The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-08-06

England, on the occasion Of the RoyaI visit to the American Eagle Hut a few | days ago, sampled the American pan cakes, she left part Of her portion on the plate, < A soldier, after their Ma jesties had departed. finished 1t; and went around boasting 'I'm the man that ate the Queens pancake!"
 The Eagle Hut boasts three attrac- | tions> 50 typically American that they are almost a curiosity in London. They are an American barber's chair, an American bootbIack stand and a pan cake griddle.
 The barber's chair was discovered Somewhere in England" after long pateint search and was bought for $50. When the Y. M. c. A. people hear the American soldier, as he stretches out in it, say "Ah-h, that's the stuff" they know they made good investment. The English bar Der chairs are upright, with an inn movable back.
 In England, when an American wants to have his shoes shined he looks in vain for the familiar perma- nent chair-stands that he was accus-
 
 he encounters only an itinerant side walk knight of the shoe brush equip l ped with a small box. No seat is pro- vided for the customer. The London l branch of an American shoe company presented the Eagle Hut with an Amer ican stand which has a marble top piece and Is surmounted by one of those comfortable armchairs in which a soldier can repose luxuriously. | The pancake griddle was the hard est nut of all to crack. The prob lem was to obtain a metal plate large enough to accommodate batter for all the cakes the hungry soldiers craved. London was searched from end to end and at last a plate was found. But after the cooker had been constructed another problem presented itself. What were the cakes to be made of? Enter the wheat ration question. The Y. M c. A. cooks had one idea as to the amount of wheat that should be used for the batter; the British gov ernment had another-one quite diff ferent The cooks had to capitulate to wars necessities and they mixed enough corn meal and potato flour with the wheat to conform to the gov ernment's views.
 To be 'In on the first batch" of
 cakes, soldiers formed a queue in the
 hut canteen extending all around the
 room They ate so many cakes the
 first week that according to one of the
 Hut's secretaries, they used up all the
 maple syrup in England. A big sup | I,,I1 of ic
 home; also consignment of buck
 wheat, the arrival of which will mean
 other queues.
 The introduction at the Hut recent
 ly of what is euphuistically known as
 ice cream caused the quick formation of g. line even longer than the pan
 cake queue. The average afternoon consumption of this favorite Ameri can dish now amounts to eighty
 quarts.
 One of the seven secretaries of the American Eagle Hut here was snatch
 ing a moments rest in his cubicle or
 a recent Sunday afternoon when z 1 tall American soldier looked in at tht s open door. It was evident that th' 2 soldier had a request to make, but h,
 
 before he got up the courage to sa! he wanted to borrow a suit of under { wear. B q hate to trouble you for anything 4 like that sir,' he apologized, "but tti
 being Sunday the stores are closed
 and I've been asked out to dinner, s 5 you see"
 ? The secretary found he had sui ; 7 to spare. A little later, passing througl : the bathroom, he saw the big felloy
 splashing under a shower. Say tn !, soldier greeted him, .'I believe you ca 70 get anything here if you ask for it. |, The soldiers and sailors ask for al ,SS kinds of things at the Eagle Hut, an ,II rarely are they disappointed. One ar ,%1 ticle in great demand is advice, whic r is constantly on tap at the informatio lI window.
 l A lad in khaki will hang about un iI til the window is clear. Then he wi ,z edge up to it and in bashful whis az per say:
 |2 Do you think it would be all rigt r. if married an English girl?" aaI- Before the puzzled official can fo1 zn1 mulate an answer, another soldier wi 70 dash up breathlessly and demand | B. know how he can get out of the Cana '@ dian army into the American. Sti ,L another will press forward for infol 1I nation as to why mail from his Aur ~ Hetty in Sycamore Center, Kansa ,t hasn't reached him in camp and whe n he may expect it.
 H The Eagle Hut is headquarters fe H the enlisted men of the America H overseas forces on their visits to tt 15 British metropolis. It is hotel, clu
 and home all combined, and it is fc % them the most popular place in tf
 city. Naturally London is the MecC e8 of every soldier and sailor on leave 60 England, and the first visit is like A to prove bewildering. Forewarne
 the American makes a bee-line for u ed Eagle Hut, and there he gets his bea
 ings and ready answers to the hui
 dred and one questions he invariab
 asks. There he finds food, entertain '1S ment and companionship.
 ,3s In the roomy, comfortable 1oun, )1s he registers by writing his name on sA marker which he sticks into the fla
 your-own-town' map of the U. s. ed Through the good offices of those lit on flags he may be able to say lit
 later in the words of the song, "G m: but it's great to meet pal from yo ~ home town" for the flags have be- 'oo the means of reviving old-time frien
 ships between men who had lost sig
 of each other for years. In one :, stance they enabled a father to fl ,a, his son
 'o' The visitor notices also in the lo1n