Newspapers / Trench and Camp (Charlotte, … / May 20, 1918, edition 1 / Page 5
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-HERE'S "A WOMAN'S OF AN AMERIC (This is the first instalment of a d i Written especially for "Trench and Cai fp?h? writer. The caadodiBg Inslalin. Sr "Trench nod Guv") v. By MTY0 JP^ (Editor of the DaHf Trojan, P?1 gf..' "I don't want to go home, P I don't want to go home. For I'm having a wonderful time," W;; whined the carwheels aa we hnrried T homeward. Here I waa, Just becoming ?|gjv reconciled to being a Woman all my life, when along came the army and T;-! upset my equilibrium. I don't like being upset. It's painful. I wish I were bora to be a soldier. Being 5?.'. a girl isn't half bed if you're aa lucky as I, hat If 1 had my life to live over js I should certainly dpply to headtf . quarters for a man's commission in W: the army. . , Yes, alter being threatened at the K point of a gan and being .requested to leave Camp Kearney threq times 'with more force than elegance, I like the army, army camps and army life. And I realize that, as one sergeant remarked to me, a soldier's jfc : life is no dream, either, unless It he a nightmare. Neither K. P. nor M. >*' P. can be called Joyfal experiences. ?*'/ ' But still I like it. Uniforms are very E '* becoming. & -v ^ "Not a Dm Was Heard" We rode the fourteen miles from m*' city to camp that first morning in a 3"' ' Ford. Just before we reached camp we saw a road gang in the newest of S.. blae overalls digging what looked m-Z like. an irrigation ditch, and work \ ing as if the boss ware away and they fSS', knew It. I admit I was surprised to Wt 'see they were soldiers. In overalls? - and digging! Where, oh where,wore ~ . the brass buttons, the gold braid, the swords and guns? There wasn't even ^ a band, that Indispensable accom, panlment of the army, to cheer the boys to victory over the rocky ground. One ideal shattered, I thought with disappointment. Bst V; the sun still shone and the Ford p-rgmbled on. g" Over on the left appeared rows jand rows of khakl-colored tents sod long, low buildings that looked like Eg- cow sheds. Since the rest of the ggyfc. ground was a sagebrosh desert it took imagination to decide that that ihJi . iBM?t hn the mmn. Here the road i turned and a man In uniform came pout of the real eatate office on the tract to atop us. I was just going to l$ell him that we did not want to buy any land or take up a claim when he asked to see my pass. As we entered, a number of ambulances and some artillery passed out. Everybody was laughing and .talking. They didn't take it at all seriously. They might have been going on a picnic instead of to the artillery. range. Then as we rode along I found out that the Bhcds were what you call mess halls, but they looked Irouite neat to me. Everyone slept Jin. tents, and I surely felt sorry for them,' freezing In winter and mosquitoed "In- summer, but an officer told me ^ttiat they are planning to build wooden barracks. Tents are too expensive, lasting a year. Every now and then we passed an orderly galloping down the street and cutting comers better than our Ford could. Yonder was a soldier strolling along with apparently not p care in the world and ready to flirt fBjji? iiyua nv pi uTuuot.iv/u ?b ?... %t&~ we came to the downtown district W and stopped at the T. M. C. A. Ad reVinlnistration building, - where we found my host, the local Trench and % Camp editor, under a pile of debris, PP. reading a carload of poems contrib?rr uted by various company poets. Most 3* * Of them sang the praises of the girls B^Jliey left behind them. Second in Jfopularlty were the odes to the best Sjjjp Known member of the House of HoJBS henZbllern. The editor crawled forth. > straightened to his full height and ft peered down at me from under his green eyeshade. He would be ready a short while. Until then I might wait here, or over at the Hostess House. I went to the Hoetess House. A Little Bit of Home g The Hostess House was a home, 'in ppirit if not In fact. But there anv cMfl thorp either. Men. v- men everywhere. I never knew there were so many men in the world ><- . nntll I visited that camp. Several -nr: were sitting oToaad oa the porch. Regular summer resort, I decided. <i?_ -Inside' three ware lounging on a *' cushioned seat before a hnge log lire ' ?on a hot day. Some were writing r : at the various tables around the {$---reera. Two were giving us a viev. trola concert which varied in selee'i-: Hons tress "Some Snnday Horning" 5 to Alma Glnck and John McCormack. A short, wild-looking little man In EYEVIEW" AN TRAINING CAMP estsipUse stuff sbost Camp Keanqr, p," bp a, Jwa aad ofassmat femiEBt will appear in Use aest lane of DDBEKE 's , t . nrritjr of Southern California.) ?, petition. The victroU operators retreated in disgust. Nothing is more annoying to the sensitive ear, I judge, than popular music beyond its third season. "He does that every time," said one, so I offered to take the piano stool the next time he arose to make a "new" selection. "Go to it," they said, and I did. I couldn't play any better than he could, but they said at least I played in a different tempo. Two girls came in, tired but expectant-eved. He would be there. Thev had come two hundred miles to see him. They waited. Finally they Inquired of one of the men If he could tell them where to find him. Yes. he belonged to