Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-03-04
II umoR

: p.r;. Feh. ao.-(special Corre-
.nondence)-There is a saying ne !
~ the effect that France entered lne
ereat war to protect her SOIL Ion
the invader. that Britain was annu.
e"ced Nv a desire to maintain ne.
cam and maritime supremacy
ND that America came in Tor souVs.
Mrs This is not a French Jest, ~
hears The American label n Is oaseo
UPON shrewd observation OF d ""'
tional trait. .
one of our New York ~cartoonists
= few weeks ago made a picture Dc
rathetic figure of a doughboy, COM
ing home without any souvenirs az.
ali His kid brother was frankiy a nd
eusted, his father was annoyeo anu
even his gentle mother was o,si ;1ii-
nointed. on his chest he wore a NH
tarv medal. awarded him for distln-
euished conduct on the field. but no
one paid any attention to That: " NE
| for the medal; where was n German
helmet he should have brought!
The fame of this cartoon has
spread all over France. land wherever
YOU find a doughboy, or an American
army officer, or a sailor, or an o1llcer
| of the navy, you find an American
who is determined not to dlsappolnt
his friends.
Prospective tourists probably will
begin to grieve over the likelihood
that France will be swept bare OF
souvenirs before a very practlcal
state department will issue pass
! ports to them so that they may tax
their turn at securing the battle
fields. There is some ground for TINS;
the trophies are being snapped up
very fast. However, there may be a
crumb of comfort in the knowledge
that as the old mes disappear. new
ones will take their places, and the
new ones may not cost sc much. The
present market price Of iron crosses
for example, is about rs francs. or
SIS each. AS soon as a new factory in
Metz begins capacity production, 1t is
quite likely that al iron cross fancler
may give himself a treat for a franc.
And as for Boche trench helmets, a
foundry in Paris is getting ready to
! turn them out at a rate that will
make Henry Ford jealous.
NEWSPAPER MEN
ON SOUVENIR HUNT
We shall now proceed to a strictly
veracious tale of the experiences OF
a group of newspaper men, who came
to France from various high motives
and who have lived up to some OF
them. AS might have been expected
and feared, they have also yielded tc
the temptation to get some souvenirs
to take home, so that they may prove
to their friends how horrible war car
be.
The curtain first rises on the vii
lage of Chateau Thierry, about fifty
five miles east Of Paris, now famou:
os <hA r~@ x-A~AN lo C~1~- ~.-
chine gun battalion Of the Third
American division held the bridge
over the Marine against the whole
Hun army, and stopped the drive or
Paris.
We discover our group of journal
lists outside the Hotel de Cygne lHote
Of the Swami awaiting the call tt
midday lunch. Small boys gather
They have a vocabulary Of but on,
word in English, but that word suf
fees for Americans. 1t is souvenirs,
pronounced with an inquiring infec.
ton. The party make signs manifest
ing interest.
The boys scamper away, and quick
ly return with a Boche helmet, wei
perforated. The head salesman illus
trates the history of the helmet
"z-i-i-i-n-n-g!" he exclaims. maxim,
noise like a bullet. Then he start
to fall over backward. just as tn,
poor Boche may have done. The he'll
met is snapped up at five francs.
Close examination of the perfora
tons bring "a gnawing doubt as t
their genuineness. They are No
round. unfortunately, but the captai
says that a shell splinter might hav
made them.
The party had hardly started o
madame's b%eaucoup omelet. whe
back come the boys with another hel
met. The Journalist nearest the doc
n captain go out to inspect j
No bullet holes this time; lust
plain, honest helmet with a swes
band, a chin strap, and everythin;
Five francs buys il. Then m of III