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; PAGE TWO I m Tiol car "Over the Top" By An American Soldier 7s?r Who Went ?" i ARTHUR GUY EMPEY wl8 W04 Machine Gunner Serving In France a ^ H ton (Copyright, MIT, by Arthur (Juy Hmpiy) ]OQ I A Gull rumbling could be heard. The ?cr an was shining. I turned to the man anj on my left and asked, "What's the tac noise, BUI?" He did not know, but his nni face was of a pea-green color. Jim, jnc on my right, also did not know, but jjuj suggested thut I "awsk" the sergeant. flre Coming towards us was an old grlr.- wo1 l*led sergeant, properly fed up with for (the war, bo I "awsked" him. I C "Think It's going to rain, sergeant?" irb He looked at me In contempt, and opt grunted, " 'Ow's It a-goln' ter ruin with the the bloomln' sun a-shlnln'?" I looked n p KUllty. tro "Them's the guns up the line, me ant {lad, and you'll get enough of 'em be- gar pfore you gets back to Blighty." pro My knees seemed to wilt, and I a ? (squeaked out n weak "Oh 1" ;tre Then we started our march up to the I (line In ten-kilo treks. After the first pic day's march we arrived at our rest swi |blllets. In France they call them rest nln 'billets, because while In them Tommy I ti Iworks seven days a week and on the I w ielghth day of the week he Is given Afl .twenty-four hours "on his own." agr Our billet was a spacious altalr, a 1 flarge barn on the left Side of the road, wh which had one hundred entrances. Fri ?nlnety-nlne for shells, rats, wind and "co train, and tfie hundredth one for Tom- ten tmy. I was tired out, and using my P?' jBhrapnel-proof helmet (Rhrapnel proof of Until a piece of shrapnel hits It), or tie tin hat for a pillow, lay down In the or ictrnw, and was soon fast asleep. I imust have slept about two hours, when '?h il awoke with a prickling sensation all nn< lover me. As I thought, the straw had as worked through my uniform. I woke, jon< icp the fellow lying on my left, who had *ila fceen up the line before, and asked feilm: | ( I i tret "Does the straw bother you, mate? 1 jit's worked through my uniform and I 'res fcan't sleep." I a R In a sleepy voice he answered, we| "That ain't straw, them's cooties." | From that time on my friends the *an {"cooties" were constantly with me. "K1' "Cooties," or body lice, are the bane A jof Tommy's existence. nan i The aristocracy of the trenches very sap |>eldom call them "cooties," they speak ^ jof them us fleas. rnnI To an American flea means a small ,)o1' Insect armed with a bayonet, who Is nm| wont to Jab It Into you and then hop- r"n kip and Jump to the next pluce to be attacked. There Is an advantuge In J1/1 having fleas on you Instead of "cooties" ^ jin that In one of his extended Jumps i aid flea is liable to land on the fel- '' ( low next to you; he has the typical " energy and push of the American, '' n' while the "cootie" has the bulldog rni SOP] tenacity of the Englishman; he holds ' on and consolidates or digs In until . his meal Is finished. ' Tliert* is no w?v tr> pM a# v...... j ? r>-. "? "* thOI permanently. No matter how often a)rc you bathe, and that la not very often, Ww. or how many times you change your . underwear, your friends the "cooties" pro, are always In evidence. The hllleta are c Infested with them, especially so If j kl there la straw ou the floor. ^nii ft major, two of them were exploring stra fthelr shirts, paying no attention to the pier loccaalonal shells which passed over- wel; head. The mnjor was writing a letter; line every now and then he would lay aside | j Ills writing-pad, search his shirt for a wej :few minutes, get an Inspiration, and j, then resume writing. At last he fin- wo ished his letter and gave It to his "runtier." I was curious to see whether he was writing to an Insect firm, so when ?? ,'the runner passed me I engaged him lln conversation and got a glimpse at the address on the envelope. It was nddressed to Miss Alice Somebody, In T?ndon. The "runner" Informed me i 'that Miss Somebody was the major's eweethenrt and that he wrote to her every day. Just Imagine It, writing a love letter during a "cootie" hunt; but euch Is the creed of the trenches. CHAPTER III. I Go tc Church. 