The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1917-12-28
ried into Easements and cellar.

'"iou6H many apartments
"hlch were opened in our honor and
lor the hrst time since the war began
we attended services at st. Georges
ehapei, the chapel of the king and sat
III the seats OF the Knights of the Gar
ter here we were honored again when
at the close of the service the organ
peaied forth THE Star Spangled Ban
her. That was the first time that tune
was ever played in the kings chapel
we visited Eaton school, where for
4o0 years most of England's greatest
statesmen and literary men have been
educated. We looked upon Runnymede
the birthplace of English liberty, and
saw also the Country Churchyard"
concerning which Gray wrote the fa-
nous elegy.
On another day we were taken all
Through the censor's office where 1877
languages are read and spoken and
ll4,OOO,OOO pieces of mail are censored
every month. We were shown the
lDlockade system and saw 10 Downing
street, London.
Then we went to France. shall not
enlarge upon our trip across the angry
English channel during which most of
us fed the tishes," other than to say
that with two dirigible balloons circ-
ling over the boat and 5 destroyers
riding around it, we all realized fully
that it was real danger zone.
In Paris it required two days to
make arrangements for the trip to the
fronts During this time there was not
All idle hour. Gen. Pershing entertained
us at dinner We were taken into the
crypt of the tomb of Napoleon where
only kings were ever allowed to go
before the war. and where no other
Americans have ever been taken ex-
cept General Pershing. On the same
day, we laid wreath on the tomb of
| Layfayette. We saw the Y. M. c. A.
hotels for our soldiers and visited the
| American headquarters. Again we WIS.,
tied Red Cross hospitals and saw more
of the wonderful women and men who
are nursing back to life the soldiers
who have all but died.
In military cars under the direction
of Col Parker of the American army
| and Count LIE Moix of the French army
we went to the battlefronts. 1t was
just at the time when French troops
were leaving for Italy. We saw thous-
ands and tens of thousands of infantry
on the march, the long lines of lorries,
the big guns, the roadside kitchens and
camouflage of every imaginable kind.
We saw Scissors and its ruined cath
edrial. We visited Reims and what is
left of that once marvellous cathedral.
While there we met and talked with
Cardinal Lucon, who has never left
his church although it has been struck
by $40 shells. Then we went to Verdun
the mere mention of which makes the
blood of every French soldier tingle
with sadness and pride-sadness be-
cause of the terrible losses of men
pride, because of the wonderful deeds
done there by the brave men whose
bodies are ground into the very earth
of these hills. That day will never be
forgotten by single American con-
gressman who was in that party. Col.
pulverized and shell pOcked top of Fort
Souville, the place where the French
stopped, overwhelmed and threw back
the German hosts. He described the
battle in great detail. Then with a
swing of the arm, covering the whole
hill, he said to us with a voice that
quivered with emotion, "If all the men
who fell here were evenly distributed,
there would be five dead men to every
|square meter (yard) of ground"
Next we visited the American head
quarters and the American camp.
There, we met the generals of PERISH
ing's staff and saw that magnificent
body of young men who form the van
guard of the American amy that is to
follow. We saw them in their training
camps, we saw them building hutments
and We saw them living in the towns
and mingling with the people every
where among whom they are billited
and they were everywhere happy, and
healthy, cheerful and determined. 1t
was there that General Sibert asked
me as chairman of the congressional
party, to carry the shell case of the
first shell fired at the Germans back to
President Wilson, which l did
From there we went TO the Cham
pagne and Aisne country, visiting
large areas of the devastated regions
of France, held for from two to three
years by the Germans. No language
oo,, odaouotoIy daccriha tho wrack and
ruin of that country. 1t is more than
desolate. 1t is destroyed. We visited the
great battlefield of the Somme where
| in three months fighting the allies lost
100000 men and the Germans 100000
men, but which the allies won. 1t is
now a vast cemetery in which only a
| few of the graves of the hundreds OF
thousands buried there are marked.
We stood at Vimy ridge and looked
| across to Lens, still held by the Ger
mans. 1t was there that we saw one of
those wonderful battles in the air as
well as artillery duel which progressed
near the ground.
| When back in Paris we were receiv-
ed by President Poincare of the French
republic and Speaker Deschanel of the
House of Deputies. During this period
we were taken about by Mr.. Henry
Franklin Bouilon who had visited the
United States and addressed our House
of Representatives few months be-
fore. His courtesy and kindness were
most wonderful.
The last part of the trip proved to
be the most exciting and the most dan
gerous, because it was our trip to the
Belgian front line trenches, only ~
feet from the Germans.
King Albert entertained us at tea In