The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1919-02-20
OU'VE heard of shell
shock" of course. May
be you have seen or heard

R@SNk@a shock, " of course. May
dkSkgA be you have seen or heard
" a&gB of its terrible effects up
on the soldiers. Then you will be
interested to know that there is q
corresponding and equally fright
full condition among the Naval
Aviation men which is known as
'shovel-shock." This shock rem
ders the sufferer almost demented at
the very sight of pick and shovel.
It is induced by too close contact
with the ditch-digging tools al
ready mentioned and the unfortu-
nate victim rarely, if ever. recov-
ers. And it was this horrible
hysteria that attacked our beloved
Aviation Unit.
As q consequence, several hum
dred of us were sent from Pauillac,
France, (which is near Bordeaux }
to Eastleigh, England, (which is
neigh unto Southampton. This
draft was gotten up partially to
get rid of US and partially because
the G. .. at Pauillac had a grudge
against the G. o. at Eastleigh.
Either reason was sufficient reason
IN itself and we started for Eng
land. The story of our pilgrim
age across France would make an
epic, properly handled, so we will
skip it for the time being and ar
rive Immediately in ''Merrie Eng
land," as the poets call it-Eng-
land, the land of weeping skies and
sobby, soggy climate.
We discovered Englandl I for
got who was supposed to have dis
covered it before we swoopedI
down upon it-C@sar, l think, but
he hadn't proved up his claim so
we dropped in to finish the job.
It's a good thing we did, too, be-
cause England certainly needed us.
And we needed England.
In the first place we were glad
to get there because we'd been So
journing for five days in an Eng
lish rest camp at LIE Havre. REST
camp" is not an expressive name.
It misses the mark. A rest camp
is about as restful as a Coney
Island dance hall on a hot Sunday
afternoon. But one can't blame
the English for their name-they
call a lawyer a solicitor" and
chuck him out of the lawyers
union for soliciting any business.
They say it isn't ethical-whatever
that is. 1t was at this rest camp
that we yeclined, mot slept) on
criss-cross strap billets that left us
feeling like underdone waffles ev.
cry morning. We lived, like alb
origines. on fish and bread with
chopped suet for a spread. Yes.
without reservation, we were ex-
tremely glad to arrive in England.
Women are very important in
England. They run the cars,
taxis, buses, baby carriages, |
shops, factories. round houses,
stores. canteens, practically every
thing, including the men. The
country is ruled by a girl named
Dora-something-or-other. I forgot
her last name. She may have one.
She got her job through Lloyd
George (who, I'm ashamed to say, |
is married, and how his wife puts
up with this Dora is more than /
can make out). Anyhow, this
George passed a bill called de-
fense of Realm Act" and SO Dora
became more powerful than Hoo
YER and Garfield put together.
She doesn't pay any more attention
10 King George (not Lloyd George)
than q COB does to q second lieu
tenant in the army.
Of course, England is an island.
That's why they stage most of their
lights away from home. With less
territory than the state of New
York it's hard to get into . row
hero without stepping off the