Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1918-12-31

thought of supper, and as for drinks,
any man in uniform. whether he be
British, Belgian, American or Al
gerian, was welcome to all and more
than he could drink. And money
why. it was an insult to the cafe
keepers to have you offer them francs
for their wine.
Now (about s p. m.) parades are
forming In the Place Gambetta. The
marchers have long lances with a
cross piece near the top and from
each tip of these cross pieces a Jap.
lantern hangs. But All! A sound
that bushes all noise for a second is
heard. Yes, ii is an American mill
tary band playing the "Marsellies, "
the French national hymn. Quickly
the strains of that martial tune stir
the gathered thousands, and now all
at once every soul takes up the words
OF the chorus and sings with free,
unbrldled joy, for are they not free
again from the Huns?
The mighty chorus of voices near
ly raises the heavens, for there must
be at least 10000 people in this
place. And now the Star Spangled
Banner is being played. Instead OF
song. every man, woman and child
stops and silently uncovers their
heads, while the American men stand
at attention and salute until the last
strains are played. Then they all
burst out with "Yiye La America,
and "Viye La Allies.
The parade starts We fall in with
a bunch of Americans and lead the
column. As We start a young girl
about II runs out and shoves small
French flag in my hand and says in
French: Garry this flag, monsieur,
In honor of our brave American al
lies, and keep it as a gilt from a
girl of La Belle France" have this
flag and | sure value II very much.
The parade winds its way thru
some OF the principal streets and re-
turns, and now We are on our way to
camp. The streets are very crowded,
but always the people cry "Alleydu
La Americans. In English it means,
Give way to the Americans" We
have reached camp and have rolled
in our hunks for a much needed rest
a. m., TUESDAY morning. Break
fast over, and we are all a-tingle to
be out and see what's going on in
Lormont, so ! form the band and we
go to Lorm0nt, n few blocks from
here. As We reach the outskirts we
start playing The Stars and Stripes
Forever a very stirring march.
Out from the houses the people pile.
The little kids and young ladies', 16
and II years old. form ahead of us
and start dancing and singing US
down the street As we start past a
flower stand the proprietor rushes
out with both hands full of flowers
and give them to me, and there | am,
trying to WELD a 9-pound drum ma
jor baton and carry big bunch of
flowers.
We stop in the square and play "a
few pieces. While playing the peo-
pie smother us with flowers. We had
to press a soldier into service as a
flower bearer. These flowers we
placed on our and the officers mess
tables, and our barracks are full of
them. We are now in camp and to-
night we play in Bordeaux for a giant
parade of American, British, French
and Algerian troops. The French
troops are composed of the mounted
city police and gerdamies.
p. m. Our truck is waiting out
side, so must call the band into
formation, so We will be ready to de-
part for Bordeaux.
1880 p. m. Back again and dead
tired. VIII tell you all about the
time tonight.
Well, here gooes to try and tell
you about last night. but that would
be hard to express in written words,
for 1t was n glorious night, all in all,
We arrived in Bordeaux under
orders to report at the Y. NJ. c. A..
there. On arriving We found We were
not at the right place, so | called up
our adiutant and asked him for or
ders. He then asked the colonel and
he said to report at the Hotel de VII
lie, or the city hall. We got there
after awhile and found the mayor OF
Bordeaux and general and his staff
OF officers waiting for us. We formed
at the head of the parade between
the huge arches of the entrance to
the court yard. .''t,
At the given sign We started with
a guard Of mounted police at each
side Of US. We had a squad OF
French soldiers, a squad Of American
NJ. P.'s and an outside guard of giant
black Algerlans. Just as We passed
out Of the gate they set off huge red
flare fires that lit up the procession
and across the street. The red light
played on the windows and cornices
Of the Cathedral St Andre. The
people were massed so on the streets
that our three rows Of guards had
hard time keeping the people back
30 we could play. At times they