The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-11-10
MEET FOCH
IN RAILROAD CAR

PARIS, Nov. 1o-"who are you
gentlemen" Thus Ferdinand Foch.
marshal of France. rising from his
map-covered desk in a railroad car
which is his headquarters, greeted
the five men whom Germany had sent
to ask for the armistice terms.
There was no sneer, no sarcasm in
the generalissimo's voice; nor were
The words, ironicaI as they may sound,
meant as irony. But that from time
immemorial, in all the wars Of the
ages, has been formal question with
which parliamentaires are received
Out Of the group of callers stepped
a middle sized, black moustached man
in civilian clothes, OF suave manner
and immaculate dress. He was Ma
thias Erzberger, the Centrist leader.
the first man in German history to
defy the militarists through a Reichs-
tag bloc. He bowed courteously
and replied in perfect French:
1--WE are the representatives of the
German government come to solicit
an armistice."
Formally Marked Session.
That, too, was formal. For the
speaker and his colleagues II was in
deed a crushing formality. For
weeks and months Germany has
tried desperately and dexterously to-
avoid Just this humiliating form. But
her attempts to ARRANGE" an armis-
tice through President Wilson had
failed. However, having to bite
into the sour apple" as an old Ger
man adage puts IL, the delegates did
it with good grace.
ErzberEer then introduced one by
one his colleagues. One by one they
saIuted the allied representatives.
With Foch at the time were his right
hand men, General Weygand, vice
Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, FIRST
lord OF the British admiralty, and
the American. Vice Admiral William
S. Simms. The latter attended only
this preliminary meeting.
CourteousIy, soldier like, the allied
representatives returned the German
salutes.
That ended the introduction inter
view. Foch's aide de camp then con
Quoted the German emissaries to a
nearby chateau. There breakfast was
served. It consisted Of bread and |
butter, coffee and chocolate.
ENJOYS Were Hungry.
JJpon this historic breakfast a. |
Whitley, correspondent OF TIntransig-
ant, offers the following sidelight,
quoting a French orderly who help
ed serve it,
They ate with such an appetite. |
the next time they come to demand /
an armistice they should send word
that fifty are coming so we will have
enough to eat for them"
After breakfast the Germans re-
turned to Foch's railroad car head
quarters. Things then moved fast
Immediately after the group
had seated themselves around a large
table Foch rose and with high voice.
very distinctly read the conditions
Of the armistice.
As to their reception by the Ger
mans, nothing positive has yet been
told
When Foch had finished Erzberger
took the floor. He requested an i'm
mediate suspension of hostilities ''in
the interests of humanity" FOch an
swered unhesitatingly that such a
thing was out of the question lowing
to the military situation" His an
swer was identical to that which
General D'Esperey gave the Bulga-
rians.
Germans Sent Courier.
ErzberRer then said he wished to
submit the terms to his government. |
He was granted permission to send
a courier.
Foch's headquarters. where the fate
of the world is being decided. is in |
the ChantiIly Forest just south OF
SenIIs. The Germans are lodged some |
thirty miles to the northeast, six |
miles from Compiegne, in the little |
village OF Rethondes.
There is poetry OF justice in these |
locations. The approaches to Com |
piege mark the farthest point of the |
advance of the Germans in their last
drive on Paris. Scnlis. near which |
town Foch is quartered, was just
about the farthest point to which the |
Germans got in the early phase OF
the war, before the frst battle of the
Marne.