gcls_campsevier_083

TRENCH AND CAMP

[A long narrow illustration runs the length of the left side of the page. At the top is an old woman knitting. In the panel below her, there is an explosion in the sky and a man (probably a soldier) on horseback, a sword raised above his head. In the panel below are a couple of sailors on the deck of a ship.]

"THE BARRACKS WHEEZE"
By PRIVATE CHET SHAFER
(Aviation Corps, Somewhere in Texas)

The
Main trouble
With
Being
A
Roistering
Blade
In the army
Is that
You
Lose
Your edge
On
The
Bars.

ALL WINTER LONG A SQUAD
LEADER AT CAMP CUSTER HAS
BEEN CALLING "SUMMERTIME"
AND THAT PRIVATE HAS MAIN-
TAINED THE SUPREME CHIN TO
ANSWER "HERE."

After a few weeks it's an easy matter
to fraternize with the lumps in the
straw tick.

BUT IT'S HARD TO GET CLUBBY
WITH A BOILER FILLED WITH
ONIONS FOR PEELING.

When they pettishly requested Ed-
gar Rinaldo to "can" the noise after
the lights were out he placed the
blame on the woof of his blankets.

That birdie
Is
A Wiz
Who
Knows
How he sits
When
He's
Sitting pretty.

Is there anyone else present who
wishes a bottle of this tonic?

ITS ALMOST TIME TO POST AN-
OTHER LIST OF BORES--THOSE
WHO ARE CONTINUALLY SAYING
--"WELL, THAT'S NOT THE WAY
WE DID IT ON THE BORDER."

"Flirting--In Two Counts."

"EXERCISE--BEGIN."

On his way out from the mess Eus-
tace remarked that he was getting
fashionable--he had just finished
a slumming tour.

From Websters: Slum--An army
stew. A euphonious word, powerfully
descriptive, imperiously attractive and
smacking of dignity.

And Webster, in his day, despite
his lack of tools, didn't skid very
much.

AND--

ANY WAY YOU READ IT

IT'S A LONG, LONG

STORY.

There will be special wards [at?] the
state asylums later on for those who
lost their marbles trying to figure
out the thickness of their blankets.

THE WRIST WATCH

Out of the first million men utilized
for the national army almost as many
secured wrist watches as commis-
sions. The pieces, with phosphore-
[c?]ent dials, went heavy on furloughs.
In camp they were about as useless
as a mad dog. With the recognition
of the infallibility of the bugle and
the top-sergeant's whistle thousands
of the tickers were sold after the first
week for anything from a split on a
box from home to six-bits 'till payday.

Many excuses have been offered for
the wrist watch but the most reason-
able, coming from a high authority,
credits it with creating the necessity
for a seond hole in the left wristlet.

Wrist watches were not used at
Valley Forge. At that time the sol-
diers were fighting for liberty instead
of passes home.

WOULD ELEVATE MUSICIANS

A bill has been introduced in Con-
gress by Senator Robinson which
would create the position of band-
master for chief musicians in the
cavalry, infantry, artillery and En-
gineers' Corps, who would have the
rank of second lieutenant and receive
the same benefit in respect to pay,
emolument and retirement arising
from longevity.

DOUBLE LEAVE NECESSARY

Officer: Now, Smith, you had twen-
ty-four hours' leave to see your wife
and child. You have been away for-
ty-eight. What have you got to say
for yourself?

Smith: But it was twins, sir.--
[Judge?]

[cartoon spans columns 2 and 3]
LEFT AT THE POST
[A solder is standing in front of a fence holding a rifle. A woman is in front of him with her back to him. He says:]
Corporal Of The
Guard!
RELIEF

C.P.BLEDSOE,
MED DEPT.,
106-ENGRS,
CAMP WHEELR,
GA.

[headline and article span columns 2 and 3]
Learn French

You will find it a mighty good thing when you get to France, if you
can "parler francais" a little--and what's more, if you can make out what
a Frenchman means when he "parle francais" at you.

Suppose you are in a sector next to French troops, or are close to
French troops in a big offensive; suppose you have to take a quick order or
message from a French officer; suppose you have a chance to help a
wounded "poilu"; suppose you're wounded yourself; suppose you are bil-
leted in a French house; suppose you're sent to make purchases, or to get
information from peasants or townspeople; your knowledge of French might
make the difference between delay and speed, between blundering and effi-
ciency, between comfort and discomfort, between suffering and relief--
even between life and death, between defeat and victory.

