The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1919-02-07
scoeynshs. 1917. By The Meciars sswsraper
Hfnaiaatsl

Honey from the corner Of the iirebay.
well, what with this bloomln' war on
and blokcs g0ln' west BY the thou
sands. pncihst or conscientious oblec-
tor II one OF two things, he's either d
bIlnkln coward or bloody pro-Ger-
man. But it's funny the way some o.
them hlighters, with their West End
Ideas back Ia Blsghty, changes their
minds when tkey gets out here In the
mud, and gets their first glimpse Of
wooden cross. It's either firm
SOUND up against wall, bloomln'
". q. Victoria CROSSE or a rest In
peace sign over their nappers for
them A strange thing Il ~, but true
those bldkes never 10 through the
trenches IN an ordinary way like we
DO; it's cnse Of extremes, no in-be-
tween stun.
Next time you're on a burial party,
take a look az the third cross from the
left la the fourth row rs you enter
tho cemetery. You know that pnth
that leads through the orchard just on
the entrance of that big Il. n. tRoyol
Engineersl dugout; well. under TINT
cross rests a bloke who back In Biighty
profesaed to be a paciiist, He wouldn't
bllnkin well volunteer, not likely they
had to draft him. an when they did he
refused to fight. SO they stuck him In
the Nc G. (noncombatant CORPSE and
handed him a pick aud shovel and put
him 20 repnirln roads and dlggin'
graves. Well, Il didn't take long be-
No. x,4at fs,t4 -
Job, and he threw down the pick and
shovel and grabbed up rife an bayo-
net. ON, yes, he clicked IL all right
and went west, In fact he was buried
In one o the graves he helped TO dig.
| suppose some o. those college officers
called II the iron or fate or some 9TH
or hllnkin' hlgh.soundlng phrase, but
we knows that II was only common
ordinary luck, cause we all knows that
" you're going 10 get it. youll get Il,
no matter II you're a gentleman's son
or bloomln' chimney sweep.
This Brighter Tn telling about was
In my platoon when l was In q COM
pany, an he used TO give me the prop
er pip with his arguments against
flGhting and the likes o. that.
'srhe first time met him was In st.
Armand our bat was IN the rest biz
lets awaitin' a new draft before going
np the line again. You see we had
clicked II pretty rough at Fromelles,
an a platoon looked like bllnkin'
squad when II lined up for parade.
was playing house In that estamlnet
right across from TINT bashed-in
cbnrch on the corner when his labor
battalion came through and took over
hlliets just opposite from the esta,
mInst. wns sitting near window
una watched them pass. sorrler
bunch OF specimens of men never
saw Il turned my hllnkin' stomach 70
look al them. what with their pasty
fltces. stooped-over shoulders and
struggling gait. Right then and there
admired the Germans for their sys'
tcm u universal military training. II
England had Of hnd little more OF Il
there never would have been war
ami right now we would be In Blighty
with our wives and nlpners. instead OF
Stirling here In these bloody bitches
waltln' for she'll 10 come over with
eur name and number on It.
AFTER the labor battalion took over
blllets several OF them came into this
estaminet and sat al table near me
They started TO discuss the war and
voice their opinlons about the tor
hats at home. This bloke I'm a taikin
about was the loudest OF the bunch
he seemed to have Crouch on every
thing In general. / listened 10 him a
few minutes chucking his weight about
until II bloody well got on my nerves
Chucklng up my game OF house and
had paid half frame for my board
tool leaned over 20 him and said
You must be one OF those bloomin'
conscientious directors we reads about
In the papers, one o. those bilghters
who don't believe In fightin' but Is
willing to sit back In BIighty and let
us blokes out here do your bloody
fightin' for you, while you gets a blink
In good screw (salary) sitting on a
high stool Ia some office
"He turned to me and answered /:
It's the likes o. you who volunteered
for this war what keeps It goin', II
you had all refused to go at first. there
wouldn't be any WARP
Il couldn't see IL his way at all, and
went right back at him with Yes, and
II It wasn't for US volunteering, the
bloody German flag would now be fly
ing over Buckingham palace and King
George would be In the Tower of Lon
DON
'IIe thought minute or two and
answered: We'll, what of 1t; one flags
as good as another. and as for the
eloomin' king what did he ever do for
loa but make you pay taxes so he