Bellefonte, Pa., March 8, 1918. Over the Top. (Continued from page 6, Col 4.) chie rations” (a can filled with meat, vegetables and greasy water), had been turned over to the company cook to make a stew for next day’s dinner. He also received the tea, sugar, salt, pep- per and flour. Scratching his head, the corporal | studied the slip issued to him by the quarter. Then in a slow, mystified voice he read out, “No. 1 section, 19 men. Bread, loaves, six.” He looked puzzled and soliloquized in a musing volce: “Six loaves, nineteen men. Let's see, ‘that’s three in a loaf for fifteen men— well, to make it even, four of you'll have to muck in on one loaf.” The four that got stuck made a howl, but to no avail. The bread was dished out. Pretty soon from a far corner of the billet, three indignant Tommies ac- costed the corporal with: “What do you call this, a loaf of bread? Looks more like a sniping plate.” The corporal answered: “Well, don’t blame me, I didn’t bake it; somebody’s got to get it, so shut up until I dish out these blinkin’ ra- tions.” Then the corporal started on the jam. “Jam, three tins—apple one, plum two. Nineteen men, three tins. Six in a tin makes twelve men for two tins, seven in the remaining tin.” He passed around the jam, and there was another riot. Some didn’t like apple, while others who received plum were partial to apple. After a while differences were adjusted and the issue went on. “Bermuda onions, seventeen.” The corporal avoided a row by say- ing that he did not want an onior, and 'T said they make your breath smell, so I guessed I would do without one too. The corporal looked his gratitude. “Cheese, pounds, two.” The corporal borrowed a jackknife (corporals are always borrowing), and sliced the cheese—each slicing bring- ing forth a pert remark from the on- lookers as to the corporal’s eyesight. “Raisins, ounces, eight.” By this time the corporal’s nerves had gone west, and in despair he said that the raisins were to be turned over ‘to the cook for “duff” (plum pudding). This decision elicited a little “grous- ing,” but quiet was finally restored. “Biscuits, tins, one.” With his borrowed jackknife, the icorporal opened the tin of biscuits, and itold everyone to help themselves—no- body responded to this invitation. Tommy is “fed up” with biscuits. “Butter, tins, two.” “Nine in one, ten in the other.” Another rumpus. “Pickles, mustard, bottles, one.” Nineteen names were put in a steel helmet, the last one out winning the pickles. On the next issue there were only 18 names, as the winner is elimi- nated until every man in the section has won a bottle. The rafile is closely watched, because Tommy is suspicious when it comes to gambling with his rations. ~ When the issue is finished the cor- poral sits down and writes a letter home, asking them if they cannot get ‘some M. P. (member of parliament) to have him transferred to the Royal Fly- ‘ing corps where he won’t have to issue rations. ; At the different French estaminets | in the village and at the canteens Tom- ‘my buys fresh eggs, milk, bread and pastry. Occasionally when he is flush, ‘he invests in a tin of pears or apri- ‘cots. His pay is only a shilling a day, '24 cents, or a cent an hour. Just imag- ‘ine, a cent an hour for being under fire—not much chance of getting rich out there. When he goes into the fire trench ‘(front line), Tommy’s menu takes a tumble. He carries in his haversack what the government calls emergency or iron rations. #They are not supposed to be opened until Tommy dies of star- vation. They consist of one tin of bully beef, four biscuits, a little tin which contains tea, sugar and Oxo cubes (concentrated beef tablets). These are only to be used when the enemy establishes a curtain of shell fire on the communication trenches, thus preventing the “carrying in” of rations, or when in an attack a body of troops has been cut off from its base of supplies. The rations are brought up at night by the company transport. This is a section of the company in charge of the quartermaster sergeant, composed of men, mules and limbers (two- wheeled wagons), which supplies Tom- my’s wants while in the front line. They are constantly under shell