The New York herald., 1922-12-25


who sleeps at Arlington, comrades Of
homes after the great struggle whic
unidentified American dead are not L
and good will Is to be the portion of HI
The Nctc York Herald of Ports.
year, is placing upon the grave OF ev
wreath, bright with berries, as SYM
boil Of the tie of fraternity which binds
these unknowns with their American
brothers, profuse with green leaves as
a symbol of eternal remembrance.
This tribute ls being carried out with
the generous support Of the American
Graves Registration Service in Paris.
whose director. Major II. P. Harbold.
has placed the entire organization at the
disposal of The Nct0. York Herald OF
Poris In como areas school children
perform the task Of placips the wreaths
at the foot of the white crosses with
their pathetic marking: Unknown
American Soldier" In other areas war
widows have accented the opportunity
to pay ono more tribute to American
bravery, and perhaps some vibration Of
this sympathy may reach to the heart
Of some unknown soldiers sorrowing
mother or wife to-day and bring to 1t
tho cheer of sisterhood.
\ Paris shop Makes Wreaths.
For weeks little flower shop in the
Rue st. Honore has been making these
wreaths. Nearly three tons Of holly
and almost as much soft moss from the
woods Of Normandy were necessary to
all the order. AS fast as the hundreds
OF wreaths were finished they were
Grated and shipped to the superinten-
dents Of the cemeteries for which they
were intended. Three days ago the last
wreaths reached their destination and
the Graves Registration Service an
nounced that before the Christmas sun
was three hours high this annual task
of decorating the graves would be ac-
compllshed with all the devotion and
care due Americas fallen heroes.
Last year a total of 1850 unknown
Americans were sleeping In graves or
the Continent. This year, as stated
there are only 1,747. and Major Har-
bold is convinced that similar reduc-
ton can be obtained during the next
twelve months. lie has instituted a
special service for the Identification OF
the unknown soldiers and nearly every
mall brings letters from some relative
giving details OF personal charactertitics
ana clothing Of some missing American
soldier for comparison with the service
records OF the mep whose bodies srt
still Unidentified.
Seck 10 (;roup Graves.
In addition TO this Improvement IN
the service there has been steady ef'
fort the last year to group the graves
Of the unknown American soldiers II
four central cemeteries at Belleau
Thiaucourt, Romagne and suresnes
There Is still much TO do, but In a few
months this will be completed and each
cemetery will have it's unknown soldiers
block, with wide street flanked by
carefully tended mounds and with each
grave surmounted by glistening white
cross WHICH Is SO revesed In the countries
where the Americans fought.
In the Meuse and Argonne Cenleters
at Ror1agne, where Capt George F.
Spann isin charge. there are 4sS uniden-
tilted bodies Only a few miles away. IL
the heart Of the st. Mihiel sector al
Thiscourt. lie 1877. while in SBelleau
Capt s. Campbell. the Aisne and Marne
Cemetery contains 224 graves of Amer
lean unknown soldiers. But the larges'
number lis at Fere-en-Tardenois, oI
rather outside of the village of Seringes-
ct -Nesles, where SOS unidentified vic
tins OF the great attack which sent the
enemy back to his frontier camps wi!
receive The Neto York Herald Of Poris's
tribute.
In the next few months all Of thess
SsS heroes will have been transferred t.
the American Cemetery at Belleau. New
York's 154 unidentified dead lie between
the ridges OF Bony and ST. Quentin
where they gave their lives In the ad
vance which Gent the American division
sweeping over the Hindenburg line ir
1918. There are only two unidentified
soldiers buried in Suresness on the out.
skirts OF Paris, but these will receive
the. same loving tribute as those in thS
larger cemeteries.
In the Flanders Field Cemetery n;
waere Chem, Belgium. there are twenty.
nine, and there. as last year. the school
children OF Flanders Arc to-day supple.
menting she Christmas holly wreath with
tiny crossed American and Belgian flags
in remembrance OF the ineffacable alli
ance between the two nations.