The herald., 1919-05-08
The
RedCrOSS Man
-1-
BY ROY PERRING.
BY ROY PERRING.

1
| don't ride in no tlivvcr."
| You are gueSSin' 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
c. o. to the ducks in the guardhouse
call him the Red Cross Man. Got EN-
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.
X. 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
tiivver after the rain. Captain WelSch
said his language was Biblical, but it
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 q square
deal; never sent any money home,
a-soakin' his pay shOOtin' craps two
hours after gettin' it. The corp. tote
me the Red Cross Man talked TO lin
like a Dutch uncle, an when he got
through, the corp. had signed paper
tellin' Uncle Sam to take strange
hold on half his pay, an slip it to his
mother. Take it from me, Uncle Sam
ME 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 washbOard every day,
but the corp. tole me she wuz only
R-takin' in five family washes now, an
| the kids wuz gOin' to school again.
When the Red Cross Man had Il 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 a good
| nights sleep now on pay day, cause
what's left of his pay only lasts till
about ten thirty"
us this here Red Cross Man q real
fOr-sure officer, Hal?"
Rank of Officer.
"Well, 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 |
slute or not. He says we can s'lute |
the cross if we feel like it, but he don't |
care tinker's hammer whether we |
slute him or not. We old vets know
i'm an S'lute the cross an the man |
that's benin it. But officers and pri-
Yates are all the same to him. l 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 c. o. or N. c. 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 flivver. Then he
sent Toms wife doc, an some coal,
an some eats. Reckon he must a.
helped Tom get discharge so he
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 him
get off Uncle Sans pay roll. The
Red Cross Man wrote some letters I'D
to Sims home town, an when they
come baek, he tole Slim his wife and
kids wuz a-drawin' forty-seven fifty
per and they wuz better off with him
workin' for Uncle Sam, an he'd better
stick aroun' and help make Germany
safe for democracy"
"Must have the spondulix an some H
pull, If he's so free with the cash an
knows so many people everywhere"
He Amt No "PIut.o
mo, he amt no 'plut.' They say he
don't draw no pay, an he polishes his
own shoes, an In a pinch washes his II
own shirt. But you see, Mike, this
Red Cross Man business is all over the II
States. When soldier from Millers-
vile gets word his folks is In bed. he II
goes mOpin' arOun' like a dog was met II
Up with skunk. He's soured on the
Whole show, an all the sugar this man III
doovers saved couldn't sweeten him ll
Up none. His Off see he's punk an III
hey try to work it outer him, but 1t III
'nly makes i'm bunker. They look for III
lin to go over the hill next. Then the III
Red Cross Man hears about it. He III
,ets him in his Office, or in his jitney, III
IN, believe me, he knows how to find III
tut what's wrong. Then he writes up III
o Millersville, where they got the Red III
Cross too, an they go see what's HI