Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-25
IS. NJ. HEER e slMoNDAlY, FEBRUARY e, 1915.

His upper lip seems to be shrinking
way from the six hairs Of his little
mustache. leaving them to stick
straight out, alone and unsupported.
High" affirms White in awe: "a
q man connected with the ARMY"
by George!" Jones slams his fist
on the table so hard that the soup in
the plates Jumps into little peaks, and
Dingbat spills his wine ordinary as. all
turn feverishly to the redhead. Nov
I believe it! Boys; a maj told me
something this morning, in strict con-
spite Of the fact that the thing came
almost directly from a high authority:
hut now hat I know this Russian sit
uation I see that he was right! The
Italians have secretly coded to the
Germans all their territory down to,
and including Rome! And the canal
is to be completed cutting across be-
low Rome, which will leave the whole
! southern part of Italy an island. un-
der the ~protectorate of the German
empire, with the capital at Naples!"
my God!" voices little Dingbat
TREMENDOUSLY. II have my steamer tick
cts for the twelfth, and 1 hope, l only
hope, that Paris will be safe until
then"
well. I'm here and I'm going to
stick!" declares Jones, his freckles be-
coming more Intense, as his good jaw
squares.
There is a general reflection Of the
spirit of Jones on every face, except
that of little Dingbat, who clings
tenaciously to the fact that he hates
to die.
Maybe the British can keep them
out" suggests Brown. ''They did, you
know"
THE British?" Gray looks around
at the boys m~eaningly, and they turn
pitying eyes Oh Brown.
Haven't you heard about the Brit
ish? 2" inquiries Smith, shocked that
Paris. TELL him, Gray"
oh nothing" says Gray, affecting
an extreme nonchalance Of name
He's a rough sort of citizen, Is Gray,
the kind who wears a soft collar and
fuzzy hat, and speaks hard and laughs
loud, and conveys a general impress
sion with his shoulders of being ready
to fight at any and all times. and is
always dragging sick cats at home.
Scarcely anything, Brown! Only.
this; all tina remained of the British
army was wiped out at Cambria!
There's nothing left of it but the Off
GERS you see in London and Paris.
They're going to form themselves into
a regiment, and go up there for the
honor Of the British nation. and all be
killed off in n last forlorn-hope
dash, next Tuesday at 2:15 D.. M"
Brave fellows, the British, OBJ
serves Jones. with the solemnity of
church. and his sentiment is reflected
on every face except Dingbat's. who
is too much shocked to have any en-
preston.
Its rough that we don't get the
! truth at home.'' .Dooiab pours the
wine from the big fitting magnum
with a firm hand, though his face is
still pasty. However, we're ii this
thing, and we're in it to stay, and, by
thunder, We'll do something! We're
overlooking the fact that our husky
United States soldiers are ready to go
into action, and hungry for it! I've
heard, on pretty high authority, that
we have something like five million
men here noW!!"
Five what" 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
ten Q what I found out, and from a
high authority, though I wouldn't re-
peat 1t except here among friends,
whom 1 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
veal 'ACOu Gil WILL: 1Hey nave
nothing but tobacco! They were
dumped out in the freezing mud up
near the front, without arms. ammu-
milton, clothing or shelter; and they're
dying Of starvation and. exposure at
the rate of 100 a day! You can figure
it for yourself. In IA IA days"
And so it oes. Among the newly
arrived in Paris, rumor madly fol-
fows rumor, each more wild, more
fantastic, more silly and absurd than
the n upon the heels of which it
treads. The trouble is sudden proxim-
ity. Those fresh from across the rag
ing sea approach Paris with the feel
ing 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 furnish very little
excitement. The daily news is usually
printed on n small sheet, about 16
inches by %, and there's only room,
on the two sides. for advertisements,
peppery letters from Old Subscribers,
and the cold, bare facts Of army OPP
erations; just the official communica-
tons, these last, which we get back