Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-03-11
CONTINUED from Page u

dry when it came down to brass
tacl1s in their own country. Being a
sovereign state, as it were, they
the other hand, they might vote as
OF course, the whole A. E. f. has
looked upon the wine when it IS
rouge, and also when it is blanc. But
France. To dc otherwise is
crime. That is the reason Y. NJ. c.
a. secretaries are always so guilty
looking-not because they are order
ing wine with their meals, but be-
cause they are not. Eating peas
breach of social etiquette that oin!a-
sion of the vim ordinnaire with tie
old steak is. The French do not
drink wine, like water, for they have
never learned to drink water. So
called humorous remarks on TINS
subject might be continued for SeV-
eral more pages.
Not Drunkards
This is not to say, however, tnat
the A. Il. f.. has developed into a
set Of drunkards or even a SCI of
drinkers. Getting drunk isn't done Al.
trance, not by the French any way.
The only drunk Frenchman L nave
seen in Paris was such a sensation
that he was followed down the boulG-
Vard by a horde of people d block
long. This is a fact. Nor has the
A. T.. +. conducted itself so greatly
differently from the majority Of the
French.
lii the first place, the A. E. p
as a whole hasn't had such an aI-
mighty lot to drink. While the poilI
has been served his pinard III the
trenches as regularly as his food, AID
rations, the A. E. f. has been dry
army. Combat units during the wa"
saw little more to drink than man
in d bone dry state who isn't look
ing for it.
it has been only lately, after the
war, when the outfits were Dilletcd
in towns and when leaves We're
granted in greater number. that many
a soldier was free to drink as he
pleased. Even then there were re-
strictions, generally of local ma
ture for the high command appears
to leave the drinking question large
ly to the discretion of division aid
regimental authorities. In one divi-
sion 1 visited, L found wine served
with the meals at about half me
officers messeS and water served at
the other half, according S the rank
ing officer thought wise. Likewise,
some" of the towns in which the
troops were billeted were closed
towns and some were open.
What Effect?
At that, of course, in France, wine
or liquor in some form or the other
is to be had by any who want it, no
matter what the circumstances are.
AND to my mind it is a wonderful
tribute to the sobriety of the Ameri-
can soldier that cases of drunkenness
are few and far between. Take any
two million Americans and put them
down in France and see what hap
pens. I'll venture to say that in one
day they will show a higher per-
centage of "stews" than the A, L. F.
has in it's whole stay in France.
Just what effect this environment
has had on the Individual soldiers as
hibitionJ it is hard to say. There
was much discussion of the subject
before 1 left the states and much
speculation. Will the return of the
A E. f. bring a period of reaction?
It wasn't a question put in the pub
tic prints, but it was voiced in plenty
elsewhere.
And it has been asked great many
TIRES in France. Generally the an
sWer was something like this: Just
wait till we get home. Prohibition?
Why, this bunch is the greatest anti
since I've been in France
And SO on. But 1 don't know. Re
plies like that are surface sparks
that might be expected. A real dis
Cussion brings other opinions. One
officer expressed the viewpoint of a
certain large percentage when he
said, ST don't know whether L OPP
pose prohibition or not, and I've
been in France a year. Personally,
I can get along without, it back home
at any rate. Over here it's a little
different. There are no sweets, no
soft drinks, very often no water fit
to drink. Wine takes it's place. And
we drink it in different way than