OCR Text |
Show THE RICH COUNTY REAPER, RANDOLPH, UTAH S3 - See Here, Private Hargrove! ty Marion Hargrove Thats nothing but a full field pack, A soldier stuck his head through the door of our new dormitory and Nine gave a sharp whistle. oclock! he yelled. Lights out and no more noise! Go to sleep! It has been, withal, a very busy day, I said to Piel, who was buried with his hay fever in the next bunk. It sure withal has, he said. What a day! What a place'! What a life! With my eyes wide open Im dreaming! Its been a little hellish out I stood there, wondering what I was supposed to do next, an attendant caught me from the rear and strapped to my shoulders what felt like the Old Man of the Mountain after forty days. Straighten up, soldier, the attendant said,' and git off the floor. CHAPTER H such as you will tote many miles before you leave this mans army. Now I want you to walk over to that ramp and over it. Thats just to see if your shoes are comfortable. With these Oregon boots and this Durden of misery, I told him firmly, I couldnt even walk over to the thing. As for climbing over it, not even an alpenstock, a burro train, and two St. Bernard dogs complete with brandy could get me over it. There was something in his quiet, steady answering glance that reassured me. I went over the ramp in short order. On the double, I think the Army calls it. From there we went to the theater, where we were given intelligence tests, and to the classification office, where we were interviewed by patient and considerate corporals. And what did you do in civil life? my corporal asked me. I was feature editor of the Charlotte News. And just what sort of work did you do, Private Hargrove? Just give to- day, I agreed, although it could have been worse. We actually saw a corporal and he didnt cuss us. We have eaten Army food twice, and, except for the haphazard way the pineapple was thrown toward the peas, it wasnt horrifying. I am broken and bleeding, moaned Piel. Classification tests, typing tests, medical examinations. we loaded the cans into the truck. Away we went to headquarers company and painted more garbage cans. It was definitely suppertime by now. Now can we go home, Private Dooley, sir? asked Lisk. I looked at Lisk every time the blindness left me, and I could see the boy was tired. Git The private sighed wearily. in the truck, he said. Away we went back to our street. We stopped in front of our barracks and Private Dooley dismounted. The truck driver, he said, would appreciate it if you boys would go and help him wash the truck. We sat in the back of the truck and watched the mess hall fade away behind us. Two, three, four miles we left it behind us. We had to wait ten minutes before we could It took us fifteen get the wash-piminutes to wash the truck. By the time we got back to the mess hall, we were too tired to eat. But we t. ate. -l- sa- 7 A quiz with answers offering ? information on various subjects ? w(uwci.(v.(w(v(wcwcw(k.(b(u(k((w(u(k(u(w(w The Questions The Answers 1. If you are contumacious, you are what? 2. How many locks has the Suez canal? 3. In the United' States navy which flag may be flown above the Stars and Stripes? 4. What great writers middle name was Makepeace? 5. In what part of his body did Paris mortally wound Achilles? 6. What is Hedonism? 7. Who discovered Cuba? Rebellious. The Suez canal has no locks. It is at sea level. 3. The church pennant. 4. William Makepeace Thackeray. 5. The heel. 6. The doctrine that pleasure is the chief or sole good in life and that moral duty is fulfilled in the gratification of pleasure-seekin- g instincts. 7. Columbus. Clean rain water makes the best cooling fluid for the auto or tractor radiator in summer, since it does not form scale in the radiator tubes as hard water does. The cooling system should be flushed occasionally. When making jelly, shave up a sufficient quantity of paraffin, place in the empty jelly glass and pour in the hot jelly. The paraffin melts, rises to the top, and seals the jelly all in one performance. 1. 2. Should the wooden handle of a It was through no fault of mine Corduroy need not be pressed. crosscut saw break, temporary horseshoe. that I was a kitchen policeman on A whisk broom is a cool way to bolt on a worn-omy sixth day. The whole barracks bring up the nap and restore its This will serve quite well until a ut new handle can be had. er g, gold-brickin- So we quietly went to sleep. Atmmn got the grind. And it was duty, not softness. punishment. It was all very simple, this KP business. All you have to do is to get up an hour earlier, serve the food, and keep the mess hall clean. After we served breakfast, I found a very easy job in the dining hall, where life is much pinker than it is in the kitchen. A .quartet was formed and we weie singing Home on the Range. A corporal passed by just as I hit a sour note. He put the broom into my left hand, the mop into my right . . . There was a citizen-soldifrom Kannapolis to help me clean the cooks barracks. For a time it was me a brief idea. Seven minutes later, I had fin- awful. We tried to concentrate on the floor while a news broadcaster ished answering that question. Lets just put down here, Edi- almost tore up the radio trying to decide whether we were to be in He sighed compastorial worker. And what did you do the Army ten years or twenty. sionately. before all that? We finished the job in an extremeI told him. I brought in the pub- ly short time to impress the corthe poral. This, we found later, is a licity work, the theater ushering, and the printers serious tactical blunder and a discredit to the ethics of deviling. Private Hargrove, he said, the The sooner you finish a job the army is just what you have needed sooner you start in on the next. to ease the burdens of your existThe corporal liked our work, unence. Look no farther, Private Har- fortunately. Kannapolis was allowed grove, you have found a home. to sort garbage and I was promoted -f- iato the polishing section. This was a lovely morning. We I was Themos Kokenes assistant. began at daybreak and devoted all He washed and I dried. Later we the time until noon to enjoying the formed a goldbricking entente. We beauties of nature. We had a drill both washed and made Conrad Wilsergeant to point them out to us. son dry. We marched a full twenty miles Pollyanna the glad girl would have without leaving the drill field. found something silver-line- d about Lunch, needless to say, was deli- the hot sink. So did I. At least, cious. I told Kokenes, this will give me