Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-05
SAlIMEES PARADE
WITH POMU PALS
Brown-Skin Khakis March
in Inspiring Pageant With
Blue-Clad French
MAYOR REVIEWS TROOPS
By HENRI BAZIN

,,.S co,rsspondcrt Of the Bventn1 Ledger Nth
s'op fhe American Army IN France
,NsrRfCAN FIELD HEADQUARTERS IN
FRANCE. Oct. l..
....tIng between brown-clad Sammees and
S,.s-clad poilus was exemplhed today In
~. anc,sns town within the American zone,
"a. Mavor conceived the Idea OF asking the
American commander, and the FTench COM
,,arder OF Instructing forces, to pass In re
II. and parade before his fellow citizens
Nsr,s renuest met with the immediate ap-
..avsl OF the Allied commanders, and the
wsyor forthwith, following the custom en-
.a,,ss FOR centuries In his domain. sent forth
~ town crier, who in his ancient and em-
hroiaered uniform, passed through the town.
g,,,, around his shoulder. For the French
49,, crier carriea drum, and beats Wig
"."nva tatto at street corners whereby the
o,,gssns assemble When he has a dozen or
,sss he reads aloud Il at the Mayor of
M Ieo. has the honor OF announcing to his
f.Ioy citizens" such and such an event or
decree. r.ao =, .ho A,,...
,.sn and French troops, to be followed by
~ interchange of flag salutes upon the
image common. Thus during the after
,aan the American commander with his
n,a1 and the French commander with his,
s.sna,hsr with the Mayor himself in his
..syiatIon evening suit embelllshed with
- ,r,colored badge of off1ce. assembled at
.iyen point and about them the popu-
~. az the town. That is, not all OF them,
Sor the others we're spread about the one
=. tro other streets Presently the troops
..d Arst the brown-slSnned brown-clad
Ssmnees with their music at their head
onA their colors waving. Afterward the
sn,I,,s Of France in their horizon blue and
tbe,r war helmets, and the inevitable band
With IFS fanfare Of trumpets. as we'll as the
a. ~ liberty in tricolor AS the troops
mn ha
ysyIewing party and In each case the colors
r.ra saIuted civilians barring their heads
md those in uniform standing hand to hat
,,vidly. The Sammees looked f1t for the
iob before them and the poilus looked as
n they had just come from performing
n with Honor. And they had but recently.
10. their fanions bore proud legends
Marne, Champagne, Verdun, Craonne
Yesterday. with another correspondent,
succored an aviator in distress. We were
Voing from one part of the zone to an
o,her in a press car when we saw a fight
,ng plane circling low as if seeking a land
ing. Knowing that at the point in question
there could be no other reason than some
thing amiss TO cause an aviator's descend
ing. we watched until the airplane ,flisap-
peared behind clump of trees close to the
ground A bend in the road revealed the
machine In the center Of a vast field and
, the aviator standing beside his "avion,"
waving his hand We turned ,o''r car
sharply from the road into the field and
made the 400 yards toward him In n jiffy.
He was perhaps twenty-five. and typically
Latin In physiognomy garbed in a fur
Jacket and an aviator's skull cap.
what country is this" he asked. Coun-
try meaning in literal translation from the
French, the cantonment or section Of prov
ince Answering him. he said 'Merci,
have mechanical defect and yet would
not have landed but for the thick fog. De-
spite the sun shining. could not see the
mitrailleuse before me up there. So
came down"
MY fellow correspondent stood guard
over the plane while I motored a few
miles with the aviator to a town. where the
French major In charge sent out guard
TO stand by the machine until morning and
arranged for a mechanic to overhaul the
motor. The aviator thanked me profusely
and told him his thanks were due to the
EVENING LEDGER and would be duly trans.
mitted.