June 7, 1949 (8 pages)

B The Human Race 305 Broad Street, Nevada City—Telephone 36 A legal newspaper, as defined by statute ROBERT H. and DONALD Ww. WRAY, ‘Publishers KENNETH W. WRAY. Editor and Advertising Manager Member California Newspaper Publishers Association Published every Tuesday and Friday at Nevada City, California, and entered as matter of the second class in the postoffice at Nevada City under Act of Congress, March 3, 1879. SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year outside county (in advance) -...-.--.--.--.----02------000-e+ $3.00 One year in county (in advance) -...-----.--2.--.-seeeeeneneceeenenteeee 2.50 Pour MONnthe (in AOVANCE) o.oo anaes oceans cee nsw sen ewnnsenaskedos yee One month (in advance) TAILINGS By Jim Towne . PRAESIET j f= Letters to The Editor The views and opinions appearing in this column, Letters to The Editor, are not necessarily those of The» Nugget: MEOW —tThere is a very thin the feline of the same gender. Women are skeptical of the outside dame who moves into town. Before she is accepted, if at all, inte any one of the social circles, she is sized up from every angle. North Bloomfield, Calif. June 1, 1949 Editor, Nevada.City Nugget, Nevada City, Calif. Out here under the sugar pines Sir: two female cats, Puss and Bobbie, Another Decoration Day has. have had the® running of things passed. Ang kindly allow me space . socially in the dog and cat populaline between the human femme and This means that on every $100.00 valuation of property 7 cents is kept for the care of our cemeteries. » This must amount to hundreds if not thousands of dollars collected for this purpose. In 1947 exactly $24.00 was expended in raking up the debris and the burning of it within the cemetery here in North Bloomfield. In 1948 not a req cent was expended for such purposes. .This year of 1949 the cemetery was raked neatly and the place looked nice barring the huge pile of pine needles and trash seen in the vacant part of our cemetery. This should have been burned. Possibly a like amount of $25.00 or $30.00 was the cost of this work. No work was done at the Relief Hill cemetery or at the Moore’s Flat. Maybe Graniteville was cleaned. Washington and North San Juan cemeteries are taken care of very well I understand. Now where is this money. collecteg in taxes going? Not into the General Fund surely as I have understood. Our dead and our aged have no place in political graft of County and State by way of taxastion. If such is the case then we certainly have hit an all time low in decency. Let’s do something about it. Now as to my suggestion. Each year we see grave after grave with not a sign of. color or flower on Memorial Day. Many of these were the old pioneers over which recently a lot of ink is being spilt. Pathetic? Certainly. It hits the eye with one hard blow in just one word. NEGLECT. We, who live in the districts, cannot find the flowers for all these graves as much as we would like. I would suggest that each year a certain sum of money out of this 7 cents per $100.00 valuation of our properties be set aside and get bids from the florists to supply flowers each year for these graves. And it may he an opportune time to suggest the dead in furnishing ‘flowers at exorbitant prices is not in our scheme of humanity either. It would not be a bad scheme for some enterprising person or persons to look int this.and raise flowers and greens for just. this purpose alone. Contract with the Counties. W. W. Kallenberger. Sincerely, TO THE EDITOR: Nevada City 5 May 31, 1949 The Catholic cemetery has been in a deplorable condition, and it Was a happy surprise for all of us, and particularly for those who have loved ones buried in this cemetery to find how it had been cleaned. Many who have relatives buried there are away from Nevada City, many plots, where people are buried have no living relatives or friends, and others never care for their plots, so the grave yard, surely looked abandoned, as the perennial peas, and the scotch broom had just about taken possession of the * cemetery. All of this has been cleared away by Elza Kilroy, T. Thibault and Jack McLaughlin. They had to put in many shifts of hard labor to do this job so well, and should be commended. ‘I personally thank them and I know others join in thanking them most sincerely for what they have done. Yours truly, ANNA C. TUCKER . CRASE-PRISK — In Nevada City, June 4, 1949, to James C. Crase, Jr., 22, and Miriam Alice Pi, both of Grass Valley. further that~grafting off: Jas dogs. in your paper to offer a sugges. tion. Both have been giving our tion. e eats a time of it. The only differOur Tax receipts carry this— . ence betwen them and their hu: istri ” bs ter parts is that they se ada Cemetery District—7c.’"; ™1n coun cued s have been telling the new comers, in Ng uncertain terms, just what