Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-07-22
SOLDIERS and BOOZE
Little Drunkenness In France Al
thOuqh Plenty OF Opportunity
STORY OF A CHRISTMAS PARTY


ev. Lasted Whsle Company p
month-Probably Came From ealt''
mora Although Native Son Says No
BY Lewis N. Grist.
Isnv an American boy who wen'
m France took his first drink OF an III
toxicant on the other side. That Was
but natural because there was ht'ie
e,sa to drink. They know noth.hs
ohout our so-called soft drinks ano
water over there is about as unpopu-
lar as LIQUOR is over here. 1t was nat
ura, then that the Doughboys shouio
coon learn to drink the native wines
and beers which really contain very
small percentage of alcohol. how
ever. there was plenty of stun Oh tne
real hard variety and there were many
~ orr fellows who hit 1t real hara
since the lid was entirely on at al
times and the cafes and other places
where liquors were sold that was
evervwhere) were just as wide open
20 so,diers as they were to anybody
else Taken as a whole though tne
lads were quite temperate and the al
cohol they consumed did not appear 70
do the most of them any harm. .
OF course the military police wouio
have their hands full with few OF the
nnruly ones every once in a while; ou'
not so very often. They didn't try 70 90
ANYTHING on the night Of November L.
1918. which was the day OF the signing
q, the armistice. Almost everybody
from the generals to the bucks were
,,t nm like country churches and even
the M. P.'s themselves. EVERYBODY
recognized it as day Of jubilee.
Despite the fact that they consume
the stuff In great quantities drunken
Frenchman is a rarity. In fact a drunk
man in France is just about as rare
snecimen as is a drunk man In YORK
county. That statement may souno
strange to people and yet 1t is absolute
fact. The Frenchman hardly ever De-
comes intoxicated and drunkenness Is
almost as intolerable and / might say
nnfashionable in France as it is here In
the county Of York.
All this is by way Of an introduction
to a little incident I thought might DC
Of interest in connection with pre-
Christmas spree that some OF pe
members of my company got on with
American liquor responsible. NO"
while there is plenty OF liquor IN
France as 1 have said-in fact 1t Is
more plentiful than sunshine, American
liouor is about the scarcest article on
the other side. And those or my
friends and acquaintances who nave
frequently INDUCED in both, say that
there is the greatest difference In the
world between the French and Amer
lean kinds. Not being booze COM
median myself, can not make the
statement from my own experience.
Motor Truck company $40 tc which
was assigned during my term over
seas and with which I was employed
in repairing broken down automoplies
and Fords was stationed just before
Christmas Of last year in the quaint
little town Of LaPallice which Is To-
Gated on the shores of the Atlantic and
protected from the waters by great
sea wall.
The Booze Located.
1t happened that couple OF lads ol
nv company were off duty one after
noon just before Yuletide and for lack
of something better to do they journey
ed down to this sea wall there to watch
the big ships from the states come II
with additional supplies and troops as
well as to observe other ships taking
their departure for other shores.
The tide was out that afternoon and
among the people on the beach were
several negro soldiers who were en-
gagged in picking up oysters which they
would eat after picking them from
their shells with the aid Of knives from
their mess kits.
On observing what appeared to be
an empty barrel floating in the water
the curiosity of the colored troops was
aroused, and wading out to 1t, they
took hold and attempted to bring II
ashore. They found however that II
was filled with something too heavy
for them to manage alone so they call
ed to the two fellows from my outfit
who were perched on the sea wall te
come out and help them. By the work
of four it was soon brought to land
The bung was knocked out and low
and behold it was found to be filled
with whisky-sure enough American
whisky.
Imagine how quickly news Of blind
tiger roaming in Yorkville with plent!
of goods on the hip would spread
among certain filks and you'll get ar
idea just how quickly the men Of my
outfit learned about the presence Of
that liquor barrel. The two fellows from
the outfit who helped the negroes lant
the cargo not having any vessel II
which to put portion Of the liquor
one Of them stood guard over the bar
rel while the other beat it to barracks
a distance Of more than mile to se'
a couple of water buckets. He could
find no buckets, however and telling
some Of his mates Of his find sever
men gathered up dozen canteens
each and rushed back to the barrel tt
fill 'em up.
Chased the French.
But the news had spread to Other
quarters as well and when the
boys arrived they found about fifty
sailors, soldiers and French civilians
gathered around the barrel filing bot
ties and cans and other vessels. A
couple Of sailors had big dish pans
which were brimming over. Those
little French civilians were even try
ing to fill their hats; but they didn't
have q ghost of a show to get ava!
with it. You read lot about the
brotherly love of the French anc
American soldiers and you've probabl!