The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-01-31
SOAP WORTH MORE THAN
MONEY IN GERMANY
Letter From Edmund Howe Telling
Some OF His Experiences
On the Rhine.

or lhe new year we nave had no ram
and the days are clear and crisp like
late October days in Vermont At
Christmas time. we could see little
snow upon the mountain tops beyond
Coblen2. but no snow has fallen here.
The Rhem has 0yerfiown its banks
and partially submerged several
houses along the bank. but during
these last few pleasant days the wa
ter Is going down.
The Rhein is about the size Of the
Hudson near Poughkeepsie and West
Point although the current is remark
ably swift AT this point, the river
! flows almost directly north and il Is
difficult to get used TO saying down
north and up south. Large barges
come up the river every day many of
them Dutch boats. and are unloaded
here or at Cobenz. In the summer,
am told, passenger steamers also
make daily trips.
We crossed the Rhein in December,
on Friday the lSth- crossing from
Remagen on the vest shore to Eipe
on the east shore. The bridge on
which we crossed * a large steel
structure built By Russian prisoners
OF war, who worked for 80 pfennings
day tThere is q similar bridge at
Engers built by English prlsoners)
Possibly because +, was Friday. the
18Th, we had a miserable day for
crossing The head of the column,
preceded by the band, reached the
west end OF the bridge at S:tS ex.
actly Il was during driving rain
and a strong wind was Blowing up the
river In spite OF the unfayorable
conditions the band played the 23rd
infantry march all the way across the
bridge.
We then marched through the town
of Eipel, while the band played We're
a Lcng, Long Way From Home ="
That night we hillelod at Nieder
Breitbach q dirty unauractivc. little
town mp In the hills u was in that
town that ] celebrated my birthday
the following day by spending all day
trying to billet battalion In q town
not large enough torS we companies
/ Il was found Impossible and we NOV
ed 20 Alimied where we stopped one
night and then marched % Eneers
We stayed there four days and then
the entire regiment was sent here TO
Vallcndar where we are quite com.
fortably situated for an indefinite
stay
Although The civilians treat Us with
res pect as a whole, and do every
thing We ask of them. we do not ure-
tend 10 think that they Ike US. 1t is
certain that they had rather have US
here than the Frenc or even the Eng.
lish. but down in their hearts, they
hate US, too It is the women that
mind the allied occupation the most
! The children enjoy il because the sol.
here than the French or even the Eng.
things to eat and the men respect US
and treat MS remarkably well becauec
hey are afraid OF us, but the women
stand in their doorways and openly
neer at US and make fun Of us among
/ themselves
As o billering officer J went into
nearly every house in each town We
stopped and it was always The man OF
/ the house that showed us around
while his wife stayed down stairs and
/ kept saying or yelling Klein Bett;
klein thinner" When we were
cramped for space In town. it was
necessary to 20 into every house and
find out the number CT rooms and the
number IN the family Then had tc
decide how many the family could get
along with and we took the rest II
looks could kin, | have been dead sev
eral weeks We have usually STOPPED
In small towns where there are very
few Of that arrogant, Gott nit ms
class OF people. but IL is a pleasure Z
crowd q family like that into abou
three rooms and take the rest of theh
house.
To us Il seems ridiculous that The
United States Is sending food to thi
country. The people now eat five
; times a day Take for instance, tn,
family that live With At eight il
the morning. they have their frs
breakfast Then at ten they have
second breakfast At twelve come
lunch AT four In the afternoon the
have a meal called 'Karfeetrinkon
which consists Of coffee, jam and hui
ter and bread. Dinner comes at seN
en- Then usually about eight when
! come back from headquarters the
4 have cookies and tea and the las
thing before retiring we have he
r chocolate. do not know what the
will do with any more food and d
j. not know what can be sent them th,
: they haven. now
y Butter Is very expensive and whit
II -four is pretty scarce but condition
G are improving right along There
e much moro food here than In Franc
G When ! was billetted in Neully.su
e Suize near Chaumont. France. III
family never had any meat, butte
e coffee nor sugar Fresh vegetable
N we're plenty, but one gets sick. OF
)f steady diet Of potatoes, cabbages ar
I. tumpt
a The German people dread the col
t. ing Of the French more than an
n. thing else. Nearly every day u
Ie lady here at my billet asks me an
c. iously ii we are going away and If u
le French are 10 come here 1t Is q
n guilty conscience of the nation. III
poop'e know what was done IN B
glum in 1914 aud they expected TO
treated the same way by the alli
Wmos and they are particularly su
lr. that II the French ever get here SUI
sci
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