fire. The rations are unloaded at the en- trance to the communication trenches and are “carried in” by men detailed for that purpose. The quartermaster sergeant never goes into the front-line trench. He doesn’t have to, and I have never heard of one volunteering to do so. The company sergeant major sorts the rations and sends them in. . Tommy's trench rations consist of all ithe bully beef he can eat, biscuits, ‘cheese, tinned butter (sometimes 17 men to a tin), jam or marmalade, and ‘occasionally fresh bread (ten to & loaf). When it 1s possible he gets tea and stew. When things are quiet, and Fritz is behaving like a gentleman, which sel- dom happens, Tommy has the opportu- ——Put your ad. In the “Watch- man. . i | | nity of making dessert. This 1s | “trench pudding.” It is made from ‘broken biscuits, condensed milk, jam— ‘a little water added, slightly flavored with mud—put into a canteen and .cooked over a little spirit stove known las “Tommy’s cooker.” (A firm in Blighty widely advertises these cookers as a necessity for the ‘men in the trenches. Gullible people ‘buy them—ship them to the Tommies, who, immediately upon receipt of same throw them over the parapet. Some- times a Tommy falls for the ad, and uses the cooker in a dugout to the dis- gust and discomfort of the other oc- cupants.) This mess is stirred up in a tin and allowed to simmer over the flames from the cooker until Tommy decides ‘that it has reached sufficient (gluelike) ‘consistency. He takes his bayonet and ‘by means of the handle carries the ‘mess up in the front trench to cool. ‘After it has cooled off he tries to eat it. ‘Generally one or two Tommies in a isection have cast-iron stomachs and ithe tin is soon emptied. Once I tasted itrench pudding, but only once. © In addition to the regular ration is- sue Tommy uses another channel to ‘enlarge his menu. In the English papers a “Lonely Soldier” column is run. This is for the soldiers at the front who are sup- posed to be without friends or rela- tives. They write to the papers and itheir names are published. Girls and ‘women in England answer them, and send out parcels of foodstuffs, ciga- rettes, candy, etc. I have known a “lonely” soldier to receive as many as five parcels and eleven letters in one i 'week. CHAPTER VIII. The Little Wooden Cross. After remaining in rest billets for eight days, we received the unwelcome tidings that the next morning we would “go in” to “take over.” At six in the morning our march started and, after a long march down the dusty road, we again arrived at reserve billets. I was No. 1 in the leading set of ‘fours. The man on my left was named “Pete Walling,” a cheery sort of fel- low. He laughed and joked all the way on the march, buoying up my .drooping spirits. I could not figure out ‘anything attractive in again occupying ‘the front line, but Pete did not seem to ‘mind, said it was all in a lifetime. My ‘left heel was blistered from the rub- ‘bing of my heavy marching boot. Pete ‘noticed that I was limping and offered ‘to carry my rifle, but by this time I had [learned the ethics of the march in the ‘British army and courteously refused ‘his offer. We had gotten half-way through the ‘communication trench, Pete in my im- mediate rear. He had his hand on my ‘shoulder, as men in a communication "trench have to do to keep in touch with each other. We had just climbed over 1: bashed-in part of the trench when | in our rear a man tripped over a loose signal wire, and let out an oath. As usual, Pete rushed to his help. To reach the fallen man he had to cross this bashed-in part. A bullet cracked in the air and I ducked. Then a moan from the rear. My heart stood still. I went back and Pete was lying on the ground. By the aid of my flashlight I saw that he had his hand pressed to his right breast. The fingers were cov- ered with blood. I flashed the light on his face and in its glow a grayish- blue color was stealing over his coun- tenance. Pete looked up at me and said: “Well, Yank, they've done me in. I can feel myself going West.” His voice was getting fainter and I had to kneel down to get his words. Then he gave me a message to write home to his mother and his sweetheart, and I, like a