New Britain herald., 1918-11-29

for the doors of the capacious struc-
ture to be thrown open at quarter of
seven.
Hundreds were packed Oh st. Bo-
tolpI street when Capt. Thomas
Goode of Station Is came down the
roped thoroughfare with - police
men. led by Il few mounted men.
Hundreds hadn't tickets; they had
come with hopes. including "a woman
from Springfield with five sons in the
war" according to a patrClman.
she leaned over the ropes for
more than an hour and finally got her
chance" he smiled.
The auditorium was packed when
The limousine rolled np little after
with the Generals party. Inside
the door were TWO companies OF tho
LIST Motor Corps drawn UP in battalion
from.
Lieut.. Col. John W. Decrow brought
them to present arms as the General
stepped inside the doors; and there
started a young Roman circus. The
Camp Devens band had raced into
position at the far end Of the arena,
and then it raced through the march
that brought the State Guard troops
prancing around the wide circle of
being double time.
Gen. Edwards and Gov. Mccall,
abreast, following the National and
state colors, tried for bit to keep up
with the procession, but gave it up.
The crowd was on its feet, doing what
the novelty vendors bad been adVis-
+ ing for al hOur-'WaVe q flag at the
! General"
The cheer lasted while they made
the circuit: but it wasn't the school
boy shrilling cheer-mCre the soft
applause Of mothers and deep, APP
proving shouts of older men.
Gov. Mccall, Lieut.. GOV. Coolidge
and Frederick H. Prince stood beside
the small table III the center of the
ring, while Gen. Edwards raised his
forearm to a. salute and faced around
until he had swept the entire assem-
blage before cutting away his hand.
There he was: the strong, straight
soldier who had slipped away with
our New England National Guards
men a year ago last September. Only
two days ago the press had published
a clear photograph showing that
same G 9neral standing in a woods of
Northern France with the boys squat
ting close at his feet.
Here last night was this same Gen
eral standing with their folks sitting
at his feet. The war was over: he
had come to tell them the story.
"To begin with St" That's
how he started from the very begin
ming Of that wonderful chapter in
New England history.
He had scanned the faces as if
wondering just what they wanted to
know He looked into the faces of
those mothers, young and old faces
which showed that they had been
Watching mails and casualty lists for
months and must watch for weeks
longer perhaps. He didn't miss those
in mourning.
Then his eyes went again to the
box where they had gone first when
he stepped to the platform, to the
box in which Mrs. Edwards was sit
ting with relatives and Gov r. Liv-
ingstone Beeckman of Rhode Island.
He spied. too, Maj. Thomas r. Muir
ply, adjutant of the 1O1st, just re-
turned.
81 don't deserve this he said.
striding back and forth, and still
studying those faces. But I take it
as q tribute to as game a lot of men
as ever pioneered in any great cause
in history. Fate sent me here before
them and those lads in the ranks
playing the silent uncom planning
part are your relatives.
"I've spoken four or q dozen times
today-I've forgotten which,. His
voice showed the strain of speaking
in public and to relatives of the men
since yesterday morning. And the
speakers stand not we'll placed.
At other rallies the rostrum has been
Of ho1 la CT
night it was in the center of the floor,
and a speaker can face in only one
direction at one time. Hundreds could
not hear and left later on.
But his story was complete, from
the telegram he received telling him
to take command of the 26th Bat
talon until the other order he re-
ceived telling him to turn over the
command few weeks ago.
Are you reasonably sure you can
organize the Yankee division on such
a new and tremendous basis in the
allotted time?" Washington had
asked him a year ago last summer,
dubious over his chance CT obeying
the sailing date order, Gen. Edwards
said, and added:
"sI am not reasonably sure-I am
certain, was my reply, and what
made me so Sangulhe was the spirit OF
service and devotion to duty I'd see
throughout New England
He was proud of the way the diVi-
sion went out from America, "the
first completely organized division
under the new tables Of organization
and proud of the way they moved
about in France.
''It took Congress and the newspa-
pers and the greatest brains of the
country to move an Army 10 miles in
the Spanish War. The Yankee DiV1-
sion has moved seven times, with ga