The Washington herald., 1917-12-13
By HEYwooD BRoUN.


accredited to the PershIng Army in
France.)
Copyright, 1917, by The Washington
Herald and the Tribune Association.)
With the American Army in
France. Nov. 3.-The Sight was as
thick as the mud under foot when
the first doughboyss marched. to the
trenches, and the rain didn't damp
en- their ardor.
At the last mess before going up
they were noisy. 1t looked. better
to laugh and lark. SO that every
body should know just where your
heart was. They guyed one or tive
who didn't have much 10. say, and
spoke right out in q joshing way
about getting killed. as new SOL
diers do. or very old ones. And
thsy smoked a lot OF cigarettes, but
the lights vent out with the talk
when they came to the bend in the
road. The last town wasn't bad.
There were no smashed houses
there. The villagers didn't even
have their windows screened, for
they knew there would be nobody
flying across on such a night. At
the bend in the road stood an old
sign post indicating the distance TO
a town now within the German
lines. But you couldn't see that
this night, or the newer sign which
said that the bridge %ss registered
and that troops should keep moving.
Nobody Saw Them Go By.
The doughboys had to, go through
the patch Of light and II was almost
impossible not to turn a bit and look
through the door of a cafe. There
was red wine and white TO be had
for the asking there. and persuasion
would bring an omelette. The watt
ress was named Marie, but they call
ed her Madelon. She was eighteen
and had black hair with red ribbons.
She could talk a little English. too.
but nobody came 10 the door of the
cafe TO see the soldiers go by. There
had been a good many who passed
the door Of that cafe in three years.
American troops were going into
the trenches for the first time. A
little group Of civilians who had
come thousands of miles to see this
thing were watching and waiting 10
tell something of this in stories to be
read in many papers. But the poilus
did not stop to look at marching men.
They paid their 10 centimes and went
into the picture show. They had an
American Western film That night.
and French soldiers who had been
only the day before face 10 face with
Germans, shelled and gassed and hs-
rassed from the aeroplanes, thrilled
as Indians chased cowboys across a
canvas screen
Meanwhile the = doughboys were
marching by as silently as the sol
diers on the screen. for this wasn't a
theater where they synchroniZed
bugle calls and rife fire to the prog
ress of the film. At one point in the
story there was some gun thunder
but it came at a tme when the or
chestra should have been playing
Hearts and Flowers for the love
scene in the garden. OF course, these
were German guns and they were
fired with the usual German disre-
gard for art
Wind Could Not BE sun.
The marching men looked at the
theater as they passed by, but only
one soldier spoke. He was one Of the
men who hadn't talked very much at
supper, and he said, Il certainly
would like to know for sure whether
I'll ever get to go to the movies
again"
They went a couple OF hundred
yards more without a word. and then
soldier who couldn't stand the ST.
lence any longer shouted ''Whoopee
Whoopee"' II was too dark to con-
duct an investigation and too close 10
the line to administer any rebuke loud
enough TO be effective. and so the
nearest ofioer just glaredSin the gen.
eraI direction Of the offender. A little
bit furtber on the soldiers found that
the road was pockmarked here and
there with shell holes
Late that night a teamster reported
that he had driven his four mules into
a shell hole and broken the rear axle
OF his wagon.
why didn't you send a man out
ahead to look out for shell holes
asked the officer.
Il did" said the soldier. He fell
in first"
Presently the marching men came
! to the beginning of the trench sys-
| tenn and they were glad to get a
wall on either side Of them. There
was no scramble. however. to be
| the first man in. and even the major
of the first battalion has forgotten
the name of the first soldier to set
foot in the French trenches. Some
| twenty or thirty men claim the honor,
| but it will be difficult to settle the
matter with historical accuracy. 4