The Mena weekly star., 1918-04-25


 He says he fixes the life there so far, and wants to be remembered to all his friends here. He also insists that he must have the Star daily, even if it is a bit stale when he gets it.
 Enclosed with Lieutenant Forgy''s letter were three papers, the. Paris edition of the New York Herald, the and Stripes, all full of war news. The first named publishes the following article, written by Albert Vernon. an American in France, and, as Grady says, it should be good reading to Polk county folks:
 The first thing saw in France was a Ford. knew right away that there were Americans here before me. The Ford is an American institution, like miIlionaires, going West, rotten poll tics and Broadway. After viewing exactly the same amount of the same blue sky and ocean for two or three weeks, sight of this plebeian car at the pier was as welcome as the fourth ace. The Americans on board yelled with joy, at which some French girls who had fiocked down to the docks choruscd Hello, boyl" and began singing "Tipperary." This was pleas ant surprise No. 2. We had been brushing up our unused French all the way over, expecting to be obliged to grope laboriously thru the task of getting acquainted by using Mon sieur's own weapons, so to speak. But instead, we found the French meeting us. more than halfway even before we had rolled unsteadily of the steamer.
 I had prided myself on knowing a little French, having got thru course at college once by the skin of my teeth. A few words still chung to the recesB-s of my brain and I had been using these rather frequently on the boat, to the envy of less linguistic passengers. But, at French shop when murmured "Quel prix 7r and pointed to the article wished to pur- chase, got my foot in it. The pro- prietress, presuming that I spoke French, let loose such torrent in de- scription of the superb qualities of the articles that was quite helpless. So that I said, more to myself than to anyone else, ..No savvy." Whereupon the good French woman, smiling at my discontinue, proceeded to tell me- the price and all else that wanted to know in very good English.
 It is this way almost everywhere you go. Naturally the average Frenchman doesn't learn other Ian guages, because he can get all over the world with his own. But the Eng fish have been over here great deal lately on account of the Hun. The French, especially the tradespeople, have gained more than respectable smattering. They know enough to drive good bargain--good enough to do credit to New York city asked aa American sergeant who mad pre- ceded me if 1t was very hard to learn the French monetary system. "No, not very" he said. "It only costs about months pay"
 l suppose it is human nature which causes foreigner to learn the swear words of new language first. At any rate, they are doing 1t lover here" The first day I was surprised to be greeted by grinning French lad with vile epithet that some idle Yankee invented decades ago. By the third | day had become used to it.
 The average American soldier has | has ardor dampened by his first re- ception in France, in spite of singing maidens and Fords. While he may not have expected brass band nor yet to have the guard turned out in his henor, he does look for little more deference than he gets. This was probably because they fill the newspapers back home with articles about the grateful French, who fall xearfully at Sammy's feet and kiss his garments with joy. American transports land at places about like Hoboken. Big transports laden with American Sammies are now, in the year 1918, usual sight at the Ho- bokens of France. Sam has advanced to the interior, where the rolling. fer tile fields are turning green with an early spring and the village maidens smile sweetly at him. before he real iEes that France is too busy fighting the hated Hun to make him the honor guest at an If o'clock breakfast the minute he touches terra firma.
 Our boat carried Sammies. How many you will never know There were & great many of them, healthy, happy young chaps fresh from the training camps, soldiers of fortune on the sur face, but serious minded believers in the fghs for democracy once you got beneath They had had the usual ex- periences on the way over-watchful waiting for submarines and cautious acquisition of sea legs. Many times they longed for U boats or land or something that would stop the inter minable restlessness of the sea and the stomachs. It was land that finally | broke the spell, altho submarines did actually appear on the home stretch. | Somebody climbed up on the bridge a few miles from shore and brought |