The states-graphic. (Brownsville, Tenn.) 1???-1984, 1918-02-15

| apologies for pie, but they are q de.
fusion and a snare. Our boys "ove:
snere" are now finding this fact out
Reports from them tell the same olC
story that every American traveller
knows is true. No pie, no pieI
1t is like the vail of lost soul. The
bread is black, the coffee is muddy, the
beds are instruments of torture, but
the boys don't complain about any OF
these things. What they miss is pie
They too spent fortunes for things
that had some facial resemblance to
the familiar pie, but in every instance
these alleged pies have proved wholly
disappointing, like the traditional
Dead Sea apples, that turn to ashes.
If the crust of the pie is all right,
the filling is all wrong, and vice YER
sa; it is never possible in the Old
World to meet up with a pie in which
satisfactory case and satisfactory
works are coincident. Why this is
so is a matter which would take a
whole system of philosophy to explain
but it is so.
The other day some of Pershing's
boys concluded that they could not
endure the rigors of life at the front
any longer without putting their teeth
once more into a real American pie.
They had tried all the alluring prod
ucts of the French bakeries-those
wonderful tarts, ecIaires, bon-bons,
pates, gateaus, conserves, comftures
and trifles of thousand kinds-but
not one filled the bill.
So they subsidized a chef and saw
that he was provided with the max
ings Of some pies, and they paid him
IL francs-$2.40 apiece for these
pies. The plot was discovered by the
powes that be, and the question at
once came up, where the white flour,
sugar and other "ingrediums" that
went into the pie came from, seeing
that such precious material were con-
traband.
A court-martial was ordered but
history has so far failed to record
what the outsome was. We hope that
the military authorities will have a
heart and not be too severe on our
boys who strained point in order
to see one more what pie tastes like.
However, if the offenders have to be
shot, it would be no more than right to
let them enjoy a good hunk Of pie be-
fore the order to fire is given.
Yes, the lack of pie is the most Sc
rious thing the boys engaged in this
war will have to face. Camoufage
now allows victories to be won with
out guns or ammunition, but it is i'm
possible to conceive of the world be-
ing safe for democracy unless pie is
to enter into the reckoning.
Pie is the great democratic dish, the |
dessert of the proletariat. And it is a !
sacred institution tous Americans. The
pie should follow the flag, if notprecede
It. If we had our way we would pro-
vide that every U. S. soldier and sail
Or should have his daily ration of pie,
no matter what else was short.
There should be a special Liberty /
oan if necessary to keep continuous
stream of pies rolling to the front.
and Carnegie might endow
pie fund. Pie is the bulwark Of our
Amerianc civilization and it is the one
iveness and assertiveness of the New |
World from the bourbonism and eff
eteness of the Old. Patrick Henry
night as we'll have said "Give me
lie, or give me death, for what is
liberty without pie?
Though pie is the paramount need
f the soldiers, we would warn every
ne against the mistake of trying to
end pies to the boys at the front or
n the camps. Pies are not designed
" Providence to stand the ravages of
and time. They have
10 she'll to protect them like the oys-
err or turtle, nor are they incased in
rmor-plate like the cocoanut or do
ian; their radius of action is small;
heir effectiveness is unqIestionable
nut their range is short.
One time when the prsnt writr was
broad, some friends at home sent him
mince pie by mail. The pie went to
australia, and by the time it was de-
ivered it had reached state SO de-
Generate that the affair came near
war between Australia and
he United States. The authorities on
eing told that is was specimen of
he great American pie, and not some
nfernal machine, insisted on tasting
t, and they at once pronounced it
'casus belli."
Uncle Sam his let it be known that
lie and similar perishables are not
Welcome contributions for the soldiers
or the reason that usually the time
init on them has expired before they
an be delivered. Nevertheless it is
10 joke that our boys in the army and
lavy have to 60 so nearly pieless.
dost people while enjoying the COM
orts of home think very little about
,ie, but if it was their lot to go to the
ront they would soon realize how
much pie meant to them.
The British soldiers have a slang
erm "blighty"-taken from the Hin
means home and every
hing that goes with it. Our boys say