The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-06-27

Nit NoaSht hAAl ohA Aaia Ill VA
the muddy floor. He closed his eyes
and relaxed as one, wearied. lays him.
self down to rest. Garry on, boys"
he murmured. And thus he died.
Owen Wister tells of a French Of
ticer, shot through the chest, who lay
dying on the field of Flanders. There
was still life enough to write to his
sweetheart, and this is what he wrote:
There are two other men lying near
| do not think there is much
hope for either. One is a Scotchman
and the other a German. They were
struck down after me, and when l
came t myself | found them bending
ver me rendering first aid. The Scott
was pouring water down my throat
from his flash. while the German was
trying to stanch my wound. The High
lander has a leg shattered. while the
German has a piece of shrapnel in his
side.
In spite of their own sufferings
they were helping me. The German
gave us a morphia injection and took
one himself. His medical corps had
provided him with the injection and
the needle. Feeling wonderfully at
ease we spoke of the lives we had
lived before the war. We all spoke
English and we talked of the women
we had left at home. Both the Scot
and the German We're married.
Il Wonderland perhaps they did
why we had fought each other. |
looked at the Britisher, who was fall
ing asleep and in spite of his drawn
face and mud-stained uniform, he look
ed the embodiment of freedom. Then
| thought of the tri-color of France,
and all that France has done for free
dom. Then | watched the German
who had ceased to speak. He was try
ing to read a prayer book. And while
| watched him | realized what we
were fighting for. He was dying in
vain, while the Britisher and myself,
by our deaths. would contribute some
thing toward the cause of civilization
and peace"
Thus wrote this young French of
icer to the lady of his heart, an Amer
lean lady to whom he was engaged.
Tho DnH EpnSc fnun1 tha lnftar nj hic
side.
"Wha'de know about that" ex-
claimed a young lieutenant, examining
the bill for his dinner handed him by
the French waiter. They charge for
the ta~blecloth." We compared Jul
checks. There was SO mdch for meat,
so much for coffee, etc, and on each
bill there was a charge of ten cen
times-two cents-for the use of the
tablecloth we were eating on.
There's lots Of funny things Over
here" said another lieutenant. You
walk along a street at moor and you
won't see a knob on the front door
of a business house. When they &c
to dinner, instead of locking the doors
they take the knobs off and put them
in their pockets"
"They are a funny people, said
another. The pedestrian on the
streets has no rights. If a man gets
run over and killed by an automobile
he's arrested for interferig with traf.
fc."
Then we fell to discussing the pc
culiarities of the French folk. They
always send two men to do a one-man
job. Flowing with two horses they
use them tandem. One man drives
the horses, the other holds the pillow.
One of the drivers declared he saw a
man walking over plowed ground driv-
ing a team hitched to a harrow, while
another man rode the harrow. If a
carpenter is needed, two will come.
One man will hold a board while an
other drives a nail into it. A French
man never keeps a date-except with
the Hun. If he promises to meet you
at II O'Clock it's sure to be 13 o'clock
before he arrives. And that's another
funny thing-the way they keep time
They go right along after IL o'clock
through the teens UP to "a. 1t sounds
funny to hear a fellow say, ITS ten
minutes past 49," In the country in
old Brittany the homes and stables are
under one roof. The living rooms for
the family will be in n end Of the
long stone building and the stable In
the other end.
If a town is located on a running
stream or a river the women folk &c
there TO do the family washing. You'll
see them squatting along the banks
with brush and scrub board, chattering
away like magpies. In the cities there
are laundry boats, built specially for
the work. At haunt one big firm owns
six such boats. They are anchored