1 Upon enlistment we had Identity disks Issued to us. These were small disks of red fiber worn around the neck by means of a string. Most of the Tom mles also used n little metal disk which they wore around the left wrist by means of a chain. They had previously figured it out that if their heads were blown off, the disk on the left wrist would hfhntlfy them. If they lost their left arm the disk around the neck i would serve the purpose, but if their I bend and left arm were blown off, no M one would care who they were, so it I have taken a bath and put on > brand-new underwear; in fact, a complete change of uniform, and then L'turned in for the night. The next mornling my shirt would be full of them. It Is a common sight to see eight or ten l#oldlers sitting under a tree with their Shirts over their knees engaging In a '"shirt hunt." I ""Z* j At night about half an hour before ot^f "lights out," you can see the Tommies ' ^grouped around a candle, trying, In its 'dim light, to rid their underwear of < (the vermin. A popular and very quick jip (method is to take your shirt and draw- ^ era, and run the seams back and for- * " ard in the flame from a candle and [burn them out. This practice is dan- ?n Ijferous, because you are liable to burn a,.,. tdCNwf es In the garments If you tire uol j now c'u'- , I of five i tecrults generally sent to Blighty to p|cl? a brand of Insect powder adver- parn(je , ;d as "Good for body Uce." The ad- The , tlseraent Is quite right; the powder waR 8jt< good for "cootiesthey simply i tQ my R] Ive on It. j ful exp] 'he older men of our battalion were I PrU|ts (j, :er and made scratchers out of ^ls ^eat :>d. These were rubbed smooth with shouted n ui Biuue or bbdq to prevent spun- parade I r. They were about eighteen Inches j jtppt g, and Tommy guarantees that a R jOU(1 ^ atcher of this length will reach you q { r part of the body which may be at- , j an"g^ ked. Some of the fellows were lazy j jn ftn 1 only made their scratchers twelve ?j)on^ , hes, but many a night when on _eant m ird, looking over the top from tho ?j ^ i step of the front-line trench, they onjere(j ul?l hnve given a thousand "quid" , ^ joQ| the other six Inches. not Roln )nce while we were In rest billets an Rn ;h Ilussar regiment camped In an j nns* >n field opposite our billet. After _ t y had picketed and fed their horses, ^ renerul shirt hunt took place. The |,nvonot! opers Ignored the call "Pinner up," 1 kept on with their search for big c\XXirc ne. They had n curious method of k(]<) icedure. They hung their shirts over open icdge and beat them with their en- chaj aching tool handles. f()n asked one of them why they didn't Qverjjeu k them off by hand, and he an- cjjI1R ro] pred, "We baven't had a bath for wns a ? e weeks or a change of clabber. If ^nd ^ led to pick the 'cooties' off my shirt. on p ,'ould be here for duration of war." Wp rpon :er taking a close look at his shirt, I |)00j.s f eed with him; It was alive. plane.' The greatest shock a recruit gets ( Aftpr en he arrives at his battalion In ,? Fho^Author'g Identlflcatlon Disk. ^^ not matter. On one aide of the ! waa Inscribed your rank, name, | iber and battalion, while on the were oo sr was stamped your religion. Jape nm , of K? mennlnp Church of Kng- ing for I; It. C., Roman Catholic; W., Wes- These n; I*., Presbyterian; but If you smelly, pened to be nn atheist they left It hip hlac ik, and Just handed you a pick and mles si rel. On my disk was stamped C. of their fn This Is how I pot It: The lleuten- | of the r who enlisted me asked my religion, cold, elf. as not sure of the religion of the | over m; :lsh army, so I answered, "Oh, any 1 ered mj IIIUI I'lll'lJ tnce Is to see the men engaging in a f00tt>all K>tie" hunt. With an air of conipt and disgust he avoids the comly of the older men. until a couple days later, In a torment of Itching, also has to resort to u shirt hunt, ? spend many a sleepless night of ?ery. During these hunts there are . t( a of pertinent remarks handled hnck p* y 1 forth among the explorers, such * "Say, Bill, I'll swap you two little 18 r ?s for a big one," or, "I've got a .7. ck one here that looks like Kaiser *pn,( I ? America )ne sunny day In the front-line neh, I saw three officers sitting out- j"?P " e of their dugout ("cooties" are no K' a pecters of rank ; I have even noticed n usplclous uneasiness about a certain n<> 11-known general), one of them wag tu"roh It too re we could see their flashes, which serve bl ited up the sky with a red glare. lng the gainst the horizon we could see nearer, uerous observation balloons or "sau- ' es" ns they are called. I want t in the nfternoon of the third day's 1 don't eh I witnessed my tlrst airplane Wher??? lg shelled. A thrill ran through me 1 lorr' I guzed In awe. The airplane was Take me ting wide