The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1920-08-19

the village street A goodly number o
manufacturing towns also lie along tn
way. with an Industrial population o
few hundred souls or less. employees
Of the local sawmill. pottery or til'
fabrik
Happy Children.
II was In such 4 town that lived for
nearly five months Of the spring Of 1919
and though my main business lay
with the American army, | had an
opportunity TO get at least a surface
impression Of the life Of the village.
| shall think Of our little town al
ways as 1t appeared In the dazzling
sunshine OF the first spring days. The
ugly, modern houses were Ia the main,
gnrdenless and built plumb to the
| street, but despite the lack Of crocus
and swelling bud, spring was there In
the tremendous hustle Of moppiDgs
| and sweepiDgs and drubblngs that
overlooked through doors aJar and
open windows. Stills became fash
ionable with the more adventurous
small ''squarehcadA" The children
which they had been expressly ban
lshed by the "Amerikaner' for theiI
own safety, playing games involving
much singing and a sort Of chant,
Elm. zwei, drei, vier." Occasionally,
they broke into 4 weird and fearful
English. overheard at the horse line
during grooming b,urs, or chorused
strictly phonetic renderings Of XXX
kKat." One little girl OF @ or 7, cher
Ishlng deep admiration for our colo
mel, waylaid him each morning on his
way tn mess, to call out shyly and In
her most winning tone, Hello chick
en- !" and then rush, overcome, TO shell |
ter. History does not reveal the Iden- |
tity Of the sponsor for this pretty com
plimcnt. but II Ia rumored that the |
child Vas often seen conyerslng with
n private who had langulshed overioDg |
In the guardhouse. The colonel went
his way, serene and unruffled After
all, what is one adoring feminine voice
In the life OF a colonelf
American Town Major.
life on the main street was always
full Of Interest. There was, for In
stance. the daily parade OF the burgo
master and the American town major.
Here was one member OF the army of
who had every right In the
world 20 have his disposition perms
lentiy soured with the assurance that
10 other wearer OF the American uni
no 70 IN |
question. How do you get that way7'
u was responsible for the good be
Iavlor Of Germans and Americans
like--the restriction Of liquor sales
o the men (Which meant that
chnapps was verboten) the closing OF ,
OF the rule against fra
,rnlzlng lin publlc). He administered
he system Of fines for dirty streets
nd yards II was hard llfe but who
IN say that he was not well repaid I
y the sight of the local bankers wife B
brushing away the
rect refuse from before her house
ich day at the end Of stormy siege
weepings, protestations and small
nes? | was never privileged to ac- 8
'mpany the little gray burgomester v
nd the lanky young town major. a cit n
en- from Alabama, on their daily tour
inspection.
This village OF approximately 1000
'uls had lost something over so OF Its b
en- In the war yet what resentment n
ere might have been against the
ankee conqueror was too well con :,
'aled TO command respect u
Soldiers Become Socialists. II
All the soldiers who really got to the G
ont came home Socialists. "Our n
rls are crazy. They believe the ),
will marry us. That Is mol :.
. is III In Germany everyone laughed Il
any little German babies were born u
France. Perhaps there Will be lit
: American babies In this town"
Istened 10 protest that she had an o
tirely wrong idea OF the American q
ldier. She shrugged her shoulders m
Ith cynical laugh. "Who knows, n,
1t Is too soon to tell" ;
Not far up the road WAS the main a,
ring OF the village, a good-sized pot -
~ works presided over by three pros N
rous, rotund and well-groomed broth pl
5 In the neighborhood OF 80. Chill m
en- worked In their factory, not >
any, II is true, but enough to ban
/ preconceiyed notions OF Germany's
lborate care for her common people. "
this pottery works were designed
d manufactured hundreds Of souve- NJ
: plates for the American and finally
20 for the British army. The plates
re clrcled with gold laurel wreath
4 In the center appeared In formal
sign the individual purchasers al
me, his regiment, division emblem
d the Insignia of the army OF occu- -
ton, the date OF the divisions en- IN
into the war It's victorious en- pr
sements and November IL, 1918. tn
e tale of Germany's humiliation was 80
IS voluntarily served out to her enc
rs with no thought, apparently, be-
nd the harvest Of marks reaped. no
,itcfs were always cordially wei Ce