The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-06-19
CHAPTER XIII


William G. Sharp and Lord NOrthcliffe,
went by special train from Paris De-
cember 4, 1917, to our training area,
stopping at my Chaumont headquar-
tiers en- route.
On the train i had an interesting
conversation with Lord Northcliffe of
the British air board regarding the
formation of an American army and
its transportation overseas. Lord
Northcliffe thought his government
should do more to help with shipping,
but, like most Englishmen. he be-
lieved il best for US to send our men
for service with the British. He ar
gued in favor of proposal that Lloyd
George had recently made to Mr.
House. that we should incorporate in
their units any infantry that we might
not be able to organize Immediately
into complete divisions of our own.
1T is all very WE'LL" said, ito make
such an appeal to US, but it is impos-
sible TO ignore our national viewpoint
The people themselves would not ap-
prove, even though the President and
his advisers should lean that way. We
cannot permit our men to serve under
another flag except in an extreme
emergency, and then only temporarily"
| also insisted that we would con-
tribute more largely to allied success
by the use of the American army as
a unit.
Hits Fault Finders.
About this time Mr.. House told me
that Petain had criticized the Ameri-
can ideas of training and also that
Louis Loucheur. minister of munitions
had spoken about the rise in prices
caused by American purchases. Mr.
House wisely suggested to these gen.
tlemen, be said. that matters of this
kind were for me to settle
called without delay on NJ Glenn
enceau and told him of the reports
and explained my understanding about
training agreements with Petain and
also the steps that had previously
been take by the purchasing board,
in cooperation with his own bureaus.
to prevent the rise in prices. | also
to-, him that French dealers were
largely to blame if prices had risen.
as we had eliminated competition
among ourselves and that our pur-
chases were and had been for some
time actually handled through French
officials.
| objected to these back-door meth
eds of lodging complaints and empha-
ca hn ifu IF FRO nd
directness in all our dealings. / asked
him to give instructions that If there
was any fault to find with our meth
DDS it should be brought to my per-
sonal attention. He entirely agreed
with me and expressed chagrin and
surprise that any other course had
been followed. On the face of 1t there
was no other conclusion, however, than
that both complaints were made for
the purpose of finding out just the ex-
tent of my independent authority.
Gets Apology From Petain.
I took occasion few days later to
let Petain know very politely what
thought of the improperly of this sort
of thing and also criticized him then
and there for telling anybody, even
Mr.. House. as he had done, about the
plan to attack the st. Mihiel salient
as the first offensive by the American
army. | was pleased with Petain's
apology and his statement that there
would be no further action of this kind
on his part.
AS a matter of fact, l think the
French enormously regarded House as
a sort of special ambassador, and
thought that they could lay the foun-
dation for an approach through him
to the question of amalgamation.
Just before his return to the States
House said to me that be entirely
agreed with me, and that he felt sure
the President and secretary of war in
tended to leave the whole question re-
garding the disposition of our troops
to my judgment. Assurance on this
point was in no sense necessary. as
had full confidence that this was the
case.
During his stay in France l formed
a high opinion of Houses ability. We
formed a friendship in the beginning
which enabled US to discuss all mat
tiers most freely and frankly. Before
he left for home he and | arranged
for confidential communication by
cable should it become necessary to
reach Mr. Baker or Mr.. Wilson direct
The Missing Turkeys.
Immediately upon my return to
headquarters at Chaumont December
z. 1917. General Hartford reported
there had been a shortage of turkeys
and other essentials of a truly Ameri-
can Thanksgiving dinner, and in a
facetious manner deplored the heart
lessness of a staff at Washington that
would so neglect our troops.
He stated that the shortage was due
to these supplies, which had been or
dered in September for delivery No
vember l, being buried under a large
cargo that could not be unlOaded in
time. The following cable was sent
as written by Hartford:
ION September Is supplies for
Thanksgiving were ordered. Your
cablegram stated mincemeat shipped
on Montanan. There was no mince-
meat on Montanan. Mincemeat ar
rived November % on Powhatan, un-
derneath heavy cargo, which ii was
necessary to discharge before mince-
meat could be unloaded. Result
mincemeat aboard ship Thanksgiving
day. Sweet potatoes arrived on Da-
kotan and could not be unloaded IN
til November %; result. some troops
did not have sweet potatoes. 1t was
nnapSSaru 70 INV ,raoSn RI raoDi