Evening star., 1919-04-20
d C.. SOLDIER WRITES ABOUT
EXPERIENCES IN GERMANY
Huns Learning Base Ball From Yanks
Music and Wine Make Impression.
Conquering German Language.

I fresh beef and vegetables. candy ana
| jam every now and then. The can
cookies and other sweetmeats. En-
! tertainment and reading matter rs
| provided for us3 even in the small
towns containing only few soldiers.
Large numbers of soldiers are granted
leave and can go sightseeing. The
army has several boats that run up
and down the Rhine for the sole behe-
fit of the men on leave. NO Charge
for the trip, including meals.
THE German people are surely yer
satile. They seem to enjoy the fact
that the Americans are here. They
cater to all the wants and wishes Of
the soldiers. They are good business
people. OF course. it is the soldiers
We are not permitted to buy nor
they to sell foodstuffs to American
soldiers They need all they have
anyhow. We enjoy their wine and
The Mosel wine is of good quality and
reasonable in price. A fellow can go
into a restaurant and hear the orches-
ira play our American songs. the sol
diers' songs. Long. Long Trail. HAL; ni;
out of Step But Johnny etc. I can
assure you that there are two good
things about the Germans. and they
are wine and music, We also enjoy
the opera here: a.nea l had fA5 eox cents1 sea-
"Tannhauser." it was very delightful
and enjoyed it very much. The price,
of course. sounds cheap. but 1t was
good high-class company. 1t seems
change. Four and a half marks is a
day's wages for good mechanic over
here.
Youngsters Learning Base Ball.
.r, 80 .nr;nr are annea ring
The soldiers are out on the helds
warming up for base ball. 1t is soIt
of maxim wherever there are SOL
diers there are also KIDS hanging
around. Well, of course. the kids mere
hang around the soldiers They are
out where they can chase the balls,
lust like the kids in the states do.
Kids are kids, all over the world. look
at these Youngsters and think, you mis-
erable little devils, you are the ones VINO
will have to pay for this war nave
been wondering if several years hence
there will be a generation playing base
ball. The youngsters are learning the
game all right. I wonder if they will
stick to it?
"A great many of the young folks
u5-3O) in Coblenz speak English fairly
well. 1t happens that English is taught
in the high schools here.
Another little incident I want to tell
about. Up in the little town of Wran-
inRen, where our TeSlnlcntdi HcdoQuoi
ters and band are located, the natives
hear The Star Spangled Banner played
every evening at the impressive military
ceremony The kids have learned the
tune and whistle it on the streets.
I'VE get along with the population
quite well. perhaps it is the other
way, the population gets along well
with lds, since the American Army
controls the situation here. Many OF
the boys knew something about the
German language before they came
here Many have picked up the lingo
since we have been here. In fact some
of the boys are very fluent in speak
ing the language. 1t is necessary that
we know some few words. because we
must meet them and handle them in
course of duty. We understand the
German people quite we'll. because all
of us have seen and known Germans
before. Every community has Ger
mans or people of German extraction
and we all have learned to understand
them, know their dispositions and
temperaments That is a great help
to one who does not speak or under
stand the language. When we first
came here we talked with our hands
and feet as well as our tongues. We
are all improving. so it is not 30
funny as at first.