The Ordway new era., 1918-11-29
FROM PAUL FONTAINE
FRANCE


FRANCE
Sergeant Paul H. Fontaine.
Evac. Hosp. No. z.
Am. E. F. France"
Mr. Giffin, 10-19-lS.
Ordway, Colo.
Dear Sir:
Sometime ago l wrote home to
have the New Era sent to me over
here but for some reason 1t has failed
to arrive. Therefore 1 am writing
you personally to mail 1t to me at
once. You can use the above address.
For all know now Ordway may have
skyscrapers and sub" before get
back. Rather than take chance on
psychoneurosis when alight from
the train wish to keep in touch and
the best way to do that is to read the
hometown paper. 1t always conveys
much information one does not get
in letters alone.
However, am informed that crops
are fine this year and everybody Is
doing we'll. Also / hear of changes.
both social and municipal. Little
things which you may not consider
worthy of the space read sensational
over here. Magazines are eagerly
snatched up and when the stories are
read the advertisements come next. l
received a Red Book not long ago
and l have it promised to about three
different parties in advance of the
one who is reading it now. This Is a
mild hint to anyone who has friends
in France and is little bit foggy on
the subject of their bit" We don't
have many diversions over here. Once
in a while some entertainment troup
braves the shot and shell to come to
our rescue, but that is seldom. About
all we see is "frogs" and the things
that belong to the ''frogs." Frog Is
the term popularity applied to the
French. There are many American
things here now, Of course. hut thev
ton d scare .'v be termed diversions
m fact there Is SO muci of America
here that one German prisoner was
r. ompted TO taunt EunIt of frog
by affirming that there was no longer
any France but that It had become
a part of the United >tates. to which
the frogs" had no answer.
There is one thing of which we are
signally ignorant and that is the war
OF course we all know that Sherman
was right for one thing. but for de-
tails you know as much about 1t as
We can form some pretty good
opinions nevertheless by the great
change in the attitude of both the
French and the Germans. When I
first came to France l couldn't con-
vince a Frenchman that the war
would be over in side of two years at
the least. Now even conservative
Frenchmen talk of peace by spring.
others expect Christmas dinner chez
eux.
Our methods seem to have COM
pletely amazed the French. Our big
locomotives and manner of handling
them, which looks like suicide to
them. has caused many "Frenchie"
to sunburn his tongue. The French
rolling stock is lilliputian in COM
parison. Not long ago I witnessed
the sad spectacle of a big full-grown
American box-car gliding down a side
track and crashing into two little
French flat.cars The resulting pam
demonium was deafening and several
French present became skeptical as
to the outcome of the war f"'
: The French still retain some very
ancient customs. have noticed many
times that peasant driving more
than one horse bitches them one in
front of the other. This, I under
stand, is because he is taxed for
wheel horses only. II he drove as
many horses as 1 have seen on some
American teams he would need two
drivers and telephone.
! Since coming to France my COM
many has been In some towns that
have not taken on a different aspect
for the last six hundred yea RS. This
seems an exaggeration but 1t is fact
substantiated by the Inhabitants
themselves. At one of these places
1 spied grotesque and apparently
very ancient statute by threshold
and inquired of the old dame nearby
what this represented. She looked at
me as / would look at a sick pup and
answered "C'est lie Christ" jumped.
for the gargoyle expression OF that
statute would have disgraced the
devil.
I went to another hut in the same
town to look for an officer. Entering
the hall / found a door on both sides.
! first tried the one at the left and
found myself in the pig-pen. The
mother pig spoke admirable French
AMI I learned that the lady of the
house was on the other side. In this
room l was greeted by the widow OF
Methuselah. do not wish to appear
ungallant and since don't doubt
that she was a pretty girl when she
strolled the decks of the ark 1 do not
feel any cOnstrafnt in saving that