The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-11-22
CLEMENCEAU, NEW FRENCH PREMIER, ADDRESSES AMERICAN
 SOLDIERS NOW AT THE FRONT

quotation, and they had no ,"camou- f1age" up.
 They were as tickled with the way fn which these youngsters are shap ing up as a football coach Is when he has the men of his eleven tempered to the point where he has to keep them chained for fear they will de- stroy innocent spectators.
 These are fighting men," said Gen. Sibert, "every one of them. Nice, cheerful, kindly boys-but look at their eyes and tell me the fighting spirit isn't thereI' ,.
 There was. tug-of-war, at which one Charley was the hero. Charley is a cook, fat and round and good-na- tured looking. But he has muscles like an understander in an acrobatic turn.
 He was the anchor of his team, and as anchor he took a double hitch of the rope and around his bil1owy mid dle, so that when the. strain came we bystanders feared the tug would finish by separating Charley into two neat halves. But he gave not an inch.
 There was 6, moment when he was prone on his back, bowed a trium- phal arch, his hob-nailed heels dig gtng into the footholds he had pro- vided. < r. The other team could not stand the strain. His friends helped Charley up when the tug was over. His face was precisely the color of an under done roast of beef.
 It was at lunch that the thought got home that these boys afe just the same boys we have all been going on basket ptcnfcs and fishing excur- sions with ever since we first got into long pants. Over here, somehow, one gets to | thinking of soldiers inpersonally-as "units' in the heartlegs military | phrase-and not as our own sort Of | people. But they talked just the
 same talk that you can hear wher- ever young men get together any where in the United States. from the annual outing of the First Method dist church to Providers Grove to the meeting of the undergraduate class | to select an anbi against the charge
 of hoisting the professors COW into the clock tower. -..l
 They loo'-ed just the same, too, | barring the khaki and the wide hats. | One of these days just the same sort
 of boys that are walking down Main
 street today will go over the top and | add another glory to the flag. :
 M. Clemenceau yielded to the
 wishes of the Generals who sat at his right and left at the table which had
 been improvised for the distinguish | ed ones, in the middle of the parade l ground, and talked to the guests. | 1S,&< hn 0- l 1or asked him to say 8, word to the boys that M. C1emenceau rose to his true form.
 He saw something of our Civil War, | and has always been a lover of Amer
 jeans. There were tears in his eyes and voice when he spoke:
 "Be sure that you are welcome in Il every French home," said he, ''and that you have your place in every | French heart. Once France helped l you fight for your own liberty. Now,
 when you might have kept out of this conflict with safety and honor, you
 have come to us to save the liberty of the world
 'tWe were not enough without you.
 You will suffer greatly. Many of you
 will die. Believe that France knows and appreciates this great thing you are doing to offer yourselves in a cause from which you can draw no personal profit, but which will make freedom sure for all.''
 It was after the little talk that he
 spoke to me of the appearance of the men. He liked their frank eyes,
 their manliness and order and up II rightness. They looked like soldiers he said, and bore 1lemsefves like sol diers, but there was something ever more:
 '"They are men, sadd he. Good men"
 Then, came the boxing sbouts and Schramm won his fight and a man in a dark jersey which bore a wide ,l stripe of red about the middle and u the letter 'tI' on the breast-it look
 ed like that of some western univers- fty-only got a draw.
 Il sympathized with the rooters just
 behind me- who declared with the
 freedom of American citizens watch ing a scrap, that he was robbed And a couple of whirlwind huskies
 slammed each other "in the mess
 hall" when they were not unintention- ally putting head-on, and a sergeant and a corporal put up battle that was too musical and sweet to suit. the crowd, and the crowd said so, with
 iteration and emphasis.
 |, So that finally the day was done and we all turned home. But the major ,l sighed: =, Il eff the Roche fiers would only i, come" said he \'Tve got such bully guns waiting for them.' ,