Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-08-23
Raw After Row of Crosses in
Sleepy Village Symbolic
spirk of France.
Y AMERICAN DEAD There
woman Strewing Flowers Upon the
Graves Of Yankee Soldiers Mourns
the "Pauvres Garcons"-Amer.
lean Describes Visit to
Cemetery.

New York.-An American officer
with PerShing's army in France has
written in a letter to his wife this
moving description of visit to
French cemetery:
Come with Inc, then, to this little
village on the banks of the -,
sleepy little village nestled in the
broad valley through which the river
flows In ordinary times a village of
few thousand inhabitants, it is now
almost empty because most of the peO-
pie who could afford it have fled to
safer places, tasting for the second
time since 1914 the bitterness of the
war as 1t affects the peaceful civilian
1T is late afternoon, warm and sun
ny. We stroll down the main street
together past the old church, once a
handsome structure but now badly
weather worn and almost in ruins.
Further on we pass the ruins of an
old Roman wall which marked the linn
its of the city in Caesars time. Our
footsteps turn us to the right into a
little lane which leads out to the
country up the gentle slope and to-
ward the front. After passing under
the railroad bridge the lane branches
off abruptly to the right. 1t soon dis
appears through stone gateway and
We find ourselves in the new ceme-
terry, called new because the demands
Of this terrible four years struggle
have bees so urgent that the old Gene
terry is overpopulated. 1t was Large
enough for the normal population OF
the village, but death has Stalked often
through the streets these last four
years and its victims must have room
"A little gravel path, laid out with
mathematic straightness, runs through
the cemetery. First, there are q few
civilian graves huddled together at the
near end as if they had been crowded
to make room for the other tenants
Then on the right row after row OF
graves of French soldiers marked b.
huge wooden crosses, and for the mos
part covered with those hideOus bead
Work floral pieces that the French use
on seeing them, one understands nov
Jean Vatican recOuped his fortunes
lou remember the story, no doubt
There were graves Of infantry, caviar
ana artillery, and once in a while tina
ol an aviator, but wherever one 2Oe
Is always the infantry that pre-
dominates. Here is the grave of
chinese worker, there that Of Mo
mammalian, but all bear the well-knOW
phrase which means so much: Nor
pour la patrie!
Graves Of Americans
AS l wandered along through ro
alter row reading the names and VOL
uerlng who their owners might ha1
oeen was startled to see on the Otl
ct side of the path a single row
graves, at the head of each pr1
Iiltle cross, different somewhat fro
nose across the way and painted
Ahaki. Then l knew who these ne1
coinerS were. There were % Of thel
each bearing a little round identific
uoh tag. | instinctively reached up
aeel II mine was still around my nee
4heSe y, among the first to give
uielr all for the patrie so far aero
Tue sea, were arranged in perfe
oilshment like platoon in drill.
'ouldnt help saying to myself:
Well, when the Master Of t
"reat Unknown commands-"Hero
attention to Muster!" you all will 8
swer here.
lhey We're plain little graves, b
sous almost In their newness and ma
sou to cover them. But had tn
oeeh forgotten? No, indeed; for
.ach lay little bunch of flowers, I
ulere by the kind hands of the won
~, the village. These people are
n,nu' so thoughtful. They, at les
III never forget. Even as l ST.
u'ere thinking about all these thing
IMAM came up, very poor she seen
O. Oe' yet she carried a huge bas
>, ,'eu with flowers, which she Garrett
rlouted all along the row. AS
"'Ae up to HE / heard her say,
ost TO herself and thinking proba
""' did not understand: