Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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?If ]Hi<l ^ MACHIN 1 1 I have ta^en r bath end put on brand-new underwear; in fact, a complete change of uniform, and then; turned in for the night. The m-xt morn- i ? I inp my shirt would be full of them. It Is x common sight to set eight or ten soldiers sitting under a tree with their ; shirts over their knees engaging in a "shirt hnnt." At night about half an hour before "lights out," you can see the Tommies grouped around a candle, trying, in its dim light, to rid their underwear of I the vermin. A popular and very quick j ^netfcod is to take your shirt and draw-: ers, and run the seams back and for-1 ward in the flame from a candle and j 0^ hurn them out This practice is dan- j gerons, because you are. liable to burn I v ?- av < ! ixQie* m me garweuus n yvu aic um i careful. Recruits generally sent to Blighty for a brand of insect powder advertised as "Good for bod J lice." The advertisement is quite right; the powder ' is good for "cootiesthey simply i thrive on it i The older men of our battalion were j l wiser and made scratchers out of j wood. These were rubbed smooth with 9 a bit of stone 6r sand to prevent splinL ters. They were about eighteen inches long, and Tommy guarantees that a ! ft scratcher of this length will reach 1 'Wm nnv nart of the body which may be at- ' ~ tacked. Some of the fellows were lazy j andv-only made their scratchers twelve j Inches, but many a night when on j ?uard, looking over the top from the j fire step of the front-line trench, they would have given a thousand "quid" for the other six inches. Once while we were in rest billets an Irish Hussar regiment camped in an j open field opposite our billet After ! they had picketed and fed their horses, j a general shirt hunt took place. The I > troopeFS ignored the call "Dinner up," | and kept on with their search for big I game. * They had a curious method of ; procedure^ They hung their shirts over a hedge and beat them with their en trenching tool handles. I asked one of them why they didn't pick them off by hand, and he an? swered, "We haven't had a bath for nir.e weeks or a change of clabber. If I tried to pick the 'cooties' off my shirt. I would be be re for duration of war.** lAfter taking a close look at his shirt, I agreed with him; it was alive. The greatest shock a recruit gets * jwhen he arrives at his battalion in i "" ;France is to see the men engaging in a | :"cootie" hunt With an air of con- : tempt and. disgust he avoids the com- j 'pany of the older men, until a couple nf dnv* later, in a torment of itching. jbe also lias to resort to a shirt hunt, ,or spend many a sleepless night of misery. During these hunts there are jlots of pertinent remarks bandied back and forth among the explorers, such i as, "Say, Bill, m swap you two little iones for a big one," or, "I've got a ; 'black one here that looks like Kaiser j BiD." One sunny day in the front-line j trench, I sMflferee officers sitting out- ! side of their dugout ("cooties" are no ^ respecters of rank; I have even noticed a suspicious uneasiness about a certain well-known general), one of them was CO M M U N (CATION" TRENCH ^ Diagram Showing Typical Front-L a maior. two of them were exploring j their shirts, paying no attention to the I occasional shells which passed over? head. The major was writing a letter; j every now and then he would lay aside j Lis writing-pad, search his shirt for a few minutes, get an inspiration, and then resume writing. At last he finished his letter and gave it to his "runner." I was curious to see w hether he j was writing to an insect firm, so when j the runner passed me I engaged him \ .in conversation and got a glimpse at the address or. the envelope. It was ! .addressed to Miss Alice Somebody, in j yU>ndoih The "runner" informed me 1 ? I 11 tfo' \ mfflsw: mmer i OWENT * * : "Him /.lIVTM:li;V /(? I I p I LIUa VEU I *d Ijsl I t GUNf?,,5M!N FRAIJCr ' ! SY j APo'.iL'.? Min?iy\ that Miss Somebody was ;he major's sweetheart and thai he wrote to her every day. Ju>t imagine if, writing a love letter during a "cootie" hunt; but such is the creed of the trenches. ' CHAPTER III. 1 Go to Church. Upon enlistment we had identity disks issued to us. xnese wf re sman disks of red fiber worn around the neck by means of a string. Most of the Tommies also used a 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 identify them. If they lost