Arizona republican., 1921-01-28

A large crowd was out to the c. NJ D, church to hear Attorney w E. Wat lSius make his first public address to a Phoenix audience. Attorney Watkins is the only colored lawyer in the state; he has located in Phoenix, where he can do the most good for the mem- bers of his group. He was Y. M. C. A. secretary in the world war, serving in this country and in France He told about the part the colored boys played in the war, both on the field and those boys back of the line who did the drudgery part of the work. At Brest the Americans asked the French how long it would take them to build a con- crete warehouse. The French replied it would take them nine months to build one according to the specified tions submitted. This wR too long for Uncle Sam to wait for a place t. store supplies and ammunition.
 The colored labor battalion was put to work on the building and in six weeks had put up tho warehouse that the French said could not be built in less than nine months.
 A few months before the arnistice was signed, the boys at Brest and Saint Nazaire had what they called a race for Berlin. This was to see who
 
 tho boats, load it on trains and rush the same off to the front At Saint Nazaire the boys handled more hun dreds of pounds weight of freight in one week than the French had ever handled at that port in one year.
 After the war places were opened up where the boys could go and spend a weeks vacation. The French and British men could go home during the eight days vacation. to which each soldier was supposed to be entitled every four months, but what to do with the Americans during their leave was great problem to General Pershing So. when MT. r. c. Carter, head of the Y. M. c. A for American soldiers in France, suggested to him the idea of leave area, the general said enthusias- tically, "Go ahead" The result was that on February 16, 1918. Aix-les- Bains was opened as a playground for the American expeditionary forces in France. Later similar areas were opened in different parts of the coun- try.
 Aix-les-Bains. one of the leading French summer resorts, was built up on the reputation of it's mineral springs. According to the official guide, the first baths known at Aix- les-Bains were built by the Roman pro- consul Domitius in the year 122 B. C. Tn a hundred hotels at Aix the army can accommodate about 5000 sol diers at a time, besides about 800 in Chambery, and about TOO in ChaIles- les- Faux. the other two towns of this area. The last two towns were given up to the colored soldiers. Some of the places of interest in the area to which the secretaries took the boys were as follows:
 The Aix-les- Bains museum which was located in the old Temple of Diana The exact date of the temple is not known. When one sees the thickness of tho foundation walls, more than three feet thick, and the enormous size of those Ropaau stones, and the fact that no mortar was used in it's con- struction, would indicate that it be- longs to very early period. probably before the time of the Roman baths which were built 122 B. c.
 The lake trip, Lake of Bourget which. although only il miles long, is the largest lake in France. It has been immortalized by that little poem of Lamartine 'Ie Lac" written in one of tho poets favorite haunts on Tres serve hill. After a short sail down the lake we arrive at Hautecombe abbey, which is a large Italian monastery, the grounds of which are used as the royal burial place for the crowned heads of Italy.
 Hannibars Pass. one of the most in-