The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, May 01, 1931, Image 3
Ill lWy Experience^ I
I io World War
I ?Jf Jmhm JviPersligj^g
|k^5sas?sss=> ?.? |
iCHAPTfR V
whs m guest at luncheon at Buck.
an> palace June 11, 1017, W|th
rican ambassador, Walter Hlhes
ami Mis. |>?ge. The king, the
ij mid Princess Mury were pres.
There wus un ulr of charm and
licity af ll>? palace that permit.
1 freedom and Intimacy |0 the
?rsatlori. The plain fare Was
in keeping with the food sltua-'
hroughout England,
er luncheon the king, the ambusand
I stood D.ea?a window over,g
the garden, which, as his inujex
1 du I nod. Instead of growing
?, \\as producing potatoes. The
told of the kuiser's visit to Eonfew
years before and how he
rougbt his chief of secret *erv
ring and put film up at one of
dels to learn all he could while I
uiser himself was a guest/jrt
igham palace. ' .. .
majesty spoke bitterly of the
unity of the Germans, dwelling
dly on the night borphlng of
i. Pointing to the beautiful
of Queen Victoria just outside
Indow, the king suddenly exjyr.
>
kaiser. God damn hlpl hak^
ried to destroy the statie of
n grandmother.'^
a moment ! wa'Mferprfsed a, '
ds. but I quickly realized that '
a solemn expression of prondignatton.
and not profanity
Calls on Chief of Staff,
leaving the'palace I called on
r William Robertson, chief of
erihl general staff. He was a
heavy-set, blunt soldier4, of
descent, whose record In the
id been exceptional In that he
?n from the grade of private
(ion high position,
sipped his tea I explained our
the organization of our armies
: the small regular force and
onal Guard as a nucleus. As
tisli themselves had' gone
fbe same experience two
I ..stressed the fact that It
kfe consldertible time,
II the British officials, he was
favor x-of having our forces
th or near' their own. He
>ut that we'Svere both Anglo.poke
the same language, and
er reason* to support his
.' ' , ,.j
ed necessary to explain Id de-1
as the Ameri&n navy was;
with the British nnw we
robnbly plan to place our
Ide the French If there was
y preference. It appeared
nt we should do this, as we
operate on French soli and
*? ports, railways and n?a'e
m"in ??*ng. I wen, on to
form our own ntfnv as
-slide for use wherever It
British Aid. In Shipping.
iisized our lack of tonnngo
hhii-thnt n,i intuit have adding
If wZ [I^ bring
ds was not encouraging,
d.ouglit that It wi.r entire?
d^thmifor them to pro-.
III ?ny British shipping, as
already In sore straits to
1 t?r their own m.tl >nal-ne
^ right (OH
^ l ii ami nsla'il u lirn troups WOUldH
M/ed and trnimyl and the ntthV-l
Hs ?h expected u> s?-iid grefeffttrB
V i??rdlal enough and expressed *
ire to assist tin In every possible
>ner. hut when | stressed Ofcr ttfhjl.
assistance to bring over our troops
did not aeem to be parti cularifln *ted
and gave little bope that the
tish would be ?bt'e Co fuliraM
shipping whatever.
Jnder the drcumstancee the, ftp-fl
ent unconcern Of the British esffl
need of shipping Is not difficult
understand. They were eerie**?!
rmed regarding their own food altn >n.
it seemed to me. however, that
y haJ allowed their pehelrnlem to
r? them too far in the direction of
elessnese. At the moment, they
Kn^^Tj^aldiae' *** fttn,r# ud
I
1
Gr*at Ovatlop in Franc*.
After leave tuklng calls and nuiner
ous Informal visit*. conferring with
various loaders and making one trip
to u training ouiup, our party left June
13 for Folkestone and France. At
lloulogne we again received an Impressive
welcome, and a few hours
later we were In Pari*.
The officials who met us at the station
included &1. Paul I'ulnlcve, inln|
later of war; Marshul Joseph JofTre.
Uene Vivian, Major General Foch.
I then chief of stafT, and United States
Ambassador William G. Sharp. There
were many others. The si Alton was
packed and the atmosphere seemed
electrical with pent-up enthushisiu.