that regiment. Did he know George? No, but he could find out about him. George was quarantined at the base hospital. It wasn't very long before Mr. Editor arrived and we set forth to view the Pike "an' everything." On the left was the postofflce, a large, barnlike structure; over there the library, with about ten empty shelves to each one filled with books (no wonder they needed a book drive!) and the post exchange, where one c**n buy anything except hairpins. For lunch we were with an ambulance company that claims Ruth St. Denis as its godmother. That's another nice thing about being a soldier; you get a beautiful and famous woman as your godmother in addition to all your other relatives. Mess Too "Spoony" Mess was ready. I stood in line with, the rest of them, my kit out ready for service. There was just one trouble with that kit Each part was too big, especially the spoon. I don't know what site mouths most men have, but I might as' well have tried to feed myself with a coal shovel as with that spoon. The cup also was devised with great ingenu ity. One never knew when the handle wan going to slip oat of place to help one lose the contents. The eats were fine. It was fishday and the fish was cooked as well as if fhe cook were the Rltz-Carlton chef. Also there was plenty of everything? PLENTY. We sat on benches like those at a ftock ranch bunkhoues. There was no tablecloth, for which I knew the laundress was thankful. The floor was covered with sawdust like a circus ring, so I wasn't surprised when I looked up to see a man flapping his arms slowly and carefully, his head on one side, looking for all the world like an American eagle. "Do you usually have a cabaret?" I asked. . r, - x% "Oh, that's Ted Shawn," said the man next to me. "He enlisted in this company, and his wife, Ruth St Denis, has adopted the-company. She gives us our breakfast every Tuesday morning." Awfully Scientific After moss everyone washes bis own dishes. Army dishwashing is reduced to a science, worthy of note in Good Housekeeping. Two pails of water are set outside the door?one ononv Via nth or rlMP If vnn pot little and eat that little fast, you have the opportunity of washing your utensils In fairly hot and clean water. The glutton has his just reward when his turn comes at the cold and greasy liquid. * While I waited I Inspected the kitchen. One man was cutting up a flank of beef In an entirely original manner. 1 asked him sweetly If he was a professional butcher, but be glared at me and snapped, "Hardly." I decided that I liked the other side of the room best. Men don't seem to like work in the kitchen, do they? Now personally 1 should feel more at home there than on the parade ground. .Two soldiers came In, dragging an unwilling comrade between them. The sergeant began an Inquisition. "Whafs wrong with you?" he asked. #a?!miA " IMlOWOrflil hlfl "uu* .. .. ? ?? ? brother* in K. P. for him. ^ "Did yer get permlshlon?" The culprit nodded his head in aseeni. ,'j "Yes, MR," snarled the non-com., and begun a short but concentrated lecture on the afterlife of naughty little boys who run away from K. P. After seeing Ug, strong men cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, scrubbing Poors. pheHag potatoes and onions, I can see some adrantages in marrying a soldier?if one mnst marry. -. ^ lnp camp RECOMENDCD f=opi th e CAVALRY. U. S. Men in "Scratch Army" Congratulated and Thanked UUUt-rai V/4ICJ a o\.i aim biuij already has won a place in enduring military history. It is no small gratification to the people of tills country to know that America played a large part in that "stop-gap" achievement of this "scratch army." General Rawlinaon, of the British army, has written a letter to "the commanding 'officer of an American regiment" who took charge of the U. S. engineer troops, cooks, orderlies and railway men and aided Brigadier-General Carey to hold a portion }f the British line from March 22 to 27."* The letter says: "Tho army commander wishes to record officially hia appreciation of the excellent work your regiment has done in "assisting the British army to resist the enemy's powerful offensive during the last ten days. I fully realise it has been largely due to your assistance -Chat the enemy has been checked, and I rely on you to assist us still further during the few days still to come before I shall be able to pelieve you in the line. I consider your work in the line to ho e-reatlv enhanced by the fact that for six weeks previous to taking your place in the front line your men have been working at such high pressure, erecting heavy bridges on the Somme. My best congratulations and warm thanks to all." RED CROSS SALUTES The Red Cross has adopted the United States Army saluting system Orders have been issued that Red Cross workers, upon coming into the presence of their superior officers In ' the Red Cross organization, must salute. "The requirements of military courtesy will be carefully observed," says the order, which describes the American salute as follows: "The American salute Is made by raising the right hand smartly till the tip of the forefinger touches the lower part of the headdress, or foreSTfcAr above the right eve. thumb and fingers extended and joined, palm to the left, forearm inclined at ahoet -46 degrees, hand and wrist straight; at the same time look toward the person sainted, then drop the arm smartly by the