Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1918-08-31
EACH DIVISION IS
 BEST IN FRANCE'
(By LOWELL MELLETT)

(Unitsd Rrsss Staff oorrsspo1as,t)
 WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, Aug. 12. (By Mail. 1.-The general never batted an eye as he pro nounced this verdict on his own divi- sion:
 "They'rs the best division in France, Sir"
 Thus calmly-he didn't raise his voice and he didn't hit the table with his fst-he gave his men credit for having won the keenest competition between the divisions. It has been under way ever since there have been as many as two divisions over here to compete. Each is striving to prove that in organization and in spirit it leads all the. others.
 "Ill tell you why," said the general. "These tar-heels and Tennessee moun- tain lads of mine are all real Ameri- cans. I don't suppose more than a dozen of them ever saw foreigner until we came over here. You go and look them over and see if Pm not right" ]
 Which we did. Several companies of them were passing the generals house at the moment. They trudged along easily under the pack that some soldiers consider so heavy. They were cheerful, and unwearied.
 ... AMERICANS ALL RIGHT
 "Wheah do we go from heah 2" ask ed one of another. ... r
 The other replied that the captain had called for volunteers to storm the brewery in the next town. He didn't smile and the others who heard en- joyed it without smiling. And Bri- tish Tommies working on the road put them down, no doubt, as some more of those serious Americans.
 They looked justSas good as the general said they were. But when W. visited one of their camps half an hour later the first man to whom we were introduced bore a name as German as Ludendorff. That might seem to re- flute the generals theory, if this man, a captain, had not talked with a drawl that comes from being born fin the land of cotton.
 On hill-slope close by target prac- tice with machine guns was under way. Every now and then there came burst of excited cheering. It sound ed like ball game. That was one of the reasons this was the best divi- sion in the army, tha captain explain ed; there was keen competitor among the men themselves and instead of keeping this feeling bottled up it was encouraged in every way. Of course, he said, there wasn't mucb real nec- essity for teaching his men to shoot, since they came from section where everybody knew how to use a rifle. A man who couldn't hit a buzzard in a, tree top at half a mile, was consid- cred a community disgrace.
 GOOD AT YELLING TOO
 The yells of derision and delight continued from the hill slope. They forecasted a new experience for Ger man troops when they meet that bit of civil war frightfullness known as the rebel yell.
 They looked mighty good, these Southern boys. However,
 "I'll tell you why our division has the lead over the others," said New York colonel. "We've been a division for twenty years; we're not yearling outfit, like the rest. We've worked together for long time, and came over here together. And now we've got an airtight, fighting division"
 That was today. Day before yester- day it waA the general commanding certain Illinoisans. The exact argu- ment he offered in support of his con- tention that his is the best division in France can't be repeated without run ming counter to the censorship. To see the men, however, is to realize one of the grounds for his confidence. TherA is a certain sureness in their bearing that only rest on shoulders where it belongs
 One Illinois officer advanced the belief that the German element in their numbers was source of real strength. The boys with German par ents or German grandparents, he said, feel they have an extra proof to give of their Americanism, and they are giving it.
 ANOTHER BEST UNIT "Did you ever see a crowd look quite as much at home 2" asked a Pennsylvania major. "I tell you they were just made. for this. Of course, 1 it doesn't reflect any particular credit on us, for we had certain natural ad- vantages, but as a matter of cold fact, it's the best division in France"
 New England officers, who once used argument somewhat akin to that of the general of the tar-heels, now simply smile and remark, "Cantigny."
 And the commander of the troops