The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1918-08-10
Neo,s and Comment

| american ElGeL CoTpoEaIloH'
schiclsbinny, Tobesofka, shvwiny shoccoree,
skunkscut sisladobsis, succasunna, onteora,
Unalaska, rJmatilla, schoharie, TaycheedAh, sus-
pecough, s6unounk and Taghkanicg.
! Try to imagine any self-resp9eting sailor
learning to take pride in a ship called the
! "Skunkscut"fr .y
Try to remember any two names in the list
| While you turn the page
For anything but offic6T records, such names
are useless .-a
| Once again we put forward the suggestion
that the smaller cities and towns Of the United
States be honored by having a merchant ship
named after them. Make such an honor prize
| for good showing in patriotic work IL necessary.
| II, for example, the City Of Fargo were sailing
the seas because the citizens Of Fargo SUBJ
scribed $50 per cent Of their quota in a Red
Cross campaign, wouldn't it have more sgnif-
canoe and create more interest in the merchant
fleet than when the suspecough is launched?
Frank ]. wilstach makes speciality Of
SMILES.
He published dictionary Of them for the use
Of the eager but inartieuate lover, or the over
worked newspaper reporter, or the tired bus-
ness man or anybody else who sought Smile.
Recently Mr.. Wilstach has been digging into
the SMILES Of the war and has written an
article about them for The New York Sunday
Times
Here are few Of those he discoveries:
The noise Of shells is described as tearing
silk heard through q stethoBcope." A machine
gun mile away Is like An overerown wood
pecker tapping. Bullets sweep over the trenches
with a swishing sound like water from a fire
hose The sound Of battle s '1ike 8 chorus Of
yapping terriers broken by the heavy bay Of the
hound". The rush of shells is like great birds
in swift flight. The guns begin TO stamp like
stallions" There are Screams Of shells pass
ing like great cats Of death in the air''. The
machine gun, again "rattles like motorcycle.
Men are shot down like brown leaves from
autumn trees" The window sashes Of ruined
house '1eered emptily like eye sockets without
eyes,.
Then there is winston Churchil1's famous
slraIe Of the submarines 'Tike rats in their
holes"
An airpIane shot down in f1anaeg came like
torch hurled from Heaven.
Robert w. Service has number Of striking
sinailes in this verse from rhymes Of q Red
Cross Man:
tTor ON they came like bee-swarns. a-hoclsnin'
and a-singin'
miss q shot.
But though we moved em down like grass, like
grass was they a.sprngin'
And eli our hands was blistered, for our rifles
was so hot
We roared with battle fury ana we damned the
stuffin' out Of them
| And then we fixed our bayonetg and we spit
ted them like meat.
War SMILES are working into the stage also
| and through the stage and the newspaper dis
| patches, and baseball slang will eventually be-
come part OF the language
For example. vaudeville already furnishes
some OF the following;
You would be as safe as a church in Bel
gium'; IT shall squat down on him like Brit
| ish tank' ''Rich as q munition maker: LAS
| welcome as a peace note or q gas attack and
uncertain az q war bride"
| But SMILES are but small part OF the new
language being evolved in the trenches
| Some dictionaries will have TO- be rewritten
when the war is over.
Just recall q few Of the words that have be-
come familiar during the last few years: Goo
ties" "poilus," "Tommies," "Anzacs," Busy
Berthas," "zoom" tail SPINS" drive" bar
| rage" 'Frttz," "Boche." and "EEun'. These are
| but few OF hundreds Of words that have come
into everyday use in Europe, IL not in Amer
| ica,
And there are almost as many new phases as
new words.
A war slang anthology would make a very re-
|
esting elaboration OF Mr. wilstach's list of
| SMILES. '.-
DR.. Francis Hackett, who is quite in a class by
| himself as q reviewer Of books, writes In the
| New Republic some comment on q series Of
articles on American newspapers just completed
| in The Atlantic Monthly.
DR.. Haczett introduces his article in this live
| Iy fashion: ~
Right through these able articles on the
| American press there runs note Of apology
For some odd reason The Atlantic Monthly
did not ask Mr.. William Randolph Hearst to
| contribute 10 its discussion, or perhaps he
was invited and declined-at any rate, even
Blood himself, there is unmistakable de-
| 6ensveness, almost tearfulness, about the
eminent editors and publishers who write
these 18 articles. One might expect this
from Mr.. Oswald Garrison Willard. His
subject Is in itself lugubrious-Press Ten
dencies and Dangers-and Mr.. Wizards ira
dition 4s that Of journalistic Holy Roller.
Aside from his extremely good article, how
| ever, there are inRumerable proofs that
sense OF sin. One anonymous contributor,
provincial editor just stands up on the
stool OF repentance and bellows. ~. ..a. e.
| Then after some dissecting of the various arti-
! cles he closes his review with this anti-climax:
'Is an endowed newspaper the answer?
Or worldwide revolution? It all depends,
H. Of course, on the varieties and degrees Of
| social pressure, It is hard to imagine a