KHj] Private Hargrove!
t>y Marion Hargrove
rn STORY SO FAB: Private Marios
■uinri, former editorial employe* of
a North Carolina newipaper, baa keen
Mailed Into the army and I* receiving
Ms feaale training at Fort Bragg. Bo haa
keea elaisilod ai • cook. This el*«il-
SeaUen together with a mora than usual
naont of KP duty hare earned him to
become pretty well acquainted with the
Company kitchen. Privat* Hargrove
has become rather well veried la the
many anglei of "goldbricking" and other
army pasllmei. Ho clalmi, however,
Bat "(hooting the breeae" or the "boll
aeiiloa" 1» the aoldler'i favorite recrea
tion. At this ctaga of training gome of
the boya are experts In the art. As wo
pick up the story ha la discussing this.
CHAPTER IX
By this time, the evening bull ses
sions have worn themselves into a
very definite routine. If Corporal
tJssery is there, he lectures on how
he'd run the Army; if it's Private
Terrence Clarkin, he tells how he
Used to direct the intricate traffic
affairs of Radio City Music Hall
when he was assistant chief doorman
there. Unless Private Henri Geld
•rs is stopped, he'll start a violent
argument among the butchers over
how to cut a steak.
McGlauflin will talk for hours
about the beauties of the lakes in
Minnesota. Grafenstein will deliver
discourses on how he would run the
Wisconsin football team; Pappas,
•bout Alabama's Crimson Tide. Ma
dejewski will sermonize on the ut
ter baseness and treachery of wom
anhood.
Lately, however, the sessions have
come more and more under the
away of Private Merton Hulce, a
mad Irish lad from Muskegon, Mich
igan. Private Hulce apparently
didn't stop at kissing the Blarney
Stone. He must have stolen half
of it to carry with him.
Hulce's chief topic of conversa
tion is his mother's fabulous family,
the Smiths, all of whom seem to
get enmeshed in every war that
comes along. His grandfather, who
was a captain in the Coast Guard
at the outbreak of the last war, was
transferred to duty at guarding mu
nitions dumps and such for the dura
tion of the war.
According to Hulce, one of the
munitions guards with his grandfa
ther's detail was approached late
one night by an officer of the guard.
"Halt!" shouted the sentry, and the
officer halted. "Advance to be rec
ognized!" said the sentry, and the
officer advanced. The sentry for-
In the midst of this fiery hell he
paw a peach tree with peaches grow
ing on it.
got to order "halt" again and the
officer came within a foot of him.
Suddenly.the officer reached out and
inatched the rifle from the guahl'a
hand.
This was an exceedingly uncom
fortable position for the guard, espe
cially in that time of war. He might
even have been sentenced to death.
The officer stood there just looking
at the guard for fully a minute.
"What would you have done," he
asked in a terrible voice, "if an
enemy had got your gun like that?"
The guard trembled for a moment
and recovered. "I would have
snatched it back, sir," he said, "like
THAT!" And the officer stood there,
•mpty-handed.
Hulce's grandfather, who told that
story, is now about aixty-five, his
grandson says. He was asked to
come back into the Navy three
montha ago as a captain. Being a
Smith, he's back. With him in the
armed forces today are two of his
sons and two of his grandsons.
Merton had two uncles in the last
war, both of whom fared exceeding
ly well when you take a practical
- view of it. Neither tired himself
out. The first crossed the ocean
nine times playing the clarinet in a
troop ship's band. The Germans
torpedoed the boat once and the
holes in the side were stuffed with
mattresses. Hulce's uncle rode back
into port, still playing his clarinet.
That was the goldbricking uncle.
The other uncle served as a kay
pee on the trip across: Carrying a
tray aro'ind the deck, he was heck
led several times by a person he
soon grew to loathe. Eventually the
Irish wrath of the Smiths rose to
boiling point. Uncle Smith lifted
the tray high overhead and wrapped
It around the heckler's neck. He
spent the 'rest of the war in con
finement.
Then there was the cousin, grand
ma's sister's boy. Serving in the
front-line trenches, he grew suddenly
hungry one morning. Looking out
af the trench, ha saw a p«»rh tr«»
THE DANBURY REPORTER, DAN-BURY, N. C„ THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1943
growing there in the midst of the
fiery hell, and there Wtere still
peaches on it. He tried to sneak
into the tree, but the enemy's bul
lets 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
ber 11, 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 a month and
he'd still be defrauding the govern
ment.
Just watch the battery clerk for
a 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
tery clerk sits in the orderly room
hob-nobbing with the powers that
•be, typing the daily worklist 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. J
tripped over him yesterday evening
on my way back from a hard day's
work and stopped to chew the con
versational fat.
"Junior," I asked him, "how does
your conscience feel about this six
day goldbricking schedule every
week? Don't you feel a twinge on
payday?" :
Corporal Miller made a 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.
I do two or three times as much
work as you happiness boys."
I yawned and sat down. "After
listening to Ussery shooting off his
mouth fifteen hours a day, I can
take yours. Go on with your fan
tastic story."
"Boy," said Miller, "the responsi
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.
"I have to know the answer to
every dumb question you guys come
popping up with. Where's my mail?
When do I get my furlough? Where
are we going to be sent when we
get shipped out of here? Why didn't
I get a weekend pass? Why was I
on KP again today? Every sort of
question you could imagine!"
"Quit popping your guns, laddie,"
I told him. "That's no grind for
you. You use the same answer on
all the questions: 'How the he)l
would I know?' "
He was quiet for a while and I
thought he had gone to sleep again.
I was all primed to hum "Chow
Call" to wake him up, when he
stirred and sighed heavily.
"All right," I prompted him, "so
you're the one-man information bu
reau. . So what do you do in the
line of actual work?"
"Workl" he shouted. "That's
what I do^-workl Why, I have to
write all the letters and keep all
the files and keep duty rosters up
to date I I have to make thousands
of rosters of the battery every
month—"
"That," I 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
a pretty hard day ahead of me to
morrow, Hargrove," he said. "I
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!"
I dropped my stable broom in the
battery street and hastened 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 go out and drill like the other
fellows?"
"Noooo, Private Hargrove," he
said. "I 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.
"What's the deal?" 1 asked.
"Where do I go and what do I do?"
The sergeant chuckled and leaned
back in his chair. He sighed ec
statically twice. "Would you really
like to know, son, or would you
rather put it off as long as you
can?"
"Well," I said thankfully, "you
can't be sending me out as a cook,
because I don't know anything
about cooking."
The sergeant sat back and
drummed happily on the table.
"Great gods!" I shouted. "I'm
not going to be a cannoneer, am IT"
"No, Private Hargrove," he aaid
after another long pause, "you're
not going to be a cannoneer. We'ra
going to give you a job where you
can. use your natural talents."
There was a distinctly sadistic
tone in his voice. I waited.
"You're going to be a first cook,
Hargrove," he said fondly. "Not
just a plain cook. A head cook!
A king in your own kitchen, a man
of responsibility. Ainl that lovely?"
"You can't do this to me!" I
roared, when my breath returned.
"It's against every decent human
law! I don't know anything about
cooking! I want to be a cannon
eer!"
Sergeant Goldsmith's eyes wan
dered guiltlessly to the ceiling.
"You don't know anything about
cooking, huh? That's bad, boy,
that's bad! Why, you're supposed
to be on shift right now."
"Serjeant," I said, "I couldn't
fry an egg right now if it had di
rection# on the package."
"You're in the cooks' battery,
ain't yvu? You've been going to
cooking school and you've been sent
to a kitchen for all these weeks.
You're supposed to be graduated
any day now. What have you been
"Son," he said, "you're going to
make a perfectly breathtaking Hor
rible Example." I had nothing mora
to say.
doing in the kitchen I put you in?"
"Making jerk-ade," I explained,
"chopping celery, peeling onions.
They say I get in their way. They
say I keep spirits too high and pro
duction too low."
"I feel, for you," the sergeant
said. "I deeply sympathize. You're
going to be a mighty unpopular lit
tle boy in your new home. If tha'
supper tonight don't melt in them
boys' mouths and send them clam
oring for more, they'll either mas
sacre you or run you over the hill.
