The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-08-30
France and
the "Yanks"

soil and the Yankee is no longer re-
garded with curiosity. He is q joyful
reality to the people, and while they
don't understand his tongue, the
stranger gets what he wants by using
his fingers, his hands and his arms
and, if necessary, his body. When he
makes up his mind he wants some
thing, nine, times out of ten he gets
it. One would say he had taken les
sons from the deaf and dumb, and the
pantomime that sometimes goes on
between American and French, when
neither knows a word of the others
language, is enough to drive away a
sense of ennui.
The other day, here in Paris, | ran
across an American soldier and q
French civilian carrying on an ami
mated discourse in signs. The Ameri-
can had map spread out and was
seeking the quickest means to arrive
at a desired station in the subway.
The Yankees ten fingers were held up
to the Partisan; then by twos and
threes, then fives, mines, etc. Each
man uttered a gutteral sound when he
failed to make himself understood,
and when the soldier was finally put
on his road by the arrival of another
stranger, the tension was loosened;
then the Yankee turned to say the only
French words he had mastered: "Bon
jour" and "Merci." ave been here
six weeks" apologized the young
American. 81 get over Paris every
day by signs or l run against some
one who speaks English, and this is
the first time I've been stumped.'
Returning to the commercial and
military invasions of the country Of
the Americans, prior to the war it was
mostly gold that was left; now it is
machinery Of every description. 1t is
camps for babies, refugees or tubert
cular cases. Everything is a living
example of "outre mer" energy. To
give you an illustration of what a
Frenchman thinks of it all, quote al
most verbatim what one just returned
from town in the West said to we:
at has put us all to thinking, the way
your soldiers move---how they carry
out an order. We just stand off and
watch them work, and it has made US,
an old race, open our eyes now that we
see what can be done. When peace
comes and men get back to their tasks
we are going to initiate those boys,
for since you can do it we can.
"The soldiers got an order in a
small town to clear a big building and
store their stuff, which was accumu-
lating at the station" the narrative re-
counted. "Those fellows put aside
their coats and caps. They sang and
whistlcd as they hauled out things.
They kept out of each others way.
They stopped only long enough for a
bite of lunch, and la, la! by shutdown
the building was empty. If we had
accomplished all that in a month we'd
have been content. But SO much for
new blood and new ways of taking
hold. We have listened to what APP
peared to be yarns about American
quickncss and everything seemed ex-
aggerated. Now we know that it is
all true, and we admire the people
that work while they work. We go
by traditions and customs in France,
for initiatives were established long
ago. You Americans are happy not
to have tradition to live by"
Which reminds me of another story
of progress heard and of which the
French never tire of telling while they
laugh at themselves. The United
States Aviation Corps long was look
ing for suitable place for hangar.
The French authorities could not make
up their mind just which field to
requisition, there being pros and cons
for each suggested. Finally the
Americans got word to take possession
of certain plot one day, and forty
eight hours later, when they had ar
ranged to haul lumber and machinery,
a message arrived from headquarters
that another position perhaps would
be more advantageous. Later the
Americans got word officially of a
field that they could occupy. With, out
waiting, trees were cut down, the land
was leveled and the building was half
finished, when second note changing
the situation was received. The COM
mandant's answer ran something like
this:
"The moment your command came
my iHcu guy " WOTh. Inc HdHSAT 10
almost ready for planes. / hope to be
allowed to remain. Come. and see
what VIC have done in three days"
Not only scientists and military
men but French civilians are anxious
to know what is the secret of Amer
lean wizardry. In an article published
on that subject leading Paris pa
per reminds US of what an American
business man said before the war. 1t
goes on to quote the reason, saying
that what was considered bombastic
conceit has become, or will become, a
prophecy. This is what Mr.. x de-
clared: at will be American locomo-
tives that will whistle on the other
side of the Pyramids, in the solitudes
of Siberia and in India. American
electric cars will circulate in Corea as
well as in Cairo and in Glasgow. Our
ships will transport wheat to the four
corners of the earth. The banner of
st. George over the great tower of
Windsor Castle now waves from a pole
cut from forest in Virginia. Even
today we carry American coal to New
castle, cotton cloths to Manchester,
cutlery to Sheffield, watches to Swift
zerland, champagne to France, olives
to Spain, fruit to Africa, Rhine wine