Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1919-11-20
SOLDIER WHO IS
BACK FROM FRANCE
TELLS A MOST INTERESTING
STORY AS HE COMPARES AR
MIsTICE DAY A YEAR AGO

them stories they never were so ex-
! cited as when waiting for him to tell
them something about the great war
| and what he did as soldier in
] the American army in France.
| On this particular night he was COM
| ing to tell them about the things that
happened in France year ago and
!, in honor of the occasion, Ruth had
her French dolls dressed in the red,
/ white and blue, while Jacks tin SOL
diers, representing every branch of
the Allied armies were arranged in re-
/ view before the great open fireplace.
Attention men II was Uncle
Ted who burst in upon the scene.
| Are the armies all set for the great
| celebration
"You bet they are" answered
Jack, "and they are all getting tired
waiting"
well, we will start at once. Now
let's see. / believe it was last week
when you kiddies were starting for a
party in celebration of the Armis-
tice that l promised to tell you what
| was doing at that time last year
and all about the things that have
happened since, On the night be-
| fore November IL, 1918, my COM
pany was occupying a part of one of
the front line trenches. We were
| tired muddy, hungry and homesick.
We had been fighting for so many
months that war seemed to be the
only thing we could remember in our
whole lives. That last night was
night of hard fighting, but in the
morning came those wonderful or
ders that: You are informed that
hostilities will cease along the whole
front at 1900 o'clock a. m, Novem-
Der IL, 1918, Paris time When that
hour came, children, we didn't shout
and yell and celebrate. We felt
Just like the bottom had dropped out
of things. We couldn't believe that
the war was ended. that we wouldn't
have to fight any more. and we were
so tired that all we wanted was just
to sleep and rest forever"
but we all made lots of noise
here" said Jack I'VE were so hap
py we couldn't help it. And l re-
member mother cried"
Eyes, I know" continued Uncle
Ted, "you folks back home felt that
the whole terrible business was end
ed. that at last peace had come and
home. A year has passed since
that date. Let us see just what has
happened. Although the armies are
not fighting each other on the battle
fronts in France the peace that the
world celebrated and welcomed with
open arms is, in a great many ways
a failure"
"a failure." exclaimed Ruth.
Eyes, / know Ruth, that sounds
funny but let me show you why
say that We have seen the gov
eminent of Russia crushed and the
country thrown into the hands of the
bolsheviks. The German empire is
thing of the past as is the empire
of Austria-Hungary. Every phase
of the life of Europe has been
changed. In every nation that fought
against Germany a feeling OF unrest
exists. This is due partly to two
things: labor and politics. In our
own country today the greatest dan
ger rests in the way in which organ
lied labor is acting. | have already
told you about the strikes and what
the men who have quit work are do
ing. Some time ago l told you
about the supreme council that was
formed by the men in Paris who
made the peace treaty and how this
council was supposed to take care or
the troubles between the various
countries until the peace treaty was
really signed by all the countries
that fought. While there is some
trouble going on in the great coun-
tries that fought and defeated Ger
many, far greater trouble and real
fighting has been going on between
the little countries that were formed
by the divisions of land made by
President Wilson and the men who
met in Paris. Only a few months
ago it was said that more than 20
wars were being fought in Europe
and very few of them, il any, have
stopped since that time. Although
il has been more than year since
with the other soldiers stopped
lighting on the fronts in France,
men are actually fighting each other
with guns and caunons in at least
three places. In Russia the troops
of the bolsheviks are fighting those
who would wipe out this new form
of government and the Italians are
fighting the Jugo-Slav troops on the
shores of the Adriatic sea over who
shall control Fiume. The Serbian
and Rumanian troops are fighting
each other in the Banat, which is To-
Gated in the central part or what
was Hungary before the war, and the
Rumanian troops continue to occupy
the cities and provinces of Hungary
although it was forbidden at Paris.
In addition to these troubles the
question of what shall be done with
Turkey and Armenia has not been
settled
But the British and French are
not fighting, are they?" asked Jack.
well they are not fighting exact
| ". but they are quarreling over the
boundaries of Syria. The British
are having trouble with Ireland and
| more trouble with India. And the
italians who greeted President Will
son on his visit to Rome as the
savior of the world are today de-
nouncing him with the same degree
| of fury. remember another thing.
| The soldiers of our army who were
in the big cities of Europe on Ar
mistice day, 1918, had to be protect
ed by the police of Europe from the
people who wanted to rush up and
| hug them. Today the European
police are busy keeping Americans
over there from being killed. For
that reason the first anniversary OF
the armistice brings with 1t more
bitterness than peace. more lighting
than friendly feeling. So children,
i do you think after looking back over
| the past year and seeing the troubles
existing everywhere in Europe, that
| the United tSates can afford to fight
in all these places?'
"But won't things be better after
awhile?" asked Ruth.