they think of the intrusion. While my lady will smile on the stranger woman then, behind her back: literally claw her to pieces. * * bd PUSS—She is a maltese. Property of the retired builder. When he and his wife called, the other evening, Pussy walked in with them. She inspected the cabin, then her hosts. She has also investigated the newly made paths, the flower beds and stacked wood under the trees. She has done it all deliberately and openly. It has taken her thirty—-days to stamp O. K. on her new neighbors. We now belong. Many ‘humans live side by side for thirty years without an acknowledgment of friendship given. * * * BOBBIE—The homeliest cat in the county. Her bossman is the marine engineer. She’s a Manx. One side of her face is tawny, the other black. Her body a mixture of both. Short leggeq and short tailed she looks like a misfit from a comie strip. Like many humars of mixed blood, she is sassy and ready for an argument. An inferior complex, no doubt. She lacks the dignity that Puss possesses, but makes up for that loss and lack of beauty by her affection for her owner. She, too, has the stamp of approval on the occupants of the neighboring acre. * * * FRIENDSHIP A wonderful thing. Your neighbors and the'r cats have been to call on you. In less than thirty days they have accepted you and your cats. They have wished. you good luck and happy living. They have offered any help needed. The use of tools. The seed of friendship planted in May,:in time will grow. as strong and majestic as the sugar pines. Have you been to call on your neighbors lately? Oh, you’ don't like their cats, no cats? They’re not affectionate or as faithful Have you ever given a eat half a chance to be either? Well, you don’t like your neighbors, they’re unsocialable. Have you given them a chance to be otherwise. Try it. as * * * My loved,, my honoured, much respecteq friend! No mercenary bard his homage pays; honest pride, each selfish end, My dearest need, a friends’s esteem and praise. Robert Burns With I scorn each Gilbert Priest and Cliff Dancer, Grass Valley, killed a female wild cat on the Pliocene road near Alegheny yesterday afternoon about 4 o’clock. They spotted the cat crossing the road in front of their car and killed it with a .22 pistol bullet. The cat had three kittens which Dancer will try to give to a zoo, otherwise he will destroy them. Mrs. Christine Kite, president of Laurel Parlor, Native Daughters Of the Golden West, is on a ‘two weeks’ vacation in Oakland ang San Jose. While in the Santa Clara city she will represent the local parlor at the. Grand Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West. Mr. and Mrs. James Penrose will attend the funeral tomorrow afternoon in Reno,, of his nephew, Tom Penrose, 42, who died Sunday in Reno. Also surviving are his wife, Margo; mother, Mrs. Nellie Penrose; brother, Burton, all of Reno; and uncles, Fred, Woodland, and ( Store, ( el Mig yee <0.P. BULBOOMER IS A WHIZ INTHE OFFICE WHEN IT COMES TO TURNING AFAST BUCK= (~~ Lleey Zo AE aS Le . Bur cROssina A Busy STREET — WITH ONLY HIS LIFE AT STAKE, HIS MIND IS ARICH, jf SOE Just Wonderin I Wonder at the ads in prose, The rythmic ads as well; I Wonder at the myriad tales The advertisers tell; You can’t discount the power of ads— For as the days go by, You listen to the ones you like And then stalk forth to buy. I have always contended that the best of all advertising mediums is the home town newspaper, and that in presenting an advertisement, a direct and simple explanation of one’s product and its uses is by far the best form. One is seldom annoyed by a newspaper advertisement; its approach is quiet and dignified—one can read it or let it alone. : It has often been said that those who prepare entertainment and especially advertising for radio presentation, rate prospective listeners as ‘‘ten year olds’. That probably accounts for the low level upon which the radio serial runs its interminable course and the quite ridiculous aspects of national radio advertising. . have often thought while listening to both serial and advertisements that, either I or the producers had gone stark crazy. Meditation of that sort netted me no comfort, for of course there must be superiority in numbers—the thousands of men and women engaged in. producing both radio melodrama and advertisements can’t all be crazy; they must know what they are doing and what the results of their out put will be; so it is . who must be in need of mental adjustment. Oh wirra, wirra me! However, in the field of advertising, why must the general public be regimented into the realm of ten year oldism? Surely most of us can understand a plain simple description of toilet soap, special brands of cigarettes, food, etc. If I had a product to sell to the general public, via radio, I'd stop and consider. How would . approach the