That's one thing the boys won't al
low—bum cooking!"
"Sergeant Goldsmith, sir," I im
plored him. "Can't somebody else
go in my stead? Somebody who can
cook? Look at me—a digger of
ditches, a mopper of floors, a scrub
berof kitchens, a ministering angel
to undernourished grass plots, but a
cook never! You don't know what
you're doing to me!"
"Son," he said, "you're going to
make a perfectly breath-taking Hor
rible Example!"
Then he rose and walked back
into the supply room. "Thomas,"
he said, "check in this yardbird'a
equipment."
Sergeant Israel looked up from
his Form Thirty-Two records.
"Don't he like his equipment?"
"Check in everything but his
clothing," the top kick said. "Get
a truck to take him to Headquar
ters Battery, FARC."
Sergeant Thomas W. Israel looked
up in faint amazement. I looked in
sheer bewilderment.
"They had to figure some way to
stop his cooking career and save
the morale of some battery as
would get him as a cook," said Ser
geant Goldsmith. "So he's being
palmed off to Center Headquarter*
as a public relations man."
The word "buddy" hasn't coma
into popularity yet in the new army.
I suppose that if there were such
things, Maury Sher would be mint.
Sher and I occupied adjoining bunk*
when I was in Battery A.
Private Sher is a smart and lik
able Jewish boy from Columbus,
Ohio. He went to school at South
ern California, until he learned that
all the world's knowledge doesn't
coma from the intellectual invalids
who usually teach the 8:30 class.
Then he went back to Columbus,
had an idea patented, and built him
self a restaurant shaped like •
champagne glass.
Came the fateful Sixteenth of Oc
tober and Sher enrolled for the S*
lective Service System. His appli
cation was accepted last July and,
since he had been the successful
proprietor of a restaurant, he was
classified as a promising studen* for
the Army cooking course.
The two of us got together whea
he was sent to the Replacement Cen
ter here. We started an acquaint
ance when I topped all his Jewish
jokes and began teaching him how
to speak Yiddish. I was attracted
by his native intelligence, his pleas
ant personality, his sense of humor,
the similarity of his likes and di»
likes to raine, his subscription to
PM, his well-stocked supply of cig
arettes (my brand), and the cookie*
he constantly received from home.
So we became or less con
stant companions. We made the
rounds here together, went to Char
lotte together, made goo-goo eyes at
the same waitress in Fayetteville
and swapped valuable trade sacroti
in goldbricking.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
•^3 —————————————a
IMPROVED
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY I
CHOOL Lesson
By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D.
Of The Moody Bible InsUtute of Chicago.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for December 26
Lesson subject* and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
GOD'S GREAT LOVE AND
HIS GIFT
LESSON TEXT—Matthew 2:1-12.
GOLDEN TEXT—For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son.
that whosoever bellevcth In Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.—John 3:16.
Christmas brings us all back to
the Christ-child in Bethlehem, and
we are reminded anew of our Lord's
coming into the world to be the Re
deemer. For the babe of Bethle
hem is the Christ of the cross, of
the resurrection, and the coming
King.
"God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son" in what
was the world's greatest love gift.
But the Word does not stop there.
We must do something about God's
gift. We read, "That whosoever be
iieveth on Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life" (John 3:
16).
The story of the coming of the
Wise Men to seek the One who had
been "bom King of the Jews" re
veals aeveral attitudes toward Christ
which find their counterpart in our
day. .
' I. Expectancy (w. 1, 2).
These men of another .race were
familiar with the Jewish Scriptures
and knew that the Messiah was -to
come. Many others, including the
religious leaders of the Jews, had
the same information. But these.
men of the East differed in that
they looked for His coming with
keen desire and expectancy.
One wonders if we have not be
come so familiar with the story of
Christmas that we, like the Jews,
have a dead knowledge without ex
pectant faith. We need to awaken
and look to God for new grace and
strength for these days.
11. Fear (vv. 3, 7, 8, 12).
Herod was a capable, ruthless, un
godly ruler who feared only that
someone would take his power from
him. He was so determined that
this should not happen, that he killed
many members of his own family
for whom he otherwise had apparent
affection.
