Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 164, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1916 — “TELEPHONE” CURES THIRST [ARTICLE]

“TELEPHONE” CURES THIRST

French Soldier Makes a Confession and Penalty Is Lessened by Half. Paris. —A court-martial at the front. The presiding officer, speaking with a distinctly kindly intonation, to the accused : “Now, now, admit that you telephoned.” “No, my cplonel, I did not telephone.” “If you confess, you will only have half the penalty.” “Well, then, yes, my colonel, I did telephone.” All the court laughed and a nominal sentence was pronounced. The civilian should not imagine that the use of a telephone is a crime in the French army. To “telephone,” in army slang, is to bore a little hole in a full barrel of wine, to fit a rubber tube thereto and apply the mouth to the other end.