Outside dense masses lined the
boulevards and tilted the squares along
the route to our hotel, the Crlllon.
Cheers and tears mingled as men and
women shouted acclaim. Women
climbed Into our carriages screaming
"Vive I'Atnerlque" and threw flowers
until we'were burled.
It was said that never before In
the history of Pari* had there berth
audi en outpouring of people. I was
to see Its parallel when thev?rmlstlce
was signed and on two other occasions,
once wltt# President Wilson arrived
ahd later" when the victory pa;
rade took place, July 14. 1010.
' At Napoleon's Tomb.
Although 1 was very anxious to get
to work, It was necessary for ine to i
make certain official calls and uttend
a few entertainments that hud bepn
planned for us. The French suggested
that we should first go to visit Napoleon's
tomb |n 1>s Invalldes, o
We were taken down to the crypt, |
where I was handed the great key and
was asked to unlock the heavy wrought I
Iron entrance door. "We were shown
uniforms und the baton that belonged
to Napoleon and then his sword. Our
vet.eran escort reyerently removed the
sword from the case and offered it to
me, us tf to transmit some of the
genius of the great oaptain.
So much of French sentiment and
tradition are associated with this tomb
und Its treasures that every one who
visits there with Frenchmen must
share their febllng of profound emotion.
This Incident, more than any
other connected with my reception, invpressed
me with the martial spirit of
the French people.
- Finds Polncar* Reserved.
I called next to pay my respects to
President Poln&re and te present
greeting* from President Wilson.
"The French people are very happy,"
he sold, "that America Is In the
war. Your coming Is n great satIsfac-.
tlon to us."
He Inquired generally about our
plans, seeking, as they all did. some
assurance that we should soon he In
the trenches. His attitude was rather
formal and reserved, hut he at once
Impressed me as a man of ability and
force.
Petain "Most Agreeable."
A visit to French general headquarters
ul t.'omplegiTe~witB made, primarily
to meet General Petain and the ofli*
. cers of his staff. Petuln is above .
medium height and weight. He wore
a full mustache, slightly gray, and
was then about sixty. He has a fcindly
expreslson and Is most agreeable,
' but not especially talkative.
His ke*n sense of humor became,
apparent from the Jokes he told at ,
u the ftrnanm of. uuu*.(rf hls awfl!- Ou*
conversation after luncheon was ni'most
entirely on military affairs, Including
America's probable part In the
war, which, as matters ^tood. gavejktie
promlae of becoming effective until
the following spring.
My Impression of I'etafn was favor
able and Jt remained Unchanged
throughout the war/ Our .friendship. |
Which 1 highly treasure, had Its be- 1
ginning at this meeting. . .
At thtlunoheoft there were several
general officers, among whom tnis
MaJ. Gen. Franchet d'Ksperey, then In
command of a group of armies under
- Petaln. He was considered one of th?'
ablest end most agfreastes officer* in
the French anhy and was very popular
wftb hKTpen. . ?
As we wished to get a glimpse of
the actual front he took as by motor
as near ah possible without drawing
j thf Ore of the eflfimy's artmery. wt
mmmmmmmmrnrnsMei
though-at thui iiutn Mu-rv was lt|tl?
activity on that pert of the front. The
point ef abhervatloe that we reached
Lffifi was
than within the enemy's lines, and
wbtcb ?M later near the ceotey ef the
great German drlVa of 1018 against
the British.
On the return trip the chauffeur,
i after being rautloaed several tlmee.
continued to drlv* at a aomawhnt dan
gerou* apeed. which ao exasperated
the general thai ha finally threatened
th* ch.mitvni with violence, whereup
~tfir ttflrrpeed was granny rgtHlCW"
CHAPTER VI
As soon uk the formalities Incident
to our urrlvul In Purl* were over?ami
> I made them brief as possible--we got
down to work, as It was urgent that
we should begin at once to luy the
foundation for the development and
employment of the American army.
To expedite handling the many questlons
that must arise, especially in our
relations with the French war ottlee,
which controlled practically all Industrial
facilities and transportation, It
was War Minister Paul Palnleve's
ides that there should be a group of
French officers placed at our disposal.
