The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-11-21
SOLDIERS WHO STAYED
ABROAD DO WELL
PILlNG UP THE DOLLARS
They Are All Engaged In the
Various Lines of Business
Overseas

SOCldleu fTesS.i--SeVeTdI lnOuSduu
discharged American soldiers who
remained in France to try their for
tunes are faring as must fare all
pioneers. A few have become rea--
sonably wealthy. Some are report
ing progress" The majority, how
ever, like their fathers before them, in
the United States, are trudging on
LIES way; over or around obstacles,
with their carts hitched TO stars that
are flying ratner lower than they
were when the young men, set out to
"Americanize France"
Most Of the men really are pion-
GERS because they are striking out for
themselves, along new lines. AS yet
there is no organization to put these
men in contact with theirIfellows for
he exchange of ideas and expert
ences. ..
Nearly nine thousand American
Expeditionary Force men were re-
leased here and ii Is ESTIMATED a
fourth of these have settled down to
work here. The others are visiting,
sight seeing or have gone home after
discouraging look at business pros
poets. VT ~ ~. "@F
many Fpuno ETnPloJmenI.
OF the two thousand or so who are
hard after French francs, according
to American business men here who
know most about the new ventures,
several hundred found employment
with large concerns, chiefly American
firms preparing to do business in the
devastated regions. Another group
uoK vaI1ous small places to pay their
way while studying. The majority of
| The men, it was said, started to make
| good by capitalizing American meth
DDS. Very many of them saw what
they considered defects in French life
| and made ready to furnish the sup
ply, and, If necessary, create the
| demand.
Most of them agree that easy mon
ey is not one OF the natural re-
sources of France But few have
| proved that 1t is. negro made
| f25, 900 francs buying and selling ar =
my and NAVY supplies ,at Brest. His
| case is vouched for By 81 well known
| American eofiimerciaF executive. ~
The most striking stiecess report
| ID is that of iiTheI Fox TFot Kings 6of
| Paris as they term themselves,
Gerald ,Kiley, who, drove the Chicago
Press club ambulance, and Harold
Fitch or st Paul. VINO was at the
wheel OF one of Mrs. w. K Wander
bits ambulahces and olater went to
| the front. oaAiit9 8hii9f n99sg 54II
Money Was pressed onTThem.
Kiley and Fitch, the former said,
got their start over here when the
Sife of an American banker In bust
hess here pressed 500 francs on us"
when they played in "a three man jazz
band at dance she gave. ldThey or
| ganized wilson Welcome ball at "a
eading' hotel when the president ar
rived in Paris and hetted more than
| 10000 francs on the affair. This sue
cess, they often duplicated at "The
Dixie club" dances they organized
with an admission charge of twenty
francs a person. 'isyEas
Knowing that "good things" must
| not he oyerworked, the men took over
the Ice cream making equipment of
the Y. M. "a, which has capacity
of thousand gallons an hour and
ate in October began wholesaling
Dixie Ice Cream" cutting the market
price fifty to a hundred per cent.
lHSy Sdlu tl6y InNSSleu s1Uu,uUU
francs in the venture iE-1tsL
Some of the most interesting OF
the American business experiences
here are those of men who married
French girls Three of these are
farming east of Paris, making more
money than they ever thought pos
sible in the j. United States" their
business advisor said. One man mar
ried into dairy shop. Another re-
turned to his trade OF tailoring in
the same way. Scores of American
boys are in business with their
French fathers in law. e sFa
Typewriters Are Introduced. D.
Rebuilt typewriters, familiar to
Americans have. been introduced to
the French by Lieutenant ]. l.. Nc
Cam of Tuscaloosa, Ala, and George
K. Howard, of Pasadena, CAL Their
difficulty is too much business. With
typical aggressiveness they are buy
ing American used machines from
Franch dealers to sell to other French
dealers. Meantime, Howard said, they
are preparing to open 1.-THE American
Stenographic Bureau" because, he
said, an American business man is up
a piiiiu diiSg u yHlS 10 luu a puuitC
stenographer or to@get out his cor
respondence when an English spoh-
en- variety can be located.
Isadore Court who was a paper
hanger boldly set himself up in the
decorating business inca fashionable
suburb. SO uaiV
How Stevens, Began.
Lieutenant Stevens La Tyler of
Memphis began as an import and ex-
port broker but became a merchan-
disc broker while awaiting better
shipping facilities and omore famili-
arity with the mysteries of French
trading @ I7o' a
Harry l.. Drucker,a a newspaper
photographer, returned to his trade,
adding commercial work
: Importing and exporting, according
to an American executive in. that line,
attracted scores of the men but most
of them gave it up as bad job when
they ran into the mess Of entricacies
delays and financial difficulties for
the beginner. fes
Turned Defeat Into Success.
One man who wanted to bring in
carloads of automobiles and bicycle
tires turned defeats into success by
opening a tire sale and repair shop.
one with the same idea is 5.
awaiting arrival of "a real quick re-