their left arm the disk around the neck would serve the purpose, but if their ~ - - - * - _ rx* head and let't arm were oiown on, m? one would care who tliey were, so it did not matter. On one side Of the disk was inscribed your rank, name, number and battalion, while on the other was stamped your religion. C. of E., meaning Church of England rR. 0., Roman Catholic; WM Wesleyan; P., Presbyterian; but if you happened to be an atheist they left it blank, and just handed you a pick and shovel. On my disk was stamped C. of E. This is how I jot it: The lieutenant who enlisted me asked my religion. I was not sure of the religion of the *-'* r- T or\\? isriiisn army, so j. uus^ci cu, vu, ?iy old thing," and he promptly put down C. of E. Now, just imagine my hard luck. Out of five religions I was unlucky enough to pick the only one where church parade was compulsory! The next morning was Sunday. I was sitting in the billet writing home to my sister i el ling her of my wonderful exploits while under fire?all recruits do this. The sergeant major put his head in the door of the billet and shouted: "C. of E. outside for church parade!" 1 I kept on writing. Turning to me, la - * j a loud voice, ne asKeu, niuipej', men t you C. of E.r I answered, "Yep." ; In an angry tone, he commanded, "Don't you *yep* me. Say, 4Yes, sergeant major/" "I did so. Somewhat mollified, he ordered, "Outside for church par&tJe." I looked up and answered, "I am not going to church this morning." He said, "Oh, yes, you are!" I Answered, "Oh, no, I'm not !n?Bat I went. We lined up outside with rifles and bayonets, 120 rounds of ammunition, ' ? *' ? nn<1 fVt*? tYlflP(?h wearing uui uu uaw, uuu um to church began. After marching about five kilos, we turned off the road into an open field. At one end of this field the chaplain was standing in a limber. We formed a semicircle around him. Overhead there was a black speck circling round and round in the sky. This was a German Fokker. The chaplain had a book in his left hand?left eye on the book?right eye on the airplane. We Tommies were lucky, we had no books, so had both eyes on the airplane. After church parade we were - " * .1 marcnea nncK to our umeis, iuju uiu.rru 1 I .ine and Communication Trenches. i football all afternoon. CHAPTER IV. '! I ' 'Into the Trench." . ! The next morning fhe draft was In- i * spected by onr general, and we were assigned to different companies. The Doys in the origaoe nau mcKiuuueu this general Old Popper, ami he cer-i ; tainlv earned the sobriquet. I was as-j signed to 7* company with another1 At a erica 11 r. am ed ? lc\> a rt. For-the n-^xt t; ti days we "rr repairing roads for the Frenchies, drill-. itig, and digging bombing trenches. , i. _One morning ige Yfere Informed that we were jrolilj< up the line, and our march began. It took lis three dayi to reach reserve billets?each day's march bringing the sound of the guns nearer and nearer. At night, way off in the distance we could see their flashes, which lighted up the sky with a red glare. Against the horizon we could see numerous observation balloons or "sausages" as they are called. On the afternoon of the third day's march I witnessed my first airplane being shelled. A thrill ran through me and I gazed in awe. The airplane was making wide circles in the air, while little puffs (yi while smoke were bursting all around it. These stiffs i-ppiared like tihv balls of cotton while after each burst cou'd be heard a dull "plop. i HO N'.'llit VJi IU^ [llUiVllll informed us that it was a German airp'ane and I wondered how he cm;Id to1! from such a uistance because the plane seemed like a little Mack spook in the sky. I expressed my doubt as to whether it was English. French or German. With a look of oiiitempt he farther informed i?s thai ihe allied ar iaircraft shells when exploding emitte d white smoke while the (T?'i*:uan shells gave forth black fcmnkc. and, as he expressed it. "It mnst he an Allemand hecause our pom-poms are shelling, and I know our batteries are not oit theii bally mappers and are certainly not strafeinp, our own planes, and another piece of advice?don't chuck your weight about unt!l you've been up the line and learnt something." I immediately Quit "chucking my weight about" from that time on. Just before reaching reserve billets we were marching along, laughing, and singing one of Tommy's trench ditties: ?