Moreover, you are going to have the opportunity in France to get
acquainted with one of the finest nations on the face of the earth--a nation
whose mind is alive and keen, a nation of fine feeling and heroic achieve-
ment; and you can't get really acquainted with them unless you can talk
with their men and read their papers.

There are thousands and thousands of men in the army studying
French right now. General Pershing himself studied French on the way
across. There are hundreds of classes in French behind the lines "Over
There"--when they get there they realize how much they need it. There
are just about seventy-five thousand men enrolled in French classes in the
training camps at home. In some cantonments work in French is re-
quired of large groups of officers and of men.

The Y. M. C. A. maintains classes in French in every big camp, and
expects to develop this work more and more. Find out about the Y. M. C. A.
French classes in your camp, and if you can arrange to attend them regu-
larly, by all means do so.

But if you can't, here's the next best thing: Trench and Camp today
begins a special series of French lessons, intended for the men who can't
attend the classes. These lessons are to be very simple. They will consist
mainly in giving you the particular words and phrases that are most im-
portant for you to know, showing you how they are pronounced, telling you
what they mean, and combining them in practical sentences. They won't
teach you all the French there is, but they will give you a good start. And
here goes for

[headline spans columns 2 and 3]
LESSON 1

WORDS AND PHRASES

THE words and phrases are given
first in their real French spell-
ing; then in a special spelling
that shows how they are to be pro-
nounced; then the English meaning
is given.

donnez-moi, done' mwa, give me
de l'eau, duh l oh, some water
du lait, du l'e, some milk
du cafe', du kafe', some coffee
de la soupe, duh la soop, some soup
des pommes de terre, de' pom duh
t'er, some potatoes
s'il vous plait, s ee voo pl'e, please
monsieur, muhsyuh, sir
merci, m'ersee, thank you
voulez-vous? voole' voo? do you
want?
oui, wee, yes

In the special spellings that show
how words are to be pronounced:

a sounds like a in English father
'e sounds like e in English met
e' sounds like a in English fate
ee sounds like ee in English beet.

In making 'e, e', and ee, draw back
the corners of your lips.

o sounds like o in English softer,
oh sounds like o in English go,
oo sounds like oo in English boot,
uh sounds like e in English fern, when
the r is not pronounced.
[continued in column 3]

MUD CAUSES BAD WOUNDS

Discovery has been made by a ma-
jor in the Medical Department, U. S.
A., just returned from France that
mud can and frequently does cause
serious wounds on soldiers' bodies. A
bullet striking the ground may throw
up a splash of mud with sufficient ve-
locity to penetrate the skin. The
soil of France and Belgium is so high-
ly fertilized that a dangerous wound
often results.

TEN MILES GAINED

According to the annual report of
the British Aeronautical Engineering
Society, the speed of British scout
airplanes was increased ten miles an
hour by the substitution of flat
"stream line" wires for the ordinary
circular wires formerly used.

[continued from column 2]
In making o, oh, oo, and uh, stick
out your lips.

The letter u indicates a sound quite
different from any English sound. It
is made with the lips in the same po-
sition as for oo and the tongue in the
same position as for ee. To practice
this sound, get the lips rounded as for
whistling, and then, holding them
firmly in that position, try to say ee.

Notice that French words are not
spelled consistently; and notice in
particular that many letters that ap-
pear in the spelling of the French
word, especially final consonants, are
not pronounced at all.

Notice that the expression for
"some" is different before different
nouns.

EXERCISE

1. Try to understand these senten-
ces, and then pronounce them care-
fully, according to the pronunciations
indicated above: Voulez-vous de
l'eau? Ooi, monsieur. Donnez-moi
des pommes de terre, s'il vous plait.
Merci, monsieur. Donnez-moi du
cafe', s'il vous plait. Voulez-vous de
la soupe? Merci. Voulez-vois du
lait, monsieur? Oui, merci.

2. Say in French: Will you have
some coffee? Yes, thank you. Give
me some potatoes, please. Do you
want any soup? No, thank you. Give
me some water, please.

Cut this lesson out and keep it, and
watch for Lesson 2 next week!