circles In the air, while niar e puffs of white smoke were burst- , all around It. These pufTs appeared tiny halls of cotton while after w^en ov h burst could be heard a dull tll? a|r' >p." The sergeant of my platoon <>ra" irmed us that It was n flermnn ?ir- ol,r left le and I wondered how he could (ell ^lack n such n distance hecnuse the plane a'r' an<' ned like n little hlack speck In the roPor* I expressed my douht as to ^vo*n'nt' 'ther It was English, French or Her thistle i. With a look of contempt he fur- *wo s'101 Informed us that the allied nnti- our ' raft shells when exploding emitted nrtjller, te smoke while the German shells 81110,1 R{1 e forth hlack smoke, and, as he ex- on r ised It, "It must he an Allemand he- crr>"(,ho< se our pom-poms are shelling, and Kfu>Ils tf low our batteries are not off their ^rst '>a' y nnppers and are certainly not Wll's* "F felng our own planes, and another th,'ro e of ndvlce?don't chuck your thought ght about until you've been up the ' After and learnt something." unins at Immediately quit "chucking my ght about" from that time on. \ 0,11 . . . ., ruined \ list before reaching reserve billets flrat gl>, were marching along, laughing, and CJluHed \ jlng one of Tommy's trench ditties: March ^ ^ ^ ^^ cii i^e t o THE LANCASTER NEWS, LANCASTER, S. C. )U?t Imagine my hard luck. Onti no[T8leep for the r*8t of that ellglons I was unlucky enough 1 evening, we took oyer oui the only one where church ' *or line. In single file we i was compulsory! ?ur way through a xlgzag jext morning was Sunday. I "nmlcatlon trench, six inches Ing in the billet writing home ^ ?d- , 8 *rench wa" 1 later telling her of my wonder- "*W?ky street." On our way i lolts while under flr<--all re- 'he * Dt "ne aa OCC???"ai/n 9 this. The sergeant major put bursting shrapnel would light u, 1 in the door of the billet and 8*y and cou,d *earK the 1tr*x : "C. of B. outside for church 8J* *omA above 01 ? right and left. Then a Frits ^ ... , _ . , traverse hack and forth with his An tl'Hfiner TnmlnflP fo mo In T"" J"''Z\r~A writer" or machine gun. The b rolce, he asked, Empey, aren t , . ... if E ?" made n sharp cracking noise over \ J' ? The hoy In front of me named sered, Yep. tJce cnimp|ed up without a wor i angry tone, he commanded. plpce of shpl, hn(, gone througl you -yep' me. Say. 'Yes. ser- s!inipne,.proof helmet. I felt slel aJor- weak ! so Somewhat mollified, he In ahout th,rt m|nute8 we re, "Outside for church parade." the front ,|ne ,t wns dnrk ns , ted up and answered. "1 am Every now and then a German g to church this morning.' shell would pierce the blacknes: Id, Oh, yes, you are! I? front with Its silvery light. ] vercd, "Oh, no, I'm not!"?But trembling all over, and felt very 1 and afraid. All orders were glv tied uf> outside with rifles and whispers. The company we re) s, 120 rounds of ammunition. past us and disappeared Int our tin hats, and the march blackness of the communication t h began. After marching about leading to the rear. As they passi s, we turned off the road Into ti,cy whispered, "The best o* field. At one end of this field mates." 'lain was standing In a limber. , Rnt on thp flrp step of thp t ned a semicircle around him. with the rest of the men. In d there was a black si*ck clr- traverse two of the older men hat] jnd and round In the sky. This put on KUIird w|th ht>adg stl lerman Fokker. The chaplain over the top nn(, w,th thelp pvp ook In his left hand left eye j?K to pjorce the blackness in ook?right eye on the airplane. Mnn.g Lnnd.? In fhls tr.,n?h amies were lucky, we had no were only two dugouts, nnd these 10 hud both eyes on the ulr- used by Lewis and Vlckers nia gunners, so It >vus the flre ste church parade we were ours. Pretty soon It started to [ hack to our billets, and played \\7e put on our "macks," hut they all afternoon. not much protection. The rain trl down our hacks, and It was not CHAPTER IV. before we were wet and cold. E ? passed that night I will never 1 "Into the Trench." hut without any unusual occuri ext morning the draft was in- dawn arrived, by our general, and we were The word "stnnd down" wns p I to different companies. The along the line, and the sentrle the brigade had nicknamed down off the fire step. Pretty son icral Old Pepper, nnd he cer- rum Issue camt nlong, nnd It v irned the sobriquet. I was as- Godsend. It warmed our chilled li to It company with another and put new life Into us. Then n named Stewart. the communication trenches he next ten days we "rested," dixies or Iron pots, filled with s g ronds for the Frenchles, drill- |ng tea, which hud two wooden s digging bombing trenches. through their handles, and were turning we were Informed that rj,Mj l)y two men. I filled my cn e going up the line, and our nn,j drank the hot tea without t: egan. It from my lips. It was not Ion k us three days to reach re- fore I was asleep In the mud 01 llets?each day's march bring- Sf0p# sound of the guns nearer and M.v ambition had been attulne At night, way off In the dts- was (n e iront-llne trench on the em front, and oh, how I wished I 0 go home, I want to go home, buck in Jersey City, want to go to the trenches no lUHagcs and whizz-bangs are ga1 over the soa. Where the Aile- COMMUNICATION id can't get at me. TRENCH -'SCSS I don't want to die, ~ ? ? ** *" ~ to go home?" _3 TO 5 FT. orhond came a "swish" through rapidly followed by three othen about two hundred yards to ^ In a large field, four columns earth and smoke rose Into the the ground trembled from the the explosion of four Oermarf \ blast. Immediately followed by -t ones, rang out from the head roluinn. This wns to take up //'//////? aRi A).P'Ql y formation." We divided Into y///Avu/ To/C J ll Hinds and went Into the fields ' W//// /' I 111 Ight nnd left of the road, nnd U Ji 1 1 on the ground. No other | _ll J llowed this salvo. It was our ^ . J. 1 M itlsni by shell flre. From the . L CO i I wns all enthusiasm, hut from \//7y/T////AisimtAAO^^^m ftiff If > \vn, everything was missing. I Xflfr///'// I should die with fright. awhile, we reformed Into col' fours, and proceeded on our five thnt night, we reached the lllage of H , and I got my , ;ht of the awful destruction Diagram Showing Typical >y German Kultur. Ing down the main street we CHAPTER V. the heart of the village, and ? quarters In shellproof cellars Mud, Rats and 8hells. oof until hit by a shell). Shells I must have slept for two or hours, not the refreshing kind thi | suits from clean sheets and sof a and a thunderclap hurst In my e opened my eyes?I was splashc picking themselves up from the b hod toppled Into the trench, romp rubbed the mud from my face, a wns smashed to a pulp, and his had exploded In the next traverse were digging Into the soft mass o1 ers came up the trench on the d< After a few minutes of digging, still, muddy forms on stretchers H>.ai.iru uimn me communh trench to the rear. Soon they ' be resting "somewhere In France,' a little wooden cross over their 1 bnt their services were apprec nevertheless. They belonged to our draft. A Bomb Proof. I wa8 (jnze(j nn(j motionless. nstantly whistling over the vll- denly a shovel was pushed Int :1 bursting In our rear, search- hands, and a rough but kindly our artillery, bald: i cellars were cold, damp and "Here, my lad, lend a hand cle and overrun with large rats? the trench, but keep your head < k fellows. Most of the Tom- and look out for snipers. One c cpt with their overcoats over | Fritz's Is a daisy, and he'll get j ces. I did not. In the middle you're not careful." light I woke up In terror. The I.ylng on my belly on the both immy feet of a rat had passed the trench, I filled sandbags wit Y face. I Immediately smoth- sticky mud, they were dragged t 'self In my overcoat, but could rear by the other men, and the wr tit. ~ rebuilding the parapet was on. T r se<S harder I worked, the better I felt, i jrend- though the weather was cold, I w com- <oaked with sweat, deep Occasionally a bullet would era called >verhead, and a machine gun woi up to tick up the mud on the bashed-ln pai re of >et. At each crack I would duck a p the ihleld my face with my arm. One nonto ho nMoe - ...v vtuvi incu iiuucru IU1H QCllOD a our nine, end whispered: vould "Don't duck at the crack of a b 'type- et. Yank ; the danger has passed?y ullets lever hear the one that wings yi head. Always remember that If you are gol Pren- ,o get It, you'll get It, so never worr; 1. A This made a great Impression on i h hlf ?t thd time, and from then on, I ado] i. and ?d his motto, "If you're going to get 1 you'll get It." iched It helped me wonderfully. I used pitch. *0 often afterwards thut some of 1 star nates dubbed me, "If you're going s out jet It, you'll get It." [ was After an hour's hnrd work, all 1 onely ' nervousness left me, and I was lau* en In Ing and Joking with the rest, loved t At one o'clock, dinner came up 0 the the form of a dlxle of hot stew, rench , I looked for my canteen. It h ?d us. fnllen off the fire step, and was hi luck burled in the tnud. The man on 1 left noticed this, nnd told the corpor rench dishing out the rations, to put 1 each share In his mess tin. Then he wh 1 been pered to me, "Always take care of yo cklng mess tin, mate." s try- I hnd learned another maxim of t "No trenches, there That stew tasted fine. I was were hungry a.