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APT AMERICAN LETTER.

I (FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF "THE PRESS.") NEW YORK, June 1. During the last week of the Liberty J Loan campaign, New lork took to its i mighty heart a party of French chasv ' seurs Alpins, all of them heroes of j I Verdun, some with as many as seven » j wound stripes, and a shipload of Aus- , j tialians on their way back to the fiont, > I whose last port of tail was Wellington. > Tne Fre/ickuien wear dark-blue caps, a j cross between a tarn o'shanter and a » nigut-cap, and were nicknamed "Bluo > Devus" by the Germans, because the French Ambassador savs, ''tiicy fight like angels. - ' They were invited by tho , United States Government, and are v I making a sort of royal progress through >i the •States, visiting all the training > i camps, giving drill exhibitions, and k helping in patriotic drives. Tiiey are I short, j-tocky men, most of them very i young and ingenuous-looking peasants, quito unaccustomed to a large city, to i judge by their bewildered expression I during the first days of their visit. It i was pieasant to seo how soon they re- [ sponded to the kind and admiring iuI terest of their hosts. One day I saw the Australians march i up sth Avenuo to the strains of "Australia Will Be There," their flag salut- > ed as punctiliously as if it were "Old I Glory. Every loan booth tried to get I a few "Anzaes" or "Blue Devils" to i autograph bonds, and very proud and ( important they looked while inscribing their names. The Australians also workI ed hard with the British recruiting misi sion. When off duty they only had to i stand a minute in the and they i were mobbed by admirers, girls asking i for autographs, and men offering p'.easi ing hospitalities, with the exception of > "come-and-have-a-drink." All I spoke t to seemed quite moved bv the graciousi ness and heartiness of their reception ; they had not dreamt of anything like , it. Tho New York "Times" said: "Tho i city is theirs, and all in it they can find or wo can offer. Not only nro they tho guests of the city; they are i also tho guests of every citizen who meots them, and all are eager to play tho role of host. To spend money for them is a privilege eagerly sought, to take it from them is something to he douo only under protest. New York honours itself by honouring them, and how well, how modestly, how courteously do they bear themselves in circumstances tliat might easily turn heads less steady than theirs!" This does not sound liko a description of Australian youth, but I can endorse it from my own observation. They found they were regarded almost reverentially as Anzaes, and boro themselves accordingly. Poor fellows, it needed the magic of tho name "Anzac" to cast a glamour over their wretched uniforms, , so inferior in cut, fit, and material to , the stylish American uniform, although the Australian hat is certainly jauntier than tho straight-brimmed American. The hats are characteristic—the Australian is light-hearted and gonial, while tho American is deadly serious, and seems intensely conscious of. the dignity of his uniform. "Pershing's Crusaders," as some call them ; seems an appropriate name. Ever since America's ontrance into the war, I have beon out every day, and generally all day, in most of the big eastorn cities, and have not yet seen a drunken man in uniform. New York streets are filled with foreign uniforms, especially after such an announcement as "seventeen liners have arrived at an Atlantic port." Ono sees British, Italian, and Frencn marines, the latter with large rod woollen pom-poms on their caps; the most resplendent figure is the French officer, whose uniform is a combination of light blue, with bright red and gold; beside this magnificence even the ' 'Braw Hielandinon" looks sombre. Canadian Highlanders, with mighty voices and wonderfully clear-cut uttorance, which makes itself heard over tho street noises of New York, do most of the British recruiting. It was a Canadian Highlander who called for "three cheers for tho saviour of democracy," when President Wilson took tho review stand at the Red Cross parade, and the words were heard all over Madison Square. The President marched at the head of the parade over the whole route. This is Red Cross week, and as I write every bell, whistle, and steam syren in New York is announcing that another five million mark has been reaohed. New York's quota is 25 millions. There is a perfect deluge of dollars at every patriotic call. One in everjr six persons, it is calculated, invested in the last Liberty Loan. At each corner, and tho middle of every block, one is asked to invest a quarter in a war-saving stamp; hundreds of the sellers are anxious-faced children, who often say, "Please buv one from me, I shall be called a slacker if I go back to school without selling one." Employing children. in this way is commended by the newspapers as a valuable lesson in patriotism! At City Hall Square is a tent, where one is invited to "Come in, buy a W.S.S., and drive a nail into the coffin of tho Beast of Berlin." A strong agitation is heing worked up for tho suppression of the enemy language and tne Hearst newspapers. "100 per cent. Americans" are expected not to advertise in them, and to boycott news vendors who sell them; several have already ceased publication. This campaign is not altogether approved by the President; he bolieves good use could be made of the German newspapers to disiseminate the truth about the war. I read a few days ago that Mr Massey, Mr Hughes, and "Joseph Ward, Laborite and former Premier of Australia," had arrived at a Pacific port. Most Americans think New Zealand is part of Australia, and that it doesn't matter much if it isn't. fn a museum here the specimens of kauri gum are labelled, "A fossil gum found ; in Australia and adjoining islands." A dear old lady in New Hampshire told • me that she was so pleased to meet any- j one from New Zoaland, because her . Church had spent such a lot.of money ( in missionary work there. I had a , vague feelinjr that a word of thanks for • benefits received would not have been taken amiss, when she remarked that I i I spoke quite good English. Another ' 1 lady asked if Now Zealand was not the | 1 very hot country whore tho bird of s paradise lives. She evidently confused ] New Zealand with New Guinoa, like i the New York papers that reported Mr c Holm an as saying that Australia would 1 never give bark the north of New Zen- !, land to the Germans. This reminds '; me that Lord Northoliffe, when asked ( his opinion of Americn reporters, said j J he found them very ill-informed. j If

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19180710.2.40

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16260, 10 July 1918, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,162

APT AMERICAN LETTER. Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16260, 10 July 1918, Page 7

APT AMERICAN LETTER. Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16260, 10 July 1918, Page 7

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