Norwich bulletin., 1918-11-08

change Was Closed at Z.3
 New York, Nov. 7.-False reports | that Germany had accepted the terms of the armistice and that fighting had ended threw the country into a de- lirium today and turned out to be the greatest hoax of recent years.
 Official assurances that the report was false failed to check the almost riotous demonstrations which swept over many American cities and mil lions of Americans will not know how 1 they were fooled until they read the 1 { morning papers.
 A despatch cabled from France to i the United Press and picked up and ! circulated through the country by an i other news agency declared the armis- 1 and fighting ended at 2 o'clock this af- i | ternoon. i Official desratches from France to the state department at Washington i testify that the German commissioners were not even to meet Marshal Foch until , o'clock this afternon, and des patches received tonight from the American army on the Sedan front
 show that at 6.30 D. m. the troops still
 were advancing.
 The New York stock exchange as
 well as the curb market, were closed at 2.30 p. m., after a hurried meeting of the governors. A market which at First appeared to be unresponsive sud- denly developed activity which shot up
 some of the so-called peace stocks from two to twelve points. Exchanges in other cities were similarly affected. Here follows a copy of the cable
 gram received by the United Press at
 it's New York office:
 "Unipress, New York:
 Paris: Armistice allies signed eleven
 this morning; hostilities ceased two
 afternoon. Sedan taken morning by
 Americans.
 i HOWARD,
 "SIMMS." , (Unipress is cable code for United Press; Howard is Roy W. Howard,
 president of the United Press. an Simms is William Philip Simms, Paris , correspondent of the United Press.) To grasp the situation, it should be borne in mind that Paris being to the / east of the United States. is about six , hours ahead of New York time. AL ! though 1t had been announced that the
 armistice was signed at Il o'clock and that fighting had ceased at o'clock, f it was fact that the German com f missioners were not to be received by Marshal F'och until o'clock, three . hours after the hour reported as the n end of the fighting. ~---,--e-- a The state departments cable of in quiry to France was not despatched e until after the report had been called a to the departments attention and : when a reply came, saying the armis-
 tice had not been signed and the
 fighting had not ceased, more ttinne
 had elapsed.
 At 335 o'clock in Paris it was off o cially announced that four German of : 1 ficers bearing a white flag would prob- :, ably arrive at Marshal Foch's head Il quarters some time tonight That an- > nouncement was one hour and thirty five minutes after the hour reported n as the end of the fighting, and Asso- i ciated Press deSpatches filed with the . American army on the Sedan front al = 6S0 o'clock tonight, showed that ar t hour and a half after the German = commissioners had been expected . troops still were fighting their way forward. This despatch said clearly = that the American army was consoli. l, dating it's positions mad preparing fol 1' further advance.
 l, The hoax recalled to the public mind ! others which had fooled the country |, if not the world One was the alleged u discovery of human beings on th' q moon and the other was Dr. Cooke q claim of discovery of the North Pole T A news hoax, however, more closely
 paralleling today's was the one perpe 1T trated on the country at the death O II Pope Plus the Tenth. It was an - nounced by the United Press some = hours before it occurred but as tnt T despatch did not specify the hour an( minute a great achievement in givine
 the news to the world was claimed.
 Tn the present instance, however
 there will be abundant official evidence T to guide the public. The arrnistict c being a historic document will beal l. the hour and minute at which the sig l. nature are set upon it, and the houl V at which hostilities are to end vii s likewise be officially recorded and an l. nounced to the world.
 l. So far as is known tonight, the CT l. roneous report was published in onl. It two cities of Europe-in London and il n Brest. France. The London newspape II later withdrew it's edition and printet d a retraction. The publication in Bres
 was by a newspaper which receivei ,- the report from the United Press. |" A question being asked tonight b, L. many is why the naval censors passet d the despatch for publication if it wa l. not true. The answer is that censCr > do not pass upon the truth of falsit, " of despatches: they are only con
 cerned with whether they contain n
 formation likely to be of value to al
 enemy or damaging to the entent - military forces.