Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1918-12-26

on radio that the German plenipo
tentiaries were coming thru the lines
1t was a wild mement around there
did not believe it at first, but We
finally found the lad we had gone tc
see and he works in headquarters and
said he had taken the message him
self. A few minutes before a mes
sage had come to send a truck train
to the lines to take infantry to new
positions Can you beat that? Those
doughboys couldn't run fast enough
to chase the Boche and had to call
for trucks.
The next day we moved up and
stayed there until the armistice was
signed We knew it had been signed
when a bell in the little church across
the way started to ring in the middle
of the day. The town we were in was
5he lonesomest place on earth and we
went over to the only cafe IN town,
n a tiny place, and listened to the
| Frenchmen sing. Maybe those boys
weren't happy They were delirlons
and all Of them seemed drunk But
they were not because the only thing
it was possible to buy in the place
vas this thin, thin French beer. They
were simply drunk with gladness, And
ane of them would stand up and sing
| ''Madclon" and everybody would join
| n tie chorus Then another would
ing, LIE Petite Franchise" and there
would be another wild chorus and
| much embracing. This is all the cele-
Aration we saw until a couple of days
later when we evacuated what was
probably the last load of badly wound
d we will ever have to carry. As
We got off the military roads and be-
ran to pass through the towns we ran
into dozens of fetes and celebrations.
At a number of stations American
and French soldiers lined up in red
fare parade and serenaded the wound
d on the train. The whistles and
bells were screening and ringing at
0p voice I don't believe any Of US
he patients particularly, were able
o get a wink Of sleep all night.
Most of the trains have been trans
ferred south already and are evacu-
lting hospitals in the interior to the
coast. We have been told we would.
probably be with the army of occupa-
ton IF this is true, my next letter
viii include something about the
place where that nifty little musical
comedy came from-remember the
Countess of LuXemburg?"
| meant to tell you about the fort
at Verdun when l spoke of it a mo-
ment ago l had often wondered how
it was possible for the French to de-
fend that spot so VIGOROUSLY when
it was almost encircled. One look at
it and that reason is obvious. 1 be-
lieve | could defend Verdun against
I'll the bartenders and pretzeI sales
men in the world with a cream puff,
if | was in top form. It is a nasty
proposition for an ambitious enemy.
Verdun, the town itself is on a hill.
Below it, and carved in the solid rock
of the hillside, is the fort, command
ing three sides and all approaches.
AS you leave the valley and enter the
fort you find yourself in what is pre-
badly the greatest underground, SOLD
rock cavern in the world You walk
down the Railways and now you look
in on barrack rooms, or ammunition
rooms, or mess rooms, all of 1T cut
in solid rock of great thickness. Then
perhaps you climb the stone stairs
and find yourself in a gun position,
With an opening through many feet
IF hardest granite. And if you walk
around the enclosure you find hun
lreds of these gun positions, command
ng all positions except the rearI
which is protected at the head of the
valley. That fort runs directly thru
that hill l have no idea Of the thou
sands of canon and machine guns po-
sitions concealed around it. But do
know that looking out thru one of the
gun holes, you get the opinion that
not all the German soldiers were cow
ards. From the position on neigh
boring elevation and through the op-
posite plain was duck soup for the
french gunners. It must have been
l "sweet cleanup" as the doughboys
say.
We are very likely to go into Ger
many very shortly and if this is the
ease I will probably be home some
-ime in 1850 When I get home every
oody will have forgotten the war and
1sk, where have you been, out west
or some place." At which place Ivan
will swing his knout
l must say. in resume of the tiny
part I took in this affair. that at
east 1 got to every part of France,
| IN evovv front saw ovprv+hino n ha