The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1945-12-06

CTS are still sweating out the
trip home"
This heart-warming line from
overseas appears in an interesting
letter received by Miss Betty VIM,
from Mrs Edith Webster, Director
of the largest Red Cross Unit in
France. Mrs. Webster, herself the
mother of two sons in service, is
now stationed in the beautiful old
town of Fontainebleau. Of the change
in the CTS since the end of hostili-
ties she writes:
"The end of the war Il wish l
could say The Peace) brought these
men complete assurance that
eventually they would be going
home and restored to a more normal
thinking that tended to empty the
cafes and fill the Club They join in
the 'corniest' kind of entertainment
musical chairs and pinning the tail
on the donkey - with the same
willingness to please their hostesses
that they would at home, and find
that they have enjoyed themselves.
We've had 4th of July, Labor
Day, Halloween, Sadie Hawkins
Day, Thanksgiving and now we have
Christmas on which to hang new
festivities"
Fontainebleau, country seat of the
kings of France, Mrs. Webster de
.scribes as follows:
"Fontainebleau presents a lot of
sights, sounds and smells, now grow
ing familiar, that were quaint and
fascinatingly foreign only a short
time ago.
MONKS in long flowing black,
brown, or cream colored robes,
wearing berets or flat hats, afoot or
cycling through the streets.
"a TOWN CRIER, resembling the
central figure in The Minutemen'
painting, complete with drum,
beating a loud tattoo to call the
attention of the shoppers. Then the
message, probably an advertise
ment, but sounding important and
mysterious because spoken in
French.
1.-THE FOREST turning deep
orange, sans the abundant reds with
which we are familiar. The canvases
of the Barbizon school of painting
are not convincing until you have
seen the forest sunset in October
with the sun shining through the
tall trees. The ivy covered walls
throughout the town supply the,
vivid reds.
1.-THE HOLLY which grows
abundantly in the forest and the
wild boar tracks over which you
must step as you gather it, making
the whole thing seem a courageous
undertaking. Il have yet to see or
hear wild boar. The mistletoe-
a parasite = growing on the high
branches of the trees and forming
little round bushes on branches now
denuded of leaves is exciting to me
because I didn't know it grew that
way. After gathering it in the old
fashioned way of climbing the trees
(the CT who helped me did the
climbing) we returned to find that
shooting the clumps off the branches
is the proper way.
"THE LOAVES of long thin
French bread that are carried I'M
wrapped through the streets, large
quantities at time, by child, man
or woman: frequently dropped,
picked up, brushed off and carried
on to grace (?) the table at meal
time"
An attitude of airy nonchalance
toward business, by no means
typical of the French, is character
istic of the Fontainebleau, according
to Mrs. Webster, who describes the
shops as being CLOSED from noon
to two daily, closed on all holidays
(and they are many, closed when
the proprietor goes to Paris, or to
visit relative, or when he takes
vacation, and closed on Monday
all day"
The expression dancing in the