* a bear. We hnd "second 'duns or another helping, because three P fur the men had "gone West," killed rain, the explosion of the German tren were mortar, and we ate their share, t ckled still I was hungry, so I filled In wl long bully beef and biscuits. Then I drain low 1 my water bottle. Later on I learn know, another maxim of the front line, "< ence, sparingly with your water." The bu beef made me thirsty, and by tea tli assed I was dying for a drink, but ray prl s got would not allow me to ask my mat in the for wnter. I was fast learning t nis a ethics of the trenches, todies That night I was put on guard wl from nn older man. We stood on the fl came ?tep with our hands over the top, pet team- (ng out Into No Man's Land. It w takes nervous work for me, but the other f ' cur- low seemed to take It as part of t iiteen night's routine. uklng Then something shot past my fai g be- My heart stopped heating, and I duck a the my head below the parapet. A si chuckle from my mate brought me d 1 I my senses, and I feebly asked, "F west- heaven's sake, what was that?" were . He answered. "Only a rat taking promenade alonj? the sandbags." Front-Line and Compiunlcatlon Trenches. felt very sheepish. .') About every twenty minutes the s< | try In the next traverse would lire , stnr shell from his flare pistol. T three j "plop" would give me a start of frig nt re- ( I never got used to this noise durl t pll- my service In the trenches, from I would watch the arc described the stnr shell, and then stare Into Rhnke Man's I.nnd watting for It to burst, nrs. I Its lurid light the barbed wire a d all stakes would be silhouetted against were light like a latticed window. Th nttom darkness. y left Once, out In front of our wire, letely heard a noise and saw dark fori ed-up moving. My rifle was lying ucross t itlll. 1 sandbagged parapet. I reached for nd an and was tnking aim to Are, when 1 head mute grasped my arm, aDd whlspen steel "Don't lire." He challenged In n 1< tilood. voice. The reply came back lnstan irtar) from the dark forms: . Men "Shut your hlinkln' mouth, y f mud hloornln' Idiot; do you want us to ell -hear- It from the BochesT" ouble. Later we learned that the word, "1 three challenging or firing, wiring party r were in front," hnd been given to the sent *atlon on our right, hut he had failed to pi would it down the trench. An officer had ovi ' with heard our challenge and the reply, a leads, immediately put the offending sent f? and under arrest. The sentry click shot, 1 ik f pft 1 twenty-one days on the wheel, that he received twenty-one days' field p1 ames. foment No. 1, or "crucifixion," ? . Tommy terms It This consists of beinj spread-eag voice on the wheel ?' a two houri duy for twenty-one days, regardless the weather. During this period, y< !"" nK rations consist of bully beef, blscc lown. . . . . ) and water. r ff I ^ Innntt,f' Inter I met this sen ou and he confided to me that since be 1 "crucified," he bad never failed to pi >m ?'\ the word down the trench when so h the \(jorofi i? view of the ofTense, I ? m-v /above punishment was very light, irk of I * -: ' I TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1918. he that falling to pass the word down a M- trench uiay mean the loss of many us lives, and the spoiling of some Impo^ tant enterprise In No Man's Land. clc I'd CHAPTER VI. ra- I ? nd j "Back of the Line." of Oar tour In the front-line trench of lasted four day\ and then we were 1 relieved by the brigade. u'" j Going down the communication ou trench we were In a merry mood. aK * ,U- though we were cold and wet, and n* every hone In our bodies ached. It ' makes a lot of difference whether you 110 are "going In" or "going out." It I ( At the end of the communication I trench, limbers were waiting on the lt 1 road for us. I thought we were going nv to rhle buck to rest billets, but soon ti, found out that the only time an Infantryman rides Is when he Is nv wounded and Is bound for the base or Blighty. These limbers carried our j reserve ammunition and rutlons. Our jn ' march to rest billets was thoroughly enjoyed by me. It seemed as If I M)l were on furlough, and was leaving bebind everything that was dlsagreenv able and horrible. Every recruit feels aj this way after being relieved from the m! trenches. Is- We marched eight kilos and then ,ur halted In front of a French estamlnet. f The captain gave the order to turn he out on each side of the roud and wait his return. Pretty soon he came back ??, and told B company to occupy billets ? 