procession seemed a little unusual, but they did not come very far. Went to bed early, though we had another feed of peaches

and beans before we went to sleep.

Friday. Jan. 31. 1919. New job today. Runner for the B.O.R. Had very little to

do however. Just sit on the bench by the office door and be ready to take a message when called. Most of the boys have now gone to a concert in British Columbia hall and I am writing this in bed. Not undressed however as there will be rum issue later on and I want to, be ready to jump when parade is called. Tomorrow we get paid so Sgt. Irving had two nice things to tell us about tonight: rum and pay. Must try and get a letter or two written before lights out.

Saturday . Feb. 1. 1919.

First item on the program this morning was pay parade at 10:30 am. Most of us got paid to date and as there was about 300 rubles coming to me I got 220. The majority of the boys had been broke so they began to celebrate right away, at first in a mild form by buying canned fruit and chocolate boxes at the Canteen, and in the afternoon nearly all the signal section went to the nearby villages and bought up all the vodka they could carry inside and out. The first hut arrived for supper pretty well canned. The quieter ones after eating made up their bunks and fell into them while the remainder walked about making trouble or went back for a fresh supply. One fight started about 9 p.m. between Roche and Fred White but was stopped before much damage was done. Spicer, one of the youngest fellows in the bunch, and I guess his first experience with vodka got knocked out and was sent to the clink to sober up. It looked like a wild night, but old Ryan came on the scene and frightened all into quietness.