Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-05-21
AMERICANS in PICARDY
KNOW LESSONS WELL
Taught to Follow Orders
Without Idea of Personal
Prowess
DISCIPLINE WATCHWORD

Spcctni CorrcS Spondcur" n 'npH0 Pubhc Lcd0Cr
with the American Forces serving with
the French. April -
That part Of the American army in
France which General P"rshiug sent to
help the French in the defeat of tn"
Huns great drive and tho movements OF
which have been vcilpd with the greatest
possible secrecy is about to emerge from
behind the curtain. Within few hours
from the time this is written tn, AmCri-
can fighters will take their place on q
part OF the line marking tho German
salient. and by the time this is published
in New York they will have written a
page in American history.
As the Americans line up for final in
speCtiOn they can hear the roaring Of the
guns only a few miles distant. where the
French they are going to replace are
giving brisk farewell to their foes be
fore they go to enjoy their well-earned
rest As this is written the air is filled
with the booming Of guns and the houses
shake as some big piece sends its mes
sage along. All the time airplane after
airplane scars above on tireless watch
for the Hun GOthag who dpSnjtp the
Vigilance. get through. and. sweeping in
"A great curve above US. speed back with
what Information they may have gained
The strident busy hum Of the Allied
planes can be heard night and day. and
/ every now and then there comes the
hoarsc growl of the Hun plane. which as
one looks at it seems to be travelling
through sea of cotton bolls. They are
the exploding shells of anti-aircraft
guns.
Great Spectacle of Mighty Drama
Hereabouts is staged a great spectacle
: OF mighty drama. Night and day
! great French Camions plOw. along. go
/ in battleward with munitions and sun
! plies. and returning in haste to carry
! more fuel for the great French war ma =
chine of which we are now a cog Here
in this village and in dozen villages
around ii and in hundreds of other viii
lagos like it in Northern France there
! Is no business but war Everything else
q births and deaths and funerals and
| all the proper affairs of man--alI are as
| nothing in comparison to tho great work
, the nation has to do
Everything is to help win the war
! Some Of the people have gone where il
Is safer. but the great majority Of the
population. the working folk. are here
and doing sixteen hours a day that the
Hun may not come through Nor only
that. but working that the foreign bea st
may he forced to withdraw his fangs
from France. And this nor a piCture
of one section Of the nation | have
seen the people of France from thc
NosGes to Picardy. and it is always the
same story. And when one sees with
what devotion a brave people can give
themselves to the great task it brings
confidence in what America can accom-
plish If 1t shall ever become necessary
for her to bend her shoulders to a load
Ike that which France Is carving
/ ANA here on the Plains of PiCardv +.
/ america $ coz in the French war ma
, chine. 1t is not permitted me TO s,ntc
how large is the force but il can he -, id
that III tn" days before America cutrrad
( the war the United Sta:cs would hay.
thought 1t considerable Of an army. #
Is made OF the best trained American
troops-men who, with the French have
seen considerable infantry and artillery
action, and know what German gas is
by shell and by cloud. They have learned
to fire the French cannon with which
they are equipped and have confidence
in their commanders. And thew bava
confidence in themselves-not braggado.
clio. but n sober knowledge of the size
of the proposition they are up against
They have confidence that their part OF
the machine will run we'll.
DiscipIine the Watchword
In this war it is no virtue to be un-
afraid to stand up and face the cnenlv's
bullets or to be willing to try to stop
an attack single-handed It is not done
that way. What has been drilled into
the minds of the American soldiers is
that they must forget all dreams Of per
sonal initiative and accomplishment. and
that the man who does his best for his
country is he who sticks steadily at
his allotted task, whether or not he
himself may think he is doing the most
he perhaps could to beat the boche.
And the American soldier has learned
He knows that he is being taught TO
fight as the French fight and If there is
one thing that the American fighter in
France has the most profound respect
for 1t is the soldier in horizon blue who
never gets tired. When this war is
over and the boys in brown go home
America is going to hear many stories
of praise of the French fighting man.
And there is one thing ! have noticed
about the attitude of the French poilu
hereabouts toward the American sol.
dier. The Frenchman Is taking his own
sweet time in making up his mind about
! Uncle Sans fighters. He wants to wait
to see the record and then he will Judge
Today | asked n poilu who had helped
stop the Hun along the Somme If he
thought the Americans would be good
fighters.
IF they, beat the boche," he said
they will be good fighters. II the
boche beats them, / will never like the
Americans"
And that is the attitude of the French
fighter