Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-11-21

Under the title Americans in our
Village" French woman. writing in
ILLUSTRATION of Sept. Il. portrays the
attitude OF the people Of a typical pro-
vincial hamlet toward the strange west
ern ightIns men, who have invaded
their rural auiet.l
There is no village more Tranquil than
this Burgundian hamlet Stretched alonS
the Bank of the river. under the shade
of its poplars and willows. IL slept like
a farmer without ambition. Any one
wishing to recount its history would
have found nothing to tell, except a few
hazy anecdotes There are. 1t is true,
behind the church, two or three ancient
houses which preserve the traces OF an
old-tm splendor, and here and there
you might behold. inCased in the COM
mon masonry. arches OF wcathered
stone: In addition to which Roman
road passed nearby, and the school
moster discovered one day some slabs
on which the Roman carts had worn
deep ruts With little Imagination you
could perhaps persuade yourself that
Caesar had led his eagles across our
fields. But, to tell the truth, the viii
laGe which l. very tiny and very hum
&c. has FORGOTTEN everything. 1t source
y even remembers that thirty thlans
occupied il toriy-sevsn years ago. and
imposed all sorts 81 exactions.
But few weeks ago a rumor spread
that tho .NmeriCaHS were going to come
and .rS'rl thcms''v'sc in the village. IL
this left il ContcDl or not. | could not
tell YOU. on one hand there were those
who were not unhappy to have close
up view OF those famous Americans.
whose name was on everybody's lips.
on the other. son7e feared that they
might take the house by assault. In
a word. one was still content. yet. at
the same time. not so very content.
And suddenly one fine morning. we
heard. at the end OF the village street.
rearsome cries mixed with shrill
whistling. Aha. Aha said the
women. And they said nothing more.
because they are prudent persons. But
they ran TO have 4 look.
Laughter as an Introduction.
They saw their first American Dat
TALON. When they reach their halting
place. our allies have custom of max
ing terrific uproar. and whistl!ng, to
indicate their joy. And when the VIII
layers appear. they shout still louder
and whistle their best. Upon which our
villages began to laugh, and they
laughed too The Introduction was
complete. 1t Wa agreed. as far as the
first meeting was concerned, that the
Americans were regular fellows (des
hons Sars).
\ good many. III this first BATTALION
spoke t'rench--a FrencN it'll" strange
and unusual and very provincial. if one
feels that Tho first rule Of provincial
French is to put the verb in the plural
when the subject is singular. This is
what I heard one of the Americans say.
"J'avious envoye. Gun catin ma
p'tiote." He was an American from
Maine, and thus preserved the language
of an ancestor. a ia rmer who was con-
temporary of Lafayette. He has since
departed for the front with his COM
rades. and others have taken their
places. These speak only English. but
the villagers. both men and women, love
them all just the same. They have
found the means for conversing to-
gether The Americans have learned
some French words. and the French
some English
Comment helle-vo?' an American
soldier demanded the other day Of a
country girl.
Code" replied the country girl
So you see that everything arranges
itself satisfactorily, and our speech is
accustoming itself to their manners.
The village is no longer astonished
when it sees them: the minute they