The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-03-17
SAD SCENES At
YANK CEMETERY
Cartoonist Holdberg Visits St.
Mihiel and Humor Is Dis
PEELED by Views,
BY R. l. GOLDBERG.

hAN NAotNhN 49, haNE lhNA A@hEAA !
a trip up through the st. Mihiel salient.
over to Nerdun and back along the
Mouse into the Argonne forest, and |
am IN a daze, While | seek for words
70 describe what ] have seen I am
filled with a great impulse TO take the
hrst boat back home and organize a
gigantic expedition to convey the whole
population OF the United States to the
battlefields Of France.
We who have been fortunate enough
10 pass untouched through the terrible
ravages Of the wal can only appreciate
rs r u meaning by going direct to
the SCARED and devastated fields where
thousands Of our boys lie in raves
that can only be called graves because
they hold all that is left Of those once
brave lives,
have read many books on the war
and seen thousands OF pictures OF bat
tlefields. When ! came here ! had a
definite idea of what l was to see
the charred and broken trees, the
ruined villages and the rest of it, II
Is exactly what | expected Il to be-
that is, the physical aspect Of II.
In the distance you see what appears
to be a cluster OF stone houses where
peasant folk live their simple lives in
undisturbed happiness, 500 your au-
tomohile reaches the little village and
I you find Yourself in the midst of par
tally standing, shell-torn walls and
SuApNN SlIcetS dDSOlulely iTee lTuIl any
human habitation. II is all just as
you have seen 1t pictured in the movie
news weeklies.
l can add little to the numerous
camera and word pictures you have
seen so often. But there is one thing
that the camera can not give you. II
Is the choking sensation you get when
you see a small wooden cross along
side the road out there in the wilder
ness, marking the spot where one OF
our boys gave all he had to give to
keep the rest OF us clean and free,
A Lonely Grave,
There was no Identification tag at
taChed to the wooden cross. The winds
had already Knocked the friendly hand
that placed 1t there and torn 1t away.
The cross itself was standing at a dan
gerous angle and would soon be de-
stroyed by the elements, celebrating
all records except the one that was
burned into the hearts Of those at home
when they read their boys name in
the dreaded casualty list.
We saw the lonely grave about 10
miles beyond st. Mihiel. We found abb
solutely no sign OF habitation until we
reached a point 10 miles beyond It.
The loneliness and dampness and dark
ness of the place was terrible, Some
how my mind worked rapidly. | saw
the boy at home cherishing his ambi-
tons to go ahead In the world and
make a name for himself, and perhaps
some day build his own little home. |
saw him telephoning the one and only
girl and asking her II she had a date
for Saturday night. | saw him on the
way home from the office reading the
baseball news,
the surroundings he had known. since
childhood and SEN away to fight for
reasons all of which were not quite
clear in his mind, He smiled as he
went away and was soon out there In
the wilderness. Then he fell fighting.
He died a glorious death in the name
Of patriotism,
And this was the grave OF one of
our noblest sons The pathetic absurd
ity of it was enough to break a strong
mans heart, There he lay, one OF u
finest, thousands of miles away from
his home, with no one to do him honor,
Perhaps President Wilson saw this
crude grave. Perhaps he saw some OF
the others among the thousands that
are scattered over the mutilated hill
sides Of Eastern France. Perhaps the
paradoxical awfulness of these graves
drove HON to him the importance OF
the league Of nations. =
The Sacrifice.
! know nothing about International
politics. ! know nothing about the
claims Of the Czecho- Slavs or the Poles
or the Ukrainians. | know nothing about
the ultimate working out OF the self
determination Of nations.
But | have seer the lonely grave Of
a fine American boy far away from
home in a distant land where those
who love him can not come to pray
for his soul. And If they could cone
they would never find the spot wherS
they might place a floral tribute to his
memory,
And this boy had nothing to do with
starting the war. He had nothing to
do with the German military ~scoundrels
who brought this great calamity into
his life. He lay out there In the lonely
marshes, an innocent victim OF the
kaiser's loathsome ambitions. 80.
our one great absorbing thought
should center on the prevention of all
future wars. President Wilson's. plan
for a league Of nations may be q theory
or It may be practical. | don't know.
But If it is one little step toward the
prevention Of conditions that VIII snatch
an American boy away from home and
place him in an unmarked grave In
the desolate waste OF a distant land,
then | am for 1t heart and soul.
| have had an opportunity to see that
President Wilson is the biggest figure
in the peace conference. He will un-
doubtediy have his own way. And from
what | can see his way will make us
safe from all future wars. That is the
only thing In the world that coun1s
just now.
have heard wise men say, There
must always be war, It has been 70
since the beginning Of time. 1t Is hu-
man nature"
If this be so, Their | am sorry for our
children and our children's children.
We nave reason to be ashamed OF our
But I don't believe that human ma
ture is depraved. Talk to soldiers who
have been through 1t all and hear what
they have to say about war.
No one who has seen a lonely Amer,
lean grave in France VIII ever call
President Wilson a theorist.
Whnrnuer Won Turn