Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-06-10
I.anoir. N. c., News.

whole damn Potsdam gang; we are
going to finish you," is the way Frank
d. Grist ends arletter TO the editor.
Josh" is with Co. a, End Machine
Gun Bn., 1st division, army Of occupa-
ton. The letter was written from
CobIenz March 2s, and following in
full:
I have been thinking for some time
that I would write you long letter
but, as you see. thinking" is about all
I have been doing. hardly know what
TO write about, but as I have been In
the army Of occupation since Jan. H.
coming from a hospital in France 10
Germany, might give you some idea
of Imperial Germany" past. present
and future. OF course the future" Will
not be quite as imperialistic as the
last, provided, Of course, that its CIV
ilized world keeps its eyes on her, whicn
is absolutely necessary for good
many years to come.
The greater part of the two months
here has been spent in the rural Sec
tions of our sector of occupation. and
I have come In contact with a great
many German civilians and ex-sol-
diers. 1t is surprising to find so many
of these people who can talk the Eng
lish language Some Of them speak
English more or less brokenly. but
great many are very fluent. When
asked where they learned English
about three -fourths Of them will say
AT school," while others say they
picked it." and great many OF them
have spent quite time in England
and the United States.
1 am frank to say that cannot un-
derstand the German people. In some
respects they are very backward, while
in others they have some modern con-
veniences and some very good ideas.
/ do not mean to compare them with
Americans or any other self-respecting
peoples, but of course they have their
leaders and as a result have politics.
About the best way can figure them
out is: That under their former form
of government they were deceived, and
led to believe that they were the only
people in the world that had the right
10 live and really enjoy life; that what
ever Germany did was absolutely right
and that no one should object. If OBJ
lection was raised 1t was not only
-rfer right, but their duty, to resent It,
by force If necessary, and that they
were always right. For the past 30
years they have taught such ideas In
their schools. Along with their liter
ary work they have been taught mill
tarism and thoroughness.
It is useless for me to make any
comment on their literary training, and
the whole world knows the power of
their recent military machine. Before
coming to Germany used to wonder
how the German army could hold out
and fight as they did. Several times
I thought I could see her ION her
knees" but always, until she was final
ly beaten, she would stagger around
and get on her feet again and hell
would break loose more terrible than
before. do not wonder how they stood
such a war, after seeing the thorough
ness of their so years preparation. 1
will give you some of the faint ideas.
| say faint" because cannot convince
anyone by writing or talking to them,
as the only way is to see.
NJ IN
in Germany used for public or private
use that is not built Of stone, brick or
wooden house Is entirely out of place
except when built for emergency, and
it is not then considered permanent
at all. The walls of the homes of even
the lowest class Of Germans have a
thickness of stone or some material
that is equal to II of from one to two
and three feet. The doors and win
dow frames, however. are made Of very
heavy wood. The latches Eyes, latches
no knobs) are very near all of heavy
brass and the locks are very big. but
made Of iron. The front door keys
look more like the key that you might
see in the hands of an American jailer
than the key Of a modern home.
Their lines of transportation and
communication are equally as thor
ough. Their highways are graded in
the very best way and their roads are
very hard and are built of rock and
covered with gravel and well drained
z:.l1 hn xr1 cyn q
have paved streets and they are all in
excellent condition today in spite OF
over four years of war. There is but
one answer to this condition. They
have been kept up for the same rea-
son. The streets, roads and sidewalks
are always kept clean and it Is a very
common sight in a small country viii
lage to see an old woman out in front
Of her home sweeping the section OF
road that is Immediately in front o.
the house. So it is throughout all Ger
many that have been in.
The city of Coblenz is one Of the
cleanest towns that / was ever in,
asked corporal in the American pro-
vost marshal's office here. who was
among the first Americans to enter the
city. If the town was as clean when he
arrived as it now is, and his reply was
Just the same"
Now the railroads. They are moth
ing short Of marvellous when compared
with the railroads Of France, and have
some things more efficient than Amer
lean railroads. have not seen sim
gle crosstie under any Of their rails
that is made of wood. They use steel
instead. The roadbeds are all made
of rock ballast and a great many OF
the fills Of the grades are reinforced
by rock surface to keep them from
washing. A wooden bridge or trestle
is unknown. They are all made OF
steel, the bases built Of stone, and q
great many Of them are fortified.
will try to give you some idea of one
Of the bridges across the Rhine right