfed at the lend of perfect day.
and dozes off into the soldiers sleep
his last thought being hope that II
will be pouring down rain in the morn
ing. so that the day won't be repeated
Priv. F. E. GaulGen,
Co. I, 321st Inf, A. P. o 791, Am. Elk
i Forces, France.
Chester, March 10: DIR. 5. Glenn
lIove. who recently returned from over
| he