lady of the house for instance if . were a from door to door salesman? Surely I wouldn’t bang upon her door with a sledge hammer and . would not greet her appearance with a loud burst of music and a loudly sung song about ten penny nails or the latest style in wall paper. Certainly I would not punctuate my sentences with something loosely alluded to as ‘“‘music’’, made to issue from a cracked record or an amalgamation of poorly assorted musical instruments. Most surely . would not regale her . with the sorrows of a bedraggled heroine who, if judged by her longevity and the sorrows she has known, must be at least in her mid fifties. Well, why can’t we hear a few sane and comprehensible ads and why, oh why do our advertisers indulge so freely in superlatives and in comparisons which are indeed odious? Still let us not be too critical; if the mentality of the average citizen is but ten years, there is hope that in due course of time it will be eleven and that a million years or so will lift the national 1.Q. still higher—as high as twenty or even twenty five. Patience, like virtue is its own reward, so if you have come to the years of understanding and feel that you are no longer a ten year old, just suffer and be strong. The human trend is ever upward, better days, better entertainment and better advertisements may be just around the corner. —Adeline 'Merriam Conner Fill your time with positive service and good. Do not drift. Have definite things on hand to do. —Henry Churchill King The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets Harry, Oakland. : MEST STEN TEENIE MSS RE NaF Glens SAM RED Daconeoemmoraene for it, but what he becomes by it. ~ PRAM “Uo = : La tooo £ Gow Diceer’s Tran I organized the work along civilian lines, according to previous experience. A master engineer was in charge of all plumbing, and survey work was in charge of a private, first class. Roads and drains were under a captain; concrete work under a lieutenant. But the main construction work I placed—including all the French and Spanish laborers—under the master Spanish builder by the name of Tuvo, who had handled construction projects all over the world. My job was mainly to co-ordinate the work. There were so many men and so much materials—and so much work to be done. No one part of the job could be permitted to get ahead of the whole. I called an “‘officer’s’’ meeting at two every afternoon, and all department heads attended. There I had to switch from French to Spanish to English and explain to every one the allotment of men and machines for the next day. If the private could show me where his part of the job needed the men and material, and the captain could not, the private got priority of both. As a result, the work began to move ahead and the next 2,000 bed unit was completed in about half the time previously allotted. By the time the armistice was declared, we were taking care of 22,000 wounded. This from a clear start with nothing but an open field of grain in the previous February. However, most of the credit for this lay with Colonel Buchanan, who had fought most of the battle from the beginning; all that I had to do was finish his work. hours a day. I did not bother about an officer's mess until October, as we ate at the head of our own mess lines, from regular kits. After the armistice, we made ourselves quite comfortable. We used side cars quite a bit in getting around, and we had to travel through several little French hamlets in the course of getting around to our work. As a result; there were several casualties in livestock. I remémber Lieutenant Hamilton remarking at our noon meal, that he had accidentally run over a goose. Captain Todd remarked, sadly, ‘Well, I've killed a dog, two cats, a pig and half a dozen hens, but I haven't got a goose yet.’ And he excused himself to go back to work; and as luck would have it, got his goose that afternoon. We always said he went out for that particular purpose: The greatest trouble that we had was with trucks. We had a fleet of some thirty or forty, and a few mechanics to take care of them. But for drivers, . had to break in colored boys from Tennessee who had never been in a cab seat before. Naturally, they dynamited our trucks as fast as they could be repaired. Thirty-five miles south of us, at Verneuil, there was a regiment of skilled mechanics, especially enlisted. These men were being used to dig ditches to rain the camp in a very muddy winter. I tried to requisition about fifty of them to drive trucks, and send a hundred of my colored boys down in exchange to dig their ditches. Not a chance. ! had so many men, and Verneuil had so many men; and if the ditchdigging was done in a very lazy, haphazard fashion, and if my trucks were being dynamited, that agp no difference to the Army. A man was a man for a_ that. The Annamites