Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-05-06
|ARE GOOD FLOOR SCRUBBERS
Use Of ArgOnne Heroes at the Peace
Conference
ALSO CLEAN THE SILVER SPITTOoNs

conference
ALSO CLEAN The SILVER SPITTO0NS
Here 10 Strange Story That Will Not
Set Very Well on the Democratic
Americans Back Home-Not Much
Honor to Our Boys in Making Them
Do Work That Would Be Better
Suited to German Prisoners.
A former doughboy, now acting as
special Paris correspondents for the Sc
attle Post-Intelligencer, in recent ar
ticle says that many American soldiers
are now cleaning cuspidors and per-
forming other similar stunts for the
members Of the peace conference. He
explains that this doubtful honor has
been thrust upon them as an alleged
reward for their heroic conduct on the
field Of battle. The article in question
Is said to have no political significance,
being written. by the correspondents
Democrat, by the way-merely as a
part Of his days work in furnishing
his paper information as to what Is
taking place where the struggle to es-
tablish peace is going on. The story
follows:
Pursuing my back-stairs studies Of
the peace conference last night, I
sneaked into the alley entrance Of the
Hotel Crillon, which Is the headquar-
ters of the American peace delegation,
and, turning dark corner In the
kitchen section. Of the great hostelry,
was about to climb into dumb wait
er in which could elude the plain
clothes forces and get to the third floor
garbage chute, where they empty the
waste basket from Colonel Houses Of
flee. In this way would have acquir-
ed material with which to thrill many
Seattle readers. but just as all seemed
Ito be going well with my plan I STUN
;bled over the half-prostrate form Of a
soldier.
what are you doing here% I de-
manded harshly, hoping he would mis-
take me for an officer in the semi
darkness.
"Scrubbing the floor. SIR he re-
sponded, coming to attention and sa-
.luting. His sleeves were rolled up and
detected a long red scar on his arm.
Where did you get that?" asked.
Wounded, sir. in the ArgonEe." he
replied, respectfully. still failing to
penetrate my disguise.
"Are there many soldiers from the
lighting divisions on duty here? I
asked.
"oh, yes, sir" Caid he; "wc wero Sc
lected for duty with the peace confer
ence as reward for our work in the
lines"
"what do you do when not scrub
bling floors I inquired.
"oh, lots of things, sir" said the
hero of the Argonne forest. "All sorts
of janitor-work and kitchen-work, and
sometimes guard duty and messenger
duty and whatever's to be done, Some
of the lucky ones are chauffeurs"
Damn funny. reward for valor" 1
remarked.
Right away he knew I was no Off
Ger and changed his tone.
"Blankety blanked funny" said he.
Anybody would think it was an honor
for an American citizen to empty GUS
pidors- for this gang Of officers and Of
fice-holders. Whyinell don't we go
home? Amt the war over?" And
more to the same effect until a plain
clothes man came along and threw me
out.
This episode of the soldier scrubping
the floor diverted the correspondent
from the path he had mapped out Tor
himself for that night, and he deter
mined to go out on a new line of in
vestigation. He says:
I started out to find something ABOUT
armies and soldiers and what Is going
to become Of them In the future. IL
has always struck me as curious that
while we read everywhere about the
glorious and victorious armies OF the
Allies and the returning heroes VINO
have made the world safe, etc., 1t Is
quite impossible to find one Of the in
diyidual members Of these armies VINO
has any thought except to get out OF
his particular army and stay out OF II
and all other armies for ever and ever.
Over i'm London recently there was
quite a riot, staged by soldiers on leave
who refused to go back to Germany to
watch the Rhine. English statesmen
have freely admitted in the peace con-
ference that they would not dare TO
order more English soldiers to Russia
because very probably the soldiers
would refuse to go. And meanwhile
England has adopted a bonus system
which doubles the pay of her soldiers
In order to keep an army Of occupa-
ton in Germany.
France is having lot OF the saiiie
sort of trouble, and her domestic trou-
bles are mostly hinging on the SLOW
ness of rehabilitation. Everybody
wants to get out of the army and no
body wants to get in, even though the
lighting is over, and this ought TO De
a nice quiet time to be in an army.
When it was announced recently
that Germany might be allowed 10
keep an army Of 100000. the howl
that went up around France resounded
like a Seattle shipyard-worker claim
ing exemption from the draft. II Ger
many has 100000 soldiers France mas
got to have 100000, or something like
that. And nobody wants to be a SOL
dier. French editors explained that
their idea Of a league of nations was
something that would let France DO
without any soldiers at all, and Ger
-..n,, ,,,;tb half that many.