El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-12-31


It is suggested that readers clip these
Z articles each day and paste them in scrap
] books: they viii not be reprinted and hack
numbers cannot be supplied
/ DECLARATIONS were now making
1 to transfer the Goth division to
another battle front. The 9TH
I regular division was to relieve the Goth
I IN the Puvenelle sector and the move
ment Of the relieving division into the
/ divisional area had begun.
Z October l9lS-Night, heavy firing,
enemy shells dropping on roads in
Puvenelle Wood two miles away. Rain
T intensely dark A regiment passes by
Z going up forward preparatory TO re-
/ heTmg one Of ours. Impressions Of
/ night march I'm rain, dark, so dark that
I men frequently collide; tiny flashlights
I here and there, no sound but spiashing
/ in the mud and nothing visible q few
/ feet away. Silence of night movement.
I Impressions Of vast host Of all arms
on roads. Endless stream Of vague
Z figures Of men, animals, carts guns,
I sloshing by ifregularly, emerging out
: Of total biaclness, passing like phan-
I toms through the dark, and being
swallowed up again in total blaclness.
I Intense feeling Of throbbIng life every
where one cannot see
s October l9lS-Picturesque notable
features Of night marches, changing
battalions and divisions. Small groups,
struggling In Silhouets, black shadows,
silence, silence, silence, and darkness.
Great difficulty Of motor drivers IN
slippery mud. Sliding off roads.
French teams break in.
That last phrase refers TO some
thing that VIII bring up vivid memories
TO the mind Of anyone who ever par
tlclpated in these movements on
crowded roads near the front, especially
az night. There were strict and vel
defined rules Of the road-axial roads.
corps roads, divisional roads, one-Way
and tWO-Way roads, might roads, day
roads, and night-and-daY roads, regu-
lations for the forming, spacing. and
moving Of wheeled transport Of every
kind, rules Of precedence and train Of
authority, rules against doubling up
or attempting TO pass around vehicles
going IN same direction, rules against
third line i'm center between streams
Of traffic moving in opposite directions,
etc. Our own drivers were not as care
ful as they might have been to facili-
tate all traffic by following strictly
the rules intended to prevent road
blocks; but the French drivers Of ami
mai and motor transport were motor
iously disregardful Of any and all
rules.
They used the roads in their own
sweet way that was anything but
sweet. They took the center Of the
narrow roads and refused to make
way for anybody until forced; they
woVe in and out of traffic lines going
IN the same direction with themselves,
and sought to get ahead of a convoy by
successfully passing around each We
hicle and croWdiur in between vehicles
iu convoy, thus not only destroying all
regularity IN movement but often
blocking traffic entirely, separating
conrOvs and causing endless confusion.
Each French Overwhelming also
the Ind0-Chinese from the French
colonies who were performing much Of
the labor and especially trucking ON
this front for the Ereneh-seemed 20
think he not only owned the entire
road and all the roads, but that he was
charged with a special mission TO
harass and annoy the American drivers
beyond the limit Of endurance.
It was Just such traits as this, often
encountered among the French troops,
that had a good deal to do with estab-
fishing and intensifying the prejudice
that began at the port Of landing and
was held by the Americans against
tie French throughout the later period
of the war and after the war.
In general the Americans 1elt that
the French were not disposed TO play
the game on the square or treat the
Americans with decent fair play. let
alone courtesy or consideration.
This sort Of thing ran all through
the wartime relations. There was con-
slant complaint that American soldiers
were not being fairly OF deeently
treated whenever they came In contact
with French troops or were in any
wise dependent on them. This began
at the base ports where French troops
and auuliaries would not cooperate
with OF assist the Americans in any
way unless grudgiDgly and in an ugly
spirit. 1t ran all through the railroad
and traffic system, the facilities of
communication. the billeting system,
commissary service. use Of roads and
transport, movement Of men and sup
plies. everything
Quite needless to say, the French had
precisely the same grievances and
worse against the Americans, and
showed it. From the moment Of land
inc, the Americans uicbmamed the
French soldiers Frog" and this name
stuck throughout the war; it was sug-
gested at first by the peculiar cut Of
the French army OTerc0at, the average
small stature Of the soldiers, the man
ner Of carrying the soldiers pack, ne
cessitating a considerable stOop OF bend,
and the ceaseless rain which soaked
everything and everybody and gave
the French soldiers the appearance Of
being amphibious as they slogged
through the mud OF huddled along the
roadside; at first the term was applied
Whimsicallv and by no means scorn-
fully OF I'll humoredly, but it was in
stantlv and always resented by the
French and undoubtedly had a good
deal to do with bringing about the
perpetual tension Of feeling; even the
women and children resented the term
Frog" and the soldiers took it as a
mortal insult. The average American
began using il with a sort Of almost
affectionate tolerance and soon came
to use it as a term of contempt.
The two nationalities never under
stood each other or tried to under
stand. OF course the total ignorance
OF each others language had most to
do with the misunderstanding but
there were also vital and fundamental
differences in temperament, an instinc-
tive friction, a grating Of personalities
one against the otherg