The Lexington progress. (Lexington, Tenn.) 1884-current, 1922-12-01

Through a street for ten miles that,
in its conditions, is almost inconceiv-
able to me. The little shops butting
out upon the street with virtually no
sidewalks; the washing of their
clothes; the exhibition of their wares;
The filth of it; are almost inconceiy-
able. Sorrento within itself is a beau
Itiful, clean little city, overlooking the
Bay of Naples, and had | not felt it
was necessary, as well as pleasant
to be back with Newton, ! would have
liked to have spent several days there,
On our way back to the hotel we pass
ed through this same street. There
saw herds of goats being driven to the
doors Of houses and MIXED for the
customers. Also | saw numerous
COWS, from two to six, on the halter
being led along for the same purpose,
and | must say that they were much
better looking animals than any that
we have. The oxen and the cattle Of
Italy seem to be of a superior grade
and to my surprise, | saw greater
flocks of sheep in Italy than | saw
either in France of Germany.
We took train from Naples back to
Rome, and from Rome direct to Paris
on a through train that only makes
three trips a week. After a very
pleasant trip we rejoined Newton,
spent several days in Paris, using the
auto to see the places of interest.
and, while it is a very, very wonder
full city, | canrfot say that | like it so
well as London. | was very much in
terested in Versailles, and even saw
the table upon which the Treaty of
Peace was signed. You cannot be in
France, and especially in Paris, with
out being impressed with the influ-
ence of Louis XIV and of Napoleon,
one of them a weakling, inheriting a
crown, used by his courtiers to unusu-
al extravaganza by flattery to him.
self. The other a very strong individ-
ual, glorying his individuality at the
expense Of the people.
We left Paris October 25th at IL a.
M, for a six days auto trip over the
battlefields. We lunched at Meaux,
France. From there to Belleau
Woods, to Lucy, where the Second Di-
vision entered the war; through Bel
leau to Chateau Thierry, and to
Quentin Rooseyelt's tomb. One of the
most impressive moments of the trip
was at his tomb. We reached it af-
ter dark, being about three miles off
the main highway. We turned our
auto lights upon it and, there on the
hillside, within ten feet of where his
plane crashed, is his neatly kept
grave. | understood this is one of the
seven national American cemeteries,
and is kept in condition by an old
French woman at the expense Of I'm
Gle Sam. From here we motored to
Rheims, and spent the night, next
morning going through the Fort that
overlooks Rheims; then as a matter of
curiosity, into the Pomery wine eel
lars. They were originally caves, but
have been developed into an under
ground city, with twelve miles Of
streets, each one named after some
country, with ten million bottles of
champaign. The Cathedral is in q
|pitiful condition. Some work towards
its restoration seems to be doing, but
| doubt whether it can ever be re-
built to its former beauty. As / pass
through the little towns and see the
destruction, it seems that the Ger
mans desire was to especially de-
stroy Cathedrals. | suppose they
were the most prominent buildings in
these towns, and objects at which the
Germans could aim their onslaught.
From Rheims through the Argonne
Forrest to Verdun for the night; from
Verdun to Metz, and from Metz back
by different route to Reims. Most of
the territory covered was not adapt
ed to agriculture, but was covered by
beautiful forests. | had been led to
believe that nature had done a great
deal towards covering up the scars.
But when you go mile after mile and
see acres after acres of rolled barb
ed wire, across where the wire had not
been removed, mile after mile where
a tree is not left living, when stumps
a foot and a half to two feet through,
still remain as a reminder of the pow
erful force Of iron and gunpowder, the
land all torn with shells, pill boxes
everywhere, it seems i~nconceivable
that material could have been import
ed and transported to have accom-
plished what n yet sees as an evi
'dence of Cemetery after Gene
terry is passed; the Freach, the Amer
lean, the English, the Italian, all have
the white cross. The German graves
are marked by black crosses. AS you
understand, all this soil, when turned
up, is of white chalky substance. The
graves are all well provided for and
kept, and to eethese crosses upon
this white background cannot help
but produce to anyone a sadness that
is inexpressible. Romagne is our
largest cemetery, originally twenty
five thousand buried there. Eleven
thousand have been removed, but it is
being beautifully cared for, and will
some day be a beautiful cemetery, if
there a be such a thing as a beauti-
full cemetery. The Y. NJ. C. A. retains
a hut here to provide entertain
ment and what comforts are possible
for the parents who continually seek
this cemetery looking for some lost
one.
II is useless for me to 90 into any
great details Of the battlefields COW
cred within these six days. It would
only be a personal view and, as | have
said hofora vou can ha cr1v ,-~--..