The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1919-07-15


in adjoining fields, and to run each
plough it required horse and two
husky, able-bodied men-one man to
guide the plough, and the other man
to lead the horse. This is not an is
olated case but is typical of German
three camps that l have visited. The
more | see of other countries and
other nations, the stronger does my
pride in America and the American
people become. But enough of that
For change l am boarding with a
German family. No! am not
afraid of them eating me up, espe-
cially since they have had chance
to give me ''the once overs" Any
way they appear to be perfectly
harmless. Mr.. and Mrs. Krauss, and
Heinrich, a son about Is years old,
constitute the family. They seem to
be very nice people and I know that
I am going to enjoy living with them.
Luckily for me Mrs. Krauss can speak
a little English, having spent a year
in New York about % years ago;
and Heinrich is studying English in
school. Consequently l can make my
wants known without "butchering''
the German language. Then, too,
this will give me chance to let my
sign language, my pet invention, rest
while.
I still draw my regular army ra-
tions and turn them over to Mrs.
Krauss. They were certainly delight
ed to get the flour and the coffee. 1t
was the first white flour they had had
in four years. Even the "corn will
lie" looked good to them. The ar
rangement suits me splendidly-and
/ believe all parties will gain by it.
Very few of the items of rations that
l furnish can be purchased on the
German market at all. have lited
on them so long that any change will
be welcomed. But is so happens that
Mrs. Krauss has a splendid garden
with "beau coup" asparagus and 9th
er vegetables; large fruit orchard,
with four large trees of May (?)
cherriest just beginning to ripen, and
other fruit coming on later; and last,
but not the least, he has a flock of
goats. two of which are furnishing
milk for the family at the present
time. I drank my first goats milk
Saturday night, and enjoyed too. So
far am very well satisfied with my
boarding place.
: But, perhaps, what pleases me
most is the fact that I will have a
little taste of home life. My! 1t
seems ages since I ever entered a pri-
vate home! Mrs. Krauss keeps in
sisting that l ''make myslef at home
here. And you know that isn't diff
fcult for me to do.
i At present two ladies from Berlin
are visiting here. One Of them plays
the piano beautifully-and strange to
say, she is very accommodating with
it. Guess you remember that l am
a regular "looney" about music and
while I am in the house that piano
doesn't get much rest.
It is very likely that the family has
sized me up as some kind of an old
"crank." AS the final course of the
first meal that 1 ate with them Gig
arettes were passed around. 1 thank
ed them, but ''passed the cigarettes
up," stating that I didn't smoke.
Heinrich, their son, and I were the
only two at the table who didn't take
cigarette. In Germany, and in
France, too, the ladies smoke just
about as much as the men. But very
soon I made amends for my lack OF
training by passing around some
American cigarettes. The two ladies
who had already taken cigarettes laid
them aside and took mine. | have
never seen the American cigarette
fail to make chit" l never go
without them. They can "open the
door" when everything else has fail
ed. Mrs. Krauss said that Heinrich
was too young to smoke cigarettes.
So Heinrich and I sat back and
watched the others smoke.
Well, they had another surprise
coming to them when later in the
evening the beer was brought out.
Again I passed it up." / don't know
whether Heinrich was "too young"
to drink beer too, or whether he SIM
ply passed it up" in order to keep
me company. Anyway we sat there
and watched the others drink their