The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1918-01-05

AHleTlCdU uIlHA water lHS Mull'
ress asked in amAzement.
Relaxation Ia Violent.
"fhe American soldier arrives In
France ripe for a time He has
Travelled in seclusion Ns near abso.
lnte ms possible for from three to five
weeks, and his first relaxation Is usu-
ally rather violent. The policy fol-
lowed, judging from my obserya-
tNsn, is to give incoming soldiers as
mach liberty as reasonably possible
with few rules Of restraint Then,
as privileges are abused, restrictions
are made There is one town near
here, for instance, in which members
Of the regiment are forbidden to
drink. The government Of troops
thereby evolves into a sort of local
option propositlon--with the option in
the hands OF the commanding of
fcer. Regiments are sometimes like
individuals. They have character
Of their own-and n reputation. And
the intimation is that rules and or
ders will he applied, locally as needed
for special cases. The system, / be-
lieve, will work admirably. If a
regiment should so too strong on the
liquor, ! suppose its drinking prhWi-
leges could be taken away altogether,
"The policing insofar ms Americans
are concerned, is in the hands of
Americans. The United States SOL
dier is answerable, at present, only
to his commander. This was illus
trated the other day, when mn officer
went down to the police station to
see if he could get the police of a
nearby French city to apprehend 81
member of his company who had
wincd too well and forgot to return
for two or three days. He finally
got the plan through the head of the
III Captain de Police.
"Whatr exclaimed that official
tthrough an interpreter), we arrest
no one that fights for FranceH
Hence Uncle Sam is doing his own
policing. The marines are dting it
here. There has been no trouble of
nhy consequence, though. Once in a
while the genuine and wholesome
good will Of the French gives way to
cxasperation at the strange demands
of the Americans. The slight friction
there has been is all due to differ
ences Of language and custom. This
gives rise TO many embarrassing stu
ations. One | may cite
DnnI+ / ike MhiatItnn
"At a small town near where l was
stationed few days ago we were wont
to gather in front Of the EN-.
,poriums for an evening for social
purposes. A French soldier train
bound for the front goes through
every evening. Invariably the Ameri-
cans greeted the Frenchmen with
hearty cheers and whistling. The
French at first appeared to be en-
!thusiastic enough. That Is, when the
cheering began. Then they seemed
to get riled and not infrequently they
were suspected of calling us names.
Come to find out to whistle at
person is to Insult him in this coHn'
try, and the French thought we Wef9
hooting them. Result - an ordc!
against whistllng. | remembered that
in evening strols when l had been
absent-minded whistlng, persons
had looked at me rather strangely,
with a kind of Are you doing that to
meg look on their faces.
"Then, TOO, we landed here with
splash. The Australian and the Cam
adian makes as much money as we DO,
but they doa't know how to spend it.
The American is the best Spender on
earth; I don't mean merely in the
amount that he spends but in the
obyiousness with which he distributes
1t. He seldom haggles, and 1t may
he his last five-frAnc piece that he
gives to the cabman for a two-franc
ride, but he doesn't holler. He stop
ped in the best hotels and ate at the
best restaurants.
81 dined at the 'Swelest restaurant
in the aforesaid nearby city one
night. Present were two French gem
erals. half a dozen lesser officers,
couple of English captains and six
buck privates of the o. S. A. with
their coats off and hanging on
hooll). This is a common sight. The
odvanee reputation Of the Americans
aud the way in which they have lived
up to it caught the eye Of French
abundance of which
cannot be vcrestimated-and I SIS
ncct, that naturally enough there was
just tinge of jealousy on the part
Of the Frenchman home from the
trenches. Moreover the American
hasn't done anything yct-provcn his
steel, as it were. But that doesn't
amount to much.
Hats Are In Demand.
'The world of skirt is certainly
ours, however. The Americans hadn't
been here two months until society
In Paris had adopted the American
hat for this season and
the vogue has spread ali over the coun-
try. A hat is worth home any day.
They sell at the Guartermaster's for
S1.O4. and are as good as a widely adj
-ertised 81 brand in the States. But
there have been so many lost hats
TO be replaced that the A. NJ. has shut
down here. A young lady with an
American chapeaU is the envy Of the
city.
"The wiles and the black hair and
tho e,q7iIo and tha evnS of tho maiden