Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-09-05

maze of picturesque gray houses in
whose doors well-dressed, bright
checked women and children stood
watching us. on the hill were the re-
mains of an old wall and chateau,
and at the foot through broad
troad meadow shaded with trees a
fair-sizzed brook rippled Jean
Jacques Rousseau lived and wrote
there. How he could have been suca
a hypocrte and lived in such a charm
| ing place is rlore than / can see.
| The men were delighted SAY,
Buddie, this is some town; look at
! that stream!" Bonnie bIlets.
Lets fight the rest of the war here"
the column swung in.
Everything was ideal. The stream
above mentioned furnished bath
| tub for the command We had no
opportunity for about two months TO
| thoroughly battle, as we haG been
on active work the entire time, and
/ you can imagine in just what condi-
| ton we We're. To put 1t in the words
! of my company commanders, THE
command was as lousy as pet ooons.
! The first day we spent in orienting
| ourselves, getting dhe Kitchens ar
| ranged and the bilets comfortable.
Meanwhile the troops were down
! bathing in the stream, to the adnir-
ing interest of the French inhlLi-
! tants, who lined the bridge. To our
rtaid Americans the unconventional
attitude of interesting in bathing
troops displayed by the French in
habitants of all ages and sexes was
a source of constant embarrassment.
have known q platoon sergeant
1t IA ,fp int
to take their baths, When | asked
him why he replied, Sir, it isn't
/ oecent with all them frogs looking
/ In"
! That evening, atNofiicers' meeting
every one Hls on the crest of the
wave, sitting on the world" as the
| doughboy puts it, The officers es-
/ tublished their mess in various houses.
lard / remember to this day Iieuten-
ant Kern, rs gallant an officer as
ever was my pleasure to know, wht
| was mortally wounded some three
days from this time, telling me tha.
| they had the prettiest French girl IN
Iall France a waitress st hts company
ness and that they were all going TO,
give her lessons in English. We talked
| over training and made all arrange.
| ments for a long stay. The only dis
senting voice was the medical officer,
| Captain T.. ID. Morgan. He. Cassan-
dra-like pTbphesied that the town
was too nice and we would be moved
| soon.
| Next mornings while I was out GO
ing over the village selecting drill
| grounds and planning the schedule,
a motorcycle orderly arrived and
| handed me a message which read:
| You will be prepared to entruck your
battalion at 2 this afternoon" This
| meant no rest for us. We realized
| that move on our part now meant
| one thing and one thing only, that
| something serious had arisen and that
| we were going in again. Rumor hai
/ been rife for two or three days past
| that the big Hun offensive was about
| to start again, In the army, among
the front line troops, practically all
| you get is rumor about what is hap
pening daily. Where the rumor starts
nom 1t is impossible to say, but j;
| travels like lightning. Officers can
| was sounded, and when they had
| assembled / read them the order and
| told them it was my opinion we werf
! going into big battle right away.
| rhe men were Immediately assembled
| and told the same thing. We always
felt that all information possible
| should be given to the men. Instead
If the command being downcast at
| the idea of leaving their welldeserved
rest, their spirits rose. Immediately
hustle and preparation were evident
| everywhere in the town.
BY 1 o'clock the truck train was
creaking into place on the road.
oddly enough, the truck train was
made up of White trucks made in
| Cleveland with Indo Chinese drivers
| and was under the command of a
| French officer. The troops filed by
| in columns of twos toward the en-
/ trucking point. The men were laugh
| ing and joking. "They can't do with
out us now, Bill" Say. Mig, look
over there tpointing toward a grave
| yard), them's the rest billets of this
| battalion, and that Indicating
rather imposing tomb is the battalion
headquarters. Many of them were
| singing the national anthem of the
loughboy, "Hail! Hail! the Gangs All
/ Here"
ITO Be Continued Tomorrow