Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1917-11-30

ress asked IN hlnAHemenl
Relaxation Is Violent.
"The American soldier arrives In
France ripe for time lie has
Travelled IN secluslOn as near ahsO-
lutte az possible for from three to five
weeks, and his first relaxation IL usu-
ally rather violent, The policy fol-
lowed, judging from my obserya-
ton, ls 10 give incoming soldiers as
much liberty as reasonably possible
with few rules Of restraint, Then
as privileges are abused restrictions
are made, There Is one town near
here, for Instance, In which members
of the regiment are forbidden to
drink, The government of troops
thereby evolves Into q sort Of local
option proposItlon-wlth the option In
the hands Of the commanding Of.
hcer, Regiments are sometimes like
individuals. They have n character
of their Own-and reputation. And
the lntlmntlon Is that rules and or
ders will be applied locally, as needed
for special cases, The system, be-
leve, will work admirably. II n
regiment should 60 too strong on the
liquor, | suppose It's drinking prIvl-
leges could be taken away altogether,
'The policing, Insofar Rs Americans
are concerned, Is In the hands Of
Americans. The United States SOL
der Is answerable. at present only
to his commander. This was Illus
trated the other day. when an officer
went down to tho police station to
see II he could get the police Of n
nearby French city to apprehend
member OF his company who had
wined too well and forgot to return
for two or three days, He finally
got the plan through the head Of tho
III Captain de Police.
"'Whatr exclaimed that official
Through an lnterpreter), we arrest
no one that fights for France'
"Hence Uncle Sam Is doing his own
policing. The marines are doing It
here. There has been no trouble Of
any consequence though. Once In a
while the genuine and wholesome
good will of the French gives way to
evaporation at the strange demands
of the Americans. The slight friction
there has been Is all due to differ
ences Of language and custom. This
gives rise to many embarrassing stu
atoms One may cite.
Don't Like WhlstlInq.
AT small town near where | was
stationed few days ago we were wont
to gather In front OF the en-
porlums for an evening for social
purposes. A French soldier train
hound for the front goes through
every evening. Invariably the Amerl-
cans greeted the Frenchmen with
hearty cheers and whlstling The
French Mt first appeared to be en-
thusiHstlc enough, That Is, when the
cheering began. Then they seemed
TO get rilcd and not infrequently they
were suspected Of calling us names.
Come to find out to whistle ut n
person is to insult him in this coun-
try, and the French thought we We're
hootlng them. Result - an order
against whStlng, | remembered that
in evening strolls when | had been
ahSent-mndcd whlStlng, persons
had looked mt me rather strangely,
with a kind Of Are you doing that to
meY look on their faces.
"Thcn, too, we landed here with a
splash. The Australian and the Cam
adian makes as much money as we do,
but they don't know how to spend it.
The American Is the best spender on
earth; | don't mean merely In the
amount that he spends, but in the
obvlouSness with which he distributes
1t. He seldom haggles, and 1t may
be his last five-franc piece that he
gives to the cabman for two-franc
ride, but he doesn't holler. He stop
ped In the best hotels and ate at the
best restaurants.
II dlned at the SWEETEST restaurant
in the aforesaid nearby city one
night. Present were two French gen.
erals, half dozen lesser officers, a
couple of English captains and six
buck privates Of the U. s. A. with
heir coats Off and hanging on
loOk). This Is common sight. The
advance reputation Of the Americans
and the way in which they have lived
up to 1t caught the eye Of French
'emlninlty-the abundance Of which
cannot be Overestimated-and, | sus-
)ect, that naturally enough there was
Just tlnge Of jealousy on the part
If the Frenchman home from the
Moreover, the American
hasn't done anything yet-proven his
steel, as it were. But that doesn't
mount to much.
Hats Are in Demand.
"The world of skirt is certainly
,urS, however. The Americans hadn't
,ecn here two months until society
n Paris had adopted the American
hat for this season and
he vogue has spread all over the coun-
ry A hat Is worth n home any day.
TbnV soil ot tho uIIortprmn StprS for