Marshal Joffre was deslgnuted as
heud of this lluslon group. The In8tructions
received by Marshal,JofTre
from the minister of wur were transmitted
to me in a polite note. Naturally,
It was pleuslng to think of being
associated with Marshal Joffre, hut I
thought the adoption of the plan at
this time would only add an extru
channel through which requests must
pass and that thiB would complicate
rgther than simplify matters.
The scheme Indicated that a sort of
tutelage was contemplated, which ulsd ~
made It objectionable.
In my opinion, It would be more
expeditious to utilize the French officers
on duty tot my headquarters utui
develop a workable system through
experience. I explulned my views to
M. Palnleve and readily arranged for
the officers of our supply department
to confer directly with the chiefs of
the corespondlng bureaus of the
French organization. But this was
only the beginning and we soon found '
ttfet we had much io learn of the difficulties
of dealing with French bureaus,
either directly or Indirectly.
There was no question that under
the great enthusiasm the afternoon of
our arrival there existed serious despondency
among all clusses. The terrlble
strain of the previous years of
continuous fighting, with heavy losses,
was telling against both the French
nd the British, Temporary success
In different theaters of war. hud
brought small comforts, followed as
they had been all too frequently by
disastrous reverses.
With actual conditions in mind, one
oould fully understand why the allies
had baen so insistent that a contingent
of American troops be Immediately
sent to France to* bolster their morale.
While not yet prepared to do any
fighting. we eeeld and did furnish men
for service behind the lines. We also
provided raw material and certain
manufactured supplies as rapidly as
possible and financial aid without stint.
U. S. Inaction Shows Effect.
The more serious the situation In
France, the more deplorable the loss
of time by our Innctlon at home appeared.
It is true that a committee
at the war college in Februnry had
presented u brief outline report on the
-organization of a limited force, yet no
comprehensive general plan had been
Considered fnr the formation or employment
of such a force, much less
for a larger one.
It was finally decided we should use
the ports.of. Bordeaux and St. Nnzalre.
It was likewise estimated that the rail
lines leading to the Lorraine sector,
with collateral routes available, could
be Improved to meet our needs. ^
Then It became necessary to determine
th? sector where our forces, light-..
mg as a unit; wonru oe most eireenve.
After lengthy study and consultation
with allied leaders It was logical to
.conclude that from the purely mllitjir.v
standpoint the employment of the
American armies on the Lorraine front
would prove the most beneficial. In
corilerebce WITH General Petaln, wlio.
had -reached the same conclusion, the
declson was made accordingly.
It was necessary to have a particular
sector in mind to plan definitely
info construct , requisite rail and dlstributlng^aclfftles.
It was tentatively
understood between General P eta In
and myself that the American sector
should Jnctbde the St.* Mlhlel afrllent. >
I*Buggeste(V that the first American* offensive
would naturally he Its reduction.
Jflte {fully agreed. . ,
place Of Red Cross Decided.
' Ma J. Grnystju M. P. Murphy, head
of the Rffl ?ross In France, and his
assistant, Janies H. Perkins, called at
my headquarters June 17 to discuss
co-operation with the army- It was
decided the lied Cross could best handle
Its work ifr given in semiofficial
status, so Major Murphy was attached
to my headquarters.
* It was the French situation* that
gave me the gravest concern. Pacifist
sentiment'was prevnf^nj.ln France and
in tnan> quarters there was talk of]
a peaOe parley. This pessimistic and
despondent mood of the pepple further
depressed the morale of their armies
,a? ften. at-the front .contemplated another
winter of suffering and distress
for their families.
To help meet these conditions I suggested
to Major Murphy that the first
talk of the Red Cross should be to aid
needy French people. Ae a result he
sn^l Perkins proposed that funds be
distributed to soldiers* families wherever
necessary.
.When the Idert was presented to
{General Peiuln he expressod the keen
est appreciation and at once undertook
through Ids military organization
to obtain the inveKjinry data. Th?w
*
i ^ . ! /
francs (nearly $MJUO,UOO) available to
, be distributed by local charitable agencies
as rapidly as the information
could be furnished as to where funds
should be gent.
