Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-15


AS the officers seated themselves
a waiter came to us with a printed
bill of fare and program. Fortu-
nately, he waited on the others first
and l listened intently to their or
ders. The officers ordered some
light wine, but my Belgian neighbor
ordered Book" for himself and his
fwife. which was what l had decided
to order anyway. as that was the
only thing | could say. Heaven
| knows | would far rather have or
dered something to eat. but the bill
of fare meant nothing to me, and
| was afraid to take a chance at
the pronunciation of the dishes it SET
forth.
There were a number of drinks
listed which L might safely enough
/ have ordered. For instance, | no.
tlced Lemon squash, 1.50," ginger
beer, l. Sparkling Dry Ginger
Ale. l." "Apollinaris, l." and
"Schweppes soda, O.SO." but it oc-
CURED to me that the mere fact that
l selected something that was listed
in English might attract attention to
me and something in my pronuncia-
ton might give further cause for
suspicion.
1t seemed better to parrot the Bel
gian and order "Bock," and that was
what l decided to do.
Whetted His Appetite
One item on the bill of fare tam
talized me considerably. Although
1t was listed among the "Prizzan der
drunken" which l took to mean
Prices of drinks" it sounded very
much to me like something to eat,
and Heaven knows l would rather
have had one honest mouthful of
food than all the drinks in the
world.
The item l refer to was "Dubbel
Gersten de Flesch (Michaux)r A
double portion of anything would
have been mighty welcome to me,
but l would have been contented
with a single "Gersten" if l had only
had the courage to ask for it.
To keep myself as composed as
possible l devoted lot of attention
to that bil4 of fare, and | think by
the time the waiter came around |
almost knew it by heart. One drink
that almost made me laugh aloud
was listed as "Lemonades gazeuses," :"
but l might just as we'll have intro
duced myself to the German officers
by my right name and rank as at
tempt to pronounce it.
When the waiter came to me.
therefore, l said Book, as casually
as l could, and | felt somewhat re-
lleNed that l had gotten through
this part of the ordeal so easily.
While the waiter was away l had
chance TO examine the bill of fare
and l observed that glass of beer
cost so centimes. The smallest
change l had was a two-mark paper
bill.
Apparently the German officers
We're similarly fixed and when they
offered their bill to the waiter, he
handed it back to them with a re-
mark which / took to mean that he
couldn't make change.
Can Tip in Any Language
Right there L was in "a quandary
To offer him my bill after he had
Just told the officers he didn't have
change would have seemed strange
and yet l couldn't explain to him
that 1 was in the same boat and he
would have to come to me again
later. The only thing to do, there
fore, was to offer him the bill as
though l hadn't heard or noticed
what had happened with the Ger
mans, and l did so.
He said the same thing to me as
he had said to the officers, perhaps
little more sharply, and gave me
back the bill. Later on, he returned
TO the table with a handful of
change and we closed the transac-
ton. | gave him 25 centimes as a
tip had never yet been to a place
where it was necessary to talk to do
that.
During my first half hour in that
theater to say L was on pins and
needles is to express my feelings
mildly. The truth of the matter is |
was never so uneasy in my life.
Every minute seemed like an hour.
and dozen times L was on the point
of getting up and leaving. There
were altogether too many soldiers in
the place to suit me, and when the
German officers seated themselves
right at my table ] thought that was
however, the lights went out shortly
afterward and in the dark | felt con-
siderably easier.
After the first picture, when the
lights went up again, / had regained
my composure considerably and II
took advantage of the opportunity to
study the various types of people in
the place.
From my seat l had a splendid
chance to see them all. At one table
there was a German Medical Corps
officer with three Red Cross nurses.
That was the only time l had ever
seen a German nurse. for when l
was in the hospital had seen only
men orderlies. Nurses don't work
so near the first line trenches.
Enjoys the Situation
The German soldiers at the differ
ent tables were very quiet and or
derly. They drank book beer and