Evening star., 1937-03-23

SECOND ty BeWilder-
ment of millions
not quite sure
SERIES what it was all
about . Boasts
that Uncle Sam
would knock out
the Kaiser in the first round.
Rumors in Congress that German
officers had landed in Mexico and
had taken command of Panch, Villas
forces for invasion of the States . q.
Reports in Washington of concealed
German submarine bases on Names
craggy coasts from whence the Huns
serpentS of the sea" would attack
United States and Canadian troop
ships.
Weddings Help Beat Draft.
Cracker box and sewing circle whis-
pers that pre-war respected German
Americans in the community were
spies of the Prussian militariSts {.
Women in groteSque khaki blouSes
and skirts drilling with dummy
wooden guns . a reported boom in
the marriage mart caused by rush
of young men into wedlock to avoid
being drafted for military service.
The press heralded 30, 100000 Citi-
zens capable of military duty, indus
trial resources incomparably the
greatest in the world and the moral
force of more than 100000 900 Ameri-
cans united behind their President
with a patriotic fervor reincarnating
the spirit Of l776."
Behind the tumult and the shouting
there was the uncertain confusion of
a people remote from the theater of
combat and already appalled, at the
terrific toll of the European shambles.
The great majority, German-Ameri-
cans as well as those of the lineage
of the Allies, quietly prepared to do
their part-and later did it, although
they found war, stripped of its spangles
and the heroics of the spellbinders, a
horrible, costly business.
Anxious FareweIIs.
Mothers and fathers smilingly Strove
to control their emotions as they said
good-by to sons off to training camps
and, later, bade more apprehensive
fareWells to the boys who were going
overseas. Among them we're German
Americans whose houses and barns had
been painted yellow and whose sons
later died fighting for Uncle Sam
against the fatherland of their par
entS.
Manufacturers offered the use of
their plants to the Government with
out profit, Uncle Sam c,amped down
on food spectators and the Federal
Trade Commission investigated alleged
profiteering by the makers and vendors
of flags. There was drive for
million backyard and vacant lot vege-
table gardens and chorus girls, their
hair in long curls, toured Manhattan
exhorting young men to enlist. Major
league base ball teams staged military
drills under the direction of Army
sergeants.
Members of a concert audience took
a walk" when Nine. Schumann- -Heink
sang Holy Night" in German. Two
of her sons were to die in battle,
one fighting for the United States and
the other for Germany. The great
contralto herself later became known
as mother" to American World War
veterans because of her work for their
welfare.
Food Names Changed.
Confederate veterans parading in
reunion before President Wilson
shouted: Call on US if the boys can't
do it" One of them carried a sign
reading, Damn a man who amt for
his country right or wrong" The
women of the country launched the
biggest sock and sweater knitting cam
paign in the worlds history.
The name of German fried potatoes
was changed to American fried, sauer-
kraut became liberty cabbage, Ger
man coffee cake was a tabooed food
In some homes, and restaurants with
the title Kaiserof became the United
States cafes or American grills.
Bands blared "Good-by Broadway,
Hello France" and parlor piano
groups sang the plaintive Keep the
Home Fires Burning" A song which
probably reflected the lig-.ter mood
of the average draftee ran like this:
Good-by ma, good-by pa,
Good-by mule with your old
hee-haW;
I don't know what this wars
about,
But I betcha, by gosh, soon
find out
1t was the mechanical player
on1 r,hnrnuro nh
radio not having appeared yet on the
American scene. The black derby for
business wear was at high tide, men
and women wore high shoes more
than they did low ones, although COX
fords" were acceptable footgear for
warm weather.
Short skirts, which were to attain
a brevity peak in the mid-twenties,
had not arrived yet and petticoat WIS
still an important word in the lexicon
of ladies apparel. Young bloods of
1917 smoked cork-tipped Turkish
cigarettes, wore belted-back coats,
drove Kissel car double skies, 1.-the
Lexingtons and sporty Saxon road
sterS. But they soon learned that it
was the fellow in the olive drab of
Uncle Sans soldiers who was "ace-
high" with the girls.
1t was jaunty as we'll as deter
mined United States which embarked
in the Spring of 1917 on the great
adventure of saving the world for
democracy" The long casualty lists
had not yet appeared to tell their
somber story to a nation grown more
sober In the grim business of 7ar.