---
RAILROADING AT THE
FRONT IS NO PICNIC
----
Engineer of Big Lizzie Takes Reporter for a Ride
and Explains a Few Professional
Difficulties.
----
BOCHE TRIES TO BEAN HIM WITH BOMBS.
----
Problems of Garb, Breakfast and Tobacco Happily
Solved by "System D."
----

"_Casey Jones--mounted up the cabin
Casey Jones--with his orders in his hand!_"

The singer, to judge from the way he rolled his r's, ought to have come
from somewhere out in the perrrarrrie country of North America; but to
judge from his costume, he might have come from about anywhere. He wore
the red fez of the Algerian troops, the tunic of his Britannic Majesty's
fighting forces, the horizon-blue slicker of the Armee de France, but
his underpinning, as well as his voice, was downright United States.
Only the khaki trousers and canvas leggins identified him, in part, at
least, as a member of an American Railroad Engineers' Regiment.

"Up to look us over, are you?" he inquired, grinning genially at the
STARS AND STRIPES reporter who had made his way up right behind the
fighting lines, to see the engineers at their work of running supply
trains for the French. "Well, sonny, take a good look. We ain't much on
clothes"--indicating his motley garments--"but believe me, bo, we're
there on work! Y'see, the Boche's birdies make things pretty hot for us
at times, flyin' over our perfectly good right of way and tryin' to beat
us where the stack shows up bright in the dark. So we have to lay over
until they fly back, and then git out and hustle to keep things moving
som'ers near on schedule. At that, day before yest'day, we had every
blooming train on time.

The Workings of System D.

"These duds"--indicating his international collection of garments--"I
know they look funny, but what can a man do? Well, it all works out
right enough by what the French call 'System D'--shift for yourself. We
start out under the U.S., and we draw some--just _some_--clothes from
them. Then they turn us over to the French gov'ment to run this here
line up to the front, see? French gov'ment gives us more clothes--some.
Then along come some Canucks--damn decent chaps, too, and more