The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-06-29
TOUCHING ALL THE BASES ON THE WESTERN FRONT .=@
 WITH HANK GOWDY-BOX SCORE BY BOZEMAN BULGER

could hear him mutter as he tried to shift the heavy gun, Load not to exceed | S19 tons Load rot to-Load not to-ex- ceed 3k tons.'"
 The ball player, according to Sergeant 1 Gowdy, drinks an immense amount of water as compared with the soldier. That is purely habit, one that has to | be given up in the army. It was hard 1 for Hank at first, but he gradually dis | covered that water in the stomach was uncomfortable on a long march through the dust and heat and that there was no necessity for it,
 "One day we were all told to fill our canteens so as to get used to carrying 1 the weight" says Gowdy. T will never forget one little Irishman who insisted that he had to have a drink. We advised him just to rinse his mouth with the water, but he couldn't resist the tempta- ton and before we had gone two hours he had emptied the whole quart of water into his stomach Thirty minutes later I saw him on the side of the road vom- iting. The weight of the water in the stomach was too much, and he was deathly sick :ntil he had got rid of il. That soldier learned his lesson. AS l said the drinking of large quantities of water while engaged in physical exer- else is largely matter of habit. It takes a little army life to cure it. There
 
 whole days without water, our thirst finally being relieved by the coffee we had at meal time"
 THE VANISHING ALIBI
 The one thing, though, that appealed to Sergeant Gowdy in the course of army discipline and training was the disap- pearance of the alibi.
 Men don't alibi in the army he says, "and that habit of straightforwardness is of more benefit to them in after life than any other one thing. As you know. the alih 5 an old friend in baseball. In the amy they don't care to know why a maa was unable to do thing. They simply want to know whether or not thing can be done.'
 The force of this may not appeal to the man outside the army without nlustra- tien. Accuracy in reports is the broad pr ncip'e of all army maneuvers. The report of scout or runner, for instance, must be accurate to the most minute details or all plans will go awry.
 A patr went out one day, early in the days of America's part in the war, on a reconnoitering expedition. One of the runners reported that at the foot of a certain hill there was stream of water about six feet wide. When the troops moved up it was found that the stream was 20 feet wide and the en-
 
 of plans for crossing. causing delay of 12 hours. That is where inaccuracy hurts
 Another runner reported that he had seen a working party of Germans num- bering about 30" This meant something important and light guns were put in po- sition to break them up. It developed that the party consisted of six Ger man soldiers who were casually going frcr to Of hard work had been wasted.
 ''At first" says Hank, soldiers, re. gently drawn from civilian life, would report to the officer or noncommission officer in charge with all kinds of queer aiibis All the man in charge wanted was a direct answer-'Yes' or No and at times that was very difficult to get. The soldiers seemed to have an idea that they would be blamed for possible disappointment for news that was not encouraging. Take any one of those fellows today and he will look you straight in the eye and answer Yes or No The man in charge can then act fntelligently. This training. I believe, will be of immense benefit to head men of all kinds of civilian life, where for mer soldiers are employed"
 GERMAN HUMOR
 But returning to the subject of packs and narcnlng, GOWdy IellS a rdtuer amusing story of German officers sense of humor.
 This officer, a German colonel, had been captured and was being brought back by doughboy, armed with rifle and bayonet. The colonel was very naughty and the doughboy thought it an excellent idea to make this Boche off, ficer carry his pack. Solemnly he took the big weight off his shoulders and placed it on the smartly dressed figure of the naughty officer. The colonel was burning up, inside, but he shouldered the load and went forward at the point of the bayonet He had to carry this pack about four kilometers (two and >talf miles). Arriving at the cage the German officer was turned over to the interpreter and taken to the officers part of the cage. He wearily laid down the pack and then began to laugh.
 What are you laughing at?" inquired the American lieutenant, the interpreter.
 ''Why. that soldier made me carry hs pack all the way back here from the lnes," said the colonel smiling.
 T see he did, observed the lieutenant.