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

9oldlers-campalun Hats Are thu
Vogue In ParlS Fashionable Circles
A California soldier with the Amer
lean forces In France gives his expe
riences and observations In m interest
ing letter to the folks at home:
my Dear -:
~ have before me, as n precautIon
a two.page digest Of new elght-pagc
order, outlining the censorship re-
strictlOns, II Is an impressive doc
ument Uncle Sam, though n novice
In the game OF doing something with,
out letting the world know about IT,
has gone his bellgerent associates one
better than they ever thought Of. This,
I suppose, because Of the comparative
ease with which spy otherwise could
operate In the American army.
'The new order Is the most drastic
ever adopted by any nation and a
blow to the Sammle ambitious TO tell
'em about It. II embodles an ocean
Of 'don'ts' and not single do and
one Ia wont to wonder, after a first
perusal, what the deuce he can write
about. was puzzled myself until
got the knack Of sticking to gencralI-
ties. A good way to all up white pa
per, also, Is to devote two or three
paragraphs to telling the folks that
you can't tell them anything, and
why.
Sorted, and alphabetically ar
ranged these 'don'ts' run from A
to - After reading down through
n and II the newcomer finally de-
cldes to sit down and write, merely, Il
am WELL All references or opinions
to present or future whereabouts, work
or operations Is prohibited. The men
ton Of troops In connection with any
particular place Is forbidden. And
this Is carried even to military CORE
spondence, am told, the addresses
reading merely Regiment So and SO,
A. e. f.. three initials which will be
used lot In the next few months
or years. Postcards, both Of the pic
ture variety and those with messages
on them are taboo. Other subjects |
can't discuss are: Information con
corning casualties, unless they've been
officially announced the effect of hos
tile fire, all information about aircraft
and the condition. moral or physical,
Of our own or allied troops. And,
what Is more, no criticism Of any
sort will be allowed Of our own Off
GERS or those Of the allies. So I
can't, for instance, tell you what |
think Of my corporal. As matter Of
fact however | haven't got one. I'm
the clerk Of my company, and spend
most Of my day fighting the Germans
with a typewritcr-no casualties yet.
| felt no conscientious pangs about be-
Ing armed with so innocent n weapon
as typewriter, however.
More Than Guns Needed.
-F''sfFA -
"There are many things besides
guns which figure in this war. Over
here, the side rule, the surveyors
the crOss-cut saw, the cleo
tricIan's pliers, are few that are as
honorable as the Krag, and the baker
and the cook, the dentist and the bar
Der, the store clerk in the quarter
and the cobyler, the woods
man and the bridge builder the track
layer and the rod builder, all are use
ful-and essential-ln their place.
And their work Is regarded as being
as honorable as that Of the man who
goes down into the first line trenches.
Or, rather, will go down.
"There Is a lot Of speculation as
to when Uncle Sam will start things.
Every soldier has an ear open for
he latest rumOr-and there Is one
every few mInutes-and a deep curl
)sity as to the immediate future Of
MS troop, but there Is no answer to
he question, When do we go2 And
he constant repetition Of this Ques-
ion has had but one result, a special
order prohibiting the discussion Of
ms to when we will take
over stretch of line. It Is a pun
shable Offense for an officer to de-
,ate with his men, for example, the
IupStion Of ono thing only am
the United States will
lot start until everything is ready.
used to think that all an army had
o do was to march up to the firing
inc and 90 to 1t, but this trip has pro-
luced realization of the elaborate
necessary before we even
,egin to fight. There must be hOspl-
ais behind the lines manned by
nurses and doctors and attendants,
ailrOads to convey troops and food,
bakeries. bath houses,
aundrcs and hundred other things,
nd all these must in in readiness be-
ore the actual fighting begins.
There must be a pretty efficient or
perfected merely as a pre-
And that is why there Is
dignity to the man with the shovel,
he aX and other tools could emu
nerate. He already is at work while
he fighter is waiting until the stage
s set.
&C