American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-01-10

funny now to look back on some of
the ideas which were uppermost In
our minds as we came out OF that
weird world to this real world of
ours where everything is construc
ton, not destruction. 1t was after
days of marching back through that
we'll marked trail that we passed a
real American engine on an Ameri-
can built railroad and you should
have heard the shouts the boys set
up. Then on further, in passing
through a town, a woman and some
children were standing in door
way and further on we saw little
store with canned goods on the
shelves, and we, acted just like kids
in our cries of delight. 1t was at
most like a rejuvenation.
AS l said before, our fighting here
in Belgium has been mere child's
play compared to the other, but it
I has nevertheless been more interest
ing. Here, instead of the deserted
1 ruined villages we have a beautiful
country with good sized towns, thrift
/ ty looking Belgian people and crops
| that seemed really Wonderful. OF
1 course you know the Germans in
| their hurry to get out did not destroy
this part of the country like they did
most of the places they fought in
By the way / passed through one OF
the most famous fought over cities
OF this war and it sure is one big
/ wreck.
| wish you might have seen as
did, the happy smiles and cries of de-
light as the Belgians came running
from the part of the town where the
fight was going on, with the few
things that they wanted to save piled
on an Irish Buggy" and perhaps
leading a goat or two Practically al
we're wild with delight at being re
leased from the German yoke. The
roads have been lined with the peo
pie of this little nation, some leav
ing their homes where the fight wai
the hottest Qhis was before the ar
mistice) but most of them returning
possibly TO a wrecked home, with al
their bag and baggage. Until thii
experience | had no idea of how
many ways things could be trans
ported One would see the common
lin this country two wheeled car
drawn by horse, donkey, oxen, mill
cows, goats, dogs, but more gener
ally by people (some even hitchet
to the load like horses) The dog il
this country does not have the eas.
life that he has in ours for he /
, used not only to draw carts, wagons
. wheelbarrows and such like, but L
churn milk as we'll; large wheel
, being placed on most of the house
and the dog is put on the inside o
these and given a start, and as h
runs and tries to catch up with him
self the wheel turns and the butte
making begins. AT the present tim
the milk COW takes the place of tn
: horse here. / also saw a cart bein
, drawn by two men, pushed by
woman and two small children an
glancing underneath, | saw two dog
,, straining every muscle to get tn
: load over the rough cobble ston
! roads that are everywhere in Be
!, GUM. Then too, there we're counties
: wheelbarrows and baby carriage
and practically everything pullabl
! and pushable that could be presse
Z into service The stun they haule
was also quite various ranging froI
I. J clothing and the necessities OF iii
to pianos, etc.
IL was even more interesting
] watch the returned people, some
them plowing with milk cows or
milk COW and a donkey, and | eve
? saw one man pulling a section {
: harrow himself. dragging it inch b
inch over quite good sized fiel
{ AS in France, the prevailing foo
L wear is the wooden shoe. | wa
amused the other day by seeing
, bunch Of little girls jumping roI
and hearing the thud. thud, thud {
they came down on the stones.
! The country here. although il hs
not the natural beauty OF the part
Z France that / have seen, to me, 1t
nicer to travel in, probably on a
? count Of the people being clean'
on oOa