Evening star., 1943-06-06


Territory along the North (
Henry Of The Star staff made til
Gus town of $4,000 with French his
torical tradition going back to the old
wars with the Arabs 80 years ago. The
atmosphere except for the vivid Arab
coloring, was very much like that of
town of the same size in Missouri or
Iowa.
A red-fezzed Arab policeman directed
heavy Sunday traffic in the town square.
A rich Arab in immaculate blue-and-
white robe strolled aloofly by little
groups of poor Arabs in filthy rags
through the native quarter behind the
modern public school where the company
had been billeted for two weeks.
Americans Had Made Friends.
The Americans had made many
friends in town. Sunday night was
gay farewell, in spite of the fact that all
the wine shops with their seemingly
plentiful supply of muscatel were closed
at 7:3O The townsfolk compensated for
the early closing hour in their homes
The school principal and his wife had
made a group of intimate friends among
the soldiers who spoke little French.
She had baked a couple of cakes and he
opened couple of bottles of champagne.
His 80-year-old father, the first French
child born in Boufarik reminisced of the
old days.
The 37-truck convoy got away on
schedule and made its way slowly over
winding roads lined by vineyards and
straight, clipped cedars, through long
procession of Arab carts on their way to
the Boufarik market.
There were Arabs on asses, Arabs on
camels, Arabs in buggies, Arabs in hay
racks, Arabs afoot, Arabs underfoot.
The whole countryside had strikingly
biblical atmosphere. Ancient, white
bearded Arabs at the cross roads might
have posed for paintings of the prophets.
There were many young Arabs whose
faces above their rags suggested paint
ings of the young ST. John in Sunday
school books. At every stop crowd of
ragged Arab children gathered begging
"bonbons, an inclusive word for sweets.
Into the Hills.
The convoy wound its slow way into
the hills, through olive groves. The
landscape was strongly suggestive of the
Shenandoah Valley. The green upland
Fstures were patched with great, irreg-
ular splotches of gold and marigold,
where the mustard flowers were in
riotouS bloom. Bush-sized burdocks grew
beside the road Arabs with sickles cut
thistles for the obstinate camels with
their weird bleating. Arab children
herded black and white goats.
The convoy mounted into the hills, into
a dryer, drearier country which looked
like the Dakotas in good year, passed
poor Arab villages of brush huts, through
yellowing wheat fields. Yelled Arab
women with jugs on their heads, again
recalling biblical scenes, rested by the
roadsides. We passed through high
walled towns, erected by the French in
the early days of their occupation of
Algeria. And thus, in the short Alger-
ian twilight with a silver of new moon
in the sky, to 4 cold bivouac on the
ground on a ploughed hillside where
Arab peddlers thronged around trying to
trade native knives for cigarettes.
Supper of cold c rations-that is,
crackers and pork-and-beans. They are
them. American soldiers like to bivouac
near British, who, for some strange rea-
son, will sometimes trade good canned
corned beef for these c rations, supposed
to be richer in vitamins. The Tommies
say they like c rations better-such Is
the perversity of human nature.
Off again at sunrise, and all day
through high mountains-a landscape
perhaps unmatched on earth. There is
no section of the United States that quite
approXimates this green land of cork
forested hills and long, wide valleys cut
by lazy rivers. of wheat fields scarlet with
poppies, of blue flowers blooming so
riotously that upland fields look in the
distance like actual blue New England
lakes.
The sky is dotted with American fight
ers and bombers returning from night
mission. Bearded shepherds with Bib
lical crooks watch herds of sheep on the
hillsides. The convoy seems to be in
closed in a pink bowl of sunrise.
Arabs are ploughing in the fields with
= bulloch teams They ride by on slender
legged donkeys. They stand at the cross
roads holding up two or three eggs and
crying: Erich igg, frich igg." They
charge about 10 cents each and find
ready market. The American soldier will
buy anything to supplement sea rations.
The cedar-groved valleys look like pic
lures of the Gorden of Eden in old
Bibles.
Crossing Algerian Border.
Again bivouac on the ground-a
ploughed hillside until sunrise. Roads
are blocked with trucks bringing both
American troops and prisoners back from
the front. The British MPs who direct
North African traffic very eficiently have
their hands full.
Another start at sunrise with the stars