The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-11-04

TO take 4 little snooxe on the seat.
More than once the shells fell too close
to the machine to make me feel COM
Portable. One big fellow hit and cir
ried away the chimney Of the dugout
in which the general was sleeping"
Next morning General Pershing w
in the headquarters telegraph once,
where he received minute reports from
the advanced posts which had already
entered the town Of Cantigny. The
general personally directed the move
ments Of the various units of the First
division, which was engaged In the
operation. At about nine o'clock In
the morning the doughboys began TO
come back with prisoners, several Of
whom were brought before and qaes-
toned at length by General Pershink
The general was very much pleaSed
with the results obtained BY the tro0pG
in this engagement, the sergeant says,
and showed bis appreciation by per
sonally commenting and shaking hands
with the doughboys AZ they drifted
back in small groups from the front
line.
When the Germans crossed the
Marne river for the second time Gen
eral Pershing was north Of Chaumont,
his general headquarters. Upon re-
ceiving word Of the crossing he leaped
into his automobile, and Sergeant
Santini was informed the general was
lin a hurry" but that he must take
no chances.
On the way down toward Paris the
route took the general past where the
second division had been In a rest
camp. The division was about to
move to a certain point on the line.
General Pershing countermanded the
orders on the road. directing the d.
vision to move post haste to a point
on the outskirts of Chateau Thierry.
Commended the Marines.
1.-THE general reached Chateau
Thierry soon after the repulse of the
Germans by the Marines" the sergeant
continued. HE crossed the engineers
bridge and entered the town and went
directly to several Of the gun positions,
where he commended the crews and
told them how proud he was Of them"
During the fight In the Argonne for
est General Pershing spent nearly two
months In its recesses directing move
ments Of troops. His mobile headQuar-
tiers was pulled into the heart Of the
forest where it was camoufaged by
shrubbery. Every night the general
made a visit to the advanced post
commands, which were almost at the
barbed wire entanglements, to see
that his orders were being carried out.
1.-THE general never took any
chances" the sergeant said, "he al
ways went up to the front to be sure
things were done exactly as he
ordered"
One of the peculiar things sergeant
Santini noted was that every time he
took General Pershing to Paris the
Germans would start a long range
bombardment or send over a flock of
bombing airplanes. 1t did not seem to
matter what hour of the night or day
they reached the city the lombard
ment would begin directly after their
arrival and invariably continue for
hours. Sergeant Santini is not so sure
that the Germans did not receive in
formation as to when the general was
going to the city, although every effort
was made to keep the movements of
the commander in chief in the great
est secrecy.
Sergeant Santini probably drove
more historic personages in the time
he was in France than any other
chauffeur in the world can boast of to-
day. He drove President and Mrs. Will
son on several occasions, President
Poincare, Premier Clemenceau, Cen
erals Foch, Haig, Petain and Bliss and
King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of
Belgium. King Albert awarded Ser
geant Santini the gold Medal of Merit
of the first class.
Fools Newspaper Men.
On the two occasions that Newton
- ouhCAs oCNACSoAy VI V0A1
the battle front in France he rode in
General Pershing's automobile. Ser
geant Santini tells of many amusing
incidents and tricks General Pershing
resorted to In an effort to evade news
paper men. One Of these incidents &C.
Cured during Secretary Bakers first
visit. . S~$
Secretary Baker and General Petsh-
ing were on their way up to the front
line. the secretary in one automobile.
and the general in his. There was q
score Of other automobiles loaded with
newspaper men In the rear. AZ Cen
eral Pershing came up to turn III tho
road hs leaped out Of hin automobile
and into that Of Secretary Baker:
neither Of the machines stopping. The
two machines then separated and Tie
newspaper men took up the trait of
the generals car. go. =. ~- - j..
The automobile General Pershine
used was equipped with special tanks
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