The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-10-18
CHRISTS GRAY
GENERAL
,f
;, FERDINAND FOCH
A Notable Tribute From the
Los Angeles Times
"FOCH HAS ALREADY
WON THE WAR"
Quiet and Humble he Has
the Destinies of the
World in His Hands

war turns more and more from doubt |
and anxiety to the certainty of vic
tory, there looms with startling WV
idness in the worlds imagination the
figure of one man whose genius has
exceeded that of any other soldier of
whom time has made record.
This man is Gen. Ferdinand Foch-I
the Gray Man of Christ.
This has been Christ's war-Christ
on one side, and all that stood op
posed to Christ on the other side.
And the generalissimo, in supreme
command of all the armies that
fought on the side of Christ, is
Christ's man.
This may seem strange state
ment for a secular newspaper to
make But, it is the business of a
newspaper to get at facts. If the
facts are of a supernal nature, it is
still the business of the newspaper to
get at them and to record them.
And the fact is that owing to the
genius of Ferdinand Foch, the Hun
stands at this hour with his back
against the wall-a wall that is soon
to crash and crumble upon his head
and annihilate him forever from the
face of the earth.
And the additional fact is that the
deeper we question as to who Foch
is, the clearer is the answer that in
every act of his life and in every
thought of his brain he is Christ's
man.
If you were to ask him: care you
Christ's man." he would answer,
"Yes."
1t seems to be beyond all shadow
of doubt that when the hour came
in which all that Christ stood for was
to either stand or fall, Christ raised
up a man to lead the hosts that bat
tied for Him.
When that hour came in which
truth and right, charity, brotherly
love, justice and liberty were either
to triumph or to be blotted out of
the world, Christ came again upon
the road to Damascus.
Whoever does not realize this and
see it clearly as a fact, he does but
blunder stupidity.
There will be a crowding company
of critics when the war is ended, and
they will all be filled with the ego
of their own conclusions. They will
attempt to explain the genius of
FOch with maps and diagrams.
But, while they are doing so, if
you will look for Foch in some quiet
church; it is there that he will be
found humbly giving God the glory
and absolutely declining to attribute
it to himself.
Can that kind of a man win a war?
Can a man who is a practical sol
der be also a practical Chmstin? And
is Foch that kind of man? Let us
see.
If you were to know a man who
came home every night with bag
filed with gold nuggets, you would
naturally be curious to know where
he went to get them.
In the same way, when you see a
soldier winning battles you are curl
Gus to know from what source comes
his genius.
Where, then, does Foch 60 for the
strength and magical power to bring
home the marvellous victories he has
won and is still winning over Prus,
sia and the unholy alliances she ha;
made to crush the world and drive
freedom from the earth?
We have the answer close at home
A California boy, serving as a sol
dier in the American ExpeditionarN
Forces in France, has recently writ
ten letter to his parents in Sal
Bernardino in which he gives as wei
as anyone else could give, the answe.
to the question we ask.
This American boy-Evans b,
name-tells of meeting Gen. Foch a
close range in France.
Evans had gone into an old churcl
to have a look at it, and as he stoo,
there with barred head satisfying hi
respectful curiosity, gray man wit
the eagles of general on the cola
of his shabby uniform also entere
the church.
Only one orderly accompanied tn
puieC gray HldH. No SHIleIlHS SCdl
of officers, no encourage of gold-lace
aides were with him; nobody but jus
the orderly.
Evans paid small attention, at frs
to the gray man, but was curious t
see him kneel in the church, praying
The minutes passed until full thrS
quarters of an hour had gone by be
fore the gray man arose from HI
knees.
Then Evans followed him down tn
street and was surprised to see so
diers salute this man in great excite
ment, and women and children stol
ping in their tracks with awe-struc
faces as he passed.
Continued on page 4)