FRANCE WOULD KEEP THEM FOREVER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14495, 5 January 1918, Page 9

FRANCE WOULD KEEP THEM FOREVER.

"In the name of the th Division, hi the name of the French Army and m the name of France," he said, "I bid farewell to Private Enright, Private Gresham and Private Hay of the American Army. "These graves, the first to be dug m our national soil and' but a short distance from the enemy, are as a mark of the mighty land we and our Allies cling firmly to m the common, task of confirming the will of the people and the army of the United States to fight with us to a finish,-ready to sacrifice as long as is necessary until final victory for the most noble of causes that of the liberty of nations, the weak as well as the mighty. Thus the deaths of these humble soldiers appear to us with extraordinary grandeur. "We will therefore ask that the mortal remains of these young men be left here, left with us forever. We inscribe on the tombs: 'Here lie the first soldiers of the Republic of the United States to fall on the soil of France for liberty and justice. 5 The passer-by will stop and uncover his head. Travellers and men of heart will go out of their way to come here to pay their respective tributes. "Private Enright, Private Gresham, Private Hay, m the name of France I thank you. God receive your souls. Farewell!" : OVATION TO ARTILLERYMEN. To the tune of "The Campbells Are Coming" the first American artillery | unit to engage the enemy came back to its billets N yesterday afternoon. Tho artillery had a longer stay at the front than the infantry, and both men and horses were tired, muddy and wet with the rain that beat upon them as they came into the village near where they are stationed. When they readied the village the entire command drew up on a hillside, ahd a gun covered with camouflage paint was' brought out m front. On its shield an artilleryman »had written m chalk: "The first gun for the Germans." Their colonel told them the villagers wished to do honor to the gun and its crew and to the American Army. The children placed a wreath over the barrel of the gun and a bunch of wild flowers inside the empty case of the first shot fired. . The regimental band played both the American and French national anthems. After this brief ceremony the troopers dismounted and, to the embarrassment of many of , them, the townspeople embraced . them affectionately.