Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-11-11

ward the front followed The
~ eastern edge of the Argonne
Richardson, enlisted driver
scarcely took his foot from the gas OF
the powerful staff car, running without
lights, from 2 until 6 in the morning
In these night hours traffic ahead was
discernible only by deepened buildings
of darkness: camions, rushing in the
opposite direction, we're identif1able by
a rising quick dying moan as each mo-
tor VIII zzed by.
Trouble came with daylight. Four
blowouts. in immediate succession east
of Grand Pre-, each one heart-break1ng
tinle-out in a race to overtake runa-
way American Army, which had set
out on November /. and was on this
Gay. Friday, November 8-ten years ago
lifting its legs out of the boys along
the Meuse and definitely planting them
in Sedan.
Between Grand Pre- and Champig-
neulle side road was taken to make
up lost time. Then another tire went
out, like the bursting Of she'll. Richly
damned on the brakes. Jack O'Don-
nell walked around and growled at the
delay.
Two or three yards away. perched on
fallen tree by the roadside, was a
motionless unit of the A. E. F. his feet
tucked up under him, elbows on kneeS,
cycling the machine.
All, there, buddy, give you a lift?"
Seid William Slavens (BilD McNutt,
magazine special writer of our party.
His idea of humor at the moment
II amt goin' nowheres," drawled the
doughboy. I'm stickin' right here
till the end Of the war"
Whats this about the end of the
WARP"
1T won't be long now" he replied.
"Tkat's what bozo said last night"
How long have you been here?"
''Since then"
'Hurt?"
Nope, just tired partner; just
tired
. He gazed off into the sky Eyes
which proved the truth of his fatigue
were riveted on something far away:
flock of airplaneS. flying high. and
coming, by calculation, from the d.
rection of Metz.
In few moments American anti
aircraft guns began to reach up for
them with Intellectual Shrapnel hands.
Reached and missed, time and again.
The Germans climbed, changed course
and came on.
81 reckon" the doughboy unused,
shat must be them now"
Friends of yours up there?"
Nope, they say the Boche is goin'
to send over planes with white flags
about time they was comm. Yep,
guess that must be them"
y * X X
TT meant nothing TO this soul-weary
buck private that the American
guns were pot-shotting at the invading
planes: it meant nothing to him to be
told that German peace commission
ers already had crossed the French
lines miles away on the Aisne, and
that the announcement of cessation of
hostilities would come in a normal way.
This was the story he had heard, and
he believed it-along with two or three
hundred thousand other doughboys of
the LIST and I'd American Armies.
Everywhere, in the next 48 hours,
speculative eyes we're raised heaven
ward when German flyers we're heard.
For hours it seemed that the con-
tribution of three certain correspond
ents to the literature of the wars end
would be highly exclusive interview
with a mentally incapacitated dough-
boy
Across this spot where we were ma
rooned the LIST American Army had
the most miraculous, headlong adj
vances of military history. At the
moment. somewhere to the north and
east, this LIST Army and the I'd were
desperately driving on toward the close
of the war. We knew that the terms OF
an armistice were being fixed and the
end would be proclaimed at any hour,
yet there we were, miles behind the
procession.
Finally over the hilltop, came Red
Cross car. It stopped-or rather, we
stopped it. Yes. the driver had a pump,
for lack of which we we're being held
up. We fixed up the tire and proceed
ed on our way.
Into Champigneulle and out again
on the route for Verpel. The road was
damned now. Battalions of men NOV
ing to and fro. Camions. Staff cars.
Guns. Red Cross cars. Munitions
trucks. Y cars. Ambulances-empty.
Anbulances-occupied. Rickety mule
wagons. Signal Corps equipment. More
men. Supply camions. Kitchen out
fits. with fires ready, moving along at
a snail's pace to catch up with the boys
they were supposed to feed, now miles
ahead and racing on and on.
Few evidences of war could be de-
tected in this region. In the run from
Champigneulle to Verpel, to Thenor-
CUES and on into BuZancy, we saw only
three freshly made graves. And yet it
was over this territory. north Of Grand
Pre-. that the men of the 77th Division
had raced noEthward few days before,
covering five miles in single day. and
then - like runners in relay race -
dropping out so that the men Of the
Rainbow Division could take up their
pace and push on for Sedan.
Correspondents cars. had permission
to break out of line and run forward
when an opening was afforded in OPP
posite traffic. hundred yards here,
quarter of a mile there, we gained
space-and time. Presently we got be-
hind huge munitions truck which had
taken position in the center of the
road and was inching along, blocking
everything Draped uncomfortably
over pile of sharp-edged boxes. in
the rear of the truck, hulk of
doughboy leered out at us. He made
no effort to signal his driver to move
to the right.
NOW, from behind, came the sharp
grinding call of staff cars horn
1t held a major general, whom rec
ognized as one who had won name
for harshness years ago in the Philip
pines. We squeezed over. The horn
sounded continuously, but the NUM-
tons truck held to its safe center ridge.
The doughboy did not move. Frantic
signals to him to notify his driver to
get of to the right.
Finally the generals car stopped.
That dignitary got down, and while
hts driver ran forward, he vented his
spleen by leaping on the back OF the
canton and, with two powerful jerks,
getting the doughboy out into the
road
Now walk" he screamed. Just
walk! don't care wherel Walk
We got into the wake of his car now,
and soon were in Buzancy. A good road