Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1919-01-23
unpleasant happenings will have been


and that is to keep away from every
thing that even resembles anything thai
is not permitted. There are lots o.
them who never correct man excep
in a surly and hard-boiled manner
and they seem to take exception tc
everything that a man does, and il is
those fellows who make things un-
pleasant, but as a rule they are pretty
fair-that is fair as they can be, for
with all the power that they have over
the ordinary soldier it is mighty hard
to keep from showing and exercising
that authority.
From this camp to the town IS about
three miles and every night the soldiers
60 to town on what is known as the
liberty train. Usually il carries about
a thousand men, except on Saturday
and Sunday nights, when the number
is doubled. The fare is forty centimes
or about eight cents in real money
J and we buy books of tickets to facili-
tate getting through the gate. When
the train pulls into the station there
is always a rush to get at the head of
the line, for as We pass through the
station We give up our tickets and show
our passes to the Military Police you
are stationed there for that purpose
Then the horde descends upon the town,
and from that time until nine forty
five, when the train comes back to
camp, the town is pretty we'll Ameri-
canized. The crowd in town is always
proportionate with the number Of days
from payday, for right after payday
everybody goes to town and it does not
take long for most OF the men TO spend
the money they receive. As the month
passds the number decreases very
greatly, and day or two before pay
day there are not many who havs
money left to warrant visit to the
town. The night train has been named
the "Cognac Special" not because OF
the cognac on the men, but that which
is inside of the men, and as there is
usually whole lot the last train out at
night is an interesting experience. AS
the men come through the station an
M. P. searches them to see that no one
is carrying bottle back to camp, and
scarcely night passes but a couple Of
fellows are compelled to give up bot
tie they had figured on taking to camp
to cheer them in their darker moments.
AS soon as the bottle is taken from the
man the M. P. pours the liquor out on
the ground. There is usually crowd
around, and the groans and sighs are
numerous as the contents are destroy.
ed. know OF one case where the M
P. found bottle OF wine in the middle
Of a colored mans back, suspended
from his neck by a cord, and when tht
bottle was discovered the mans only
remark was: "Deed, boss, don't know
nothin' about it TALL" and as the wine
hit the ground the colored fellow sigh
ed and said, "Oh, my Lawd, amt that
awful" There are more near fights or
the "Cognac Special" than there were
at the front, and every coach has its
threatened scrap every night, but the'
seldom amount to much, for the ride is
so short that there is not time for de-
velopments, and the fights very seldom
materialize. One Of the favorite pas
times in going to town on the train is
to jump of the train about half mile
up the road before the train gets to
the station, which has two big helps
il saves forty centimes and also going
through the line at the station. But
there are always several M. P.'s watch
ing, and the men who jump of are ar-
rested and get sent back to camp to
their company for disciplinary action
and since most Of the fellows are wise
they stay on the train until it gets to
the station. On Sunday, however, the
train stopped outside Of town to wait
for a switch to be thrown and the temp
tation was too much for a big crowd
and they piled of the train and into
the waiting arms of the Military Policel
and one hundred and eighty-six men
were arrested and marched backto carp
in body. happened to be going to
town in an automobile. and when We
saw this big bunch OF men marching
along we wondered il some new or
ganization was coming in, bu. when
we got closer we saw that there were
about ten M. P.'s watching the men, so
| knew that sopething must have hap
pened. A madder bunch OF men you
never saw in your life, for they had
been done out OF their Sunday in town
and know that any number Of French
girls wondered why their American
soldier failed to keep his engagement
with her that afternoon. All Of which
proves to me that no matter how nice
an M. P. might have been over here
when he gets home he wants to forget
that he was ever on that force, for il
he happens to mention that those were
his duties over here, some fellow who
was just an ordinary soldier might
overhear him and take punch at him
on general principles-and my advice
is to all M. P.'s to forget it.
Practically every man in the company
has received his Christmas box by this
time, and you never saw so many good
things to eat as were being handed
around. Lots Of the fellows opene1
their boxes before they left the orderly
room, and that meant that We had tc
IL