Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-11-29
PARIS WILD WITH
JOY OVER PEACE;
CELEBRATE LONG
Captain Stackpole Tells of
Cheering When Armistice
Was Signed

Captain Edward ]. Stackpole, Jr.,
now recovering from severe wounds
in a Paris base hospital, in letter
to his wife received to-day, describes
the happenings in the French capital
the day the armistice was declared.
The letter dated November II is m
part as follows:
To-day was big day with cap
ital l.. At 5 o'clock or che morninS II
this day the arnIistice was signed
and at the eleventh hour of the eleV-
enth day of the eleventh month hos
tilities ceased on the western front
No more killing-it's all over.
Excitement prevailed in Paris,
YOU may we'll guess. We could hear
the guns booming and the people
shouting way in here. The French
maids went dancing through the
hallway singing La guerre est
finie" and things were very stirring.
For the first time since Septem-
Der | left the bed without stretch
er Ctwo orderlies between them car
ried me TO the street and placed me
carefully on the seat of n taXD all
bundled up in bathrobes and coats
and in company with 1t. HALEY. who
has a chest wound but can walk,
we started forth as delighted at our
release from bondage as 4 kid with
a new toy.
1T was a wonderful treat. | felt
like baby being carried out TO the
cab and back again, but / wouldn't
have missed seeing the crowds for
anything.
New York on election day
couldn't begin to touch Paris when
the armistice was signed. 1t seemed
as though the whole world had as
sembled together on the streets Of
Paris. All the buildings were draped
with the flags of the Allies and
crowds of students and soldiers and
civilians thrOnged up and down the
streets, waving flags and kissing the
girls and singing. At times our bus
Travelled at the rate OF 10 yards per
hour and several times we got jam
med for long stretches. Tonight
Paris will no doubt be drunk and
they are going to light up for the
first time since the war started.
Every nation on the globe SEEM
ed to be represented in its soldiers
except the Germans and Austrians.
Even Turkey had one of her Of
ficers, wearing his feZ and leading
a girl along the street. The American
flag was far more in evidence than
the British. Y. NJ. c. \. men and
soldiers who had fought valiantly
the battle of Paris. were on the
streets and in trucks as the -contribu-
tion of the United States to the gen.
eral hilarity, and they made plenty
OF noise. | didn't see many 'bleSses'
guess it was too dangerous for
them.
You'd have to see. it to appre-
Ciate il. | expect they'll be celebrat-
ing right along now, in a somewhat
more orderly fashion. but what
wanted TO see was the first spon-
~taneous burst OF enthusiasm, and l
Wednesday, November l3, he
writes: Saw Earis again to-day. this
time in company with Captain Hahn.
We tried to get an open sea-going
hack but had to content ourselves
with a taXicab. Ii smelled startlingly
like New York, but Paris is differ
ent somehow. In spite of the crowds
we rode up around the Bois de Bou-
logne. Arch de Triomphe. Place de
Ia Concorde and up and down all the
rues and boulevards without num-
ber, stayed out for an hour and a
half for twenty francs.