ENGLISH SPOKEN EVERYWHERE

Hokitika Guardian, 2 June 1917, Page 4

ENGLISH SPOKEN EVERYWHERE

Our Boys in Belgium. (By an Officer.) Every British soldier who has served on this part of the line will tell yon that he likes Belgium. Why P The country itself is by no means beautiful. If you ask that shy man Thomas Atkins, he will probably tell yon that he likes Belgium because it> is “easy to get on ” there. The real explanation is that the Belgian has helped Thomas Atkins to solve the language problem by a rapid acquisition of English ; that home oomfcrts have been brought nearer bv ** tea, bread and batter, and chips ” ; that every Belgian farmhouse has always a cup of coffee and a friendly word for the British soldier. Between Tommy Atkins and the Belgian people there has grown an understanding the credit for which must *be given to the iniative, the hospitality, and the adaptability of the Belgian. Everywhere English is spoken ; every village behind the line has it£ comfortable estaminet where Tommy Atkins can vary Army diet by an indulgence in eggs, chips and confectionery ; every school child has a smattering of English, and the boys will always raise their caps to an English officer. BISCUIT BOX HOUSES. The faith of the Belgian in the cause for which we are fighting and in its ultimate vindication by the strength of the British Empire is shown by the way in which he iB creeping back to his homestead. It is now a common sight to see a “ band box ” kind ol dwelling knooked together .and occupied within a few days. .The |uorma population of many of the villages has been doubled these last few months by the homing instincts of the Belgian and through his confidence, in British troops to keep the Boche where he is.

These “ houses,” while forming an odd collection of ideas in architecture, demonstrate the resource of the Belgian in making much out of nothing. A good many of them have walls of nothing more substantial than cheese or biscuit boxes intended primarily for the packing of Army rations. Discarded tea tins packed with earth have been used in an attempt to make a “ bomb-proof ” dwelling. There are to-day hundreds of homes established oat of the odds and ends inevitably wasted when troops are on the move. Sometimes the design is in the form of a one-floor hut with a dividing wall of saoking between living room and bedroom. A more popular style is to use half the shanty as a shop or cafe and the rest as living' quarters. Invariably these mushroom houses are named in French or Flemish. They are always “villas.” But more prominent than their names are the announcements of food and wares in English.

One enterprising native renamed his premises “ Skindle’s,” and styled it a mtaurant for officer®. The sequel la 9 been found iu big business and a popular rendezvous f t all officers r enring to loeilo a friend out of the line.