The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-10-11
=. description of Life Over
- a.hind the Limos by a
keokuk Writer Now It
headquarters.
|.ppREc1ATE AMERICANS
...noh people are as arattf'sd BY
- American Victory a. Though
il Were One by Their
own Poiius.

graphic description Of life ano
,,nss IN French village behind tne
aine' ond removed from the fightdne
me- l. given in q letter written Dy
o sae.. N frederick c. Smith, OF the
'sa,"nition train to his father. G. }.
,mi.h Sergeant Smith, formerly OF
he Gate City, says.
n mis- d ID one of those beautiful early
~ IA dsys Nike we used to have At home
s m we would get a team and go
INF for drive, or go into the country
~ :. r Nv Madison. was thinking this
aorrinp while shaving down at the
,Sar'a edge. that one could make
rood nse Of Atoms teams over here
II light You see very few autos. ex-
.an for official use, and the natives
saem to depend on Shanks mares
and the old family horse.
Can you imagine bath room down
Il the river? Well that's about what
re have. We shave In cold enou9n
rater to drink, these chilly mornings.
md don't know, but what you feel
inst as GOOD as If you used plenty OF
bot water. warm bathroom and all
4 that on course that's not saying
wouldn't rive a whole lot to get In
h A warm bath and have hot water
or shaving.
Near French Heart.
Three OF US went on a little explor-
mo- tour the other morning and we
went into one of the village churches
there are two here. This one was
puite pretty. It had stone columns
nd was quite prettily decorated. The
altar was very ornate, and one thing
hat struck one forcibly Was the pres
ence Of the national colors. SIX big
French tri-colors were suspended IN
he dome over the ALTA. IT was quite
ymbolic, and patriotic.
The churches in America might DO
veil to copy the French people in
heir intense loyalty, although guess
hat we are not so behind In that
IS we were once.
There was roll OF honor Of the
hen who had fallen In battle in q
framed affair at the front OF the
church. and in the cemetery one can
police many french graves. Purple
Ind deep mourning are quite preva-
lent here, and each black gown, they
bell us. denotes the loss Of a husband
Or brother in the war.
The Belgian Orphans.
There are lot of Belgians in this
little town, especially Belgian orphans.
They wear the wooden shoes and SIM
pie little dress, which looks like an
apron, but almost all Of them have
some sort Of soldiers neaddress.
They chase you down the street ask
ing for "shushing gum" or cigarettes.
The French soldiers mere are not
aSerse to American tobacco, either,
and they pronounce 1t much superior
70 theirs They are taken with tho
laea that Bull Durham is part Of the
fa1on issue with us.
IL you will look around a hit hea .
you can fine some unusually pictur.
esque and interesting spots and the
people are quite interesting and friend
Studying French.
aon,t believe we in America would
s'er turn our doorsteps into school
rvoms but the people here conduct
french lessons at the front steps al
uost every evening.
ns Hnny to go down the street
h Sa see a Sammy suddenly pull a
na eloa DOCK or dictionary from his
~ rsAe1' stick his head in a window
s;o. point. There Is an imm ediate ses-
s s,va " school called and the class is
m .u,arsed very readily, to include an
so,a, OF the family. and all of the
Vicinity. eu o'hei ~ise' IN the
som maen you go into a shop to buy
dow ne'nlng and get stuck, Just dive
,ono n into your pocket and get a dict
arc ~ VI French book, and there YOU
Wow ne people are very patient with
as on anu seem as anxious to help YOU.
to say. " iiho out what you want
b,.a me 7 M. c. A. has established a
mor0 oh mere, and we are happy once
you +, chocolate, of course. Gee! do
late DIV. we We're starved for choco-
boat a an when the canteen on the
Get vsr was exhausted. and you couldn't
callv n ~ much in England and practi-
rhoro nVhe IN France until we got
and ior .ie ! was. We can get cookies
wright again. Dss''s 10 look quite
Soma rome Life and Lights.
the storss 'ne houses have electricity,
are generally lighted BY