Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1918-02-25

he eyes are bulging with excitement
| that we have something like five mil
lion here now
Five whatr Agonized little Ding
/ bat violently plucks out one Of the six
hairs Of his mustache. us that what
you're basing your hope on Now I'll
tell you what ! found out and from a
very high authority. though ] wouldn't
repeat it except here among friends.
whom / know and can trust" His eye
wavers with merely a slight flicker
Of dubiOusness toward the man who
/ had come over on another boat THE
American army in France consists OF
| exactly 1927 men And there isn't a
] bean 10 feed EN- with They have
nothing but tobacco They were dump
ed out in the freezing mud up near
/ the-fron., without arms. ammunition,
clothing or shelter: and they're dying
OF starvation and exposure al the rate
Of 100 a day You can figure Il for
yourself In A "a days
And so It goes. Among the newly ar
rived in Paris, rumor madly follows ru-
NOR; each more Wild more fantastic.
more silly and absurd than the one
upon the heels OF which II ireads The
| trouble is sudden proximity. Those
fresh from across the raging sea ap-
proach Paris with the feeling that
now they're in the midst OF the biggest
thing that ever happened in the world
and they expect big things TO start
! seething the minute they arrive The big
things don't, and the Paris papers fur
nish very little excitement The daily
news is usually printed on one small
sheet about i6 inches by p and
/ there's only room. on the two sides. for
/ advertisements, peppery letters from
Old Subscriber. and the cold. bare
facts Of army operations: just the Of
| fetal communications, these last. which
we get back home. but without our
picturesque applications by the fes-
/ tive war correspondent.
I The newly arrived American sees
that paper, and says he. Ahai The
censori He is keeping back from me
the lurid descriptions with which at
home sweetened my coffeei What
| else Is the censor Withholding besides
the gaudy details 20 which I am accus-
toned and to which have an inalien-
able rights Ahai
II Is then that he falls a prey 90 the
wild rumOr and the hoarse whisper.
These all emanate from one mysteri-
| GUS source: and II the police ever sue
coed in locating him. they'll swing Mr..
High Authority from a lamppost. for
| he Is a German agent. either by de-
sign OF accident.
He must be a wondrous creature.
this High Authority. whom no eye hath
seen. but whom every ear hath heard
He sits I'm some damp cellar. and does
nothing but read between the lines
until he Is full OF poison whereupon he
whets his stinser and sallies forth.
Benea'h the new arrivals tender skin
he inserts HIS subtle virus. and instant
! ~, violently. that new arrival starts into
the overwhelming circles. pop-eyed
, yelnins.
When the new arrival becomes a
seasoned dweller I'm Paris. when he Es
been here long enough 90 dscoveFto
his smazement that the sun still rises
in the east and sets in the west. and
that night still succeeds the day in un-
falling alienation, he is immune from
the virus OF High Authority because he
has been stung before. and is inocu-
/ late.
BY this time. moreover. ne has the
great big idea about this war which he
was all along trying TO get, and that
big idea turns out 20 be plain. indlvi-
dual dutyl 30 he tells the hoarsely
whispering confdant Of High Author
ity TO 60 20 hell. because he's busy
hustling potatoes out 70 the front line
/ trenches
As for the Frenchman. he only
shrugs his shoulders at The buzzing OF
the rumor bug.
He has no time for such feyerish
I frivolity as the consideration Of what
might possibly happen next Friday if
/ something else. which never does,
miFht possibly happen on Thursday.
He's been busy with this war FOR
three and a half years. and he has re
duced its Nonduct 60 three cardinal
| principles.
FIRST. It is the duty OF the soldier
TO so out and stand in the spot as
signed 10 him, and. with tie same sub
limeN courage Of those who have died