OFFER HAIR FOR BELTING

Having heard that German women
were cutting off their hair and giving
it to the Kaiser to make belting for
machinery in his munition factories,
a Pennsylvania mother and daughter
made a similar offer to the War De-
partment. The patriotic offer of the
"crowning glory" was declined with
thanks and the explanation that the
United States government is not quite
that hard up yet.

SPENDING BILLIONS

A statement recently issued by Sec-
retary of Treasury McAdoo showed
that in the six months prior to Jan-
uary 1 the military establishment of
the country had spent $1,700,000,000
and that by June 30 this year $8,790,-
000,000 will have been spent.

Changes in Insignia
Of U. S. Officers Urged
To Prevent Confusion

Suggestion has been made by a ma-
jor in one of the United States Engi-
neers commands now in France that
the insignia of the commissioned of-
ficers from second lieutenant to col-
onel be slightly changed to prevent
confusion in the minds of French and
British soldiers.

The second lieutenants with their
gold shoulder bars and brown braid
on their sleeves are primarily respon-
sible for the major making the sug-
gestion. Writing home the major
said :

"A lot of second lieutenants ar-
rived yesterday from the United
States with a single gold bar on their
shoulders and khaki colored braid on
their overcoat sleeves. It makes them
more distinguished in appearance
than first lieutenants and greatly im-
presses the French, who, in common
with the rest of the world, think gold
is superior to silver. We have the
same thing in the gold leaf for a
major and a silver leaf of the same
pattern for a lieutenant colonel."

The major suggests that the second
lieutenants' gold bar be eliminated
and that officers of that rank be given
a single silver bar. First lieutenants
could be designated by two silver
bars; captains could be given the sil-
very leaf, the majors could retain the
gold leaf, the lieutenant colonel could
be designated by the silver eagle,
while a gold eagle could be uesd by
colonels.

"Our system does not seem to be
rational and is entirely arbitrary,"
says this major. "In every other
army in the world a single device--
braid, star, pip, etc.--indicates a sec-
ond lieutenant, two a first lieutenant;
three a captain, etc. Officers and civ-
ilians are continually having us ex-
plain our system, which calls for much
memorizing without any mnemonic
aid. Also on the sleeves of our over-
coats we are one behind other armies.
Since we are acting with armies hav-
ing a definite system we should con-
form. One braid for a second lieu-
tenant, two for a first lieutenant,
three for a captain, four for a major,
five for a lieutenant colonel, six for a
colonel. The change would be easy
to make and would not cost much. As
it is our first lieutenants are thought
to be second lieutenants, our captains
to be first lieutenants, our majors to
be captains, etc."

The present gold and silver shoul-
der strap designation for officers and
chevron system for non-commissioned
officers in the United States Army
was adopted in 1847. Originally lieu-
tenant colonels wore two leaves to
differentiate them from majors.

It has been suggested that if the
United States creates the rank of field
marshal during the war the insignia
would have to be a sun, similar to
that worn by Marshal Joffre on the
front of his coat, as four stars are
now being used to indicate the rank
of general.

AMERICAN WOUNDED
GET BEST OF CARE

No American soldier who has the
misfortune to be wounded in France
will suffer from lack of care, as re-
ports show that the medical branch
of our army is splendidly equipped for
its work. Indeed, an injured man
will probably receive better attention
than he could secure at home, for
many specialists of national reputa-
tion, besides some of the best women
nurses are serving as volunteers in
the military hospitals.

A careful system for handling the
disabled has been worked out. If a
soldier receives a wound in the
trenches it is dressed at once from the
first-aid kit, which every man carries.
Stretcher bearers or his comrades
then assist him to the first-aid dress-
ing station, usually a dugout and of-
then within a hundred yards of the
fighting line. A hammock stretcher
has been devised for use in narrow,
winding trenches.

The medical officer at the first-aid
station gives the wound a more care-
ful dressing, injects anti-tetanus se-
rum and telephones for an ambulance.
The latter comes as close to the front
as is possible, always a dangerous
service, as German flyers regard both
ambulances and hospitals as fair tar-
gets for their bombs.

The wounded man is taken to the
field hospital, four or five miles to the
rear, and his injury is inspected. If
an operation is imperative, it is per-
formed; but if the patient is strong
enough, he is made comfortable and
sent without delay to an evacuation
hospital, eight or ten miles from the
front, and where American women
nurses are on duty. If it is possible,
every wounded soldier will be under
the care of a woman nurse, in a place
of comparative quiet and safety, with-
in twenty-four hours after his injury
is received.