The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-04-26

some was in the shop
yesterday, and in the absence of my
chief, l had to do the honors. How
ever, shall always think she was a
foney baroness. Her English accent
was suspiciously like Missouri. II
thought.
| I met a Frenchman the other day
who had just returned from a speak
ing tour in America. He told me how
he managed the lecture business, see
ing that he knew practically no Eng
l.sh. He wrote out his speech in
French, had it translated into Eng
Iish, took some lessons on how it
should be pronounced, pocketed the
document and sailed the Western
Ocean to make his addresses thru
| America. Can you beat it? You sim
ply can't stump these French people.
I asked him if he had learned much
| English while he was over. He told
me in America one could get on very
well by knowing about five words, and
this is the list he named:
All right, y
/ I'll fix it,
| I should worry,
Efficiency,
-good-scout.
At least, it's a cheerful list!
French a Great Lot.
These Frenchmen are really great
lot, altho I know that many of the
American soldiers don't like them at
all. One reason, believe. is that they
will not learn their language. and
even right here in France one often
hears the soldiers refer to the French
as those foreigners" One day I was
up in the garden of the Louvre moon
ing over the Gambetti statue to which
1 an particularly devoted. An Ameri-
can officer came up and asked me If
I would translate for him an inscrip-
ton on one side of the monument. In
English it is something like this:
Frenchmen, let your courage rise to
the height of your perils, Once more
it is for you to prove to the whole
world how great is a nation that
WILL NOT perish" Then this Amer
lean officer said the first word 1 had
heard from any American which gave
any notion of an understanding of the
people he was living among. He said:
These French people are wonder to
me. They will dance on the lid of
hell, and when the lid is off they are
there to die to the last man for a
cause that they really take seriously"
He Had Good Luck.
I rode down from Brest to Paris
with French officer-a young chap
not more than "a years old, I'm sure.
He wore the Croix de Guerre, regi-
mental honor badges, the insignia of
stripes He had been in the fight four
years. I tried to get him to tell me
how he won his honors, but he
wouldn't. He just shrugged his Shout
ders. saying, "J'avais la bonnie chance"
Il had good luck.) He wanted to
know what the American soldiers
thought of the French. 1 hedged his
question the best 1 could and tried to
learn from him what the French
thought of IS
He told me that before America
got into the fight the French people
had thought: Americans are million
aires and materialists." After they de-
clared war, the French. said: They
are millionaires and ideAlists. for they
were to come over and help their an
Gent friend and sister republic in her
battle for civilization" He went on:
I'VE said that these Americans are
surely like the French in their vener-
alton for courage and their disregard
for hardship, and their interest in
things of sentiment and soul. We
wanted to near the first words that
should drop from the consecrated lips
of these crusaders when they should
arrive. And this is about what they
said: oh, what funny little locomo-
tives and queer whistlesi Where are
the bath rooms? Why doesn't the ele-
vator rum, II we spoke of our old
time friendship for America and of
Lafayette, many of the boys had to
, run quick to see who is this Lafay-
cite" You see this young Frenchman
knew enough English to catch on pref
ty well to what the fellows said. And
he is right about it. and you know
yourself that nearly every letter we
used to get that came to the war
: correspondents" desk. commented on
the very thing that he named.
Can't Understand Our Laws.
Another thing the French cannot
understand about US is our infinite
legislative programs for the sregula-
ton of personal conduct. 1 told
Frenchman one time that came from
a state that had law prescribing the
Lar h r.R 10
! looked blank. then repeated what 1
had said and asked II he had under
stood me correctly. Then he said.
We'll, I can't guess the answer. What
kind Of riddle are you giving me?"
; Call for DIR. Crumbine.
And / surely saw something this
morning that would give Doctor Crum-
+ bine bad night or two. A small
! boy was carrying along a huge loaf of
) bread (they make them about three
feet long). and becoming weary of
] his task, he put the loaf down on the
! curbing and nonchalantly sat on it
. while he rested Still. haven't suf-
,, fered any from germs. 1 am bound
; to say, tho. that the streets are mighty
clean as streets go.
You never know when these chaps
are going to surprise you by under
7 standing just what you are saying
! about them. 1 was eating luncheon
. with an American girl in a French
restaurant yesterday. and we were try
ing to recall the word that the French
, use in speaking the worst they can of
the Germans. 1t is a word equivalent
to a perfectly awful one of our own
The girl l was with suggested that I
= ask the Frenchman sitting at our ia
, BILE what the French called the Ger
2 mans So in my very best French
asked him. WELL" he answered, in
= perfect English, 1--WE call them damned
swine. What do you call them?"
BY the way. Anna Gould has a won
derful mansion up here on the most
beautiful boulevard in the world. The
house is all made of gray stone with
notified pink and grey granite pillars,
a and surrounded by a great lovely gar
e den-