* wani xo nume, x wiiiit iu ;juiu^ I don't want to go to the trenches no more "Where sausages and whizz-bangs are ,galore. Take me over the sea, "Where the Allemand can't get at me, Oh. my, I don't want to die, I want to go home?" \ when overhead came a "swish" through the air, rapidiy followed by three others. Then about two hundred yards to our left in a lnr?e field, four eolumns of black earth u .<1 smoke rose into the air, and the ground trembled from the report?the explosion of four German five-nine's, or "eoalboxes." A sharp whistTp hlnst. immediately followed by two short ones, ran? out from the head of our column. This was to take up "artillery formation." We divided into small squads* and went into the fields on the right and left of the road, and crouched on the ground. No other shells followed this salvo. It was our first baptism by shell fire. From the waist up I was all enthusiasm, but from there down, everything was missing. I thought I should die with fright. After awhile, we reformed into columns of fours, and proceeded od our way. About five that night, we reached the mined villa ere of II , and I got my first sight of the awful destruction caused by German F-:ltur. Marching down the main street we came to the heart of the village, and took up quarters in shellproof cellars (shellproof until hit by a shell). Sheila I II?I I ?i?I ? II I I II ?Ml IWj ; *"' ;<v"'"^ *A'v"--v-"'! v^';- v,-'-'-^-:-'-'- ! " '" ..>-^5?So3 A Bo.nb Proof. were constantly whistling over the village and bursting in our rear, searching for our artillery. These cellars were cold, damp and smelly, and overrun with large ratsbig black fellows. Most of the Tommies slept with their overcoats over their faces. I did not In the middle of the night I woke up in terror. The cold, clammy feet of a rat had passed over my face. I immediately smothered myself in my overcoat, but could not sleep for the rest of that night Next evening, we took over our sector of the line. In single file we wended our way through a zigzag communication trench, six inches deep with mud. This trench was called "Whisky street." On our way up to the front line an occasional flare of bursting shrapnel would light up the sky and Ave could hear the fragments slapping the ground above us on our right and left. Then a Fritz would traverse hack and forth with his "typewriter" or machine gun. The bullet9 made a sharp cracking noi?e overhead. The boy in front of me named Prentice crumpled up without a word. A piece of shell had gone through his shrapnel-proof helmet. I felt sick and weak. In about thirty minutes we reached ("he 'front line. It was dark as pitch, Kwry now and then a German star shell would pierce 'he blackness out in front with its shivery light. I was trembling all oyer, and felt very lonely ami afraid. All orders were given in whispers. The company we relieved filed past us and disappeared into the . blackness of the communication trench leading to the rear. As they passed us, they whispered, 'The best o' luck mates." I sat on the fire step of the trencfc with the rest of the men. In each traverse two of the older men had been put on guard with their heads sticklDiover the top, and with th^ir eyes try in? to pierce the blackness in "Nc Man's Land." In this trench ther? were only two du?:onts. find these wei> used by Lewis and Yickers machine gunners, so it was the fire step fo: ours. Pretty soon it started to ruin We put on our "macks." but they wer? not much protection. The ruin trickles down our hacks, and it was not Ion;, before we were wet ami coid. How 1 passed that night I will never know Imf without nnv unusual occurrence i dawn arrived. "* > The word "stand down *\.*3 passed along the line, and thv "entries got down off the fire step. Pretty soon thr rum issue came along, and it was a Godsend. It warmed our chilled bodies and put new life into us. Then from the communication trenches eaai*? dixies or iron pots, filled with steaming tea, which had two wooden stakes through their handles, and were carried by two men. I filled my canteen and drank the hot tea without taking It from ray lips. It was not long bei fore I was asleep in the mud on the , lire step. -; My ambition had been attained I I 1 was in a front-line trench on the wesst. ern front, and oh, how I wished I were I back in Jersey City. i . 