The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-01-06

ii - A~.ks~zz4 - y
BILE on my hands with payday" said
Top Sergeant Tate, ''now I have to
be exposed to the sight of you. Be
brief"
Sergeant" l began, when /
hear people say soldier can't live
on the pay he makes, I'd like to
show them myself as living proof
that he can"
'Quit beating your gums" he
said, and get to the point. You
didn't come in here to compliment
the Army on its pay. And take your
cap off when you're in the orderly
room"
81 didn't come to compliment no
body nor nothing I said, laying my
cap on the corner of his desk. 81
just came in to see if the War De-
partment is mad at me. They
haven't given me a cent of salary
since the first of October"
What in the sweet name of heav-
en- are you talking about?" the top
kick hooted, handing me back the
cap. We've had two regular pay
days, including the one today And
we've had two supplementary pay
rolls for people who missed the reg
ular paydays."
mind you," put in, I'm not
complaining. l eat regularly and
have a roof over my head. l can
get haircuts and movie tickets
and cigarettes and shoe polish on
credit, but / certainly would like
little cash spending money from
time to time.'
"Well," he groaned, slapping his
desk wearily, here we go again,
Hargrove, the boy who makes a
top kicks life excitingl Hargrove
the hopeless-the sloppy bunk on in
spection day, the soap in the soup,
the thorn in the side. Hargrove, the
boy who can take the simplest
problem and reduce it to its most
confusing form. Now let's start at
the beginning and take the whole
thing slowly. You haven't been paid
since October first. How conner"
"That was because when the No
vember first payday came around,
had just got here. l signed the
October payroll in my old battery"
"All right" he said patiently,
counting off a finger. That's one
payday. That brings us up to No
vember tenth, the day of the supple
mentary payroll, when you should
have got the pay you missed on
the first. Did you sign the supple
mentary payroll for that occasion?"
"Yes, sir" insisted. "Then when
the supplementary payday came
around, something happened. Or to
be more correct, nothing happened.
still didn't get paid"
'That's two paydays you missed"
the sergeant sighed. II will check
into the second later. Now-what
about today's pay?"
81 missed out on that one too. The
battery commander couldn't find my
signature on the payroll"
isn't that just too utterly delight
ful?" he cooed. Couldn't find your
signature on the payroll! You know,
I'll bet some nasty old thing came
along with ink eradicator and erased
your signature from it! If your sig
nature wasn't on the payroll, Pri-
vate Hargrove, it was because you
hadn't signed the PAYROLL"
THAT makes sense" / conceded.
He patted me on both shoulders,
a little heavily, and I covered.
"Wait just minute, Private Har-
grove" he said sweetly. LET sar-
gie-wargie see what he can find out
about the nasty old payroll"
He returned in a few minutes,
frowning YEARLY. Private Har-
grove" he sighed, dear Private
Hargrove! You didn't draw your
pay on the tenth of November be-
cause you weren't here on the tenthl
You were on furlough! And you
didn't sign the payroll for today be-
cause you were on furlough while it
was being signed. Your modest pay