“NEXT OF KIN”
A good recruiting story, told by an officer at Seaforth, shows how prone is a simple mind to be confused by the elaborate cross-questioning which the new recruit has to undergo. The officer was entrusted with the collection of particulars necessary for the allotment of allowances to the soldiers’ dependents.
He was interrogating a young fellow who did not seem to have a clear idea what it was all about.
“Next of kin?” he asked, in a sharp, business-like way.
The young soldier dropped his voice and became confidentially apologetic.
“I’m only wearing a jersey,” he replied; “my shirt’s getting washed.”