The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-01-03
1T. THOMAS WRITES i
LUNENBURG FRIENDS
Was in The City of Tours When the
Arnlistice Was Celebrated

Was in The City. of Tours When the |
Armistice Was Celebrated
Lnnenburg friends have received
the following letter from Lieut.. DON
aid A. Thomas, written the day after
the armistice was signed
Tour France, Nov. u, 1918
Dear All r.
Never before when / have sat down
to write ,shave there been so many
things surging thru my mind and
never have words seemed so incap-
able of expressing the feelings that !
have as well as every one else. The
war is won! The armistice is signed
an arnlistice that will give us the full
fillfnent of our. i aims. Hostllltics
have ceasedl 1t means home, home
home foI. us ; it means an end to all
this scientific killing that has been
in progress for four years or more; 1t
means the release of thousands OF
prisoners who have endured such suf-
fering; it means the return to home
of countless of others--French, Eng
lish, Belgisns--who have fought
these long years; it means the return
to France of her loved. Alsace-Lo-
raine; above all it means the end to
militalisln which can never again
cause such hell on earth. There
is. but one regret; the originators OF
it all, the Kaiser and his son and the
junkers that he represents, are -es--
f,,t CHI
worst. punishment that could be de-
vised could not atone for their crimes.
All these things run thru my mind
and all these things were the reasons
and the justification for. the celebra-s
ton that took place here yesterday
and .still continues, celebration such
as Ihaye never seen before and cx-
pect never will again The spirit
of France that we have all heard so
much, about, the spirit that for four
years has been slnothered and sup
pressed by the sorrows and sacrifice
es of war was suddenly turned loose
and We'd with American pep" as
demonstrated by some fifteen
or twenty thousand red-blooded AM
orleans stationed here. in an exhibi-
ton of pure JOY and happiness of the
rabid sort that | would not have be-
lieved possible were not very much
in it.
The news that the al1nistice had
been signed was read in the mess hall
at noon yesterday. The announce
ment was greeted with cheers but IL
all seemed 50 unreal, so impossible,
the fact that the Germans were really
beaten months before even some of
the most optimistic of us dared to
hope for. You may be sure that
work moved at a snail's pace the rest
of the afternoon. Bells were rung
and whistles blown. Flags appeared
everywhere and those: returning from
town told of wild demonstrations that
We're taking place there. Supper was
served early that we might get down
there IS
As we walked down the Rue-Na-
tionale, now. more brightly. lighted
! than ever we saw flags everywhere,
usually the Tri-color and Old Glory
entwined, which in the day time prov
ed a brilliant, sight. Crowds were
everywhere. Here and there Yanks.
Poilus, civilians and girls marched
arm in arm, eight or ten abreast.
singing, laughing. and shouting and
caring not in the least who was in
the. way. Lights that outlined the
massive shape of the Hotel-de- Vile
~ lrsc I,,r<
being lit. Cafe windows were ablaze
with light, and without colored Jap
anese lanterns We're hung every
where. On the square firecrackers
and Roman candles, that must have
been saved for just such an occasion
as this, were being fred and the all.
was heavy with smoke and the smell
1 OF the powder, The spray from the
/ fountains, caught by the breeze, was
carried over into the street and fell
with a refreshing GOODNESS on the
1 crowd
! AS we reached the square hun
dred or more Americans had just
started a snake dance and we could
not resist the temptation to join.
Back and forth across the street we
went, and through cafe or two we
went to the tune of Hail, Hail, the
Gangs all Here
Demonstrations going in the OPP
posite direction We met, and we
broke these or were ourselves brok-
en- through. But nobody cared. Ev-
erybody was suprenely happy. Soon
our line dissolved and we returned to
in front Of the Hotel-de-ville just in
time to become mixed and mashed in
a pushing, stlaining mob gathered
about the point where the official pa
rade was just starting. A dozen vet
eran French cavalry men at the head
rode their horses straight into the
crowd which somehow gave way and
created a lane through which came
first several French, British and AM
erican Generals, then a number of
lesser officers followed by the U. S.