Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-20
.SAMMEE GETS
INITIAL TASTE
OF POISON GAS
Takes His Dose Manfully
and Says There's Nothin'
to 1t"
HIS FRIENDS THE KIDS
Bv HENRI BAZIN

Hag cossO22TGc ca e. Tn5 rs 5TSsEF& & EToaSS aS%o'' w
AurRtCAN FIELD HEADQUARTERS
IN FRANCE. Sept 10. ,.-. ,.,,
M o,bo~ day the entire Sammee force
Ia its first taste Of poison gas nuhe
sny other gas in use m IN war Vt ulu "o.
'a,,y,s ont of a clear sky in enemy wave OF
III Son,n1ee took it-intentionally. Com-
-, nv company aid battalion by Dattalloh
ss we'll as regiment by regiment tne n'e',
entered rough wooden Shacks eatlu Iue"
,ron the exterior, staying hNe 10 zen nun
,.ae In fumes that brings ucath III Two
- man had on his mask, II being care
s,,,,, adiueted~.by French and American
.ssdical men as in single file the KHAKI CIau
nsssed the death portal.
r,ort with them and stayed with a squad
:, uortans hundred while they occupied
" " pohan,hor II was dark as late twilight
rJ,hin and as hot a. Turkish BATH we
,,od there and chatted, "ecing each otll.r
s,Sarlv and as far as ! was concerned re.
seating the Impressions nave received
- various portions Of the French front
as TO the groteSpue apP-"i i"'''' W
about me- .,,-, .. ...," said
asnmee to me after we came out. Just
.othIn' 'cept it was hot IN there
vo single man showed any fear nor, as
o. ss could sec, had a blanched face. II
@ 70. ,,lon as q matter OF course and as
part Of the game.
TRENCHES WELL NAMED.
Al tho rractice trenches used by the
.nsrican troops have been dug by the
sn,,,.ee themselves under French instruc-
t,or and every trench has been named.
t'pon one entraining field where saw-tooth
.undenburE lire trenches are TO be found,
the trench names arc of three men who
,iI, 20 down in American history. one is
rrnsdent Of the United States and two are
ex-Presidents.
Tho trenches cover the Anne area as i
unon the actual front being in first, sec
ond and third line, with communications
and abris. The only difference is that the
sbris are shallower than i'm regular wd,'
Sare being but ten feet deep instead of
twenty to thirty. The first line trench Is
known as the Wilson trench The second
line is the Taft trench and the third and
last the Roo .cvet trench When l asked
yhy the last was so named ! was Informed
by a facetiou3 officer that. as usual on the
French front { last trench was the resist
ing trench, AZ .imc and again had hSd
true after the lrgt and second line had
been taken lie added Teddy is some re-
!. sister all right. and don't know how to say
de. Guess we knew what we were about
when we named these bitches"
MESSAGE TO ROOSEVELT
Writing Of the ex-President brings to
mind a story. Among all the accredited
correspondents. only three have seen SER
vice with other armies and on other fronts
IN this war The rest are resh from home
and a. yet cannot quite grasp why they
cannot have a cup of coffee with their din,
ner instead OF being compelled 10 take ,
zen demi tasse" afterward.
At dinner last night. one who has a rep
Itation as a humoriSt at home and who is
spreading that reputation over this piece
OF somewhere in France, said:
~ see in the paper that Roosevelt has
accepted job staff member of the Kan
eas City Star So ] sent cable to Oyster
Bay today signing it The Accredited Cor
respondents and reading as follows: Con.
"ratuations on your advent into newspaper
work We sincerely hope you will advance
sufficiently rapidly in your chosen profess
sion so as to join us before the big war is
much older" And everybody Is wonder
ing If Teddy will answer. and II so. what he
will say.
SAMMEE AND THE KTDDIES
If anybody ever tells you the old tale
Of a decrease in the population IN France
ask them to visit L French village outside
the actual front He will find kids enough
10 bar his passage as he goes through ,rs
streets and the youngsters in the villages
where Sammee is blleted are always
around the soldiers, particularly at the
mess hour Their means Of comm1nica-
ton are: First, smiles; second. signs
hlrd' few French and English words
Upon the side of the children these words
consist mostly of Good Night" Good
( Morning" and 'Vive rAmerloue"
Upon the Sammees' side it is mostly
'Toot Sweet" which would mean "ricln
away II spelled and pronounced properIv,
with Bon Jure" strong second. These
are the principal items In Sammees stocl,
OF French. His big hit with the French
kiddies is in feeding them They take to
American rice and New Orleans ,nolaeses
as duck to water, and they like bacon
which they call lard, pronounced 'Tarr =
eammee is usually there with the annette
.i'er MS days hiking and training, bur he
m,. generously supplied, and always has A
little for the klddies
WHERE MONEY TALKS
Inc villages are visited daily by travelling
snops, gypsy-likc long wagons With ne
tuii side opening for tho DISPLAY of ,vares
..n LneSe SHOPS sell everything from a shoe
etrlng to a blanket They are Ioadod 20
the axles with gimcracks and sonvS,r-s
pertumery. toilet articles pines stoc,irgs
anu underwear. and a hundred other ar
ueles Most of the stuff IS Of noor ond
saudy quality and sold at fancy nricns
out shop is a shop and none OF anv Kind
eSst IN these villages. So Sammee buys
Nhe'her he has needs or not. The buyer
somehow. "'ue'' ''"iu
You don't need no language TO buv this
guhN' said a Sammee TO me because
money talks any old kind Of lingo"
oahdy and American tobacco are ,he
Wo things Sammee Graves most. He is
supposed to be able to obtain either at the
esSpmmlssary or the Y. ~. c, A. tents and
shacks, and generally can. But inst AT this
u'ne he demand has been greater than the
supply and until the next shipments ar
i've Sammee will have TO 90 without his
eohectlonery and smoke French tobacco.
snNn ne hnds too unhavored and strong