Omaha daily bee., 1918-12-10
American Graves IN France
Irwin S. Cobb in Saturday Evening Post.

headquarters at dinner that evening:
II wish you'd get up early in the morning
and go for little ride with me out to the ceme-
terry. You'll be going back there later in the
day, of course, for the memorial services, but |
want you to see something you probably won't
be able to see after or 10 o'clock"
What is it," | asked.
"Never mind now" he answered. TO tell
you in advance doesn't suit my purpose. But
will you be ready to go with me in my car at
oclock?"
yes, sir; will"
should say it was about half past when
we rode in at the gates of the cemetery and
made for the section which, by the French gov
eminent, had been set apart as burial place tor
our people. For more than year now, dating
from the time | write this down, good many
thousands of Americans have been stationed in
or near this port and many, many times that
number have passed through it. So, quite
naturally, though it. is hundreds of miles from
any of the past or present battle fronts. we have
had some deaths there from accident or disease.
As we left the car to walk through the plot
| found myself taking off my cap, and | kept it
off all the while was there. for even before |
had been told the full story of what went on
there, knew. | stood in the presence of a most,
high and holy thing, and so | went bareheaded,
as should have done in any sanctuary
We walked all through this Gods acre of
ours, the general and l. Some of the women
who labored therein were old and bent; some
were young, but all of them wore black gowns.
Some plainly had been drawn from the well-to-
do and the wealthy elements of the resident
population; more, though, were poor folk, and
evidently few were peasants, who, one guessed,
lived in villages or on farms near the city
Here would be grave that was heaped high
with those designs of stiff, bright-hued immor-
IL, ~, of
their own dead These are costly, too, but there
were great many of them. Here would be a
grave that was marked with wreaths of simple
field flowers, or with the great fragrant white
and pink roses which grow so luxurously on
this coast. Here would be merely great sheaves
of loose blossoms, there grave upon which the
flowers had been scattered broadcast until the
whole mound was covered with the fragrant
dewey offering; and there, again, l saw graves
where fingers patiently unused to such employ
ment had fashioned the long -stemmed roses into
wreaths and crosses, and even into the form of
shields.
Grass grew rich and lush upon all the graves
White sea shells marked the sides of them and
edged the narrow graveled walks between the
rows. We came to two newly made graves
Their occupants had been buried there only
day or so before, as one might tell by the marks
in the trodden turf, but Carpetng of sod cut
from a lawn somewhere had been so skilfuly
pieced together upon these two mounds that the
raw clods of clay beneath were quite covered up
and hidden from sight; SO now only the seams
in the green coverlids distinguished these two
from graves that were older by weeks or by
months.
Alongside every grave knet woman, alone,
or else woman with children aiding her as she
disposed her showing of flowers and wreaths'to
the best advantage. Mainly the old men were
putting the paths in order, raking the gravel
down smoothly and Strengthening the borderings
of shells, There we're no soldiers among them;
all were civilians and for the most part humble
appearing civilians clad in shabby garments.
But marked two old gentlemen, wearing the
great black neckerchief and the flowing black
broadcloth coats of ceremonial days. who
seemed as deeply intent as any in what to them
must have been an unaccustomed labor.
Coming to each individual worker, OR each
group of workers, the general would halt and
formally salute in answer to the gently muir
INJURED greetings that constantly marked our
passage through the buryng ground.
When we had made the rounds we sat down
upon the edge of the flag dressed platform, and
gun to reason out for myself-only, of course,
| DID not know. till he told me, how it had
started.
1T has been good many months now" he
said since we dug the first grave here. But
on the day of the funeral a delegation of the
most influential residents came to me to say
that the people of the town desired to adopt our
dead asked Just what exactly was meant by
this, and then the spokesman explained:
General he said to me- there is scarcely
a family in this place where we live that has not
given one or more of its members to die for
France. In most cases these dead of ours sleep
on battlefelds far away from u.s. perhaps in un-
lad o.,I Il
all parts of our country, but particularly is it
true of this town. which is so remote from the
scenes of actual fighting.
$50, in the case of this brave American who
today is to be buried here among us we ask
that French family shall be permitted formally
to undertake the care of his grave, as though it
were, the grave OF one OF their own. flesh and
and for freedom. In the case of each American
who may hereafter be buried here we ask the
same privilege. We promise you that, so long
as these Americans shall rest here in our land,
their graves shall be our graves, and will be
tended as we tend the graves of our own sons"
The general cleared his voice. which had
grown bit husky; then he continued:
$50 that was how the thing came about; but
it doesn't altogether explain what you see hap
pening here today. You see, the French have
no day that exactly corresponds in its spiritual
significance to our Decoration day-our Memoir
ial day. All Souls day, which is religious rath-
er than patriotic in its purport, is their nearest
approach to it. But weeks ago, before the serv-
ices contemplated today Were even announced,
the word somehow spread among the towns
people. To my own knowledge some of these
poor women have been denying themselves the
actual necessities of life in order to be able to
make as fine showing for the graves they have
adopted as any of the weather. sponsors could
make.
Don't think. though. that these graves are
not properly kept at all times. Any day, at any
hour, you can come here and you will find any,
where from 10 to 50 women down on their knees
smoothing the turf and freshening the flowers
thew constantly keen unnn the praves Rut I