The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-06-09
RETREAT OF
GERMANS ADDS
TO VAST RUIN
Each Backward Step Means
Desolation to Part of
France
SOLDIERS WELCOME
RETURN TO NATURE
Become Gentle as Little
Children When Behind
The Lines ~

British Army Headquarters in France,
June 9.-(staff correspondence of The
Associated Press -While the grip of
the Germans, clinging desperately to
the line they flung from Switzerland
to the sea, slowly but steadily is be-
ing broken each backward step means
added desolation to beautiful part
OF France. The coming of spring has
emphasized anew how closely the pur-
suits of peace tread upon the heels
of war. Tidy French farms, geomet-
ricaIly precise, reach up to the very
domain of the guns. and it is possible
on many parts Of the line. to see old
French men and women following
ploughs or harrows almost to the very
edge of the heavy battery positions.
Shells are tossed near them now
and then but they never seem to mind.
The war is nearly three years old now
and shells and battle noises have be-
come the normal things of life, not
the abnormal ones. 1t is even possible
along older bits Of the line in the
north to see farmers ploughing both
sides of the war zone. At the places
less harshly dealt with whence the
Germans were driven this spring,
many of the trenches already have
been filed and the ground is being put
under cultivation. Some of the newly
sown fields, however, recently have.
been ripped UP by long ranged Ger
man guns. s.. $50,
Nature Works Change.
Fighting men who are relieved every
little while from front line duty come
for a brief rest to the springtide
% he
change of surroundings from the
cauldron of war to the peace of blos-
SONS and birds is no greater than the
transformation Of these English Tom
mics, themselves, and their brothers
from overseas. These men who, under
the red spell OF battle, shoot, bayonet
and bomb to death all who stand be-
fore them become gentle as little
children again. One can see these SOL
diers with the battle fatigue still
heavy upon them standing for hours
in long lines outside divisional cam
teens waiting their turn to go in and
buy as others stream out laden with
cakes and candy.
Grim and resolute in battle, Tom
my seems To have a certain simplicity
and kindness of heart which makes
him react quickly to the normal
laws OF manhood as soon as the fight
ing is over. If he has to make jour-
ney by train, he sits in the open doors
of boxcars with his feet and legs
swinging outside. If there is a movie
show" anywhere near, he gladly pays
fifty cents to go, always, especially
when war scenes happen to be shown,
laughing heartily when a shell, BURST
ing nearby, appears to have upset the
equilibrium of the man working the
camera.
Rastime Music In Order.
Today, while resting, a Squadron of
cavalry was having a. water carnival
along q pretty little French river.
Their band was playing gay airs and
all the women, children and old men
of the countryside came to see the
swimming races, diving contests and
attempts to walk greasy pole across
q swift-running stream. There was a
soldier clown, too, and great air of
merriment all about. A German pris-
oner taken some time ago said he could
always tell when the British were not
going to attack by the fact that the
Tommies could be heard singing, eS-
pecially ragtime.
There are no longer any songs how
long 1t is from Tipperary, but at work
or play or swinging along the roads to
battle, nowadays, the Tommies sing
about wanting to get back to their
home in Tennessee and about having
q Kentucky jubilee, without the
slightest idea just where Tennessee
or Kentucky are.
II the American expeditionary force
comes into the British zone, the Amer
leans will find the bands playing and
the men singing many old familiar
tunes.