Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-08-09
No Wonder Germany Quit
NUMBER THIRTY-NINE

1T used to be a fairly common
occurrence to hear someone growl-
ing about high prices in France"
said Major Frank c. Mahin, of the
Army Recruiting Station, 325 Mar
ket street, Harrisburg. Most men,
after short acquaintance with
prices they found at home, changed
their minds and said no more about
French prices. However, one even
now occasionally finds some en-
soldier who thinks our troops were
oVercharged in France. This point
of view is due, no doubt, to n fail
ure to consider the question as a
whole. One cannot draw a true
conclusion by examining the situa-
uon at any one period. We are too
prone to think of the war as hay-
ing started in 1917. 1t did start
then, for us, so far as combatart
participation in it is concerned,
but for the Allies it already had
been going on for three years, and
we had felt its effects economically.
Consider conditions in Novembcr
1917. German submarines had al
most reached their peak of destruc-
tfon OF Allied shipping. In a mill.
tary way the Allies were hard press
ed; winter was ahead of them, and
supplies in France were at low ebb.
Morale was unstable. Hope Of
American aid, incurred by news of
great preparation, and bolstered oy
early arrival of some troops, was
beginning to weaken because of an
apparent failure of our planes and
expected hordes of troops to arrive.
Yet, in spite of these most adverse
conditions, the early American
troops were royalty welcomed, and
most generously treated. To Illus
trate the cordial relations existing,
an instance might be mentioned. l..
the shell-battered town of Albert, in
view of desolate ruins of what had
been prosperous sugar refinery,
there lived a young French widoT.,
whose husband, was an ARTILLERY
sergeant, killed the previous winter.
The widow, as soon as the British
military authorities would permit,
had returned to the shattered re-
mains of her home, when the Boche
had withdrawn from that section.
Here, patching up walls and roof
with such material as was at hand,
she made her home again, with her
aged parents and two little children.
To eke out a living she ran a little
cafe serving all who came, in her
former parlor, and bedroom. AS if
she had not enough to do, she did
laundry work for the newly arrived
Americans, and without charges did
their mending. AS q result, she be-
came well known to the Fourteenth
Engineers, and the, as Xmas ap-
preached, decided to give her chit
dren an American Xmas. The idea
grew, and when the day came, not
only her children, but all children
in the town, were guests at CON-
munity tree, and received presents
from the regiment. In this town,
| on the very edge of desolation,
shopkeepers could hardly have pro-
fiteered else no performance like
the above could have come from
the cordiality existing. In Langres,
France, the first Americans to at.
tend the military school where
equally we'll received and treated
Many private homes were opened
to them where they were often din
! ner guests. The men never forget
| the comparative profusion of stores
| and goods they found here, and
| prices were reasonable. In the mat
| ter of some services, such as laun-
! dering, they were unreasonable-so
| low as to be ridiculous. AS winter
| came, and the whole country
around this city was flooded with
Americans attending various schools
prices naturally advanced. Consider
| that now the demands for all COM
| modities were many times increas-
ed. Yet all supplies, except mill
! tary, were comparatively normal or
less. All shipping was utilized for
| troops and their requirements. Yet
! In this town, in March 1918, one
could buy a uniform for less than
| forty dollars, while in the United
| States one could not duplicate it
| for less than sixty dollars. The
| condition here was typical of that
| throughout France. To help the
>tendency toward overcharging, by
| the unscrupulous, sure to be found
| in every country, was the evidence
of relative wealth, displayed by
| Americans. Our countrymen, as
tourists in Europe. had established
| the idea that all of us have plenty
| of money. And now. buck privates
who paid a three franc purchase
with a FIVE franc note, and grandly
waved aside the change, substan-
tiated the rumor that the American
| army paid its soldiers fabulous
sums. Unprincipled dealers Of
course took advantage of this. But
the ordinary merchant, like every
French citizen, with members of his
| family, or friends in the war, did
all possible to give comfort and en-
fa cnldfore AF A