presented a problem. They spent most of their time playing around, and nothing ceuld induce them to work—they just spent so much time on the job. Finally, I arranged with their officers that if they would do a certain stint of work, they could go home for the day. They were through before noon, and in their barracks. Having found out their capacity, I increased the stint till they got off an hour earlier than any one else, but to do so they worked at top speed all day, and thereby turned in more ditch dug per man than my good colored troops, who worked slowly and steadily throughout the day. ; Occasionally we had racial differences. Proximity to French liquor; which was bootlegged through the camp by French peasants, naturally resulted in some casualties. One of our colored boys was shot in the back by an, excited little Annamite whom he was teasing; and thereupon the colored man’s friends turned out en masse with razors and guns to attack the Annamite barracks. Just outside the barracks was a heap of rocks which had been brought in for concrete work and for crushing for road metal. The little Asiatics promptly swarmed out and laid down a barrage of rocks with perfect precision, and the colored boys withdrew with many a sore head. So I had to take a hand in that, and in the evening went into the Annamite barracks with their French officer commanding. We roused the guilty one from his sleep and gagged him and took him out-before he could cry out. It reminded me of nothing so much as penetrating into an angry but sleeping beehive, and we were glad to get out with our prisoner. Some of our colored replacements came in from Brownsville, Texas, and we found them quite different from our docile, good natured Tennessans. A little liquor would bring out the mixed Indian blood of the border, and they would be quick to draw a knife in a quarrel. Naturally, the other colored boys had to sharpen their razors for emergency defense; and often when we came in, tired and sleepy, one or the other of the officers would have to go over to the barracks and settle a squabble by taking a foot long knife away from some drunk negro. It was safe enough for us, because no matter how drunk, the guilty party would never atjack an officer, as he knew it meant a firing squad and a new grave the next day if he did. © —Ruskin (to be continued) Before the armistice, we were working about eighteen+ {? ~ PF + oT » vig @)> oh4 Lh» » rhe

B The Human Race 305 Broad Street, Nevada City—Telephone 36 A legal newspaper, as defined by statute ROBERT H. and DONALD Ww. WRAY, ‘Publishers KENNETH W. WRAY. Editor and Advertising Manager Member California Newspaper Publishers Association Published every Tuesday and Friday at Nevada City, California, and entered as matter of the second class in the postoffice at Nevada City under Act of Congress, March 3, 1879. SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year outside county (in advance) -.....-.--.--.--.----02------000-e+ $3.00 One year in county (in advance) -.....-----.--2.--.-seeeeeneneceeenenteeee 2.50 Pour MONnthe (in AOVANCE) o.oo anaes oceans cee nsw sen ewnnsenaskedos yee One month (in advance) TAILINGS By Jim Towne . PRAESIET j f= Letters to The Editor The views and opinions appearing in this column, Letters to The Editor, are not necessarily those of The» Nugget: MEOW —tThere is a very thin the feline of the same gender. Women are skeptical of the outside dame who moves into town. Before she is accepted, if at all, inte any one of the social circles, she is sized up from every angle. North Bloomfield, Calif. June 1, 1949 Editor, Nevada.City Nugget, Nevada City, Calif. Out here under the sugar pines Sir: two female cats, Puss and Bobbie, Another Decoration Day has. have had the® running of things passed. Ang kindly allow me space . socially in the dog and cat populaline between the human femme and This means that on every $100.00 valuation of property 7 cents is kept for the care of our cemeteries. » This must amount to hundreds if not thousands of dollars collected for this purpose. In 1947 exactly $24.00 was expended in raking up the debris and the burning of it within the cemetery here in North Bloomfield. In 1948 not a req cent was expended for such purposes. .This year of 1949 the cemetery was raked neatly and the place looked nice barring the huge pile of pine needles and trash seen in the vacant part of our cemetery. This should have been burned. Possibly a like amount of $25.00 or $30.00 was the cost of this work. No work was done at the Relief Hill cemetery or at the Moore’s Flat. Maybe Graniteville was cleaned. Washington and North San Juan cemeteries are taken care of very well I understand. Now where is this money. collecteg in taxes going? Not into the General Fund surely as I have understood. Our dead and our aged have no place in political