Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-12-26

! burned rations! The morning OF
Jan. l, 1918, we all. got up with
Happy New Year and started TO
eat soup. And three times that day
We ate-soup. a good army COOK
can make soup out of anything, and
-Our cooks were of the best, for that
is just what the soup was made OF
anything. incidentally, that was
about all it was made OF for water
was plentiful, with the snow TWO
feet deep. However, our good old
Uncle Sam got rations to us the
l.eXt day and the sun shone again.
We were at LaCOurtine until the
eighth of January, and in spite of
the cold ] enjoyed myself immense
". For one thing. we were paid.
On the eighth, all the officers ex-
oept two with each company, were
sent to the First army corp school
at GoOdiecOurt, in northeastern
France, while the companies with
their two officers each were ordered
10 Langres, in the department of
, Haute-M Marine. The "trip to Langres
1 was one Of the officers left with
Company d, One Hundred Sixty
third infantry-all Montanians)
took us three days, or until the
18th, and We travelled in the Gus
tomary Hommes 40-ChevauX cars.
We were at Langres until the first
of May This town was headQuar-
tiers for American army scnoo-s,
also advanced section, service or
supply, and was also the location
Of the army candidates school, |. e.,
a school where nom commissioned
officers were. trained for commits
sions. All the time | was at Lam
Gres / was mounted and had a line
Of outp0sts running up the Marine
river to visit. My duties simply
consisted in turning in casual re-
ports regarding the manner IN
which the Outposts were being con-
Quoted. and some OF my trips took
me away from Langres for week
at time.
Goes to Paris.
Langres is situated at the head
of the Marine river-hence the name
OF the department, or state, IN
which it is located Haute-Marne."
Il is built on the top or a high hill
which gives it command of the
country for miles around. 1t is one
Of the oldest towns, and one of the
most historical, in France, and is
strongly fortified. 1t lies in the
midst of a fortified country, yet is
one of the very few towns that the
Germans failed to take in the war
Of 1870 1t claimed the honor of
being one of the summer homes of
all the French kings, and even be-
fore then Caesar stopped there long
( enough to leave them his mark
notably several stone tablets set in
a part of the old wall, which he
built and parts of which are still
standing. Then there is one gate
/ IN the wall with an Inscription by
/ Marcus Aurelius, constructed for
/ Lis use on entering Langres. 1t was
( while we were there that l made
my first visit to Paris. I was called
I as a witness on general court
martial to be convened at Tours on
March Is, and left Langres on the
/ } 9th so that I might have a couple
of days in Paris. l was in Paris
the 18th and 14th, went to Tours
on the 18th, back in Paris the 10Th,
II would be useless to attempt
description of Paris, for it is sim
ply the gay. beautiful, Paris that
IS advertised, and one could never
tell by walking down the boulevard
/ that a war was in progress, despite
| German propaganda TO the con-
trary.
Tours is a beautiful city in the
chateau district of France, and lies
on both sides of the Louvre river
It, and the country around, were the
. scenes of battles Without number IL
wars past and its name is found
frequently on the pages of medieval
history.
Swamped for Once.
It was while at Langres that my
25th birthday took place, and l have
GOod cause to remember that birth
( day Lieutenant Thompson, the
Iirst lieutenant q had not received
| my notice Of promotion at that
time) was i'll and n the hospital
and | was in command Of the com
pauy On the AFTERNOON Of the 22nd
he disbursing IaTtaTmaster called
with a three months payroll for
the battalion, and turned the money
over to the company commanders
70 pay I was the1 efore the tenn
pOrary possessor OF about seventy
thousand francs, or about $4,000,
with practically no experience in
landing French money. I paid the
company that evening. and while I
was struggling with francs, CEN
times. and franc bills in various
denominations to give the fellows
The first money they had received
in three months, an ambulance
drew up in front of the barracks
and dumped out about a dozen
sacks of mail-the nrst We had re-
Ceived in France. In the midst OF
the resulting turmoil over pay and
mail in one day we began to hear
explosions, and the alarm for an
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