McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1919-01-03
New York Latter.

events. But so many great things
have happened since ! wrote you last.
that it is hard to begin at the begin
ming and say what | would like to say.
| wanted to write about what they
did here when the armistice was sign
ed in France, but | might write for
for the rest of my life and not tell it
all. Perhaps nowhere outside Of Eu-
rope was the celebration greater than
il was in this greatest of all cities of
the globe. 1t was overf fweriDg;
nothing like it was ever seer before.
ner, by the grace Of God, will we ev-
er have occasion to see it's like again.
was awakened at A o'clock in the
morning with the screaming sounds
Of the great sirens on the sky-scra-
pers fifteen miles away, down town;
noise-maker that drown all other
sounds around them, designed to warn
the people Of New York of an air raid
or great fire that should threaten
the whole city. It is said they can
be heard fifty miles out at sea. We
knew something important was on
hand. The noise Of COW bells, tin
horns and shoptings on the street
grew louder as day came. and when |
reached downtown on the subway and
tried to make my way across Broad
way to get to my Office, the streets
we're simply filled to overlooking. Nc
body tried to work; everybody was
walking, riding, running, throwing
finely cut paper over everybody else,
shouting, laughing. talking. From
the monster sky-scrapers, from win
lows hundreds Of feet above the
ground. millions Of pieces of paper
1oated out like a gigantic snowstorm,
ticker-tspe, an inch wide and miles
and miles long. h9ated out Of the bus
mess houses. In our own Office, four.
teen stories above Broadway, every.
body was handshaking and huggine
and shouting, almost crying. Some
one found IA long, slender piece Of
German flag, red, white ard black
Some Of the ladies spat upon it; the
men wiped their shoes with it, and
then sent it floating down to the
street, under the feet of swirline
multitude that swept along like a liv-
ling river. | saw the tiny bit of enc
lmy color lying unnoticed till some mar
saw it. picked it up, wiped his shoes
with it and flung it down for some.
body else to serve the same way. II
soon had no color at all but dirty
brown, from the dust of shoes and
of treading feet. | wonld not have
ventured upon Broadway (and would
not now with the German flag in my
hand for all Of the wealth of this me-
tropolis, for | would not have lived
for half block. AS the hours pass
ed by the wbooping of the sirens and
Of ten thousand whistles and million
bells kept getting louder, and finally
the sirens got to barking like thous.
and-ton dogs and yelping like gigantic
wolves. So it went on, clear into the
night. Ugly crowds gathered in sa.
looms until some Of the gin mills were
closed. 1t was thousand Christmas
celebrations rolled into one. It was sale
that on Wall Street they4were throw.
ing cushions out of the windows. The
streets were white with paper every
where. Finally, hoarse and happy
New York went to rest after twenty
hours of pandemonium. 1t was Ger.
tainly interesting, but | don't want tc
see it again.
| | saw tae ship bearing President
| Wilson and his wife and party moving
out Of New York harbor On its way
towards France, the areoplanes dart.
ing back and forth over the vessel
sometimes so low that it seemed they
must hit the smoke-stacks, and ther
soaring upward and turning head ov'
er heels hundreds Of yards high in the
air. All the shipping in the harbor
thousands Of vessels, tuned up theil
whistles; it was awe-inspiring. Here
was the head of our nation, for the
first time in history, leaving American
soil while in Office, and going on ar
errand such as no man ever dreamed
of before: to carry democracy and q
victorious peace of right and justice
| to the whole world. What an honor
and glory for the country. of our birth
and what an important occasion in
the history of civilized humanity
Thousands of years hence, mankind
Il A 4 Al -