Evening star., 1938-12-18
HAS MILD DISCUSSION
Civilian Appreciation of Tactics in Warfare Tested by Military
Edtors-New Light Battle of Trenton and on Disturbed
People and Nations Abroad
By NC. X.

Readers OF this page may remem-
Der that the reviewer wrote, some
weeks ago, Of how her life had been
frightened by signal honors from
the United States Army, or, at least,
from the editors Of the Infantry
Journal, who had sent her q mag
nificent piece Of tipping purporting
to be "a schedule for settling cloth
ing allowances"
This the reviewer innocently took
to mean her own clothing allowance,
and she was profoundly touched by
the thought that the Army (or the
editors Of the Infantry JournaD
would 60 to such q lot Of trouble
for her sake. She was also i'm
mensely impressed by the evidence
Of efficiency In the Nations armed
forces which this allowance fur
nished her-for in what other coun-
try, she asked herself, do the SOL
diers bother themselves with such
details of national well-being as
q book reviewers personal budget?
AS far as she sould figure out, the
answer was none. Not among the
Croats, the Jugs, the Ruthenians,
the Let's or the Slavs, she was
sure, did the military shower such
consideration upon the casual civil
ian. But now she learns that the
lovely allowance was not for her,
after all.
Anyway, that is what Maj. John
n. Burns, editor Of the journal,
writes to tell her. The major an
nounces regretfully, but firmly, that
the table was for the soldiers. They
just sent the reviewer a copy from
pure politeness. They thought that
she might like to look at it. They
never dreamed, apparently, that she
would think that 1t was for her.
The major, to be sure, softens this
blow by offering to make prompt
military amends.
I'VE will be glad" he says, "to
set the wheels turning and work
out beautiful clothing allowance
for you on the same plan. We will
even work cosmetic allowance out,
SO day by day you can check your
self when you buy your necessities
or is that the right word?'
Well, that is handsome offer,
well in accord with the Army's repu-
tation for resourcefullness, but the
reviewer feels some compunction
about accepting 1t. because in the
same letter the major comments
mournfully on her failure in months
past to write about any of the
Infantry Journals articles. He has
been sending her the magazine
faithfully, he says (and that's the
truth-and yet she never says any,
thing about it. In a dignified man.
ner, Maj. Burns allows it to be
known that his editorial feelings
have been q little hurt. The re-
viewer is sorry and hastens to ex-
plain her negligence.
She has looked over every issue
of the admirable Journal, she wishes
to say, but she never quite dared
to comment on any of its pieces
She has been afraid to. They deal
with trajectories or, anyway, with
things like trajectories. And the
reviewer simply wouldn't know a
trajectory when she met one. In
fact, she did meet one once-she
had a special introduction to it even
and still she could make neither
head nor tail of it. Probably a
we'll brought up trajectory has no
head or tail anyhow, and that will
show Maj. Burns how ignorant a
literary critic can be where really
important matters are concerned.
But just to show that she made
an effort she will tell how her ac-
quaintance with trajectories came
about
1t was last spring, that time when
the brave fellows of the Coast Ar
tillery came down to the Eastern
Shore to repel the foreign invasion
then threatening that section Of the
coast; the reviewer cannot Just re-
call what minions were menacing
her locality, but some minions were
-Croats again maybe, or aardvarks
crossing the ocean on the backs of
trained dolphins, or maybe Dalma-
tians, for, certainly, there was a
coach hound around the place just
then-he had a fight with Bill the
Irish setter and Bill licked the day
lights out of him, though a light
weight compared to that brute, but it
is heart that countS-no? Anyway,
there was q Crisis. And down came
the Coast Artillery looking very
handsome in its well-tailored uni
forms and the reviewer went out to
the war zone to see what was being
done for her side.
The scene of hostiilties was main
ly sand, she remembers, and that day
the sand was mainly in the air, for
healthy young cyclone was get
ting up and the reviewer felt tre-
mendously technical when she said
that, no doubt, this would lower visiA
bility. Her associates were i'm
pressed, too, by her obvious COM
mand Of military terminology; see
ing this, she thought that she had
best retire while the impression was
at its height and made for a nearby
patch Of bushes behind which to re-
pair what the wind he'd done to her
appearance. But that patch of
bushes turned out to be a point in
the Coast Guards strategy, for there
ambushed in it, was q tall, thin, wor-
ried looking young man, and what
he was doing was break and train q
trajectory. The reviewer is sure OF
this. for the tall, thin, worried look
ing young man told her so.
He was sitting on the sand under
the bush with the wind blowing
down his collar and working like
mad with drawing board, q pencil,
some compasses and still other tools.
The reviewer, stumbling over him,
started to withdraw, imagining that
she was also stumbling on military
secrets. But he said no-dot at all.
He was just breaking In q young ira
iectnrv and If she yuo,1IN ia iptAr.