In the lines one often finds evidence of a prejudice against officers of the staff--nicknamed "Brass Hats" by the boys--this prejudice being due to the fact that Tommy looks upon staff jobs as being safety-first positions, and that the man in the line thinks, rightly or wrongly, that too many young fellows who should be doing their bit under fire remain at the rear through family pull or connection. There is also the impression that many of the staff only get under fire when they absolutely have to. Of course this is a much exaggerated idea, but that it exists is shown by the following humorous conversation overheard in the lines: "Say, Bill, did you hear that peace has been declared?" "Naw; nothin' to it; hot air; no sich luck." "Sure it has. Didn't ye see those two Brass Hats goin' along the trenches just now?" The Tommies call their helmets "tin hats," and on a certain occasion one soldier was heard to ask another if he thought a tin hat as safe as a Brass Hat. Of course in a war such as that of today mistakes are inevitable at times. Occasionally battalions or companies are ordered to accomplish the impossible. The Charge of the Light Brigade has repeated itself more than once, and the staff get the credit, or discredit, for these mistakes. Sometimes it is the orders which cause the wag of the company to speak of these officers with his fine contempt. Everyone has seen Bairnsfather's picture of a subaltern under heavy fire in the front line, and at the same time having to answer a telephone message as to how many cans of apple jam had been sent in the rations in the past week. It seemed, no doubt, a ridiculous exaggeration, but is no more ridiculous than an order which came through one day to test out a certain rat poison, a sample of which accompanied the order. The battalion receiving this command was at the time holding a very bad bit of line where the Germans did much sniping and dropping over of pineapples, rum jars, whizz bangs, and so forth. The battalion was to test this poison with particular reference to the following points: 1. Adequacy of eight tins per 1,000 yards of trench. 2. Amount of bait consumed. 3. Number of sick or dead rats seen. 4. Post-mortem examination of dead rats. 5. As to diminution of rat population, "staleness of rat holes might be taken as corroborative evidence of diminution." Then followed three foolscap pages of typewritten directions along this line. (Foolscap in the foregoing is not intentionally sarcastic.) Do you wonder that the men made jokes? Imagine, if you can, a battalion under very heavy fire night and day trying to carry out tests that might easily be carried out behind the lines as to the efficiency of a rat poison. Imagine a Medical Officer, while not attending the wounded or sick, doing post-mortem examinations of dead rats, or estimating "the staleness of rat holes," with, perhaps, a German sniper trying to get a bead on him!