1 : i i CHAPTER V. J Mud, Rats and Shells. | I must have slept for two or three hours, not the refreshing kind that re| suits from clean sheets and soft pil] lows, but the sleep that conies from : cold, wet and sheer exhaustion. Suddenly, the earth seemed to shake and a thunderclap burst in my ears. I . opened my eyes?I was splashed all \ over with sticky mud, and men were | picking themselves up from the bottom I of the trenfh. The parapet on my left i had toppled into the trench, completely j blocking it with a wall of tossed-up \ earth. The man on my left lay still. I rubbed the mud from my face, and an i awful sight met my gaze?his head was smashed to a pulp, and his steel helmet was full of brains and blood, i A German "Minnie" (trench mortnr) had exnloded in the next tr.iversp. Men ; were digging into the soft mass of mud i In a frenzy of haste. Stretcher-bearers came up the trench on the double, j After a few minutes of digging, three j still, muddy forms on stretchers were j carried down the communication j ' trench to the rear. Soon they would ,; be resting "somewhere in France," with i a little wooden cross over their headV:. j j They had done their bit for king and j country, had died without firing a shot, j , but their services were appreciat i ! nevertheless. i Later on, I found out their names. I ; They belonged to our draft | I was dazed and motionless. Sud| denly a shovel was pushed into my j I hands, and a rough but kindly voice said: j "Here, my lad, lend a hand clearing ' the trench, but keep your head down, ! and look out for snipers. One of the j Fritz's is a daisy, and he'll get you if I you're not careful." I Lying on my belly on the bottom of the trench, I filled sandbags with the sticky mud, they were dragged to my i rear by the other men, and the work of 1 rebuilding the parapet was on. The j harder I worked, the better I felt. Although the weatner was cold, I was soaked with sweat. Occasionally a bullet would crack ! overhead, and a machine gun would i kick up the ipud on the bashed-in para; pet. At each crack I would duck and | shield my face with my arm. One of 1 trie older men noticed this action of j mine, and whispered: i "Don't duck at the crack of a bullet. Yank; the danger has passed?you | never hear the one that wings you. | Always? remember that if you are going , to get it, you'll get it, so never worry." This made a great impression on mo ; at the time, and from then on, I adopt-. od his motto, "If you're going to get it. : you'll get it." It helped me wonderfully. I used it j so often afterwards that some of my I mates dubbed me, "If you're going to i get it, you'll get it." j ! After an hour's hard work, all my j nervousness left me, and I was laugh- J j ing and joking with the rest. i At one o'clock, dinner came up in ; ; the form of a dixie of hot stew. j j I looked for my canteen. It had fallen off the fire step, and was half j hurled in the mud. The m ^ on my , left noticed this, and told the corporal, , dishing out the rations, to put my share in his mess tin. Then he whis- ? pered to m% "Always take care of your ? m'?ss tin, mate." I had learned another maxim of the i ! trenches. i * That stew tasted fine. I was as 1 i hungry as a bear. We had "seconds," < ! or another helping, because three of < j tbe men had "gone West," killed by 1 ! the explosion of the German trench i j mortar, and we ate their share, but l j still I was hungry, so I filled in with : i bully beef and biscuits. Then I drained < my ivater bottle. Later on I learned \ \ another maxim of the front line, "Go ! sparingly with your water." The bully 1 beef made me thirsty, and by tea time t I was dying for a drink, but my pride ] would not allow me to ask my mates < for water. I was fast learning the ! ethics of the trenches. i That night I was put on gunrd with i ! an older man. We stood on the fire t step with our hands over the top, peer- i ! :ing out into No Man's Land. It was. 1 - ^~ 1 ? ? nervous work for inc. l?ut the other ffl-' low seemed to take it as part of the night's routine. Then something shot past my My heart stopped beating, rind I ducked my head below the parapet A soft chuckle from my mate brought me t<> ray senses, and I feebly aske^, "I*or heaven's sake, what was that V He answered. "Only a rat taKinq a nromenade along the sandbags." I felt very sheepish. About every twenty minutes the sentry in the next traverse would fir a star shell from his flare pistol. The "plop" would crive me a start of fright. I never crot used to this noise during my service in the trenches. I would watch the arc described by the star shell, and then stare info No Man's Land waiting for it to burst. T;i its lurid Ii.t,rhf. the barbed wire find