8eea First Troops Arrive.
Wbnt to St. Nazalre June 28 te
meet the advance elements of the first
division and Inspect the port.
The first section of the first division
convoy had brought to St. Nazalre,the
headquarters, the Sixteenth Infantry,
two battailous of the Twenty-eighth
Infantry, one battalion of the Fifth
marines and some motor transport*
troops and stevedores. To see the
naval vessels nnd transports flying the
American ting in the harbor gave us
all a thrill of pride. It was a pleasure
to meet the naval commander,
Itear Admiral A'bert Gleaves, who
was to hnve general?charge of the
convoy system.
The regiments of the division had
all served under my command at one
time or another. They were now,
however, composed of a large percentage
of recruits and would Jiava to go
through a long period of training.
After a few days spent In the cantonment
at St Naifdre the infantry of
L the Ku^eirt ta ihi.tralnlsa
area of Gondrecourt, north' of Neufchateau,
and the artlllety to Ysldshoa,
near Belfort f
Arrival Tipped Off.'*
. Maj. Gen. William I* Slbert, whe
had won distinction aa an engineer la
.1 the construction of th*.JNnama canal,
was in command'of the first division.
The two Infantry brigades were
Commanded by Brig. Gens. BVL. Bullard
and Omar Bundy, both of whom
had many years of line service behind
them. I had known gll three of the
general officers, as we were cadets together
at the academy, although all
belonged to classes ahead of mine.
It had been arranged that the regulations
restricting reference to the al
lied armies by the press should apply
the Amerlcuu forces. But to my
^IHter surprise the French and British
pnpers, In their eagerness to let their
people know that the elements of the
American nrmy had really reached
France, carried full accounts of the
. arrival pf this convoy, giving the port
of debarkation, the designation of
units and the nuthber of men.
Tighten on Censorship.
The publication of this piece of news
was In open contrrtventlod of the censorship
rides and called for Immediate
steps to prevent furthef Infractions.
My vigorous protest resulted
la our placing in the French press bureau
an American representative, te
whom all matter regarding our Srmjr
was to be submitted for approval.
There is no doubt, however, that the
suppression of news prevented oar
people from obtaining a dear and contemporaneous
conception eg the great
and often brilliant achievements of
our stales nnd loft such knowledge
to be gleaned from meager accounts
by participants or from the later trittIhg
of historians. It was unfortunate
the* such rules had to be enforced, as
otherwise much that might have been
published st the time may never be
known, but there was nothing else Co
l>e done without serious risk.
' XConttfitHd next week)
ord Mayor of London WetComlnQ General Pershing to British Soil.
ta-'i .. s," T*~sr:~ "iMr . -
Nobody's Business
Written
f*r Tbt OfcronUl* by Qn
McG?e, CflWirkt. 1938.
A COlTON YARN
. y . ihrerybody is wMtrinc cotton
I mv a girl fall ou? of an automobile
tbt* morning. Brieve it or not,
tbey were cotton. I aaw cotton brassieres
in a shew wirxlow yesterday.
I an old maid, leading her poodle
to the picture show last night?and
derned if she diddent have him (or
possibly her) swinging onto one end
of a cotton ribbon.
... .Yes air, folks: the leavening is
seeping gradually into the lurmp. It
won't 'he long now 'before gingham
dreases will be considered pretty. And
petticoats, if they be .worn, will no
doubt be cotton. They would he cotton
now if they could be as thin as
the, Indies would have them. .Ami
cotton stockings, ain't to be sneezed
at.
The would-be Chesterfields are
gradually getting away from rayon
and silk BVH>?. A friend told me
that he noticed while discarding hi >
apparel in the dressing room at the
golf course tihe other day, only 3 men
out of 6 had on silk undies, and they
promised never to don such garments
again. Why shouldn't southern people
wear cotton dlothing? Were it
not for cotton, we would be 10 times
poorer than we are now, and that
wotrtd be powerful poor, woulddent it
Susie'!
... . We are creatures of imitation.