When he heard that Jesus, who
was the real King of the Jews, had
been born, he feared, and laid crafty
plans to destroy Him. God saw to it
that his purpose was not carried out.
There are those of our time who
fear the coming of Jesus, because
they will not have Him to rule over
their lives. They love their selfish
ways, and their sinful pleasures;
and when they face the question of
what they will do with Jesus (and
face it they mast!), they have only
fear and hatred in their hearts.
111. Indifference (vv. 4-6).
When the Wise Men came to Je
rusalem to inquire where the Christ
was to be born, they received an
immediate answer—in Bethlehem.
That was clearly foretold in Micah
5:2. The priests and scribes knew
all about it, but their knowledge did
not move.them to action. They told
the Magi where to go, but they did
not go themselves.
How sad it is to see the indiffer
ence of our day to the claims of
Christ. There are many who think
that simply because they do not
hate the church, or the Bible, or do
not fight against it, they are guilt
less. How wrong they are will ap
pear to them if they will read Mat
thew 11:23, 24 and recall that the
sin of Capernaum was only indif
ference.
Wake up, careless one, and change
your indifference to love and faith,
lest you too be eternally lost.
IV. Joy (vv. 9, 10).
These earnest seekers for the
Christ-child were full of joy even
before they saw Him. "When they
saw the star," and knew that God
was indeed leading them, their
hearts leaped within them as "they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy."
Christmas is the time when there
should be real joy in our hearts. It
is not enough to be "merry" or
"happy." In fact, many thousands
could not possibly find anything to
be happy about this year.
Happiness depends on what hap
pens, but joy is the gift of God to
His children, which is so deep down
in their beings that circumstances
cannot change it. We may have
real, satisfying Christmas joy.
V. Worship (v. 11).
When they saw Christ, they wor
shiped. Have we been as wise as
they were? Then they made gifts,
showing that their worship had
that reality which made them ready
to sacrifice for Him. Have we done
anything this Christmas to show oui
joy and gratitude for the redemp
tion we have in Christ?
The writer of these lines (which
will reach you just before Christ
mas) wants to wish you and yours
a very blessed Christmas, and to
assure you that he is praying for
you that regardless of circumstances
the joy of the Lord may fill your
soul. Christ has come. He Is with
us now by faith. He will come again
to reign. The Child of Bethlehem's
manger is our Great Saviour and
Glorious King. Rejoice in Him I
Glittering Jackets and Blouses mm
Team Well With Slim Dark Sl^H
By CHERIE NICHOLAS Mgffl
FASHION'S new favorite, the sep
arate top for evening, provides
a lovely way .to stretch your dress
up wardrobe 'so that it will sparkle
Jour way brightly through the holi
day festivities. Charming little
dressy jackets and blouses are de
signed this year in a wide variety of
fcandsome formal rayon fabrics to
give you plenty of mix-and-match
changes to team -with your simple
long or short skirts. Eye-crashing
•glitter touches and flattering color
combinations add dramatically to
the gala effect.
. Because these dazzling "tops" are
smart for so many occasions, de
signers have produced a large col
lection made up of diversified types.
Flattering tuck-in blouses are done
on both semi-tailored and frankly
dressy lines, in such flashing novelty
weaves as striped rayon-and-metal
lames, metal-patterned rayon chif
fons, and metal-shot rayon taffetas.
They are also made of lovely soft
draping classic rayon glamour fab
rics, such as fine rich dull crepes,
jersies, satins (so smart this sea
son) and laces, the latter especial
ly lovely in chantilly or point
d'esprit types. These styles may
have very short sleeves or wrist
length and they show many varied
necklines from the new deep U-line
or square contour to high round col
larless buttoning in back or the flat
tering brilliant-buttoned shirtwaist
necks.
The gay dress-up blouse at the
top in the picture sponsors the new
high round neckline fastened at the
back. Jet nailheads, starred in a
scattered patterning against vivid
cerise rayon crepe, achieve a bril
liant and entrancing effect.
Great originality is shown in the
use of discreet trimming touches.
