The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-10-24
DELIVERANCE. Of
LILLE FROM HUN
CELEBRATED BY PoPuLAcE OF
THE LIBERATED CITY.
CARNIVAL GAYETY PREVAILS.
Huns Took Away Thousands Of
Children, oeported Men Between
Fifteen and Sixty and Took Ma.
chinery From the Mills.

| THhcen anu oISty ana ook Ma
| chinery From the Mills.
(By George T. Bye.)
! American Press Headquarters
British Front, Oct 10 By Mail tc
London.-The fifth city of France
Lille, freed of its German oppressor
is in the peculiar plight of not being
able to show gratitude to its deliver
ers, the British, who have not yet oc
cupied the metropolis although they
are several miles beyond its limits
| Tonight the quarter of a million in
habitants are parading the city fifteen
abreast singing and shouting. They
are firing Roman candles despite all
the war laws against showing light
Accordians are being played in the
| squares with thousands joining in
singing the gayest songs they know
Every house has a French flag ont.
side and the principal buildings all dis
play the British Union Jack Smaller
flags are strung across the streets.
There never was such a carnival.
"Hurrah for Englanl," is shout of
such mighty proportions it should be
heard in the enemy lines. In hundreds
of windows are tricolor emblems
across which is printed GLORY To Our
Liberators,"'. = $50 =
United Press Reporter On Spot.
The city did not know il was re.
turned TO France until about two O..
clock this afternoon when Lowell Mel.
lett of the United Press and myself en-.
| tered by the Porte des Postes and
brought the first news. The people had
| noticed the dwindling German garri.
son but did not suspect that deliver
| ance was at hand until they were
awakened by two great explosions at
six o'clock this morning. The enemy
had blown up the two bridges into
the city. Lille could see no German
soldiers about but feared it was only
a temporary retirement until We
| brought the news. We were quite I'M
| willingly made the center of a parade
| through the city in which thousands
marched and danced AT times our pro
gress would be blocked by vast crowds
at street corners. inSistent on shaking
hands and kissing us. In addition TO
| being kissed by men women, girls and
boys we must have kissed more than
hundred babies which We're held up
| to us for the kissing and we could
not escape. We were Showered with
flowers including great bouquets
which We had to turn over to an escort
of pretty girls to carry. We were en-
twined with red white and blue rib,
bons and pinned with many rosettes,
some having gold tassels. Cigars were
pressed upon us and many other gifts
One old lady nearly fell out of a sec
ond story window in attracting attcn'
ton to give me an Italian silver coin
as keensake. We didn't know if we
were mistaken for Haig. FOch or
President Wilson. They kept CRYING
"Hurrah for England"
! An Unpleasant Incident.
The gaily riotous procession went
/ up iHp rue utS SlCS WIFI OHls piIt
| unpleasant incident. Some girls who
| had been Clinging TO our arms and
holding up the tails of our uniforms
were suddenly jerked away by other
women who said they had been friend
! ly to German soldiers and were un
worthy to be near us.
Eventually we were led TO the
| place De La Republique and through
a jam of many thousands up TO the
the gates of the Prefecture. where we
were officially received by NJ. Regnin
Project of the Dept Du Nord, of which
Lille is the capitol. Mayor Charles
Delsalle could not be present because
his son Charles, Junior, French avi
ator, had just flown over the city and
had landed in the Champs De Mars.
a beautiful open park. The City Hall
had been accidentally burned by the
Germans years ago and therefore the
Prefecture had been their main
headquarters.
German Papers Destroyed. :.
We found the floors of the large
building Uttered with scraps Of their
papers. The party of official hosts tore
down German signs from stalls as we
passed to show their disgust. We were
led to the Council Hall where cham
paigne was opened and toasts drunk
to Britain, France and America. The
Project told us that all men between
ages of Is and 60 had been deported
about October /. These did not in
clude the thousands of boys and girls
taken away in 1916. The rest of the
population was compelled to work
digging trenches, mine excavations and
repairing roads and railways. as well
as loading and unloading shipments
of military supplies. Others ran the
street car lines and city utilities which
were kept in operation until a weei
ago. 1t was a case of work or starye
All machinery in the prosperous WOO
and cotton spinning mills and iror
smelters, in which industries Lille
was chief city of France, had beer