The Devils Lake world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1920-1982, 1920-07-21
'YANk TROOPS
|! NEAR SCENE
| OF FIGHTING
Those In Towns Around cobIenz
Had No Part in Trouble in
Ruhr District.
OCCUPY 80 TOWNS N AL
American Forces II Germany Consist
!, ct TO Officers and 1920 Men
ceblsnz 10 Headquarters
Of Yankee Army.

ceblsnz 10 Headquarters
Of Yankee Army.
New York.--There are still Ameri.
can troops in Germany. We had al.
most forgotten this fact until Doctor
kapp strobe into the days news and
vanished. Strikes, bloodshed and re-
bellioa followed In rapid succession.
German government troops entered
the Ruhr district and Foch moved
forward. across the neutral 0 We
read that the American forces in Ger
many, like the British, will hold to
their. b~ridgehead.
With its center at Coblenz the
American brdgehead forms the mill
tary occupation district along the
course Of the Rhine. between the Brit
ish to the north and the French to the
south. The town Of Frankfort, re-
Gently occupied by the French, lies in
German territory just beyond the neu-
tral zone which rims the French
b~ridgehead. and is only 80 kilometers
south Of American divisional head.
quarters.
Since the recent "red" uprisings,
Katherine Gay, formerly attached to
an artillery division, tells the New
York Post, American-occupied terri
tory has been surrounded by disorder,
but the American chief of staff at
Coblenz has kept strictly to his state
ment that he has ne concern with af-
fairs outside his Jurisdiction. Atten-
ton may be focused at any moment,
however, on the district held by Amer
lean forces If German communists
seek refuge and internment in Ameri.
can-occupied territory as they have
recently done in British : territory
after the failure Of their revolt in the
Ruhr valley.
At cobIenx.
The American forces in Germany to-
day consists Of 100 officers and 1870
men, inclusive of 10 officers and 17S
men stationed at the%port Of Antwerp,
Belgium. They occupy, all told, 80
towns. A year ago there were some
six divisions holding this same terri
tory, and every little town in the
bridgehead scarried%its quota Of Amer
leans. Indeed, 1t often seemed as IL
there were more American soldiers
than German civilians In the hill coun-
try. Even Coblenz, city of Rhine
wines and gayety, appeared for the
moment Americanized. Coblenz today
garrisons less than 400 American off,
GERS and about $500 men. Andernach,
former headquarters Of the third di.
vision, has the next largest garrison,
161 officers and 4,O46 men.
Most Of us on this side of the wa
ter have a 'hazy mental picture Of
Ooblenz and have, perhaps, seen a
photograph or two Of AndernachA But
Of the villages along the neutral zone,
the tiny towns that to most of our re-
turned soldiers mean Germany" we
have not the slightest conception.
They are alike in size and appearance,
these hundreds Of hamlets, and save
for the fact that Paumbach is Protes-
tant, while its neighbor, >Ransbach, q
quarter kilometer distant is Catholic,
when you have known n Rhineland
valley you know them all. Here the
remaining 5000 or SO Of our men are
stationed-prey, without doubt, to the
widest Of army rumors, marching on
Berlin n day, withdrawing to Paris
the next, but never failing to find
some imaginative tale with which to
season the "slum'' when "chow'' call
blows. We can find them by the SIM
pie process of alighting from the train
at Oobleriz, andFwith a few formalities
Of a military nature, "hopping a truck"
bound for the outposts.
Within American LineA
Rafting eastward Gro the little
pont0on bridge which spans the Rhine
directly in front of the American army
headquarters at Coblenz, u battered
Ford swings again to the north under
the shadow Of Ehrenbreitstein's high,
rocky fortress. follows the river for a
kilometer or two and then begins to
climb steadily to the northeast to the
hill country, the heart Of the Ameri-
can b~ridgehead.
There are no isolated farm houses
or dwellings Of any description in this
part Of the worid-such a thing is un-
dreamed Of. Nor has the average lit
tie town the unsightly fringe Of strae.
Cling outposts with which the Ameri.
can village announces a transition
from rural beauty to urban complexi-
HeA Our road, well mended by Ger
man labor under American supervi-
sion, running through rich fields and
velvety Forest patches groomed to Z
faultless beauty, plunges us into the
very heart Of q Baumbach, Vielbach,
Dernbach Or Nentershausen with dan.
gerous precipitancy ; so dangerous, In
dact, that were It not for the watchfua
mounted policemen who hold up q
warning hand aswe approach, the a,
talities among the children of our one.
time enemy would be beyond all com.
putting.
These little towns, 80 compact and
circumspect In appearance, house the
IS A~Ano}m~3 vnr,,vo kanu - 5kl,n nhlro1~-S