Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1920-09-04

of manner and speech greatly inn
pressed the Knights of Columbus
who came from the United States to
present to France the statue of La
fayette which now stands at Metz.
They quickly recognized in this sim
plicity the mark of genius. He found
something cordial yet invariably
natural to say to each of the $50
delegates who lined up outside the
Metz railway station to receive him.
Never before did any distinguished
Frenchman shake hands with so
many men in so few moments as did
FOch tht day. Those among the
delegates who had felt the Roose-
velt handclasp remarked that the
French Marshal had very much the
same grin on his face as the late
President of the United States, If not
the same grip. When the assembled
throng cheered France the Marshal
barred his head and with appraised
arm shouted Long live America!"
At the foot of the freshly unveiled
Lafayette statue on the Metz Es-
planade after he had received the
Marshal's baton from Supreme knight
James A Flaherty the great mill
tary leader proudly held the gift up
to the view of the multitude. Thou
sands of eyes were turned on him
as he stood at the base of the pedes-
tai surrounded by the elite Of
ficials and church dignitaries. Over
his head floated countless flags in
the form of huge fan. Foch put
ON his nose glasses and read from
the manuscript a speech as if it
was a military report. The assem-
bled people yelled themselves hoarse
when he kissed Supreme Knight
Flaherty and European Commits
sioner Edward l.. Hearn on both
cheeks.
But the climax came at'the nota-
BILE banquet given to the Americans
by the municipality of Metz when
the Marshal pushed aside box of
choice Havana cigars and pulled
from a pocket his trusty old pipe,
sticking to the briar for the re-
mainder of the evening. Women in
the latest fashions in gowns and the
men all wearing dinner suits looked
on, amazed at the spectacle. 1t was
then that the Rev. James M. Kerwin,
of Galveston, Texas, stepped up to
the Marshal's chair to tell him that
America has better pipes and that
he could get one by going to the
United States for a visit. The Mar
shall responded heartily to the sug-
gestion, but said he would have to
obtain the Governments permission.
The day following the farewell
banquet Marshal Foch went to the
Verdun battlefields accompanied
only by Capt L'Hopital, his aide,
and prayed silently and long over
the grave of his soldier son. He
bluntly refused to allow photograph
ers to approach the cemetery. Be
fore returning to Normandy, where
he is now on leave of absence, the
Marshal visited Domremy, the birth
place of Joan of Arc, and in the
humble church there he took holy
again alone but for his
aide. 1t was his wish that neither
the visit to the cemetery nor that to
Domremy should become known, and
II is only due to the village gossip
that the Knights Of Columbus
learned OF those incidents.
The shrine among the trees OF the
Vatican Garden, where stands the
beautiful statue of the Madonna
Della Guardia, the patron Of Genoa,
birthplace Of Pope Benedict Nv. and
Christopher Columbus, was Monday
the scene OF an outdoor mass and
communion celebrated by the Pontiff
for the entire body of American
Knights OF Columbus now visiting
Rome. Almost with the break OF
day the Knights and their ladies
drove up the road on the west side
of st. Peters to the iron gates of
the Vatican Gardens. The men we're
attired in evening dress and the wo-
men in black dresses and wearing
wells. At z o'clock there was a pro-
cession of the canons of st. Peters
in colored silk gowns and the Papal
choir in white cassoclxs. The music