117, 118 and 119. Billet 117 was an ^ of old stuble which had previously been hy occupied by cows. About four feet In noiii ui me entrance was a nuge maiut nure pile, and the odor from It was Ith anything but pleasant. Using my ed flashlight I stumbled through the door, ed Just before entering I observed a [jo white sign reading: "Sitting BO, lying Hy 20," but, at the time, Its significance dp did not strike me. Next morning I dp asked the sergeant major what it pr meant. He nonchalantly answered: he "That's some of the work of the R. A. M. C. (Royal Army Medical corps), ith It simply meuns that In cuse of an atIre tack, this billet will accommodate pr- fifty wounded who are able to sit up us and take notice, or twenty stretcher el- cases." he It was not long after this that I was one of the "20 lying." ne- I soon hit the hay and was fast asleep, even my friends the "cooties" failed to disturb me. The next morning at about six or o'clock I was awukened by the lance corporal of our Bectlon, Informing me 1 that I had been detailed as mess orderly, and to report to the cook and n give him a hand. I helped him make ^ the fire, carry water from an old well, 5? and fry the bncon. Lids of dixies nre ^ used to cook the bacon In. After g breakfast was cooked, I carried a dlxle of hot tea and the lid full of bacon to ^ I our section, and told the corporal that , ! breakfast was ready. He looked at me ^ I In contempt, and then shouted, "Break^ ' fast up, come and get It!" I lmmedl1 ately got wise to the trench parlance, ^ j and never ugaln Informed that "Breakup ' fast was served." Sr It didn't take long for the Tommies i I to answer this call. Half dressed, r* ; they lined up wltli their cunteens and j I djshed out the tea. Each Tommy ^ | carried In his hand a thick slice of ! bread which had hemi issued with the rations the night before. Then I had ^ the pleasure of seeing them dig Into the bacon with their dirty Angers. The ^ allowance was one slice per man. The ^ late ones received very small slices. As each Tommy got his share he Ira*** mediately disappeared Into the billet. ? Pretty soon about Afteen of them made a rush to the cookhouse, each carrying a huge slice of bread. Thesb slices tbey dipped Into the bacon grease which was stewing over the Are. The last man Invuriably lost out. I was the last man. After breakfast our section carried * their equipment Into u Aeld adjoining e the billet and got busy removing the trench mud therefrom, because at 8:45 ,l>; a. m., they had to fall In for Inspection and parade, and woe betide the man who was unshaven, or had mud on his uniform. Cleanliness Is next to godll'' ness In the Ilrltlsh artuy, and Old Pepj11 per must have been personally acqualnted with St. Peter. on Our drill consisted of close-order j formation, which lasted until noon. During this time we had two ten-mlnins ute breaks for rest, and no sooner the word, "Fall out for ten minutes," was given than each Tommy got out a fag "J and lighted it. Fags are Issued every Sunday morn>v* Ing, and you generally get between ' -V twenty and forty. The brand generally Issued Is the "Woodbine." Some0,1 times we are lucky and get "Goldflakes," "Players" or "Red Hussars." Occasionally an Issue of "Life Rays" comes along. Then the older Tommies ,ul Immediately get busy on the recruits r-N antl trade these for "Woodbines" or lss "Goldflnkes." A recruit only has to p""" be stuck once In this manner, and then I1( he ceaces to be a recruit. There Is a j r-N reason. Tommy Is a great cigarette e< smoker. He smokes under all condi- ^ J tlona, ecrcept when unconscious ot Is, when he Is reconnolterlng In No Man's un-1 Land at night. Then, for obvious reaas | '' , sons, he does not care to have a lightled ed cigarette in his mouth. ? a 1 Stretcher bearers carry fags for of ' wounded Tommies. When a stretcher jur hearer urrlves alongside of a Tommy dts who has been hit the following conver- i satlon usually takes place: Stretcher try bearer?"Want a fag? Where are you y ing hit?" Tommy looks up and answers, y ass "Yes. In the leg." ^ or" After dismissal from parade, we re- |? (To be Continued.)