Show in n N alrica africa with the british eighth by george loit lait antl news service war uw corr correspondent espo adent who is back alter after 31 months continuous action under fire fir first ii in the london blitz blits then in the eastward british retreat and the tr triumphant westward rammel Romme brout rout to bizette with eighth army lie ile lived in the desert tar for a year and a hall half was wounded three times m es and frequently cited tar for valor it gets really hot in the western desert degrees and no shade being quite common during the summer sea season son but it Is no more uncomfortable than new york at 93 degrees in the desert its just jus us t heat in new few york its humidity the american american fliers and british tom mies wear lightweight clothing for comfort but the arab wraps up in heavy woolen blankets and half a dozen flannel nightshirts night shirts to keep out the heat beat uncomfortable for table the doche boche and glazos are scrupulous observers of international law as regards regard s rendering useless the infrequent wells in the desert instead of poisoning the vital water supply which is prohibited by agreement they pollute wells as they retreat by killing a camel sheep or goat and tossing the carcass into the well makes water temporarily unfit for or human or animal consumption but permanently destroy the spring several times during the eighth ardys 2500 mile chase affer rommel this was the only water we had bad we drank it by hold ing the nose retained it a few moments and then did a railing ot of the ship act but managed to gain just enough moisture to keep going when forced to abandon huge hogs heads of wine at bobruk the running italians paused just long enough to pour a gallon of gasoline into each b barrel arrel so we used the wine in the radiators of our desert cars and drank the water originally intended for the radiators mall mail deliveries to the boys out there vary in my own experience from one week to eight months through the U S army post office 1 I have received airmail letters from new york to tripoli in seven days through the regular steamer mail via cairo and the civilian delivery setup a christmas package from sherman bherman billingsley billingsley was delivered to me in july it contained six not too sedate neckties for which an arab offered to exchange a wife or a ca camel mel and books of stork ca club ab matches which are priceless out in the blue in tunisia where the stork is considered a bird of f favorable a omen Sheri shermans Sher mans nans match books were highly acceptable gifts and valuable articles of barter in our dealings with the Sen tau reg and berber sheiks the rate of exchange was one book of at matches for one egg one book of matches for one scrawny chicken one book of matches for one meal certain bedouin tribes and also the famous indian of go eighth army never draw their knives the scabbards unless the blade draws blood to expose the naked blade without blooding it makes the weapon lose face so when a bedouin or churka takes his bis knife out to show to a pal he e i cuts his own finger to draw a drop ot of blood before returning it to its sheath in new york when a dame wants to give a guy a brushoff brush off she tells tella him her same is miss trout and gives him the phone number of the aquarium as hers in cairo and alexandria under similar circum stances atances ct ances she gives him the phone number of the egyptian army barracks and tells him to ask for Ya kamenick Yamen menick lck talata in arabic right by threes or squads right the arab in the cities of north africa is dirty beyond civilized belief the bedouin of the desert how ever is meticulously clean although he may die of old age without ever having had a bath in water the desert arab scrubs himself many times dally daily with fine dry sand at least seven times dally daily as he must cleanse himself thoroughly before each of the seven required daily prayers to allah throughout north africa the common tongue is arabic but dialects differ to so widely wl dely that natives of one region cant understand the speech of other regions but written arable arabic is the same throughout as all literate erate e arabs arab learn to write from the koran so while an arab cant always ways s talk to a stranger if both can write they th ey can get along fine by scratching tracings in the sand ordinary dry tea leaves leave are the most valued article of barter between the troops in the th desert and the arabs A pound of tea is worth about 8 in the desert region of egypt libya Cyrena ica and itania sugar Is second in the arabs choice has heesh prohibited by law third when I 1 first arrived in the african desert the normal rate of exchange was 75 eggs for a canteen cup of dry tea As more and more soldiers ol diers poured into north africa the rate dropped to one cup ot of tea one egg |