graft of County and State by way of taxastion. If such is the case then we certainly have hit an all time low in decency. Let’s do something about it. Now as to my suggestion. Each year we see grave after grave with not a sign of. color or flower on Memorial Day. Many of these were the old pioneers over which recently a lot of ink is being spilt. Pathetic? Certainly. It hits the eye with one hard blow in just one word. NEGLECT. We, who live in the districts, cannot find the flowers for all these graves as much as we would like. I would suggest that each year a certain sum of money out of this 7 cents per $100.00 valuation of our properties be set aside and get bids from the florists to supply flowers each year for these graves. And it may he an opportune time to suggest the dead in furnishing ‘flowers at exorbitant prices is not in our scheme of humanity either. It would not be a bad scheme for some enterprising person or persons to look int this.and raise flowers and greens for just. this purpose alone. Contract with the Counties. W. W. Kallenberger. Sincerely, TO THE EDITOR: Nevada City 5 May 31, 1949 The Catholic cemetery has been in a deplorable condition, and it Was a happy surprise for all of us, and particularly for those who have loved ones buried in this cemetery to find how it had been cleaned. Many who have relatives buried there are away from Nevada City, many plots, where people are buried have no living relatives or friends, and others never care for their plots, so the grave yard, surely looked abandoned, as the perennial peas, and the scotch broom had just about taken possession of the * cemetery. All of this has been cleared away by Elza Kilroy, T. Thibault and Jack McLaughlin. They had to put in many shifts of hard labor to do this job so well, and should be commended. ‘I personally thank them and I know others join in thanking them most sincerely for what they have done. Yours truly, ANNA C. TUCKER . CRASE-PRISK — In Nevada City, June 4, 1949, to James C. Crase, Jr., 22, and Miriam Alice Pi, both of Grass Valley. further that~grafting off: Jas dogs. in your paper to offer a sugges. tion. Both have been giving our tion. e eats a time of it. The only differOur Tax receipts carry this— . ence betwen them and their hu: istri ” bs ter parts is that they se ada Cemetery District—7c.’"; ™1n coun cued s have been telling the new comers, in Ng uncertain terms, just what they think of the intrusion. While my lady will smile on the stranger woman then, behind her back: literally claw her to pieces. * * bd PUSS—She is a maltese. Property of the retired builder. When he and his wife called, the other evening, Pussy walked in with them. She inspected the cabin, then her hosts. She has also investigated the newly made paths, the flower beds and stacked wood under the trees. She has done it all deliberately and openly. It has taken her thirty—-days to stamp O. K. on her new neighbors. We now belong. Many ‘humans live side by side for thirty years without an acknowledgment of friendship given. * * * BOBBIE—The homeliest cat in the county. Her bossman is the marine engineer. She’s a Manx. One side of her face is tawny, the other black. Her body a mixture of both. Short leggeq and short tailed she looks like a misfit from a comie strip. Like many humars of mixed blood, she is sassy and ready for an argument. An inferior complex, no doubt. She lacks the dignity that Puss possesses, but makes up for that loss and lack of beauty by her affection for her owner. She, too, has the stamp of approval on the occupants of the neighboring acre. * * * FRIENDSHIP A wonderful thing. Your neighbors and the'r cats have been to call on you. In less than thirty days they have accepted you and your cats. They have wished. you good luck and happy living. They have offered any help needed. The use of tools. The seed of friendship planted in May,:in time will grow. as strong and majestic as the sugar pines. Have you been to call on your neighbors lately? Oh, you’ don't like their cats, no cats? They’re not affectionate or as faithful Have you ever given a eat half a chance to be either? Well, you don’t like your neighbors, they’re unsocialable. Have you given them a chance to be otherwise. Try it. as * * * My loved,, my honoured, much respecteq friend! No mercenary bard his homage pays; honest pride, each selfish end, My dearest need, a friends’s esteem and praise. Robert Burns With I scorn each Gilbert Priest and Cliff Dancer, Grass Valley, killed a female wild cat on the Pliocene road near Alegheny yesterday afternoon about 4 o’clock. They spotted the cat crossing the road in front of their car and killed it with a .22 pistol bullet. The cat had three kittens which Dancer will try to give to a zoo, otherwise he will destroy them. Mrs. Christine Kite, president

