The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-11-20

the front with his comrades and
others have taken their places. These
speak only English, but the villagers.
both men and women, love them all
just the same. They have found the
means for conversing together. The
Americans have learned some French
words, and the French some English
Comment helle-vo?" an American
country girl.
Code" replied the country girl.
So you see that everything arranges
itself satisfactorily, and our speech is
accustoming itself to their manners
The village is no longer astonished
when it sees them; the minute they
come back from hike" rush to the
river and take quick bath-a custom
which troubled ones soul few weeks
ago; for, If you will let me whisper 1t
to you softly, the people of my coun.
try village are not wholly persuaded
that bath does not make them sick
Likewise. the village no longer
jumps when the auto trucks pass with
vast uproar. And God knows they
pass! It appears that these troops
are resting up. But at the same time
must we conclude that the American
"rest" resembles, feature for feature,
what we call work? Without relaxa.
ton, the trucks furrow the road,
whose trees, powdered with dust, have
all turned white. Day and night, they
roll by. And at the same time, the
side-cars, the motorcycles, and plain
bicycles. roll by. Only yesterday the
nfpxy nv&o n NV ho Io aty
work horse, were going leisurely along
the way, and the Touring Club and
the Automobile Club had vainly tried
to teach the farmers Ito turn" SO to
speak, ito the right" The farmers
figured tina. the middle of the road
belonged to their horses and wagons.
But they have had to renounce this
theory In less than forty-eight hours
they resigned themselves to the newt
able. Cocotte, joyful and Old Dapple
now trot leisurely on the slope. to
leave the right OF way free to these
terrifying vehices which come here
and go there, one never knows where,
without ceasing.
They Can't Understand "HustIing."
AS matter Of fact, where do they
go? have tried to find out Because,
il I must ADMIT it. during the first
days of their stay / allowed myself to
think that this constant going and
coming were not indispensable, and
that without any doubt the Americans
were victims of that malady which the
people of my country call irreverently
"fuss-and- fdgets." How can one imag-
inc that 500 men CHARTERED in a tiny
village could have need OF keeping so
many motors rushing around the
country? ! can hear my neighbor, ma
rooned on ner doorsill, deand of a tall
shining soldier as he leaps from his
truck:
But do you really have to go roll
ing along all the time like that"
And the other replies:
Always on the go! Always! No
arret! Plus, plus!"
Nevertheless, at the rear, resting
up, far from the front, could not these
men stop, calm themselves, lose their
tie" while they await the terrible and
travail of war? No, they
cannot do it! Their very nature for
bids them. 1t is necessary to come to
this opinion, unacceptable as it seems
to our French souls, so willingly in
clined toward relaxation and consid
ering inaction blessing. These
Americans whom l have seen, do not
know how to repose, and they feel no
envy of those who do. They arrive
and utter their shouts. AS soon as
they have broken ranks they go hurl-
ing themselves into the river. Then
they ask themselves. What's doing?
To sleep after march under a Bills
tering sun is out of the question. 1t
is not the hour for sleeping. You
see them, washed and fresh, wander
ing around the village and taking the
country air Good! 1t is something
to do. They have seen what they
have wanted to see. They know
where the Post Office is, the church,
and the location of the Y. M. c. A.
At 9 o'clock the bugle sounds to re-
mind them that it is getting time for
them to go to bed under their little
tents pitched in the open fields. They
start back. But until then? Some
thing to eat? Yes, something to eat.
They eat with rapidity and precision.
and then? All, then, what has the
Colonel on his mind?
A Popular American Colonel.
The Colonel had something on his
mind. do not know If all the Colon