Evening star., 1919-04-20

Il. j. ayers, cnleI Clerk VI tHe Oc-
rartment of the Interior, has received
from Private Thomas r. Manning of
the solicitors office an interesting
letter from Coblenz. Germany. where
the Washington boy is with the army
of occupation. Manning states that
mans base ball and that the Yanks
are now talking less with their
hands and feet" than they did when
they first went into Germany. They
are gradually learning the language
The letter says, in part:
Il carried papers. MESA ges and or
ders to and from our regimental head
quarters and the companies, which
were scattered all over the Argonne
forest / was on this duty until after
the armistice was signed. when the
regiment was gathered together and
started on its journey toward the
Rhine. We were singing and shout-
ing all the way. The American SOL
dierS were known for their singing
and joking on the road. wherever ana
whenever they travelled.
Went Through Devastated Area.
we passed through the devastated
area onto the peaceful fields which
were back of the German line and
showed only every now and then the
marks of the German advance OF 1919
Here we met or rather saw clVlllanS
again. We hadn't seen any for two
months. Everything looked peaceful.
The towns were decorated in gala at
tire. Flags of the allies on every
house. Banners of welcome stretched
across the streets. Gloire de nos
Liberateurs.' Honneur aux Allies
The people came out and cheered as
r. dor TO nd
what they said. but they laughed and
smiled. so we know it was good
wishes
We entered that pretty little part
of Europe. Luxembourg, after just
scraping the inside edge of the
southern border of Belgium. We
were received and welcomed with en-
tnusiasm. But as We moved east
ward and neared the German border
the ardor of the people dampened.
Nevertheless the difference between
wasserhilig and Trier was quite
serhilig across the Moselle into
tihinish Prussia, to Trior or
Treves. Now we had reached Ger
many, no more glad hands nor well
coming banners. Then another thing
which we noticed very much were
roads. France and Luxembourg had
fine beautiful roads, good and wide.
In Germany the roads were muddy.
On our road up here we passed miles
and miles of vineyards and we are
surrounded by. vineyards (weinberge)
as far as the eye can reach. They
are laid out on the hills in terraces,
steplike construction. Some of them
are no doubt "a hundred years de-
velopment, each year laying out
few more terraces.
The people in Germany were rather
cool and skeptical. They didn't know
what to expect from us, and l guess
that we don't know what they were
told. They soon found out that we
were not here to abuse them nor to
impose on them. They warmed up
a little and became more tolerant.
more willing to accept conditions as
they were. We proceeded on to Cob
lenz, arriving on 18th of December.
being one of the first outfits to enter
the city.
Since we have been in Germany the
past four months the Dutchmen in
the zone of occupation have become
much more accustomed to having us
here and have adjusted themselves.
and are making the best of the cir
cumstances.
'"The soldiers of the army of occu-
patton are comfortably quartered in
barracks or in billets. We are get
ting good food. good white oreao.