of Laurel Parlor, Native Daughters Of the Golden West, is on a ‘two weeks’ vacation in Oakland ang San Jose. While in the Santa Clara city she will represent the local parlor at the. Grand Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West. Mr. and Mrs. James Penrose will attend the funeral tomorrow afternoon in Reno,, of his nephew, Tom Penrose, 42, who died Sunday in Reno. Also surviving are his wife, Margo; mother, Mrs. Nellie Penrose; brother, Burton, all of Reno; and uncles, Fred, Woodland, and ( Store, ( el Mig yee <0.P. BULBOOMER IS A WHIZ INTHE OFFICE WHEN IT COMES TO TURNING AFAST BUCK= (~~ Lleey Zo AE aS Le . Bur cROssina A Busy STREET — WITH ONLY HIS LIFE AT STAKE, HIS MIND IS ARICH, jf SOE Just Wonderin I Wonder at the ads in prose, The rythmic ads as well; I Wonder at the myriad tales The advertisers tell; You can’t discount the power of ads— For as the days go by, You listen to the ones you like And then stalk forth to buy. I have always contended that the best of all advertising mediums is the home town newspaper, and that in presenting an advertisement, a direct and simple explanation of one’s product and its uses is by far the best form. One is seldom annoyed by a newspaper advertisement; its approach is quiet and dignified—one can read it or let it alone. : It has often been said that those who prepare entertainment and especially advertising for radio presentation, rate prospective listeners as ‘‘ten year olds’. That probably accounts for the low level upon which the radio serial runs its interminable course and the quite ridiculous aspects of national radio advertising. . have often thought while listening to both serial and advertisements that, either I or the producers had gone stark crazy. Meditation of that sort netted me no comfort, for of course there must be superiority in numbers—the thousands of men and women engaged in. producing both radio melodrama and advertisements can’t all be crazy; they must know what they are doing and what the results of their out put will be; so it is . who must be in need of mental adjustment. Oh wirra, wirra me! However, in the field of advertising, why must the general public be regimented into the realm of ten year oldism? Surely most of us can understand a plain simple description of toilet soap, special brands of cigarettes, food, etc. If I had a product to sell to the general public, via radio, I'd stop and consider. How would . approach the lady of the house for instance if . were a from door to door salesman? Surely I wouldn’t bang upon her door with a sledge hammer and . would not greet her appearance with a loud burst of music and a loudly sung song about ten penny nails or the latest style in wall paper. Certainly I would not punctuate my sentences with something loosely alluded to as ‘“‘music’’, made to issue from a cracked record or an amalgamation of poorly assorted musical instruments. Most surely . would not regale her . with the sorrows of a bedraggled heroine who, if judged by her longevity and the sorrows she has known, must be at least in her mid fifties. Well, why can’t we hear a few sane and comprehensible ads and why, oh why do our advertisers indulge so freely in superlatives and in comparisons which are indeed odious? Still let us not be too critical; if the mentality of the average citizen is but ten years, there is hope that in due course of time it will be eleven and that a million years or so will lift the national 1.Q. still higher—as high as twenty or even twenty five. Patience, like virtue is its own reward, so if you have come to the years of understanding and feel that you are no longer a ten year old, just suffer and be strong. The human trend is ever upward, better days, better entertainment and better advertisements may be just around the corner. —Adeline 'Merriam Conner Fill your time with positive service and good. Do not drift. Have definite things on hand to do. —Henry Churchill King The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets Harry, Oakland. : MEST STEN TEENIE MSS RE NaF Glens SAM RED Daconeoemmoraene for it, but what he becomes by it. ~ PRAM “Uo = : La tooo £ Gow Diceer’s Tran I organized the work along civilian lines, according to previous experience. A master engineer was in charge of all plumbing, and survey work was in charge of a private, first class. Roads and drains were under a captain; concrete work under a lieutenant. But the main construction work I placed—including all the French and Spanish laborers—under the master Spanish builder by the name of Tuvo, who had handled construction projects all over the world. My job was mainly to co-ordinate the work. There were so many men and so much materials—and so much work to be done. No one part of the job could be permitted to get ahead of the whole. I called an “‘officer’s’’ meeting at two every afternoon, and all department