great big boob, cried like a baby. ‘I was losing my first friend of the ‘trenches. Word was passed to the rear for a ‘stretcher. He died before it arrived. Two of us put the body on the ‘stretcher and carried it to the nearest first-aid post, where the doctor took ‘an official record of Pete’s name, num- ‘ber, rank and regiment from his iden- ‘tity disk, this to be used in the cas- ualty lists and notification to his family. We left Pete there, but it broke our hearts to do so. The doctor informed us that we could bury him the next ‘morning. That affernoon five of the boys of our section, myself included, went to the little ruined village in the rear and from the deserted gardens of the French chateaux gathered grass and flowers. From these we made a ‘wreath. ‘While the boys were making this wreath, I sat under a shot-scarred apple tree and carved out the follow- ing verses on a little wooden shield which we nailed on Pete’s cross. True to his God; true to Britain, Doing his duty to the last, Just one more name to be written On the Roll of Honor of heroes passed— ‘Passed to their God, enshrined in glory, Entering life of eternal rest, One more chapter in England’s story © Of her sons doing their best. Rest, you soldier, mate so true, Never forgotten by us below; Know that we are thinking of you, Ere to our rest we are bidden to go. Next morning the whole section went over to say good-by to Pete, and laid him away to rest. After each one had a look at the face of the dead, a corporal of the R. A. ‘M. C. sewed up the remains in a blan- ket. Then placing two heavy ropes across the stretcher (to be used in low- ering the body into the grave), we lift- ed Pete onto the stretcher, and rev- erently covered him with a large union | jack, the flag he had died for. The chaplain led the way, then came the officers of the section, followed by |’ two of the men carrying a wreath. Im- mediately after came poor Pete on the | flag-draped stretcher, carried by four soldiers. I was one of the four. Be- hind the stretcher, in column of fours, came the remainder of the section. To get to the cemetery, we had to pass through the little shell-destroyed village, where troops were hurrying to and fro. As the funeral procession passed these troops came to the “attention” and smartly saluted the dead. Poor Pete was receiving the only sa- lute a private is entitled to “some- where in France.” Now and again a shell from the Ger- ‘man lines would go whistling over the village to burst in our artillery lines in the rear. ~ When we reached the cemetery we halted in front of an open grave, and lald the stretcher beside it. Forming a hollow square around the opening of the grave, the chaplain read the burial ‘service. German machine-gun bullets were “cracking” in the air above us, but Pete didn’t mind, and neither did we. (Continued next week). Activities of Women. Women clerks for service in the British War Department are being recruited at the rate of 10,000 a day. Over 500 women and girls are em- ployed in the Altoona shops and offi- ces of the Pennsylvania railroad. At the present time there are 1,- 800,000 women in the United States successfully engaged in agriculture. Dr. Vera Danschakoff, of Moscow, Russia, has been appointed to the chair of anatomy at Columbia Uni- versity. Mrs. Clara M. Tead, formerly inves- tigator of the New York State branch of the committee of women in indus- try of the Council of National De- fense, has been selected a member of the Federay Government’s special staff of women supervisors for muni- on plants where women are employ- ———The first American cable across the Pacific was laid in 1903. It ex- tended from San Francisco to the Philippines, touching at Hawaii, Mid- way Island and Gaum. "It was 7,846 nautical miles in length. LAY OF THE GOVERNMENT | LADY. Anna Maria Sophia Jones Was just a bundle of skin and bones— The sort of woman you often meet With knobbledy fingers and large flat feet— Her hair was dragged behind in a bunch, | And she had dinner when you have lunch. | The “Youth” of The Land Goes Up To Sixty That a man is no older than he feels is an expression that applies equally to the matter of his appearance. The Government