stakes would bo silhouetted against its lijrht like a latticed window. Then darkness. Once,, out in front of our wire. I heard a noise and saw dark forms moving. My rifle was lyincr across the sandbagged parapet. I reached for it, and was taking aim to fire, when my mate grasped my arm, and whispered, "Don't fire." He challenged in a low voice. The reply came back instantly from the dark forms: "Shut your bHnkin' mouth, yon bloomin' idiot; do you want us to click It from the Boches?" Later we learned that the word, "No challenging or firing, wiring party out in front," had been given to the sentry on our right, but he had failed to pass it down the trench. An officer had overheard our challenge and the reply, and Immediately put the offending sentry ender arrest The sentry clicked fwenty-one days on the wheel, that Is, Le received twenty-one days' field punishment No. 1, or "crucifixion," as Tommy terms it. This consists of being spread-eagled on the wheel of a limber two hours a day for twenty-one days, regardless of the weather. During this period, your aHnnc r-nncicf nf hnllv beef. hiSCUitS and water. A few months later I met this sentry and he confided to me that since being "crucified," he had never failed to pass the word down the trench when so ordered. In view of the offense, the above punishment was very light, in that falling to pass the word down a trench may mean the loss of many lives, and the spoiling of some impor tant ciuc-rprise in No Man's Lana. . CHAPTER VI. "Back of the Line." Our tour in the front-line trench lasted four days, and then we were relieved by the brigade. Going down the communication trench we were in a merry mood, although we were cold and wet, and every bone in our bodies ached. It makes a lot of difference whether you are "going in" or "going out" At the end of the communication trench, limbers were waiting on the -o*d for us. I thought we .vere going to ride back to rest billeu, but soon found out that the only time an infantryman rides Is when he Js wounded and is bound for the base or Blighty. These limbers carried our reserve ammunition and rations. Our march to rest billets was thoroughly enjoyed by me. It seemed as if I were on furlough, and was leaving behind everything that was disagreeable and horrible. Every recruit feels this way after being relieved from the trenches. We marched eight kilos and then halted in front of a French estaminet. The captain gave the order to turn out on each side of the road and wait 'rv A1? -? Kn nlr Jtus return, rreuy soon xie c?me ua\.n. and told B company to occupy billets 117, 1^8 and 119. Billet 117 was an old stable which had previous f been occupied by cows. About four ?eet in front of the entrance was a huge manure pile, and the odor from it was auyihing but pleasant. Using my flashlight I stumbled through the door. Just before entering I observed a white sign reading: "Sitting 50, lying 20," but, at the time, its significance did not strike me. Next morning I asked the sergeant major what it meant. He nonchalantly answered: ''That's some of the work of the R. A. M. C. (Royal Army Medical corps). It simply means that in case of an attack, this billet will accommodate fifty wounded who are able to sit up and take notice, or twenty stretcher cases." It was not long after this that I was one of the "20 lying." I soon hit the hay and was fast asleep, even my friends the "cooties" failed to disturb me. The aext morning at about six o'clock I was awakened by the lance corporal of our section, informing me that I had been detailed as mess orderly, and to report to the cook and give him a hand. I helped him make the fire, carry water from an old well, and fry the bacon. Lids of dixies are used to cook the bacon in. After breakfast was cooked, I carried a dixie of hot tea and the lid full of bacon to our section, and told the corporal that breakfast was ready. He looked at me in contempt, and then shouted, "Breakr" "* on/? <rof iff" T immPflj Kidc CA&JvA. ^5 u *v. ? itely got wise to the trench parlance, ind never again informed that "Breakfast was served." It didn't take long for the Tommies :o answer this call. Half dressed, :hey lined up with their canteens ana [ dished out the tea. Each Tommy carried in his hand a thick slice of jread which had been issued with the ation? the night before. Then I had he pleasure of seeing them dig into he bacon with their dirty fingers. The Jlowance was one slice per man. The late ones received wry small slictM. An each Tommy pot bis share i)?' ir?