Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-08-08
Two DAYS In JAIL
York Soldier Was Once Under Ar.
rest While Overseas.

York Soldier Was Once Under Ar
rest While Overseas.
Twas ALL ON ACCOUNT OF A Girl
French Woman Made 1t Unpleasant
| For A Soldier Convoy-Soldier
Squared Matter BY confessins At
] The Proper Time.
[ By Lewis NJ. Grist.
AS YOU have heard the other fellows
I who have returned from overseas say
quite often, experiences over there were
many and varied. Among others had
the experience Of being arrested and
held in the jug for a couple of days.
Thank goodness, 1 didn't fall into the
hands of "Hardboiled. Smith" or one
of those other birds of similar feather,
who are now being shown up in their
true character by the congressional in
vestigation of overseas prisoners OF the
American forces, now being held IN
Washington. Ny arrest was made
along with that of good many others
of my outfit, and since it was of short
duration and we were not even tried,
being exhonorated at the first oppor-
tunity, l don't mind telling the story.
| The French, as think have stated
before, were more than delighted at
the coming of the Americans and for
a few weeks after the Americans be-
gan to arrive in "Frogland," nothing
was too good for the Trenches to do
for us. The key Of every French town
and village was the property Of the
American doughboy for the asking and
the latch string Of every door was on
the outside. The French would go out
of their way to extend courtesies to
the Americans, anything they might
do was perfectly all right-in short
they owned the country. If few
American soldiers on pleasure bent
raised rough house around some
French village, nothing was said about
| it.
Didn't Last Long.
Naturally that kind of thing didn't
last long and along about the time 1
got over last September the welcome
was worn to frazzle so far as French
civilians were concerned and to tell the
truth the Americans and the balance
of the Allies were just about as popu-
lar among French civilians as the Ger
mans were. Street brawls were COM
mon, French men and French women
would make complaint to American
headquarters of the slightest mis-
conduct on the part Of American SOL
dier and taken all in all, 1t was a most
| unhappy state Of affairs.
My little scrap occurred while was
member of a convoy Of big trucks,
carrying supplies and war munitions
to station several hundred miles dis
tant. l don't recall just now how many
fellows were in that convoy but there
must have. been eighteen or twenty.
Several days - time was required to
make the trip, and we mapped out a
night at some town or village where no
military police were quartered. Oh,
we were an orderly bunch all right, as
soldiers go; but every soldier knows 1t
is much more pleasant to spend a
night in a town where there are no
| military bulls" rather than in a place
where the soldier cops are thick as
hops.
WelI the first couple of days we got
along famously. But as the convoy
was proceeding along the road about
the third day, one of the truck drivers
| stopped his machine at the home of q
Frenchman by the roadside for some
trivial thing-possibly to buy some
| wine or to get drink of water. Num-
erous other conveys, it was learned had
recently passed that way and the
Trenches had evidently had trouble
with them.
The Cause of Il All.
The wife Of the Frenchman who
lived in this house came out to the
front yard fence when the soldier
driver hailed. She was a sharp nosed
squint eyed, wk-faced, shrill voiced,
quarrelsome, regular old-nick kind Of
dame. They have those kind IN
France just as they do in America.
The soldier leaning on the outside
of the fence stated his mission, and the
dame replied to the effect that he could
get no wine or whatever it was he
! wanted. Then she went into a TRADE
against American soldiers in general,
declaring among other things that they
were a bunch OF rough-necks and
hoodlums and that she was tired of
| them stopping at her house and so on.
Well, 1t made the soldier who was
tired and hot and dusty, pretty mad,
| and he, being able to speak broken
French, replied with some heat.
| Then the old dame got mad sure
enough and shaking her bony fist in
his face she showered upon him a
string of "cuss words" in both English
and French so citriolic and profane
that the utterances would have made
the proficiency of deep sea sailor of
twenty years experience in profanity
sound like a third rate patent medi-
cine peddler entertaining a salesday
crowd in a backwoods town in the
days when folks believed they could
buy razor that would shave, a gold
dollar, two pecks of pills, a looking
glass, bottle of cologne for ones best
girl and bottle of Mrs. Sponker's
Spasm Sputum for babies all for a
quarter of dollar.
| Paid Back In Same Coin.
The soldier l am sorry to say,
'cussed" her back and then she slapp-
ed him and he tapped her little tap
on the side of her head which made it
ring with the refrain of the Star
Spangled Banner, the Marseillaise, and
God Save the King all combined. In
getting over on the old woman's side
of the fence, he pulled a paling off