Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1918-07-03

p0dC-GOU save the Ming IS the BTU
ish anthem and is what we term cam
erica" or "My Country It's of Thee"
Some of our boys displayed their lack
of knowledge a form of courtesy
that the French observe strictly when
any of these three hymns are played
or "Old Glory" passes by, the civilian
men and boys doff their hats and
many Of the women give a military
salute.
Besides this, women and children
threw bouquets Of flowers at the flag
[ picked up a beautiful large bouquet
of roses, pinks, daisies, peoples and
a couple Of other varieties that I've
never seen before-looked something
like hyacinthe.
All along the route both coming and
going, children threw bouquets Of
wild flowers. We had our old dirty
truck bedecked in fine shape. Men
and women waved their hands, girls
threw kisses and the kids yelled Vive
La Amerique. We were on a National
Road, much travelled by Americans,
and it must keep them busy to extend
such courtesies to all. Such is the
heart of the French-the nation you
are helping. These people have had
over four years of this. All their able
bodied men are either in the service
or gone. There are two women to one
man working in the fields. The wild
Ow's veil is to be seen everywhere.
Many of them shed tears at our Me
mortal services and yet they carry on
with a smile and a free hand of all
that they have to give, to their COM
radcliffe American.
All they ever ask Of us is cigarette
or tobac and that we never refuse.
They cannot buy American tobacco
and theirs is rank. 1t took forty of us
to smoke one package Of it and we
have never bought any since.
We have been here some ten weeks
now and in daily contact with the
French, and I've yet to see or hear of
one Intentionally i'll spoken word be-
tween the two natiOnalities. When
this war is over and the boys come
home and tell all, these two nations
will become as one, and all the rotten
propaganda Of all the nations on the
globe wouldn't be enough to start
trouble about as much chance as a
| wax cat has of catching an asbestos
rat in hell"-that's not putting it too
strong.
Sis, you asked about the kids
clothes here, so I observed. AS much
as I could see they are the same as
kids in the states-little white or col
ored dresses, hats and caps, white,
black and tan shoes and stockings.
Many of both boys and girls wear
half hose. The boys clothes are the
same. Most Of both small girls and
boys wear black "all over" aprons
with sleeves; don't know what you
call 'em. Perhaps the reason the or
phan asylum people object to gay col
ored clothes is not to excite envy and
jealousy amongst the kids, and dark
| clothes don't require the washing.
Amongst the poorer people nearly
all wear wooden shoes, or wooden
sOles with leather upper tackled on.
On Sundays the majority have leather
shoes. Of course in the cities and
amongst the we'll to do the clothes are
very similar to the Americans. The
French ladies have you backed off the
boards when it comes to doing up
their hair. They get it into the most
fantastic shape and how they can do
it and keep it there is a wonder to me,
but if you sisters insist, why I'll go
out and catch one and find out.
The boys are getting service and
wound stripes. For each six months
in foreign service, one gold stripe on
the left forearm; for each wound, one
gold bar on the right forearm.
Sooner or later l expect we'll be
moving on toward the front; probably
go into a quiet sector at first and get
our baptism and so on until we are
calloused to it all. Joe Turner and the
other home boys will probably move
about the same time. We may all be
sent to different locations.
| Later-Well we played retreat and
had a good supper of Monroe con-
densed milk and bread When you go
home, G. O., tell that cheesemaker
I'll probably run across his cousins
shortly and will greet them for him,
also those of Mike Kindsci.
We are getting daily reports of the
new German drive; they sure are con-
centrating their forces for a final
drive on Paris. Don't let these things
worry you when Fritz gains mile or
so. No one gets excited here. The
ways and means" of war are hard to
understand and very often what seems
to be an enormous loss in reality
amounts to practically naught.
You read continually of the war on
the western front and very little of
the balance of the struggle. Seems in
northern France the fighting is con-
tinuous and as one goes along the line
east and south to the Swiss border it
| gradually diminishes, in fact I saw a
letter from a chap on the Swiss front
who said he often went out for an
hour or SO in No Mans Land for a
smoke, sort of a tacit agreement-"I'll
not shoot if you don't"-so all con-
cerned take life easy waiting for some
thing decisive to take place further
west.
When we move from this camp we
leave everything but bare necessities
behind. Our all in all goes on our
back. It's nice to have but I can't
walk with so much weight You will
"break the animals back with kind
ness"
| Let me ask for what I need. Ev-
erything is run different here than in
/ C+ofoc JIpolo Com mill crixro