The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-27

lea entered the war, they cOul they were preserved.
 | The President came up from Paris to spend Christmas day with the men who have done such a great part in winning 1 the war. Historic old Chaumont, head quarters of the American army, did it. self proud in it's reception In it's homely way it rivaled Paris, and in the depth
 of it's sincerity it fully equaled it. l The oldest inhabitant was out with his age-old silk hat, the prettiest little | girl was out in her best gown. The streets were lined with American and 1 French troops and the sidewalks were choked with Frenchmen cheering them selves hoarse.
 | The moss grown roofs of the houses were loaded with folks from the country I side who cared nothing for the raw chill wind that swept over the land or for | the occasional touch of snow CLOUDS HIDE SUN l Cold. gray cloud banks shut out the sun and the ground was wet and sodden. | But there was no dampness in the well come. Chaumont simply went wild. The l American troops, muddy cold and | soaked, but happy, seemed just as en- | thusiastic as the country people.
 
 o'clock in the morning and the party went at once to the city hall. where there was a formal reception, speeches and the presentation of flowers. Less than a tenth of those invited could be crowded into the small room, which all ready had in place a tablet commence rating the Presidents visit. There were speeches, all in French, by the general commanding the district, the mayor and the prefect.
 The President nodded appreciatively ard smiled from time to time. Just as he began to make his reply the military band in the square outside broke into the strains of The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Presi- dent spoke to the dramatic accompani ment of the notes of the famous old American fighting hymn.
 The preliminary ceremony was soon over and the President and his party took motor cars to Langres, where se- lected troops from six divisions were waiting to be reviewed. They were gath cred in a field, which might be likened geographically to the battlefield of Get tysburg 1t lies on a gentle slope be- tween two elevations, with range of
 hills on either side and a road running along the top of one of them. SENDS FOR FLOWERS Just as the caravan gained the crest overlooked the troops a very old French woman standing at the roadside waved frantically at the passing cars to take in bouquet of flowers she wanted to give to Mrs. Wilson. The long line of cars had swept on, showering the dis mayed old woman with mud, when the President caught the situation and stop ping the line, he sent colonel back through the mud to get the old lady's flowers.
 A temporary boardwalk had been built over the quagmire of the reviewing field to the stand and there the President took his place, surrounded by General Persh- | ing Mrs Wilson, Rear Admiral Gray 1 son, General Liggett, General Alexander I and General Hale, commanding the Twenty sixth division A raw wind swept | the place with vicious bite and while l the band was playing the members of I the presidential party were glad to stamp time.
 with a brief speech, in which he pre- scented the victorious army to the President.
 The President addressed the troops as 1 my fellow countrymen,' and a silence, i which he characterized as the quiet of l peace, settled down over the spot as every man of the 10000 stood at attention
 and strained to catch the Presidents s words. | For moment. as he spoke the sun l broke through a rift in the clouds and | lighted up the scene, the niassed troops | in their khaki looking like great waves ] of winter killed grasses in the fields; | then like long flashes of dulled winter sunshine. Some persons of the party re- marked that they were indeed the sun
 shine which had dispelled the gray mist SPEAKS FIVE MINUTES The President spoke for about live minutes. earnestly and as loudly as he could. Probably half the troops heard him They all seemed to recognize the historic significance of the occasion There stood before them an Amercan President, the first in history to review an American army on foreign soil There stood a President for whom no like priv lilege had been available since Lincoln stood on the firing line with hify troops north of Washington. Certainly no other President of modern times had reviewed. l so large a body of fighting men fresh | from the battlefields.
 1 I.angres is not battlefield; it is not 1 a devastated section of France As matter of fact it has not seen bat l tie for more than 100 years. It is one | of the portions of this country saved | from the ravages of the invading hordes by the men who were reviewed bv the President there today There was an unmistakable flash or i Wholesome pride in the Presidents eye, and a catch in his throat, as he l looked at them and remarked what | privilege it would be to have been one of them
 AMERICAN AIRS The moment the President finished pealxing the review was begun The
 headquarters' band began with French air. then switched to The Stars and stripes Forever" The Su- vance River "Maryland' and Dixie The notes of the American airs were , waited over the bleak fields to the
 blue hills in the background as the men began to move. marching in com-' knanys front formation, wheeling past the reviewing stand. eyes right. First came the men of the Sixth division, veterans of the Mouse and Argonne of fensives; then infantry and machine guns of the Twenty-sixth, veterans Of the Chemin- des- -Dames Chateau Thier-8 ry and the Argonne. The men oI the Twenty -ninth also in the Argonne of fensive were next. and composite
 battalion of the Seventy seventh. De- tachments of the Eightieth. who were in the fighting at Verdun last Octo- Der. and detachments of the Eighty second followed.
 The review was brought to an end | by long train of ammunition wagons,