The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-08-08
ARMY PAPER
TELLS OF ADIEUX

We owe to the continued interest
in The Republican, which he gets
regularly, or did get, at Coblenz,
Germany, of Kenneth A. Keveren, the
following review of Yank dOings
along the Rhine and of impressions
they are leaving behind them among
our late enemies:
(Clipped from A. o. paper)
Germans in the Rhineland look
forward to the Yank's departure with
mixed emotions. The purpose of the
American forces being almost &C
complished, and with many troops
having already weighed anchor for
the homeward trip, the Americans
in this country are daily becoming
fewer and fewer, and 1t is but mat
ter of a few weeks when there will
be. no great body representing a
country from which, the ex-kaiser
two years ago said he would tolerate
no nonsense after the war. -.
Many dread the future when there
will be no Observation-Disclosures
who so freely spend marks, who are
so generous in many ways, who have
given this area a sense of security
as has not been felt In years. They
are going home. !.
Two weeks ago, when the Ameri-
cans went forth to their (alert) po-
sitions, ready to advance into Ger
many, the towns along the. Rhine
were practically deserted of the.
wearers Of o. D., and it was then,
probably, the inhabitants first rea-
lized just what an American army of
occupation really meant to- them.
Sombre streets, which for . seven
months were never-to- be-forgotten.
scene OF hustle and hustle, made glad
and sometimes noisy by gay Ameri-
can troops, were strangely quiet
Cafes, minus their nightly gather
ings of ''soldaten" no longer rang
with mirth and song; nor did the
musicians therein render their
"Americanish" music of "Red Wing"
and others of like old age. The
madchens felt the loss of their
chocolate, fraus the loss of their
weekly wash of Yank clothing. In
short, the old home town wasn't what
It had been.
And then the wonderful soldiers
returned. And what a change. 1t
was as tho some mighty magic hand
had transformed everything. Peace
was celebrated by the Americans,
and the Americans return celebrated
by the Germans. Every town on the
Rhine, large or, small, has its quota
of U. s. troops, quartered within its
limits, and the extent of these cele-
brations was governed by the number
of soldiers in the village.
Civilians received the surprise of
their lives with the first entrance of
the Americans-could these thou
sands of clean cut young soldiers be
the terrible bloodthirsty demons of
which they had been told? Would
they cruelty the little children and
massacre old men? They didn't look
capable of such things-yet had not
their Royal Highness pictured them
as such? They were skeptical-
us-unbelieving; and it was
many day before they breathed
freely, and came to realize, that pro-
yiding they remained within the pale
of the law they had nothing to fear
And as time came to pass they saw
these same soldiers in a variety of
different lights. Probably the big
gest revelation came when they wit
messed many thousands of them
gathered around a strange game in
which but few took part-a game in
which one soldier would throw ball
at another, who in turn would make
a vicious swing at it with club. In
the event of his hitting it the crowd
would sometimes go wild, yelling,
striking each other on the back and
throw away their hats. The scene
was an unusual one, and the natives
would look askance at one another
and say, "Vos list los?"
Another astonishing thing was the
manner in (which the Americans
would handle automobiles-"D Dun
nervetter!" How could they dare
take curves at such speed! Great
powerful trucks loaded with soldiers,