Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-16
q AMERICAN DEAD THERE
Woman etrewIne Flowers Upon the
G.avss Of Yankee Soldiers Mourns
the HPauvres oarconss-Amer-
loan Describes Visit TO
Cemetery.

New York.-An American Office
with Pershing's army in France hal
written In a letter to his wife thiI
moving description Of a visit to
French cemetery:
"Come with me, then, to this little
village on the banks of the - q
sleepy little village nestled in ths
broad valley through which the rivel
flows. In ordinary times a village Of
a few thousand Inhabitants, 1t is now
almost empty because most Of the peo'
pie who could afford 1t have fed to
safer places, tasting for the second
time since 1914 the bitterness Of the
war as 1t affects the peaceful civilian
at Is late afternoon, warm and sun.
ny. We stroll down the main street
together past the old church, once q
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 lin.
Its of the city in Caesars time. Our
footsteps turn us to the right into q
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
of abruptly to the right. 1t soon dis
appears through q stone gateway and
we find ourselves In the new ceme-
terry, called new because the demands
Of this terrible four years struggle
have been so urgent that the old ceme,
terry Is overpopulated. 1t was argt
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, rum through
the cemetery. First. there r O few
civilian graves huddled together at the
near end as II they had been crowded
to make room for the other tenants.
Then on the right row after row Of
graves Of French soldiers marked by
huge wooden crosses, and for the most
part covered with those hideous bead
work floral pieces that the French use.
On seeing them. one understands how
Jean Vatican recouped his fortunes.
You remember the story, no doubt.
There ere graves Of infantry. cavalry
and artillery, and onos In Q while that
Of an aviator, but wherever one goes
1t Ia always the infantry that pre-
dominates. Here Is the grave Of a
Chinese worker, these that Of q No
but all bear the well-known
which means 50 muchi Mort
pour la patfisr
Graves Of Americans
"As ! wandered along through row
after row reading the names and won
dering who their owners might have
been I was startled to see on the 9TH
er side Of the path q single row of
graves, at the head Of each a prfm
little cross, different somewhat from
those cross the way and painted in
khaki. Then I knew who these new
corners were. There were % Of them.
each bearing a little round identihch,
ton tag. ! instincttysly reached up to
feel II mine was still around my neck.
These %, among the first to give up
their all for the patrie 10 far across
the sea, were arranged in perfect
like q platoon IN drill. ]
couldn't help saying to myself:
"'Well, when the Master Of the
Great Unknown commands-"Heroes,
Attention to Musterr !" you all win am
here
.'Thsy were plain little graves hid
eous almost in their newness and nary
4 sod to cover them. But had they
been forgetten7 No, indeed; for on
each lay q little bunch Of flowers. put
there by the kind hands Of the women
Of the village. These people are 80
kind, so thoughtful. They, at least,
will never forget. Even as I stood
there thinking about all these things @
woman came up, very poor she seemed
to be. yet she carried q huge basket
filled with flowers. which she carefully
all along the row. AS she
came up to me I heard her say, al
most to herself and thinking probably
that / did not understand,
"'Pauvres garcons. lis sont venus de
81 loinl'
II couldn't help 1t. / went up to her
and shook her by the hand and
thanked her In the names Of those
sleeping there and In the name Of their
mothers and sisters and sweethearts
back home. II / knew where to write,
I would write to those % mothers and
tell them that their boys are being
well looked after.
Before I could say anything more
to the woman she vas gone. She said
she must keep m bunch Of flowers
for her mari over yonder on the other
side of the path. There were the SER
RED ranks OF the French. on our side
Of the path only one little row, and
then on In q far corner away from
everything else q little group OF Ger
man graves, hid among a clump Of
as II shrinking from the advance
ing hordes Of French and their new
allies from across the sea. IT all sym
bolixed 20 well the two armies, the
French and the American. one great.
the other small but growing. standing
side by side against the Boches who
lay in the corner against the stone
wall.
'In the upper part Of the cemetery
was a group Of workmen digging.
They had been digging all day long