The Outpost Vol 1 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

2
THE OUTPOST.
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beyond the regular purchase of a copy to the
attempt at writing a short article, a racy
anecdote, or even a small note for these
columns. With each fresh issue we hope to
see a llew pen at work, and it will assuredly
gladden the editorial heart if, in the course of
time, we arc inundated with contributions. In
this connection we would remind our readers
that the man who never before has blossomed
into prose or poetry may have latent talent
that only requires a little development. We
prognosticate a tenctency towards the humorous
;md for the world would not discourage it, but,
at the same time, let it be understood that the
serious outpouring is just as welcome to Cllr
columns. At all times a clever effort will be
most acceptable, and more so if it has a locul
allusion.
In conclusion, it is our pleasure to thank
those who have so willingly and ably assisted
in connection with this issue.
t i- t
The Fire Alarm.
A GAILES YARN.
THE drowsy sentry drew himself up with a jerk.
A r(:,d glare shot skywards from among the
huts. "Fire! fire!! Guard, turn out!"
eame in shrill tones from the now wide-awake
sentry. Through the still, frosty air of early
morning (I.30 a.m.) rang the notes of the Fir'e
Alarm, sounded by the bugler of the Guard.
One man in a hut heard it. "Fire, you men!
Double out, boys! There's the Fire Alarm! "
The news spread rapidly. "Double up, B
Company's Fire Piquet ! " came in: a roar' from
the Orderly Officer. The piquet came up in
great style at the double and commenced to
drag the unwieldy fire-engine towards the
scene of the alarm.
, In three minutes every man was at his post,
and breathlessly awaited instructions. Five
minutes passed, and no news. Ten minutes and
nothing happened. Then Officers bega~ to
move about, muttering inaudibly. Twenty
minutes, and still no news; Officers swore
audibly and men thought it a "false" alarm.
Just then the second in command appeared
with "news." "Only a tar-boiler got overheated
in the other Battalion lines, and not one
of their men turned out!" Well! Well! I
Well!! !
H. L. 1.
'* t t
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every commbn bush afire with God i
But only those who see, take off their shoes,
The rest sit round, tell stories and smoke fags.
Road Trial.
ON Monday, 1St February, our Battalion was
taken out to judge various trial lengths of road
hetween Troon and Ayr for the Road Board.
A decision as to which was best has not yet
been arrived at, but the following extract from
a scout's report will give some indication of
how the land, lies.
No .. I.:--Ma~am, Ordinary.-This, as its
name mrllcates, 1" an ordinarv road' that is on a
:vet day (such as was 1St February), the sl;rface
IS extremely muddy, being covered by a thin
l.:;yer . of what is technically known as .. clay
sIlt WIth basalt chips,"-more familiarly known
as glaur or glabber. One point in its favour is
th~t those who have pot plants in the house
gam a pound or two of fine warp which can be
removed from the puttees by a vacuum cleaner
and .from thence given to the plants. One
surmIses that on a dry day in March this road
could raise" some dust." ,
No. 3.-Macadam, Ordinarv.-Surface tarred.
This has a distinct pull over No. I in that there
is less glaur, but the surface is so hard that the
:nen with Ammunition Boot AI (those issued
In the Tec.) found the tackets, with which their
boots are so thoroughly provided, eoming
through into their feet, while those with the
Boot Bz (first lot issued in Troon) found that
the smooth, wet, tarred surface was like the
Crossmyloof rink in a thaw.
No. 5.-Ditto, Tarred and Feathered.-The
feath.ering is a distinct advantage, put when
we cllscussed the matter with a dainty milliner
in Ayr she assured us that the pattern was
more like herring-boneing than feathering.
Perhaps we dreamt about the feathering. but
we harl to have something in the millinerv line
to start the conversation ",,-ith, hadn't we? ­
No. S.-Ditto, Treated with Pitch and Toss.­
We studied this length of road minutely, but
could ·not find any advantage in the fact that it
was used by the juvenile population of Whittlets
(or "as it Auchencruive ?) for their games, nor
could we understand why Pitch and Toss is
mentioned by the Road Board in preference to
Peever and Moshie.
No. 12 -Macadam dressed with Mexican
Bitumenous Mixture.-The name of this dressing
is enough to condemn it straight off. It's a
wonder our ammunition boots did not set fire
to the Bitumen, for they have fired our feet
on several occasions, and more so as Mexico is
known to be a hot bed of revolntion.
No. I5.-Porphorytic Conglomerate with
Bitumenous Shale Groundmass.-We think
the les(said about this, the better.
CHEVALIER.