The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-16
imprisoned. We go to town, kilomett away, without permission. MANY WE'RE RETIIRNING

through the wonderful fact that it was discovered that we had finally arrived in France, and orders came for us to proceed to Chaumont without delay. We left without delay!
 At Paris-for we had been long enough in France to understand that you can't go anywhere without passing through Paris-we arrive for wonderful Thanks giving dinner. We also saw George W, King of England: the President of France, Marshal Foch, Joffre, Petain and Premiers Clemenceau of France and Or lando of Italy. II was a gala event and it was Thanksgiving Day that will long remember.
 After Paris we came to Chaumont. We
 had landed in France on November and
 arrived at our destination through the active cooperation of the s. O. $. in Chaumont on November %.
 WILSON RECEPTION IN FRANCE Paris. December 15.-My Dear Mr.- By this time the Associated Press and the millions of special writers who have gravitated to this mundane hemis- phere have dilated at length on the welcome President Wilson received If om the French people. No matter how hifalutin their language the reception of the chief of our nation received could not be exaggerated, as the Frenches put a welcome sign on the doormat of Brest and Paris that will never be erased from the memory of
 the fortunate thousands who were pres ent on that memorable occasion. There is no question as to the popu- larity of the Americans in France. From | the very beginning or our invasion of France in 1917 the doughboys were | made to feel at home. They were made 1 to feel that they were amongst peo- 1 pie who appreciated their presence and | tN,. I, r.f t1,.lf Americans were coming to fight by I the side of the ''pooilus" Of course, some Americans will dispute that but | investigation will disclose that these i are of the type that are always finding l fault because%the customs of for l eign country are different from those i of the United States.
 There have been many allied soldiers l in France since the beginning of the world holocaust in 1914. Russians, Portuguese. Italians, Poles Czecho- Slovaks, English, Canadians, Aus | tralians and New Zealanders. All of | those have been gold soldiers and were welcomed by France. That is-they were officially welcomed and treated politely. But politeness is not throw 1 ing your home wide open and sharing
 what earthly goods you possess. That | is what the French did for the dough- 1 boys when they arrived, and what they
 are doing today when it would appear l that our welcome was about due to be worn out.
 | Of course, many Americans remem- bering only the profteers are under | the impression that the French are too | busy making money out of this war to make us feel at home. But those critics I got their views in clubs, where the wine flows, and where only English is spoken The fellow that goes amongst
 the people does not criticize French. 1 WELCOME IN FRENCH HOMES For instance, you are billeted in a
 small French village It is near the | ravage have past.s You would natural | ly think that the woman in whose home you are billeted would be rather bored with soldiers of any nationality But, on the contrary, although you are forced into her home through no choice of hers, you are received with
 every attention and if you understand French you are called a deliverer and informed that but for the Americans l the war would have been lost.
 1 Of course, you expostulate that the 1 Americans only helped, but the French will insist that we won the war, so
 that's one argument you pleasingly all | low them to win
 At the eating places it will always ! be noticed that the Americans received
 more attention than even the French. On the streets of the small town if l you are of a flirtatious temperament ] the chase is plentiful, for the French girls are very susceptible to Hes
 Americaines." In Paris-well, the great l French metropolis is so big that it l is not unlike New York or London in many respects, and you cannot com | pare the life of Paris with that of the people of the smaller French cities. | If you are fortunate enough to meet | some nice French people and enter their
 homes you will again get an eye-opener as to what they think of the Ameri- cans and what this country has done l for the world The rare old wine will | come out, and the ancient hospitality | of Rome in her palmiest days is bush l league effort in comparison to mine French host when he loosens up And I think that President Wilson visualized all that in the reception 1 that greeted his arrival in France. The ! thousands of cheering faces that lined
 the Champ Elysees and the enthusiasm at every railway station from Brest to Paris could not have failed to inn press our chief executive that he had arrived in a land tha. appreciated him
 and his people,
 But after a few days the President | will visit some of the scars of war
 
 France and Belgium. He will probably 1 wonder how there can be so much spontaneous joy in country that has suffered so much. But as the French poilus goes singing to death so the people back of the iines choke back the tears and maintain an attitude of happiness that is deceiving to all but the observing. It is not the custom of the country to weep.
 CONDITIONS IN GERMANY
 That brings up the interesting con- trast of the conditions in Germany to- day. Consider the armistice. They &C., cepted conditions and the very next day started whining. And the Germans are whining yet on the harshness of the allies. The detestable Boche was a great winner with his "Gott' a/d thS press of the world was filled with the stench of his boasts. Now it is the oth- CT way around He yawps for food, for mercy, for anything that will gve
 him another chance to stab ps in the
 back.
 The French and the English do not expect anything from the Germans. They know the buzzard, And it's about time that we wake up and know the German also and not waste any false pity on them. The German is getting off very light as it is, even from the French and English. He is laughing up his sleeve at the success of his propa aganda of whines and tears. And it is only by being chicken
 hearted in regard to the Germans that we will lessen our popularity in l L,ropca Tho Erappb will cfand any.