The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-02-18
23 AMERICANS
STUDY FRENCH.
GUN PRACTICE.
All Graduates of Colleges
and Universities of the
United States.
ALL ENLISTED IN
FRENCH LEGION
They Will Serve With Army
of French for Duration
of the War.
By Associated Press.

TOilLd1fleDl0du, Il TdflCe, 6D IT,
Numerically in an almost vanishing
minority, though standing out clearly
and distinctly among their three
thousand fellow pupils by reason of
their work, twenty three young
Americans are fast completing their
courses in the French artillery school
here.
All of them are graduates or have
been students at American colleges
or universities; all of them have seen
service with such organizations as
the American ambulance or the Red
Cross. More than one. of them wear
the French war cross to attest to
what they have done in the war. Yet
all Of them have in way renounced
their own country and gone over TO
the service of France for the dura-
tion of the war because they have
not quite been able to pass the stren-
uous American physical fitness tests,
and yet are so anxious to do some
thing for "the cause" that they could
not remain idle.
With the exception of two or three
all have had to enlist in the famous
Foreign Legion in order to get into
the school at all, as a government
regulation put stop to the original
ease. with which Americans could
join the French artillery school.
The eagerness to serve which has
induced the twenty three Americans
who range from Is to % in age
to enter the French service is re-
Elected in the work they are doing,
which according to the commander
of the school is generally of very
high order in spite of the Difficult
ties of absorbing instruction In the
French language.
The youngsters were rompIng IN
from their morning work one day
this week when an Associated Press
correspondent found them. Even
tually they picked out Whitney War
rem, Jr., of New York, to set down
the facts which he did.
There are approximately three
thousand pupils at the school," he
began. "The course lasts about three
months and a half, and is not dis
similar in many ways to college
course at home, especially IN that
graduation is on the point system.
"The competition is keen as can
be to get as high a number as DOS
sible, however, for at graduation
time those who stand highest have
first choice of the regiments that
need future officers.
"The course that leads to these
points consists of theoretical class
room nstruction-thematics and all
the other studies that an artillery
officer must know--and practical in
struction with the guns themselves,
particularly with the S5's and the
1858. We Americans, most of whom
did not know French before we came
here to France since 1914, have to
put in long extra hours on the Ian
guage so as to be able to understand
what goes on in the classroom bet
ter.
The outdoor work with the guns
is supplanted by a great amount of
athletic work-games that bring all
the muscles into play, horseback
rides during which we have, without
stirrups, to extend our. arms hori-
zontally and guide, WITH our knees
and legs, long country hikes, and so
on.
"The French are splendid to us.
The instructors on the, one hand
make every effort to Ssee that we
clearly understand everything that is
said in the lectures. The French
pupils on the other hand are all good
fellows and we're all a great big
family together"
racks in the neiphborhood of the ia
nous chateau. Each week end they
are given leave to Paris. Despite
their signing up with the Legion of
Honor, thew are as keenly and pa
triotically American as anyone in the
American armv. They are disap-
pointed that the American physical
regulations are so unusually severe
and feel confident that :he time is
coming when the United States viii
let down the bars a little. Their
service for France has made them
enthusiastically French. The
list of American students shows the
widely scattered constituency of the
American contingency a& the school
Here it is. with only q few of the
men missing:
Harold L. Scott, Granville, Ohio; +.
NJ. Barber, Toledo. o.; Cole