We fell into bed, after lunch, deback a chance to recover from that termined to spend the afternoon in mop. dreamland. Two minutes later, that We left the Reception Center mess infernal whistle blew. Melvin Piel, hall a better place to eat in, at guardhouse lawyer for Company A, explained it all on the way downstairs. We were going to be assigned to our permanent stations. I fell in and a corporal led us off down the street. I could feel the California palm trees fanning my face. We stopped at Barracks 17 and the corporal led us inside. Do we go to California, corI asked. poral? Naah, he said. Where do we go? I asked him, . a little disappointed. Tovthe garbage rack, he said. Double quick. He thumbed Johnny Lisk and me to the back of the soda-jerkin- The old sergeant, his face beaming sweetly, purred, You are now members of the Army of the United States. Now, damn it, shut up. I think I walked eighteen miles through those medical examinations. Its a good thing this is July. I would have frozen in my treks with all that walking and exposure. Nothing I had on, except a thin little iodine number on my chest. ? IUVICI a size nine. These shoes are to walk in, not to make you look like Cinderella. You say size nine; your foot says ten and a half. We filed down a long counter, picking up our allotted khaki and denims, barrack bags and raincoats, mess kits and tent halves. Then we were led into a large room, where we laid aside the vestments of civil life and donned our new garments. While ASK tiMk.kiC.(i.Mv.(U(k.bCkMb(. NI.N.U, THE STORY SO FAR: Edward Thomas Marion Lawton Hargrove, feature editor of the Charlotte (N. C.) News, has started his story of a privates life in the army by giving prospective doughboys some solid advice on what coarse to pursue the days and nights before Induction. He advises them to paint the town red. On getting into the army be tells them to keep your mind open" as the first three weeks are the hardest. Like a Job in civil life, says Hargrove,. its the ' first Impression that counts. He has received his own induction notice and with a number of other has completed the first day at camp. He is stationed at Fort Bragg, N. Carolina. MS I A bowl of delicious Rice Krispies a dash of milk. Hear that snap I crackle! pop! There's a dish in vitamins, minerals and protein. Rice Krispies are restored to whole grain food values in thiamin (Vita- g. well-round- pot-and-p- an ed min Bi), niacin, and iron. Cost. IMS b Kdlsg Company j - This morning we took the Oath. One of the boys was telling me later that when his brother was inducted inAlabama, there was a tough old sergeant who was having an awful time keeping the men quiet. Gentlemen, he would beseech them, Quiet, please! They were quiet during the administration of the Oath, after which they burst forth again. The old sergeant, his face beaming sweetly, purred: You are now members of the Army of the United States. Now, damn it, SHUT UP. 1 IBfi This .morning our first morning in the Recruit Reception Center began when we finished breakfast barracks. At the garbage rack we found and started cleaning up our squad-roofragrant garbage A fatherly old three extremely found more. Lisk private, who swore that he had been cans. Outside, we s, stared at demoted from master sergeant four and I, The overcheerful them. private to of lined us in the 'front times, up barracks and took us to the dis- whom we were assigned told us, When you finish cleaning those, I t pensary. to be able to see my face in want If the line in front of the mess hall dwindled as rapidly as the one at them! Theres no accounting for the dispensary, life would have loveliness to sell above its private con- tastes, Lisk whispered. Neverthecleaned them and polished sumption stock. First youre fifteen less, we feet from the door, then (whiff) them and left them spick and span. Now take em outside and paint youre inside. Then youre standsaid the private. White. Git em, two and orderlies the between ing black the paint and paint HQCO-RRshow is on. on both sides of all of them! The one on my left scratched my This is summer, I suggested. arm and applied the smallpox virus. The only thing .that kept me from Wouldnt something pastel look keeling over was the hypodermic better? The sun was affecting the private. needle loaded with typhoid germs, which propped up my right arm. I think youre right, he said. So From the dispensary we went to we painted them cream and lettered a huge warehouse of a building by them in brilliant orange. All afternoon, in a blistering sun, the railroad tracks. The place looked like Goldenbergs Basement we painted garbage cans. The other on a busy day. A score of fitters Charlotte boys waved to us as they measured necks, waists, inseams, passed on their way to the ball , heads, and feet. park. Happy voices floated to us , My shoe size, the clerk yellec from the post exchange. down the line, was ten and a half. The straw-bos- s private woke up, I beg your pardon, I prompted, yawned and went a'way, telling us I wear a size nine. what would happen if we did liketruck.. Forgive me, he said, a trifle wise. He returned soon intoa us and motioned He wore peremptorily T preary, the expression is m. gray-haire- d, citizen-soldier- C When you finish cleaning those cans, I want to be able to see my face in them. any rate. But KP is like a womans work never really done. Conrad Wilson marked one caldron and at the end of the day we found that we times. had washed it twenty-tw- o Jack Mulligan helped me up the last ten steps to the squadroom. I finally got to the side of my bunk. I said to the group Gentlemen, which gathered around to scoop me off the floor, I dont ever want to see another kitchen! The next morning we were classified and assigned to the Field Artillery Replacement Center. Gene Shumate and I were classified as d cooks. I am a cook, the although only egg I say, they ever tried to fry was later used as a tire patch. The other cooks include postal clerks, tractor sales- semi-skille- men, railroad engineers, riveters, bricklayers, and one blacksmith. But well learn. Already Ive learned to make beds, sweep, mop, wash windows and sew a fine seam. When Congress lets me go home, will I make some woman a good wife I (TO BE CONTINUED) Taste and Throat Is the proving ground foe cigarettes. Only your taste and throat can decide which cigarette tastes best to yon.. .and how it affects your throat. Based on the experience of millions of smokers, we believe Camels will suit your to a T." Prove it for yourself I The |