W$ want something just lifcg rthe
other fellow has. A few years ago
we all got so rich we thought we
! would be disgraced unless we paid
50 dollars for a 5-dollar article. The
time has come when folks will be
more appreciated for what they wea"
and pay for than what they dress-up
in and have charged?and forget the
charger.
.... A walking delegate for the
"Wear Cotton" movement met me on
th<? street the other day and engageT
me in conversation. I happened to
have on a necktie that was not exactly
all cotton, and do you know?that
dame wanted to snatch it from aO
round my rvcek ?* She Mnid tbmt everything
she had on was made of
cotton m i had to take bar word for
It?because it w#f broad - open daylight?I
congratulated her. She complained
about having to pay $1.1*8 for
a pair of cotton hoaa, but they looked
fina?m far aa I ooUki ??a.
... .Wa hava got this cotton ball arolling,,t
now let's keep it a-hopping
along. After wa a**ow-off, toot our
horn for a season, show the (world
how cottoneyed we are, we must no;
stop nnd backslide into our silks and
satins. This cotton movement will
have <,0 be kept a-moving for 5 years
to prove of very much benefit to the
south. I'll do my part if you'll do
yours.
con ON-A 11)8 FROM FI AT HOCK
... .a big "wear cotton" meeting was
hell at the scholl house last tuesduy
ami it was thurrow'ly enjoyed by ail
pryssent, as i?e-crvam und cuke was
served free. mis. perry simkins, the
active seeker terry of the club, was
in the ohair with a cotton dress and
cotton hoses ansoforth on, so site sod.
....sovral out-of-luwn guesses iu;
preasent allso and tnade good talki
on cotton and said that it was their
hope to keep on wearing cotton till
it went to cU2 a pound, but newer
said what they would wear after thu;,
but i suapos'e they will do like everyboddy
else; returfi to silk and ray oh,
and let cotton drap back to cD.
....the rich folks seem to by holding
all of the wear^cotton meetings^
the poor have benn wearing cotton
tdll the ,?1 me annyhow, as they have
benn too busted to wear unnything
but cotton and mighty little of that
?it will help out a powerful heap
if the well-to-do will switch over 10
cotton, as they will possibly buy
dresses and mebbe underclothes mu .i
oftener than the poor folks do.
....the program consisted cf a bevvy
of girls with cotton dresses en who
marched Ibetwlxt the lamp on the
rostjum ami the audience so'# they
could tell how thin the sed dresses
were, and it showed that what few
under things they had on was allso
of cotton, one old man fainted enduring
the performance and a fc.^
of them got up and wont out.
. ...mm. simkins, the seeker terry,
made the following speech, to witt:
"friends and loved ones: we have met
here to do our duty to cotton, the
time has come when if we don't commence
to wear cotton clothing ansoforth
that our laml will 'be f,ook over
for taxes and our dttermobiles seize 1
by the hiuhway commission for being
run without a licenta plate, which
we %ill be too poor to buy onner
Count of cotton being only c6 a
pound," v
at this point, mr. make Clark,
.rfcf^ walked in amongst cheery from
all over the audy tonium and foe'J&wand
made this speech: "feller citizens:
a woman Who won't wear
cotton clothes under the circumstances
ought to be ketehed and undressed
ever time she goes out on the streets
without same on, and i am one to
hepp do so." (much- applause.) well,
n r. editor, i was asked to rite or
loam this mrteting in to you, so i
hope you w ill enjoy same.
yores trulie,
~i mike Clark, rfd.
qprry spondent.
?-il. . .. n?at??pW
Mecklenburg- county. North OaroUna,,
atill ha* $130,000 of< taxes uncollected,
and the collectors will aoon
bovin to sell property for taxea. The
time fo? payment, without penalty expi
red April 1, The Uxm collected
amounted to $1,900,000 making over
one-fourth that went delinquent.
In an addrexa before the Nation*}
P, A, It. convention in Waahinyton,
Monday evening, Vice Provident Cdrtia
advocated deputation o<f aliens
attempting to overthrow the United
States government, and ulao <*f alien
criminals and racketeers.
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SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1931
/"> l 17 , >f
Camden rurniture Co.,
Telephone 156 1036-1038 Brood Street