Dull white paillettes, for instance,
are exquisitely applied to fine snow
white rayon chiffon, for an effect
that is at once rich and delicate.
Glistening bands of sequin, bead and
metal embroidery add excitement to
many styles, edging necklines and
Jade Velveteen
WS^^&Jn
f; •;?'
I? /
L lMj||
. JbhHHK
>•■ : I
Bn i
g&
BU|
B ' ' -.1
B9L
'
Velveteen is making a grand show
ing this year. The dresses made of
it are in the most ravishing colors,
which is one of the reasons why
these gay and lovely frocks are cre
ating such a furore among party-go
ing teen-agers and the college set.
This season fancy turns to greens,
and jade green is the favorite of
thcrn all. The smart, simply-styled
velveteen dress shown is done in a
fascinating jade green, with hat ac
curately color-matched. Accessories
of a deep bottle green complete the
enwmble. It is dresses of this
typ* that will make sure-flre hits
with the boys on furlough. Perfect
for any "special" datel
front closings of Russian or Chinese
inspired creations or outlining yokes
and waistlines. Dainty rhinestones,
also jet and sequin patternings, scin
tillate against both fine rayon crepe
and diaphanous rayon lace, in ultra
feminine ruffly blouses, while bead
embroidered buttons and pocket
trims are seen on tailored rayon
crepe or satin styles that combine as
readily with a trim daytime suit as
they will with a full-length evening
skirt.
Luscious rayon fabrics of both
coat and dress weights, including
crush-resistant velvets in black or
deep jewel tones, decorative mate
lnsse crepes, rich failles and benga
lincs, the new heavier weight wool
and-rayon satins and soft textured
spun rayon tapestry effects are
all in demand this season for the
making of the important styling
jacket or blouse. These rich rayons
make the ideal background for the
dazzling jeweled motifs that are now
being lavished on jacket fronts or
shoulder yokes. The gleam of mul
ti-color bead and sequin floral or
fruit designs against dull-finished
crepe or soot-black rayon velvet is
especially effective, and designers
are playing it up to a finish.
An enchanting "after-five" jacket
designed to top the slim dark skirt
is pictured to the left in the group
illustrated. Here brilliant red se
quin cherries sparkle against a back
ground of fine black rayon crepe.
Note the new cardigan V-neckline
and large self-covered buttons. For
the glamorous jacket to the right,
which may be worn with or without
a hat for any occasion after dark,
shining sequins in exquisite pastel
tones are used artistically against
the rich raised patterning of the_
matelasse background.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
Chic Black Gowns
With Sheer Yokes
A perfect way to escnpe the "noth
ing-to-wear" lament when the un
expected happens in way of an invi
tation to a formal or perhaps not
so formal affair, is to have in re
serve at least one dressy black
gown. The type smartly in fashion
this season is the simple sheath
narrow street-length black dress that
has a transparent yoke or bodice top.
The best dressed women are going
all-out for black, through and
through. They like the yokes and
transparent shoulder insets that are
made of sheerest of sheer
marquisette that has a da/.zle-dust
of jet all over it. Throughout the
yoke part itself the sequin* are often
sprinkled sparingly in contrast to a
bordering of intricately worked jet
passementerie. Even young girls
are wearing these jet sparkling
sheer-yoked blacks, topping them off
with adorable caps or bonnets of jet.
Contrasting pastel marquisette tops
are also in favor, worked with deli
cate self-color beads.
Formal 'Dress-Up' Dickeys
Bring Drama to Ensemble
It's the "big moment" for dickeys
right now, so follow your urge to
buy a new dickey every time you
see one that strikes your fancy. This
season it's the formal dressy dickey
that is bringing drama into the faslv
ion picture. A dickey you'll adore
is made of marquisette, also of or-,
gandy, in delectable pastel pinks,
blues, pale greens or lavender.
These are all sparkly, all-over
starred with wee pinpricks of glib
ter. Then there's the gala-typs
dickey made of metal brocade. Ex
elusive looking is the black alencon«
type lace dickey sprinkled with jet
beads, also the black chantilly laca
dickey with a frilly lace jabot. Fu>
dickeys are newest of aIL