side." J MAIL IT TO MOTHER Trench and Camp will be appreciated by yonr mother. Send this paper home and continue to send all yonr other copies home so that yonr mother may get the news from yonr camp and rare the papers for yon to read when yon get back from "Orel There." C ' r" " . ' h (The following letter has come to the attention of Tktnch akd Camp. It is vjl'ffirt from a National Guard officer, called for the second time in a year to give up his gainful occupation of civil life, to yLgr \Xi leave his home and his wife and child. ft is a human document and not the less ^1/j )h #1 interesting in that is has come to light jW nearly a year after it was written.) I gfyfffl My dear, >| nJMr.l Am T VioaoA nnd (h? Hmf IriH. IQfil 7j JM die this morning and as we waved IBB/ i jj farewell at the train there was much mJa that I wanted to say. Rut somehow Ph l| rk j# I could And no words. This is the B second time, dear, that we hare faced M jB?jU*J the possibility of war. It seemed 0 Hrd i serious when the Mexican trouble B^B / H threatened. It was serious for us, B more serious than for many, because Bi W/z/A we had to give up everything. Who / jM would have thought that so soon t ii again the call would come? But I HL i cannot help feeling glad that it has come. Somehow I am proud today, \ ^2^3" prouder than I over have been that the uniform I wear is that of the flWHr United States. I have wanted this country to enter the war. I have wanted it know- m ing all the time that it would mean separation from you. And I feel in Wwtjtf{mA my heart that you have wanted it. We both have an old lineage; and it vfm/^ljfjL is a proud one. Your family and mine were united in Revolutionary days in fighting for freedom and in protesting against the tyranny of a < German King. How history repeats ^LC^'^Sx itself. We are Joined in marriage 1 now and yet the old tie, the tie of V/ffflf////' I love of right is stronger even than '///J-ft ' I that; for we give np a life that in our I marriage has been beautifully, happy . in order that I may serve the right I Jpjj'J love and that you may serve it, too. , cUttf For yours is a patriotic duty. You ^Xm^RB > will be lonely; so will I. .^iSX So far as you are concerned, I do j^H not feel that this separation is for- ^HVBB ever. 'Even if I do not come back to j^Pv our home in America, 1 know that W* we snail meei. ums is a mm count- l \ - -/j tian with mo. I do not assert it now T jA in order that you may be buoyed up, f j for I know that you share this fafth. Ijt* tk J Our lore is founded upon something substantial. It has been tried and tested. You know, dear, how wo I used to joke about the flfth year of married life as the most dangerous , year. And you know what a trial it was to us. The loss of little Ethel? g? _^J I scarcely can think of it even now. gs. GjmM And how one thing followed another! p" /vE Yet through it all there was some' thing very sweet in our relationship H We never doubted each other through any of the trials of that year; and each ministered to the other. H^HHkv -Vjj It seems hard, now that every- lajMl wj thing would have been such smooth sailing. But what a glorious privi- |^b|B lege it is to be among the first to go! What an opportunity there is for me Jy ? to serve. I did not join the National |{TrT Im Guard to serve merejy in peace. I ? felt that it was an arm of the service j that could be employed immediately by the government. I believed in preparedness. The country would igfF^grj not have it. We did what we could IxlPAJH 1 in the Guard. It was not much; but it was the best we could do. KI J { /It We arc not finished soldiers; no If4 if/' nno ronli7.es that better than I do. ft If l! There is much, very much, that I 'x * 11 . have to learn. When we get -on the other side it will be a case of applying all my zeal for learning to this * one thing. I have a responsibility to ^ i the men who are with me; and I ' ^ ? would never want it said that any one of them lost his life, or was wounded lV even, because of something that I FJci did not know or something that I had left undone. They are fine fellows, all those that are with me. I suppose in the home of each of them there is a situation like that in onr home. Each 1 has made some great sacrifice to serve his country. . This is a longer letter than I had f ' planned; but there was so much I > wanted to say. Watch over the kiddie. Teach him at home before he ?% goes to school, feach him tp be / / brave; teach him that if his daddy kA5 1 does not come back he is the man of the house. Make him love my moraory. And as early as you can, direct his thoughts to God and Christ Jesus. 1 If I am not to rejoin you here, teach him that he and you will rejoin me dear. Evervthine I could do I have done. If it does so lltfi hafcpen that I shall not come back. JMfJr//TT you "will find fall arrangements made. Riflr/// 't Open the envelope addressed to you P . 2 which you williind in the safe deposit IIyffJJlvault. (Jrood-hye. wife of my heart; know that I shall always think of you : and that I hope?oh? how I hope?it ; jnay be given us to pick up the ends of oar life again. God bless and keep W you. HJDGAK. I H. O. 8. at In Europe food is so scarce it is sacred. To waste it is sinful.
Trench and Camp (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 20, 1918, edition 1
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