Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-08-25

nature IS the same the world over
and we became very fond Of some of
the persons with whom we were bill
lcted, while others stole everything
that was left loose. one hoary old
sinner, with whom / lived, quite en-
cared herself to me by her evident
simplicity and her gentleness or man
ner, until ! discovered one day that,
under the aegis of the commanding
officer billeted there, she was illicitly
selling cognac to the soldiers.
The struggles of certain sergeants
with some of these French inhabl-
tants concerning the neatness of their
various company kitchens or billets
always amused me. l remember a
fcud in one village which was carried
On between a little French woman
and a sergeant called Murphy. Ser
geant Murphy liked everything spiet
and span. The French woman had
lived all her life where things were
not, to put it mildly, according 20
Sergeant Murphys army trained idea
of sanitation. The rock that they
finally split on was the question OF
tin cans, old boxes and eggshells N
front of Sergeant Murphy's kitchen.
| shall never forget coming around 4
corner and seeing Sergeant Murphy
tall and dignified, the French woman
small and voluble, facing one another
in front of his kitchen She chatter
ing French without a break and he
saying with great dignity, Nam, II
is outrageous. 1t is the third time
today that this stuff has been taken
away. l shall throw it in your back
yard" He did, and next morning
the conflict was joined again. AL
though Murphy kept up the struggles
nobly, no impression was made on
the French woman.
Woes of Inhabitants.
Most generally, in France, the
small French village contains about
one battalion of infantry. As a result
the battalion commander is post com
mander. and to him all the woes or
the various inhabitants as wei as the
troubles Of his own troops come. one
complaint which filled me with de-
light was made by a French woman.
The basis of the complaint was that
, my men, by laughing and talking in
her barn, prevented her sheep and
pigs from getting a proper amount OF
sleep.
n
trouble were the rabbits. The rabbits
in all French country families are
sorts of "Lares and penates.' You find
them in hutches around the houses,
wandering in the barns, hopping about
the kitchens, and last, by no means
least, in savory stews. ! don't main
tain for a moment thet no man ever
took a rabbit; | simply maintain that
it would be a physical impossibility
for these men to have eaten the num-
Der of rabbits they were accused of
p.ttrr ',l,. f.f.t- u'ilO in each
town some peasant would come before
me with complaint, the gist OF
which was that the men had eaten a
! dozen or so of rabbits. With great
dignity | would say that ! should have
the matter investigated. The men
would then suggest that I come and
count the rabbits in the village, so
that would know if any were miss
ing. | would explain in my best
French that from long and accurate
knowledge of rabbits, gathered
through years when, as a boy, | kept
them in quantities, counting rabbits
one day did not mean that there would
| he the same number the next day.
Eventually we adopted the scheme
of making some officer claim adjuster
/ simply would tell the mayor that
| Lieutenant Barrett will adjust the
matter under dispute, and from then