Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-10
John Bull Fears Yankee Slang
But Fair Nurse Inhales 1t

My word! Here's a rum go from
dear old England, where the high
brow critics have been warning the
native of John Bull-land not to take
up American slang, lest he help de-
vitalize pure English. One Cam
bridge professor took up a whole
column squaking against the use of
hike" for walk. ''Alluring 1t may
be" says he but we must guard our
well of Anglo-Saxon with never ceas-
ing watchfulness." He cautions
particularly that baseball "targon"
may not infiict itself on the sacred
! isle.
And right on his heels comes a
dear little English nurse girl who is
so captivated with a big husky Yank
battler and his lingo that she goes
to the trouble of taking down his
chatter verbatim and sending 1t to
a friend on this side. You can see
she must have been inhaling the
nifty lingo, also the singer of it.
Says she:
Sammy is in my ward and like
him. His face he describes as 'one
of the sort only mother could love,
but somehow, lantern-tawed and
high-cheeked as It is. 1t appeals to
me.
Even more than his face I like
his conversation. His experience
during the war are, suppose, much
the same as those OF other men;
his mode of relating them is pecu-
liarly his own. The picturesque
imagery with which he adorns his
speech may be an old story 'in Gods
own country'-to me it is a thing
Of wonder and a joy forever. He
came over the big drink some
months hod oy,k
voyage, saw no tin fish and had
plenty to eat-'six meals a day,
three up and three down On arri-
val at the port they got into the
dinkiest little train ever Before 1t
started the captain asked for a key
to wind it up with. Sammy says
that personally he intends to take
one home as charm to hang on
his watch chain.
They went into camp, where they
spent their time hiking about the
countryside. The eats here were
not over good. They were given tea
which tasted like the water Noah
kept afioat in and fish that was
never caught, but must have given
itself up However, they made
their motto Work like Helen B.
Happy and stuck 1t out braveIy.
The one thing that really got their
goat was having to sleep on terra
firma.' That, Sammy says. is Latin
for terribly hard
ultimately he and his compan-
ions crossed to the front. The
country pleased Sammy, but he
found the language difficult and the
French people slow of comprehen-
sion. On one occasion he wanted
a pair of duck shoes. 30 he went in
to bootmaker's and quacked-but
he couldn't get the old dame wise
to 1t.
For the fight that put him out
of action Sammy says his lieutenant
was responsible. He was sure tired
OF his position and crazy on becom-
ing captain or an angel Sammy
was ready enough to heIp. but q
Boche shell interviewed and insisted
on sending in his name with an
application for immediate transfer
to the flying CORPS Hence his
presence in the hospital
/ 1t Is my duty to give Sammy his
letters. an to-day as he read a vol
luminous epistle his face brightened
to such an extent that was forced
to inquire what good tidfngs had
arrived. He hesitated, then griuned
4 don't mind telling you, nurse he
said. Its my wife writing. and from
what she says 1 calculate when !
get home thereslI be something be-
sides a fence running around my
little place in Seattle
Sammy goes tomorrow and I
shall miss him badly. He himself