Evening star., 1943-10-26

| %5#%&3W I#z%#/ tnaL am also
%'eNS3S@ doing wet wash,
Pvt. McLemore. rough dry ard
fiat work? 7 guess she'll have to
place a bottle of bluing on the
window sill or box of soap fakes,
or put fringe Of clothespins on
the curtains.
became hand laundry yester-
day afternoon. It was all very
sudden. Lots of things are very
sudden in the Army. The Army
doesn't prepare its soldiers for
shocks by announcing in advance
that there is surprise in store for
them, and that there will be a prize
for the fellow who can first guess
what it is. Uh-uh! The Army Just
pulls its little surprises out of thin
air like magician does rabbits,
only the Army's surprises aren't
nearly SO soft and cute and sweet
as bunny rabbits. In fact, they
more nearly resemble saber-toothed
wart hogs with mad on.
Wanted, Laundry Number. =
Take me-and all of the others In
my company-hecoming hand
laundry. After six or seven DAYS in
the Army I had accumulated quits
a bit Of dirty clothes. My fatigue
suit was rapidly becoming suit Of
armor and my khakis stood at at
tention whether I was in them or
not. So bundled them neatly and
when the sergeant happened to
pass my hut I asked him what num-
Der I should call to have the lalsl-
dry come by and pick up my bundle.
you don't call any number the
sergeant said The laundry is right
here in Company c."
That's SWELL I said. Il guess
Ill just leave it here on the steps
and they'll come by and pick it up.
I'll just put note in the bundle
not to put any starch in the COL
lars"
Yes, be sure to do that" the
sergeant said, leering beautifully.
And be sure to tell them to iron
your lace very carefully and to be
careful not to scorch your mono
grams" Then he shifted from his
loW-gear leer to his four speeds
forward leer and continued: You'll
Go your own laundry, soldier. You'll
do it right down there in the la
trlne, under the showers. And
r you'll hang it up to dry and take
1t down and take care of the press
/ ing, and be sure it's clean, soldier"
I left the sergeant before he
could detail me to do all the laundry
in Camp Blanding and sought the
advice of veteran dogface-a man
who has been through the Army mill
for almost two weeks, and can
scarcely remember when he was a
member of society and used a nap
kin at the table. He explained It
, all to me. At a reception center
soldiers must do their own laundry.
A man may be shipped to his per-
manent assignment at any moment,
and the Army doesn't want a man
to miss a train because he is wait
ing for his shorts to come back from
the laundry. So the Army makes it
very simple for man to turn him.
self into hand laundry. 1t lends
the soldier nice tin bucket, a
scrub brush that needs only legs to
double for porcupine, and a cake
Of CT soap that is not only guaran-
teed to remove any and all dirt,
but the fingers, wrists and elbows
of the user as well.
Like the Ganges.
To become a laundry, a soldier
strips, gets in the shower room, puts
his clothes on the duck board walks,
turns on the showers. and gets to
work with the brush and soap. Some
men soak their clothes in the bucket
for an hour or so, but the Army
froWns on this because it makes
for less scrubbing. A shower room
with 20 or 80 GIs at work makes
an enhancing sight and is remind
full of the Ganges River with In
dian devouts doing whatever they
do in the Ganges.
The room is filed with steam.
The floor is so slick with soap that
one false step and man Is likely
to skid across the room and find
himself being scrubbed by a brush
that would remove the figures on
the Stone Mountain Memorial.
1t takes about two hours to do
an average wash. BY the time a
man finishes he Is SO shrunk from
exposure to water that it takes him
two or three days to regain his nor
NAL size. BY the time the clothes
are dry, and ready to be worn in all
their spotless beauty, the Army has
thought up detail for the soldier
that guarantees that his immaculate
| ioAiiieh0 WILL 1ooh LIKE q pIdCeS
Jolly Roger by nightfall.
You know, to believe all I write
would be to believe that I am flnd-
ing the Army tough. And actually
it's a breeze. Well, maybe breeze
isn't quite as proper a word as
hurricane.
Distributed By McNausht Syndicate, Incl