Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-23
"SAMMEES" RECEIVED IN FRANCE
WITH MINGLED CHEERS AND TEARS
Populace Tremendously Inspired Says Henri baz' oy
Presence and Fine Appearance of Soldiers
Interesting Incidents After Arrival
BY HENRI BAZIN
stor Correspondent Of the Euenino Ledger
IN France.

himself. This was done so tnat presen'S
copy can appear in the EVENING hDD'hN'
I talked with fifty men. rank and file.
I found the Philadelphia accent hrst, ou'
I detected also that of Boston ana oni-
cago. that too of the South and the Kansas
and California drawl All these men; !
thought. welded into one. all represen.lns
the United States, all ready to give their
lives and all they held dear for Gauss
worthy of mems trying. And ] bowed my
head 10 them in reverence and envy, rever-
ence for the flag envy that years pre'en.
my serving under one of two nags 'hat
are red, white and blue.
The commssary clerk OF one snip III tne
expedition composed upon the way over
"a marching song to which the music was
written by soldier who Is the son on
a late CAPTAIN in the American navy Inc
music is a swinging rollicking narcn III
curious mixture recalling i.pperaIs,
Eot Time in the Old Town Tonight ana
,ho poxolopv. The words of two verses
are as follows:
rorn.rd hovs TO Germany will be our battle
Where our gallant generals lead u.s. we'll either
We are 90 ,Rc Re FIRST irst from the U. S A. and we'll
p,,,,tor rave hoya V "o moor Belgium and that Gods
viii must be done
oh France. you nsye AYE our pity for your wounded
And in every German city the word Yankee VIII
Our wives sand and sweethearts want us to avense
Committed @ by the Kaiser and every man he
leads.
with the troops were r NUMBER or
negroes mostly from the South They VIII
stav as steyedores and in their overalls and
campaign hats made a picturesque addition
TO the martial scenes about them In con-
yersation with few from Georgia and
South Carolina | heard story or two and
noted an incident
found one sitting close to companion,
his back leaning against a wall as though
he had been in France forever In answer
to my question as to where he came from,
he answered.
"Charleston boss And say, boss. on the
way over George here told me land was IN
sight | ies skinned up them ropes and
looked at it. cause | wanted to see a larger
piece right away. And carried one OF them
life preservers round with me all the time
cause | made up my mind If anything hap
pened / was jes goin' to save my life, /
was"
Another was trying hard to make n shop
keeper understand he did not want to sell
his watch or buy the whole shop, but just
needed n new crystal for his Waterbury.
As he struggled in despairng sign
language. / stepped up and offered to help.
"Lor bress you, boss you sure can This
man Is trying to tell me something and |
don't know what it is. Something bout one
something and a half. and don't done get
him"
As left camp for Paris and my eye ran
over thousands of tents and thousands OF
Sammees in khaki the thought strnck me
that looked upon some destined to be OF
Americas first casualty list, for these boys
will be the first in the fight when they re-
place those of blood-stained France in the
trenches, and as destiny has written, many
are doomed to die.
With the thought my mind went back to
all the days of the last year, during which
| have looked upon the sons of France and
England giving life blood for the same
ideals the United States ia about to offer
her own. Instinctively there same prayer
to my lips for these American Sammees.
for the comfort, such comfort of prayer
| may give, to those dear 10 them across the
sea, from this war-torn France of my
fathers and upon whose soil my friends and
brothers from America have come prepared
| to give their all to personify in heroic ex-
ample the traditions of their country, OF
its ideals, of its proud record in the causes
of liberty.