~ mediately disapiwured 'nto the billed Pretty soon about fifteen 9f them mailer a rush to the cookhouse, each carrying ft hupe slice of bread. These slices, they dipped into the bacon greaaar which was stewing over the Qre. TJwr last maa invariably lost ouu I waft the last man. After breakfast our Sv' ;!on earned their <-qui;-,\wux inro a lield adjoining, the !>i k-t ami pot busy removing the trench irnid therefrora, because lit S:4F a. r.i.. they had to ft;?i ir. for inspc.tioc C.' d p;;rafle, ;iniJ woe betide 'he inant v:}; j \v;;.s unshaven, or had mcd on hia. i.; OIoaniin;.ss is nex: to godli-L-:in the 15i-itish army, and Old I'epf>-i* rust hove 1 c?< n personally acquainted wiih St. Peter. Our aril! consisted of close-order formation, which lasted until eoor. Imrr.ir this time wo had two ten-iidc? lite b;v;iks for rest, and no s-??rer word, "Fall out- f'. r tea miiiires," was. given fh:;n each Tommy goi out a fag;: and lighted it l are issued every Sunday mora? in--', aiid you generally yet between twenty and forty. The brand generally issued is the ' Woodbine.'* Some? times we are lucky and get "Goi<3~ tinker-," "Players" or "Red llnssj-.rs.^ Occasionally yn issue of "Life Kays** ' omes along. Then the older Tommies: immediately get busy on the recruits and trade these for "Woodbines" or~ "Goldflnkes." A recruit only has to he snick once in th's manner, and then he ceases to be a recruit. There Ss & r<>nson. Tommy is a great cigarette smoker. He smokes under aJl cond?- ri<;?is c-.cept when unconscious or when he is recoimoitering in No Man**" Land at night. Then. lor obvious r&t? ' ? Art?A Vl n f A A 11 ArlldL. M'liS, IItr 1IUI Vim; IU liarc a ngur: ed cigarette In his nonth. Stretcher bearers carry fags for" wounded Tommies. When a stretcherbearer arrives alongside of a Tommy who has been hit the following conversation usually takes place: Stretcherbearer?"Want a fag? Where are yoa. hit?" Tommy looks up and answers*.., "Yes. In the leg." A 'i-nii ilimniet'ol frrtm fioroilo TUt> ]V~ i. L C A. UiOilliOCril J 1 VlU j-ti i nv*\.^ ?? v ? ? turned to our billets and I had to get busy immediately with the dinner jsksue. Dinner consisted of stew mad? from fresh beef, a couple of spuds; bully beef. Maconochie rations and water?plenty of watc-. There is great competition anions the men to spearc* with their forks the two lonely potatoes. After dinner I tried to wash out. the dixie with cold water and a ras, and learned another maxim of t&et trenches?"It can't be done." I slyly A - U-'l ^ ^ A yvw vvinn -C Wet I flit.*U Ulie Ui lliC UIUCI Uivrii Xiuut another section, and was horrified see him throw inio his dixie four ?rfive double handfuls of mud. Then hepoured in soxne water, tnid with hi?hands scoured the dirie inside ami 1 UlUU^JIL lie vr?r> >1 n ?i?????. iuj?. Supposing the cook should have se?E him! After half an hour of hbssccessfu1. ?.Torts I returned ray dixie the cook shack, being careful to put cap: the co*er, and returned to the \ li /v I I fo .? ^ Resting Back of the Lines. \ Pretty soon The cook poked his hea?3 ' in ihe door and shouted: "Hey, Yank^ come out here and clean your dixfe*"* 7 protested that I had wasted a halfhour on it already, and had used "!ip> my only remaining shirt in the attempt. With a look of disdain he erclaimed: "Blow me, your shirt t in didn't you use mud?" Without a word In reply I got buirr with the mud, and soon my dixie was:bright and shining. Most of the afternoon was spent the men writing letters home. I tiseC, my spare time to chop wood for Xhs cook and go wltb tne quartermaster tat draw coal. I got back just In tliar *jb* Issue our third meal, which consists^ of hot tea. I rinsed out my dixie- sag. returned it to the cookhouse^ and west back to the billet with an exhilarated feeling that my day's labor was doce.... I had fallen asleep on the straw . once again the eook appeared in door of the billet with: "Blime me, ye^ 1 Yanks are lazy. Who in a-goinTtt-.* craw ine waier ior ine mornm i^srt Do you think Tm a-groin' to? Waf\ . I'm not," and ho left I filled the dzzi* ? with water from an old squeaking . and once again lay down in the straw* (TO BE COVTLVUED.) FOR SALE?Hereford Bull. To pre. vent inoreedicg I am going to s^'.r A my ' oz<s;ei*ed Hereford BullwSirlar. i is t!:T>e and a half year^ old, wefeic fiftee-; \* sixteen hundred pouncf H| Pr;c^ resonable. A'pplj at one* tr~- fl J. L. B. Oxue: Lees^'llc, S. C, H. F D. No ? -