heads attended. There I had to switch from French to Spanish to English and explain to every one the allotment of men and machines for the next day. If the private could show me where his part of the job needed the men and material, and the captain could not, the private got priority of both. As a result, the work began to move ahead and the next 2,000 bed unit was completed in about half the time previously allotted. By the time the armistice was declared, we were taking care of 22,000 wounded. This from a clear start with nothing but an open field of grain in the previous February. However, most of the credit for this lay with Colonel Buchanan, who had fought most of the battle from the beginning; all that I had to do was finish his work. hours a day. I did not bother about an officer's mess until October, as we ate at the head of our own mess lines, from regular kits. After the armistice, we made ourselves quite comfortable. We used side cars quite a bit in getting around, and we had to travel through several little French hamlets in the course of getting around to our work. As a result; there were several casualties in livestock. I remémber Lieutenant Hamilton remarking at our noon meal, that he had accidentally run over a goose. Captain Todd remarked, sadly, ‘Well, I've killed a dog, two cats, a pig and half a dozen hens, but I haven't got a goose yet.’ And he excused himself to go back to work; and as luck would have it, got his goose that afternoon. We always said he went out for that particular purpose: The greatest trouble that we had was with trucks. We had a fleet of some thirty or forty, and a few mechanics to take care of them. But for drivers, . had to break in colored boys from Tennessee who had never been in a cab seat before. Naturally, they dynamited our trucks as fast as they could be repaired. Thirty-five miles south of us, at Verneuil, there was a regiment of skilled mechanics, especially enlisted. These men were being used to dig ditches to rain the camp in a very muddy winter. I tried to requisition about fifty of them to drive trucks, and send a hundred of my colored boys down in exchange to dig their ditches. Not a chance. ! had so many men, and Verneuil had so many men; and if the ditchdigging was done in a very lazy, haphazard fashion, and if my trucks were being dynamited, that agp no difference to the Army. A man was a man for a_ that. The Annamites presented a problem. They spent most of their time playing around, and nothing ceuld induce them to work—they just spent so much time on the job. Finally, I arranged with their officers that if they would do a certain stint of work, they could go home for the day. They were through before noon, and in their barracks. Having found out their capacity, I increased the stint till they got off an hour earlier than any one else, but to do so they worked at top speed all day, and thereby turned in more ditch dug per man than my good colored troops, who worked slowly and steadily throughout the day. ; Occasionally we had racial differences. Proximity to French liquor; which was bootlegged through the camp by French peasants, naturally resulted in some casualties. One of our colored boys was shot in the back by an, excited little Annamite whom he was teasing; and thereupon the colored man’s friends turned out en masse with razors and guns to attack the Annamite barracks. Just outside the barracks was a heap of rocks which had been brought in for concrete work and for crushing for road metal. The little Asiatics promptly swarmed out and laid down a barrage of rocks with perfect precision, and the colored boys withdrew with many a sore head. So I had to take a hand in that, and in the evening went into the Annamite barracks with their French officer commanding. We roused the guilty one from his sleep and gagged him and took him out-before he could cry out. It reminded me of nothing so much as penetrating into an angry but sleeping beehive, and we were glad to get out with our prisoner. Some of our colored replacements came in from Brownsville, Texas, and we found them quite different from our docile, good natured Tennessans. A little liquor would bring out the mixed Indian blood of the border, and they would be quick to draw a knife in a quarrel. Naturally, the other colored boys had to sharpen their razors for emergency defense; and often when we came in, tired and sleepy, one or the other of the officers would have to go over to the barracks and settle a squabble by taking a foot long knife away from some drunk negro. It was safe enough for us, because no matter how drunk, the guilty party would never atjack an officer, as he knew it meant a firing squad and a new grave the next day if he did. © —Ruskin (to be continued) Before the armistice, we were working about eighteen+ {? ~ PF + oT » vig @)> oh4 Lh» » rhe