El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-01

you proceed in the interests of health
to spread n decent mantle of honest
earth thereover. you do so to the &C
compartment Of a harmonized chorus
Of lamentation, very creditably rem
dered by the entire family. who are
grouped en- masse about the spot.
Pigs, Poultry. Soldiers.
Round this perverted place OF ablu-
ton runs a stone ledge, some four
feet wide, and round that again run
the farm building@-the house at the
top end. great barn down one side.
and the COW house, together with GER
tain darksome piggeries and fowl
! houses, down the other. These latter
their tenants preferring to spend the
golden hours Of day in profitable oc-
cupation upon the happy hunting
ground in the middle.
Within the precincts of this already
over crowded establishment are lodged
some 200 soldiers and their officers.
The men sleep in the barn. their meals
being prepared for them upon the
company cooker. which stands in the
muddy road outside and resemble the
humble vehicle employed by urban
district councils for the preparation of
tar for road mending purposes
Where They Sleep.
The Officers occupy any room which
may be available within the farm
house itself. The company commander
mas TIT DEcL LEA LQVLl--d low LQOLGQs
stone floored apartment with a very
small window and very large bed
The subalterns sleep where they can
usually in the grenier. a loft under
the tiles, devoted to the storage Of
onions and the drying. during the
winter months. Of the family wash
ing, which is suspended from innum-
cradle strings stretched from wall to
wall
For mess there is usually a spare
apartment Of some kind. If not, you
put your pride in your pocket and
take your meals at the kitchen table
at such hours as the family are not
sitting bumped round the same with
their hats on, partaking of soup or
coffee (This appears to be their sole
sustenance.) A farm kitchen in north
ern France is a scrupulously clean
place-the whole family gets up at
bali past four in the morning and sees
to the matter-and, despite the fru-
gality Of her own menu, the fermiere
can produce you a perfect onnelette at
any hour Of the day or night.
The Kitchen Stove.
This brings you TO the kitchen stove
which is a marvel No massive and
extravagant English ranges herei
There is only one kind; we call Il the
corfln and flower pot The coffin
small. black and highly polished
projects from the wall about four
feet, the further end being supported
by what looks like an ornamental
black flower pot standing on a ped
estaL The coffin is the oven. and
the flower pot is the stove. Given a
handful Of small coal or charcoal,
madame appears capable Of keeling il
at work all day and of boiling, bak-
ing, or roasting you innumerable
dishes
Then there is the family. Who or
what they all are, and where they all
sleep is a profound mystery. The
family tree is usually headed by a
decrepit and ruminant old man in a
species Of yachting cap. He sits be-
hind the stove-not exactly with one
foot in the grave, but with both knees
Wen up against the coffin-and oc-
casionauy offers mumbled observa-
tions OF which no one takes the slight
est notice.
from Angelo, 16, to Petit Jean. who
has little wooden rifle tipped with
flashing bayonet cut from a biscuit
The Wonderful Madame.
Madame herself is one Of the most
wonderful women in the world Con-
sideri Her husband and her eldest
son are away fighting, she knows not
where, amid dangers and privations
which can only be imagined During
their absence she has to manage a
considerable farm with the help of her
children and one or two hired labor
ers of more than doubtful use or re-
liability
In addition to her ordinary duties as
a parent and fermiere, she finds her
self called upon for months on end
to maintain her premises as a COM
binatiOn of barracks and almshouses. /
Yet she is seldom cross-except pos
sibly when the soldiers steal her ap-
pies. and pelt the pigs with the cores
and no accommodations of labor can
sap her energy. She is up by half
past four every morning. yet she never
appears anxious to go to bed at night