The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1919-03-20
I'm THE CITY OF BREST"
(ARTICLE sEvEN)
by TOM RHEA PHILLIPS

not covered with the mud and
water. But if we are alone, or
not in formation, we have to see
that we get out of his way, or
else we get mud and sluch bath.
The city is divided into two
parts by an arm of the bay and
the river which flows into the sea
here. Over this water is q long
bridge upon which there is very
much travel 1t was of interest
to the American boys, for from
it we could see the large trans
ports that were lying at anchor
in the harbor, waiting to take
some of the American boys back
to their homes.
One day we learned that we
could go into the city and to the
Y. M. c. A. restaurant and could
get a good meal. Much to our de-
light we were given passes at re-
quest, and went to look for thee
A long line of fellows was wait
ing at the door so we took our
places in line, waiting until we
should have opportunity to get
inside, and get something real to
eat. Finally we we were reward
ed by being let in. It was a real
feast to us, though nothing was
as nice as we were accustomed
to find in restaurants back home.
But we could use all the sugar we
wanted And cocoa might be Sc
cured. Of course we won't forget
the roast beef and potatoes, boil
ed chicken and dressing, fish,
puddings and pies and real but
ter that we could get. Surely
nothing could have pleased us
better. A good meal could be
purchased for three to five francs,
(60c to $1.00). At the "Y" also
was found a place to take bath,
which privilege had been denied
us for some weeks.
= The Maseam ct 8resk swass IA
attraction of unsual interest. The
windows were beautiful and
handsomely constructed. Within
the first things of notice are the
wonderful pieces of statuary,
some of which are originals, and
some reproductions Of the works
Of the great masters. There is
one room devoted entirely to ex-
hibits from China. Carvings in
wood, hand painted dishes, hand
carved furniture, and hundreds
Of things of unsual interest from
the Celestial kingdom. There were
some of the most beautiful paint
ings that | have ever seen. 1t
seems that the painters made it
their special point of competi-
tion to furnish the most simple
and everyday subjects for their
paintings. Many of these por-
tray his historical incidents in the
life of French nation. The larg-
est in the museum is one of the
charge Of the cavalry in one of
Napolean's successful battles. No
pictures are of more interest
than the fourteen pictures of the
life of Christ.
On the other wing Of the mu-
scum we found implements of
warfare that were used by the an
cient Gallo chiefs against the
legions of Rome. Here the battle
axe, the spear, the sword, all had
their full share of honor. Several
full suits Of armor of Spanish
mail, made in Toledo, gave us an
insight into the methods of bodi-
ly protection that the knights of
old used when they fought for
"honor and fair lady" The coin
collection included thousands of
coins and bills Of every French
and foreign coinage. Some were
as large as four inches in diane
ter, and a quarter of an inch
thick-made of iron. Coins of
every nation and age were to be
viewed there. Ships in miniature
and q bird's-eye construction Of
the city of Brest in 1929 were Of
interest to us all.
Our best visit to Brest was
when we went to welcome Presi-
dent Wilson. Our regiment was
chosen as one Of three from the
camp Of 10000 men to serve as .
guard Of honor to welcome him.
/ shall tell Of his arrival and
our return trip, IN the next issue.
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