AMENITIES OF LIFE IN BILLET
A Private (to another private who has just been, before the company officer): “Wot you get, Long ’Tin? ’ Long ’Tin: “Two extra drills. Orrible, baas’ly war, this. ’ A PrivattO: ‘‘You was luoky. * made sure you’d get seven days C.B. Captain don’t ’alf lack up a row about leavin’ your bed untidy. An’ when vou leave a lump o’ bread on top of your blankets —well, I moan to say, that’s jolly well askin’ for it, that is.” . , Long ’Tin; “I goes in. to the connp’ny office, an’ the minute 'e opens ’is mouth I saw it were no good mo tollin’ ’iro the blankin’ tale, so I says, ‘Sir, I ’ave notihink to say.’ ‘Wot,’ says ’e, ‘ain’t you got noth ink to say for yourself P’ ‘No,’ I says, ‘I done it, an’ it’s no good sayin’ I didn’t, because I did, an’ I ain’t goin’ to stand ’ere an’ toll you no lies.’ An’ of course that was about the best thing I could ’ave said. It was twice as good as any blankin’ tale I could have made np.” A Private: “ ’E’s ’ot on discipline, ’e is. It’s all right, of course, in its way .... in its way, mind you .... but wot I say is you can ’ave too much erf it. I ’adn’t time to shave one mornin’ .... well, as a matter of fact, X gt up a bit late .... an’ ’o spotted my face. ‘You ’aven’t shaved this mornin’,’ ’e says. ‘Yes, sir,’ I rtnysj ‘I ■ , a.TC.* < Th.is * sivys '©. ‘Yes, sir/ says I, ‘but my razor's out of order.’ ‘Oh,’ says ’e, an’ then ’e turns to the sergeant, an’ ’e says, “Take ’is name an’ number,’ ”
Long ’Un: '‘Serve you right for tollin’ a tale lake that to ’im. You ought to know ’e’d be up t<> it. No good tryin’ to kid ’im. ’E knows too much. I see that the mine I got in the office, so I just says, ‘Sir, I have nothink to say.’ If you toll ’im any blankin’ tales VII ’ave you, but if you tolls ’im the truth ’o won’t know wot to do, an’ mebbo ’o’ll lot you off or giro it to yon easy. Those officers is all right. Tell ’em the truth an- they’re lost. Not used to it, see? On’y, of course, you don’t want to go an’ overdo it. If you was to go an’ tell ’em the truth, tho ’do truth, an’ nolihink but the truth, so ’elp you. Gawd, well, I mean to say, that’s askin’ for -it, an’ Vd he so surprised ’e’d mobhe ’ave you sent to Chelsea. All you got to do is to toll ’em the truth in moderation ..... an’ then you’re all right.’ ”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19171016.2.70
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New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9792, 16 October 1917, Page 10
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463AMENITIES OF LIFE IN BILLET New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9792, 16 October 1917, Page 10
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