The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-03-09
officers SPIRIT.
ELATES BRITISH
Eagerness Of the Americans to
Get to the Front Is
Always Noted.
MAKE THEMSELVES At HOME
Get "on the Job" a., Once and Dis
play q Desire to Learn and to
Be Where the Shells Ara
WhixxiKg.

WhixxiKg.
London.-Many interesting stories
come from France about the keenness
of mind and the eager spirit of the
American officers arriving at the front.
These officers get ION the job" at once
and display desire to learn and to be
where the shells are whizzing and the
Huns are to be seen.
The first tendency of the Britishers
is to be somewhat envious of the elab-
crate paraphernaha and equipment of
the Americans, but the disposition of
the latter to share everything he has
with his colleagues, be they French or
British, at once puts him on a most
friendly basis.
A British officer, writing in the
Daily News, tells of the arrival of
two of these American officers at
the front. After describing an old
French chateau. full of gusts of wind,
Of ghosts and labyrinthIne passages"
he says that these two Americans
lugged into the place with trunks and
bags and quickly made themselves at
home.
Make Themselves at Home at Once.
He describes their entrance thus:
"And Just then the door creaked
open. and two pleasant faced young
men in khaki, and wearing wide
awake hats with gold and black cord
twined around them, put their heads
in, looked round. bade me a pleasant
good evening. looked Mt the pile of
boxes. said they supposed this was
where they were coming in, and ex-
pected. and were quite prepared to put
up with hardships. and rapidly took
possession.
''This. then, was the American army
come to stay. These young gentlemen
had travelled from the other side of
the Atlantic to help out the allies, and
with them had come their belongings
packed in trunks. Thinking. of course,
Of the limited number of beds, / said 4:
How many are there of your Il guess
there are only two coming In here.
one replied. That seemed good enough
and said to myself: This army has
got some transportation. If couple
of lieutenants carry this lot, what
must an army carTyT
81 don't regret their coming. They
were nice Americans. They asked a
lot of questions. and in doing So
skinned me of my knowledge of the
western front. And from those trunks
they produced pieces of equipment
which made me envious-automatic
revolvers, marked with a large q. S.
A., and ammunition; glasses, boots,
leggings. coats, bats. mess tins, water
bottles, spare tunics, flash lamps
! everything. in fact, which makes our
! own officers when on the move look
like Christmas trees. These young of.
fcers were even more the complete
officer than we profess to be; but all
| and locked away in trunks. And look
ing at the proposition fairly and
squarely began to like those trunks
Democratic Discipline.
"We settled down to work together
These American officers are of the
stamp Of the Canadian and Australian
officer-keen, alert, good shots, and en-
dowed with what they themselves call
democratic discipline One saw thi:
| discipline at work. You fellows
haven't got much of place to shake
down in,' one of their servants told
me the morning after he had dumped
his masters kit In my room, and
don't think / felt any resentment al
being called a fellow.
"These officers had that inevitable
inside of warfare which one finds ir
newly arrived British officers. AND
| here is the same kind Of speculatinf
and guessing as to what is going tC
happen, when 1t will happen, and the
chances of an early 'bnghty.' But
there is something more. These Amer
lean officers have definite views on the
war. One OF them told me that hi
expected to find the British ant
French armies somewhat ragged anC
worn after their long struggle. What
he had found was just the reverse
The British army made him blink; Il
was so highly polished and extraor
dinarily smart, slick, alert and full Of
'swank.' He expected to find low
morale, instead Of which he finds II
high. Personally think these officers
had come to criticize, but they remain
to admire in amaze.
"And all this discovery leads to 9
certain shyness-something which Ii
new to Yankee temperament. My two
friends Of the heavy baggage seemed
to regard me as an expert in this wal
game, and an expert who had to bt
treated with respect. Consciously OF
sneAnsciously, they gaye-me- an as