Lady came to the door— | With printed leaflets—dozens and more— | She spoke to Maria firmly and long— And all that Maria did was wrong. She oughtn’t to peel potatoes and boil them, To peel potatoes was only to spoil them; She oughtn’t to waste the pods of the pea; She oughtn’t to stew and stew her tea; She oughtn’t to feed her baby on bread Before it had ever a tooth in its head— (Anna Sophia, mother of five, Three were dead but two were alive, Always had given her baby bread Before it had ever a tooth in its head). She oughtn’t to spend her money on drink; She oughtn’t to stuff up the drain of the sink; ‘ She oughtn’t to shut out air and light; She oughtn't to close her window at night— (Anna Maria Sophia Jones Always fastened her window click, Air in a bedroom made her sick). She oughtn’t to buy herself ready-made clothes— : She oughtn’t—she oughtn’t—0 goodness knows * 3 % .» Before the Government Lady had ended Anna Sophia was greatly offended. i | | The models on exhibition and oth- ers in our stock will go far to prove the correctness of this assumption. Anna Maria Sophia Jones Was just a bundle of skin and bones. The sort of woman you often meet With knobbledy fingers and large flat feet. Her hair was dragged behind in a bunch. And she had dinner when you have lunch. But Anna Maria had spirit within her— The spirit that makes a saint of a sinner— When she saw what was right she went and did it And then, if need was, afterwards hid it. Anna Maria Sophia Jones Asked in dull and colourless tones The Government Lady to walk inside, Opened the door of the passage wide, Took a chopper and hit her hard, And buried the body in the yard. We take it for granted that when : we tell you they are “HIGH-ART CLOTHES” Made by Strouse & Brothers, Inc., Baltimore, Md. Effort and success are first cousins. you'll know besides that they are “best”---if not, a visit to our store CASTORIA. CASTORIA. 8 AVegetable PreparationforAs similating theFood ty Regula- | AN | {ing the Stomachsand Bowels of | AN INFANTS CHILDREN A Thereby Promoting Digestion 8011! Cheerfulness and Rest GontaitS| jum, Morphine nor} NARGOTIC | A A helpful Remedy for 281 | Constipation and Diart and Feverishness a Loss OF SLEEP Fac Simile Signature of out Exact Copy of Wrapper. 59-20-e.0-w CA Prices Range from North Water St. GASTORIR CASTORIA TR A Err A Series 18 .and 19. 12 DIFFERENT BODIES GEORGE A. BEEZER, AGENT, EEE I SE Er ee will convince you. FAUBLE’S. Allegheny St. =: BELLEFONTE, PA. For Infants and Children. Mothers Know That Genuine Castoria Always Bears the Signature of son. Prices are somewhat, but not strongly above the lev- el at this time last season. It is not safe to predict, but it does seem that prices are just now “passing over the top” and may be somewhat more reasonable in the near future. We Have Received New Evaporated Apricots at 25c and 30c a Ib. Fancy Peaches 20c and 22¢c 1b. Very Fancy Evaporated Corn at 35c a'lb. or 3 cans for $1.00. Fancy Selected Sweet Potatoes 5c a lb.—some grades at 3c to 4c a Ib. Very Fancy Cranberries at 18c per quart or pound. Almerin White Grapes, Celery, New Paper-shell Almonds, California Walnuts, Finest Quality Cheese. INCLUDE OYSTERS IN YOUR ORDERS We qu deliver fresh opened, solid measure at cost with other goods. WE MAKE OUR OWN MINCE MEAT. No item is cut our or cut short on account of cost—it is just THE BEST WE CAN MAKE and is highly recommended by all those who have tried it. If you have used it you already know—or try it just now. A LL GOODS in our line are thirty to sixty days late this sea- In Use For Over Thirty Years SECHLER & COMPANY, Bush House Block, - 57-1 - - - Bellefonte, Pa. Nt lf WW | THE CENTAUR COMPANY, NEW YORK CITY. Be Ready to Grasp an Opportunity! Tomorrow—this very day—a few hundred dollars might give you a chance in business, in real estate, that would start you on the road to wealth. : HAVE YOU THE FEW HUNDRED? If you haven't, make up your mind to accumulate that sum, for there’s no telling when such an opper- tunity will present itself. RS $895 to $1,800. Wh Start a Bank Account Today THE CENTRE COUNTY BANK, BELLEFONTE BELLEFONTE, PA.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers