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Show THE RICH COUNTY REAPER, RANDOLPH, UTAH See Here, Private Hargrove! ty Marion Hargrove i , THE STORY SO FAR: Private Marlon Hargrove, former feature editor of a North Carolina newspaper, has been Inducted into the army and is near the end of his basic training at Fort Bragg. He has been classified as a cook and In addition his failure to master some of the fundamentals of army life 'have re- suited In considerable extra KP duty. Thus he is thoroughly familiar with the Company kitchen and its workings. He has also learned the finer points of He Is editor of a section goidbricking. of the camp paper. As we pick up the the story, Hargrove Is entertaining Redhead at dinner. She Is having trouble getting the waiter to bring her a glass of water and Hargrove speaks: CHAPTER XV j. ' Ahem, I said. He stopped little of the tension passed and the major lapsed into one of his conveniently absent - minded rambles. In fact, I went on KP every time they inspected my rifle. Couldnt keep the thing clean. He paused. The mam thing that has us worrying this afternoon is the very same thing were being trained to protect. Its what they call the American Way and they spell it with capitals. I have my own ideas about the American Way. I think the American Way is shown in you boys whose parents paid school taxes so that you could know what it was to cut hooky. Its shown in the men who pay two dollars to see a wrestling match, not to watch the wrestlers but to boo the referee. Its the good old American spirit and you cant find it anywhere but here. You and I both, when we were called into the Army, brought our homes with us. Weve been thinking less about war than about getting back home after a while back to our girls and our wives and our A hum- ming a little tune with which he had ' engaged himself, and he looked at me with kindly curiosity. Ahem, I repeated. Are you the waiter with the water for my daughter? He turned on a tight, polite little smile. The water, monsieur, will be forthcoming. I have sent my friend Charles for the water. -f- cThe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor this afternoon came as stunning news to the men at Fort Bragg. The men who heard the news announcement over the radio this afternoon at the Service Club were, for j, civilian jobs. Well, we know now where we stand and we dont have to worry about whether were in for a long stretch or a short vacation. That should be cleared up now. We know that weve got only one job now and we havent time to worry about the one at home. Youre worrying because youre not prepared soldiers, youre not ready to fight yet. When the time comes for you to go, youll be ready. Youll have your fundamental training before you leave the Replace- ment Center. Spending your duty hours at work and your leisure hours at worry thats no good. Thats what the enemy wants for you. I guess thats all, boys. He turned to leave the microphone, but returned as if he had suddenly remembered something. The regular variety show will go on tonight at eight oclock, he said. -a- As an enlisted man, Ive done more KP than any man in this room, said the major, the most part, new to the Army, with less than a month of training behind them. Their first feeling of outrage gave way to the awful fear that they would be sent away, green and untrained and helpless, within a week. The rumor mill began operation immediately. New York and Fort Bragg will be bombed within the month, the rumors said. Probably, by that time, all of us will be in Hawaii or Russia or Persia or Africa. Green and untrained and helpless. This business of teaching a man for thirteen weeks in a replace-- ment center will be dispensed with, now that war is upon us. YouTe a civilian one day and a rookie member of a seasoned fighting outfit the next. Except for a few for whom the yadio held a terrible fascination the men thought first of communicating yith their families, their friends, heir sweethearts. They immediate-- y went for writing materials and or the two public telephones of the lub. Almost all of the 64,000 men of ort Bragg were trying to reach leir homes through the eight trunk hes which ran out of the pitifully verburdened little telephone in Fayetteville. Miss Ethel Walker, who was act--g as senior hostess for the Centers Service Club, id planned an entertainment pro-jafor the evening, but when she oked out at the tension in the so-hall, she despaired. She her boss, Major Herston M. joper, the special services officer. Theres no use trying to put on Shall e show tonight, she said. cancel it? And may I turn off ' e radio? a If its good program, keep it, id the major. And by all means ve the radio on. Just hang on; 1 be there in five minutes. The major, a former criminologist d schoolteacher in Birmingham, is a lean and mischievous-lookin- g lantry officer with a gift of gab d a camaraderie with the enlisted Bn. He sauntered into the Service ub, noised it about that he was ing to talk, and hooked up the blic address microphone. Here it comes, said an unhappy Here comes the ding corporal. gher brass, to tell us the worst. The major cleared his throat and iked over the crowd which gath-B- d about him. I know that this your Service Club, he said, and n a staff officer barging in on you. fore I was an officer, I was an listed man. And, as an enlisted in, Ive done more KP than any in in this room. ex-han- ge m al tele-lon- ed - They come and they go from the Replacement Center more quickly now, or perhaps it merely seems that they do. The training cycles have not been cut down much, but the turnover of men seems greater. Perhaps its just that we notice the arrivals and departures more, now that war has given them grimness. There was a group of new men coming in this morning, down at the railroad siding. Their new uniforms hung strangely upon them, conspicuous and uncertain and uncomfortable new uniforms on new soldiers. They were frightened and ill at ease, these men. A week ago they had been civilians and the prospect of the Army had probably hung over some of them like a Damoclean sword. They had been told, by friends, that the Army wouldnt be so bad once they got used to it. The Army will make you or break you, they had been told. The Army really isnt as bad as its painted, they had heard. All of this, in a diabolically suggestive way, had well-meani- ng ( li For a different flavor, substitute Dates filled with cheese, nuts or peanut butter make a good sweet brown for white sugar in bread to top off lunch. Serve them with pudding. crackers. Save all old leather from high-Those extra unused paper doilies top shoes for mending leather will stay clean and wrinkle-progloves, mittens, overshoes. It is if rolled up and placed inside a soft and pliable. mailing tube. Tie paper or cloth An old pair of curling irons over each end. makes an excellent gripper when Do not allow cover crops in the dyeing garments. They hold tight, vegetable garden to attain too and you can swish the material much top growth before digging about in the dye bath without its under, as then decomposition is slipping off as sometimes happens when a stick is used. often very slow. to terrify the opened conjectures most indomitable. This morning, they still hadnt had time to get over their fears. They still had no idea of what Army life was going to be like. Most of all and first of all, they wondered; What sort of place is this were coming into? Their spirits were still at their lowest point past, present, or of future. The Replacement Center band, led by wizened little Master Sergeant Knowles, was there to greet them with a welcome that might dispel from them the feeling that they were cattle being shipped into the fort on consignment. First there were the conventional but stirring military marches, the Caisson Song and all directions for making the most unique and the rest. And then there was a sly efficient closet you ever saw. There are and corny rendition of the Tiger a dozen or more places in almost every Rag, a friendly musical wink that house where this type of closet may be OGING said, Take it easy, brother. STITCHED built, in any size and depth from twelve inches or more. Send for Pattern No.1 , TO OILCLOTH Just as their arrival marks an SHELF COVER 256 to: emotional ebb, their departure is the WHIST BROOM AND BRUSH HAT flood tide. The men who came in MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS SHOE CLOTH a few weeks ago, green and terriNew York Bedford Hills A SMALL BO:. Drawer 10 PLEAT AT fied, leave now as soldiers. The corOF POCKETS Enclose 15 cents for Pattern No. 256. poral whom they dreaded then is UMBRELLA now just a jerk whos bucking for STOCKINGS Name RUBBERS sergeant. Although they are glad RINGS BONE that they have been trained with Address SEWN TO EDGE other men on the same level here, FASTEN OVER HOOKS IN DOOR the training center which was first a vast and awful place is now just want to make a gift that a training center, all right in its I F YOU really is different, try a door way for rookies. They themselves pocket planned for special needs. have outgrown their kindergarten. Notice the laundry bag flat against The band is at the railroad siding, the wall on a hanger with a pocket this time to see them off with a for handkerchiefs and fine things. flourish. They pay more atention Also the shelf covers of bright oilto the band this time. They know cloth with as a edging prepared the Caisson Song. They know finish. The dimensions in the their own Replacement Center sketch will give you ideas for reMarching Song, composed by one of modeling your own closet. their number, a quiet little teacher named Harvey Bosell. They NOTE: There is no further need to be hum the time as they go aboard. without enough closet space. Mrs. Spears has prepared a sheet 17 by 22 inches They see the commanding general containing illustrations and Buy War Sayings Bonds on side lines the with his standing aide. He is no longer an ogre out of Washington who might, for all they know, have the power of life and death over them to administer it at a whim. He is the commanding general, a good soldier and a gooc fellow, and it was damned white o:! him to come down to see them off. They board the train and they sit waiting for it to take them to their permanent Army post and their part in the war. As a special favor and for old times sake, the band swings slowly into the song that is the voice oi! The Sidewalks of their nostalgia, New York, Yankee or Rebel, Minnesotan or Navadan, they love that Closet Accessories to Make as Gifts That Are Useful and Also Different BOT-TO- M ex-mus- ic step-by-ste- p song. With the music still playing, the train pulls slowly out and Sergeant Knowles waves it goodby with his baton. An old sergeant, kept in the Replacement Center to train the men whose fathers fought with him a generation ago, stands on the side and watches them with a firm, proud look. Give em hell, boys, he shouts , behind them. Give em hell! THE END I wJ2SS- THE AFFAIR OF THE Black Sombrero tip. By CLIFFORD KNIGHT 0 A group of Californians join in a vacation adventure. Some fish, others sit around in the sun, some poke about among the natives of old Mexico. And one commits murder! Youll agree that this is one of the best mystery stories you have ever read. Look for it IN THIS PAPER BEGINNING NEXT ISSUE buos- - spec laci tally r with Grande - |