Republican farmer., 1918-07-12


 French ports, not far from the spot where the American flag was for the first time saluted by France. This flag fioated from the first ship of the Union that came to France and was commanded by Paul Jones, the father of the American navy.
 What a; change in this city, which l had not seen for a year-Had l only the talent of an American Mahan or of a French Loti to describe for you the intensity of work and effort that reigns here: At the time there was only one American boat in the port, a netroleum tanker of the merchant ma rine with only few gunners on board for it's defense.
 A City Buzzing With American Ac- tivities.
 Today the city is filled to overflow ling without soldiers and our marines. In the streets order is kept by the | American military and naval police, which has come to reinforce the French police Everywhere one sees only American autos and side-cars; the little white caps of our seamen and the khaki hats of our soldiers Gin the trenches they; wear the English hel- met. which makes them resemble their cousins from over-seas) m1ngle with the red pompons of the French marines against the blue horizon of soldiers on leave, with large felt hats and sombre blue uniforms lined with bright red, of our hospital attendants with the khaki of some Engishmen passing through and the dark sll- houettes of our negroes large numbers of whom are busy in our ports, unload ing the most varied merchandise, from cases of conserved apricots to automo- bNes.
 The Red Gross and Y. M. c. A.
 These provisions, these munitions furnished by our factories are the re- su1t of the lessons which our allies have taught Iu these last few years oS developing the manufacture or wal products in our country.
 All of them, marines and soldiers are young, gay, care-free and ardent An American policeman with whom had occasion to speak and who oe' llonged to the,American Regular Army said to be: q have not come oVel Ihere to crack the whip; want to gc fighting against the Germans.
 The appearance of the city is very
 nnch changed; if may say so, 1t ha: lhacone Americanized; the shopsJ Witf their signs in English, are filled witt the greatest variety of goods, and the fn Amer ican buyer.
 The two great auxiliary organiza' lions of our army, the Red cross which has erected dispensaries, anc the Y. M. c. A. are very active here The latter has organized homes fol our fighters on land and sea, as vel as for the French soldiers and ma rines.
 Sneed Sacrificed to Perfection.
 At the railway station, cars carry ing thirty tons of merchandise, witt enormous locomotives, are ly1nf alongside, the whole brought oVel
 frohm merica. The trains are paint ed gray, and in large letters bear th' inscription "U. s. A
 During the first months after th' war. without troubling why thi
 should be so, we had to establish Communications for the transportation and supply of our troops in Trance
 General Pershing in this undertaking
 sacrificed speed to perfection, and l
 for the moment we do not seem t' have brought all the aid which coulC he expected from us after year o war, we have given proof of our deter
 nination to fight with all our means
 Was it not Napoleon who said that tn } secret fo war lies in the communica
 tions?
 Even Ships from the Pacific.
 The port is filled with boats of al
 tonnages and of every description
 some of them camouflaged in tn style of futurist pictures. One of then 5 with 8 displacement of 5000 tons, ar rived here from the Pacifci coast
 where it had been built in ninety , eight days. It had come througl | the Panama Canal, which decrease
 by one-half the distance between ou . Pacific coast and that of the Allan tic. A number of German trans-At \, Iantic steamers transformed into tran snorts are also seen - for we hay
 been able to. seize TAO, 1000 tons of Ger . man boats in American waters-Whlc were unloading onto an English tug :, boat some of our troops which hay r come to fight for Liberty and Civili Zation.
 e The astonishment of the Germa IF and Austrian prisoners who Wer ,, watching this disembarkation was a a interesting thing to see and l shoul "a have loved to hear the reflection d which this spectacle was suggesting t e them. ,s Among our troops one could SC e types of all races, and one might sa ,- of all coIors from negroes to eve
 our Indians; their diversity makes n necessary for the censors attached t e the division of military correspoh Il dence to know forty-eight language IS and dialects.
 l. Nearby, we went to naval aV1aIo ,f camp, where the aviators wear sornpr e- gray uniforms and the insignia or tn l. Marine, which is very beautlIul an r, makes a striking contrast W1th the u' "a ual blue of naval uniforms. SlnC Is the beginning of the war our aV1atlo
 has developed wonderfully II one r' le members that in 1914 there was not f. single aeroplane factory in the unl c- ed States.
 Admiral Wilson of American Nav d Admiral Wilson is young smootf