El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-03-12


in the Army OF Occupation, and d
says he has no idea how long ma
be the stay OF the troops In the Rhin
country.
In a personal letter. Capt. Slater ex
presses his regret that army reeuIa
lions forbid an officer writing 10
publication on any topic OF "curreu
events. aru1istice, military or polftfcs
affairs" without submitting the artfcl
Tor approval to the military censor
ship bureau IN the American z. T
and TO the war department IN Wash
inEton. Under the circumstances Cap
Slater considers IL advisable to con
fine his letters chiefly TO inquire
about the health OF the office cal
However. ne has authorized the pub
lication Of some ancient narrativ
and denatured comm entary for the in
formation Of his friends IN the South
west. Says he:
Under a General order recent
issued, modifying the csnsorshir
poetry IS expressly exempted. Con
sequently. having taken TO mind tn
lessons in camouflaEe learned owe
here. I have ventured to embaln Il
censor-free-verse some morsels o
THE SONG OF VICTORY.
There is no such thing
Soldiers DON'T sing
After they leave training camp
And the S O. S.
IS. o. s., OF course you understand,
is everything back OF the front
And yet this side Of the seal
7 call this the song OF Victory
Only 70 dodge the Censor
Who passes Poetry
without reading IL,
Just as the
Conscientious editor
Throws It into the waste-can.
Greetings. then, to all
ny friends in the Great Southwest
From a steam heated room
In Rheuish Prussia
Near the Spot NOV monum ented)
Where the recent Kaiser Wilhelm
Drank-in the scenery
and congratulated Cod
IN 1905
over this house hangE now
4 leadsn sky
The only leaden thing
The Germans didn't swipe.
At Stenav. where the Crown Prince
Lived three years in France
lie left the church standing
and sven had Il painted
But every last pipe
lie stole from the organ out
You've heard the story
or an army major
In the old Arizona days
Who fired a jacksss
At some riotous redmen;
But who e'er heard
OF firing organs
At hostile churchese
Nothing IS strange over here
Everything seems natural;
10 soldier ever raised an eyebrow
or expressed surprise
The exclamation point was never used
In the front lines.
Nobody seemed TO care
a single damn
What happened next
4 have seen the inside OF
4 walnut shell
That is the limit
of my opportunities
FOR observation and judgment
Yet the s0th Division
To which / belong since June
Has been here near seven months
And was in the front lines
SeVeuty-nin5 days
And lost 10000 men
in battle casualties
IN three OF the greatest battles
OF all the ages.
And I have seen more
Than can comprehend
IN three r6-incaruatious
Yet I feel more ignorant
And more greedy for knowledge
and less in touch with the world
Than If I'd stayed at home
De-wrathing with soft words
Irate subscribers
And attending the numerous
Meetings
Of the faithful
That FIJI great rooms
With smoke
And start trouble, and raise
Money
Tor every worthy object
write from Manderscheid
In the Rhine Province OF
Prussia. Germany,
in the middle OF the
Army OF Occupation
Not far from the Rhine and
The Moselle, famed for vine
and ruined castles.
II is q picturesque region
Of deep canyons.
swift clear streamEs
Castled hills,
FERTILE because ferdIized)
Fields, gardens, and vineyards,
And a History
OF 5000 years
All intense and vivid still
Rendered 50 by
BoolcmakersB industrious
AS pup
in a honeyard:
Utilizing every shred and fiber
flL the lore OF ~ centuries
TO construct for as
More pups-for such
History is immensely
Vital
I spent three days
In Treves, or Trier,
some ways behind us.
The city claims to anteaate
Rome By 1890 years
caesar Chat same seareeroW
Of high school sophomores)
Took Treves, some s. B. e.
Il was q mere side-track
Town then. but Caesar had
Big ideas. as Claiborne says
And what he did to Treves
violated all the rules OF
Politics, because he
Spent the peoples money
For their benefit
Julius and his successors
For four or five centuries
Piled stone on stone
In marvellous mighty structures
For cleanliness and defense,
ueautv. religion amusement
Commerce and health
And perhaps a few
FOR vice. then fashionable
In spite OF all the effort
OF an the ages since
To destroy these things
They stand. many OF tnens
Tor in almost every age
fW ~