The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-09-03

peaches on 1t. He tried to sneak
into the tree, but the enemy's bull
let's found him. He was carried be-
hind the lines. Just as the stretcher
bearers laid him down, an enemy
shell exploded in the center Of their
little group and none of them were
ever seen again.
This happened at exactly ten
o'clock on the morning of Novem-
Der II, 1918--one hour before the
Armistice was signed.
-@-
Next to the Bugler, I suppose the
battery clerk has the goldbrickin'est
job in the battery. You could cut
his pay to ten dollars month and
he'd still be defrauding the govern
ment.
Just watch the battery clerk for
while and you start wondering
why he's in the Army, when he's
so evidently cut out to fit the lean
ing end of a WPA shovel. While
the rest Of the battery is earning
its daily bread with sweat, the bat
terry clerk sits in the orderly room
+ hob-nobbing with the powers that
be, tipping the daily workist with
original spellings for all the names
and wondering how long it is until
lunchtime.
Our battery clerk Is a beardless
youth named Howard Miller. /
tripped over him yesterday evening
on my way back from a hard days
work and stopped to chew the con-
versational fat.
Junior" / asked him, chow does
your conscience feel about this six
day goldbricking schedule every
week? Don't you feel twinge on
payday?"
Corporal Miller made move to
draw himself up Indignantly, but de-
cided it wasn't worth the effort. 'If
you're insinuating that I don't have
to work you're off your bean, sonny.
do two or three times as much
work as you happiness boys"
/ yawned and sat down. "After
listening to Ussery shooting off his
mouth fifteen hours day, ! can
take yours. Go on with your fam
tastic story"
"Boy," said Miller, "the RESPONSE
bility is enough to kill an ordinary
man. I'm a one-man information
bureau for the whole battery. I
have to know who everybody is,
where everybody is, where every
body's going and how long he's go
ing to be there.
81 have to know the answer to
every dumb question you guys come
popping up with. Where's my mail?
When do get my Through? Where
are we going to be sent when we
get shipped out of here? Why didn't
! get weekend pass? Why was I
on KIP again today? Every sort Of
question you could imagined"
"Quit popping your guns, laddie,"
told him. '"That's no grind for
you. You use the same answer on
all the questions: How the hell
would l known"
He was quiet for a while and /
thought he had gone to sleep again.
l was all primed to hum "Chow
CALI to wake him up, when he
stirred and sighed heavily.
"All right" I prompted him, $50
you're the one-man information bu-
reau. So what do you do in the
line Of actual work."
Work." he shouted. ''That's
what I do-work! Why, I have to
write all the letters and keep all
the files and keep duty rosters up
to datel I have to make thousands
of rosters of the battery every
month"
"That," suggested, SHOULD take
at least two or three hours every
day. What do you do to while away
the other tedious hours of the day?"
He was quiet again for about a
minute. Then he arose. ''I've got
pretty hard day ahead of me to-
morrow, Hargrove, he said. ST
hope you won't mind if you excuse
myself. You have to get plenty of
sleep when you have a job like
mine"
"When you have a job like
yours" I growled, ''you can sleep
night and day."
-
The top sergeant stuck his head
out of the supply room and beck
oned with his arm. "Come ere,
you'll"
I dropped my stable broom in the
battery street and fastened toward
him, as one always does when sum-
moned by the top kick.
"Well, Private Hargrove," he
said, "this is a red-letter day for
you"
"You mean you're going to let
me 60 out and drill like the other
fellows?"
''Noooo, Private Hargrove," he
said. II mean I'm going to let you
turn in all your equipment. You
are no longer to be a rookie, Pri-
vate Hargrove. You are going to
be an important working cog in the
great wheel of national defense.
You are leaving us.