Part 19 (1/2)
NOVEMBER 11, 1918
(This letter was written by a young first lieutenant (colored) in the 366th Infantry, Company L, 92nd Division, Cleveland, Ohio.)
November 11th.
My dearest Mother and Dad:
Well, folks, it's all over but the flowers. Yesterday it was war, hard, gruelling, hideous. Today it is peace.
This morning I formed my platoon in line in the woods behind the line. They didn't know why. They were just a bunch of tired, hard-bitten, mud-spattered, rough-and-tumble soldiers standing stoically at attention, equally ready to go over the top, rebuild a sh.e.l.l-torn road, or march to a rest billet. At 10:45 I gave the command: ”Unload rifles!” They didn't know why and didn't particularly care. Then--”Unload pistols.” And while they still stood rigid and motionless as graven images, I read the order declaring armistice and cessation of hostilities effective at 11 o'clock. The perfect discipline of these veteran soldiers held them still motionless, but I could see their eyes begin to s.h.i.+ne and their muscles to quiver as the import of this miraculous message began to dawn on them.
The tension was fast straining their nerves to the breaking-point, so I dismissed them. You should have seen them! They yelled till they were hoa.r.s.e. Some sang. Others, war-hardened veterans, who had faced the death hail of a machine-gun with a laugh, men who had gone through the horrors of artillery bombardments and had seen their fellows mangled and torn without a flinch, broke down and cried like babies.
Tonight something is wrong. The silence is almost uncanny. Not a shot--not even a single sh.e.l.l. Very faintly we can hear the mellow tones of the church bell in the little French town on the hill far to our rear. All day long it has been singing its song of joy and thanksgiving. It seems symbolical of the heart of France, which, today, is ringing.
I don't know when I'm coming home, but when I do, I want a big roast turkey, golden brown, new spuds swimming in b.u.t.ter and cranberry sauce.
Love, JESSE.
SEA LYRIC
WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE
Over the seas to-night, love, Over the darksome deeps, Over the seas to-night, love, Slowly my vessel creeps.
Over the seas to-night, love, Waking the sleeping foam-- Sailing away from thee, love, Sailing from thee and home.
Over the seas to-night, love, Dreaming beneath the spars-- Till in my dreams you s.h.i.+ne, love, Bright as the listening stars.
A NEGRO WOMAN'S HOSPITALITY
LEILA A. PENDLETON
Mungo Park, a native of Scotland, was one of the first of n.o.ble, brave men who devoted the best years of their lives to Africa. In 1795, when he was only twenty-four years old, he went to West Africa to find the source of the River Niger. One of the drawbacks of the west coast is its deadly climate, and shortly after arriving at Kano young Park fell ill of fever and remained an invalid for five months. While recovering, he learned the language of the Mandingoes, a native tribe, and this was a great help to him.
He finally started with only six natives on his journey. Had he been older and wiser he would have taken a larger company. At one time they were captured by Moors and a wild boar was turned loose upon them, but instead of attacking Park the beast turned upon its owners, and this aroused their superst.i.tious fears. The king then ordered him to be put into a hut where the boar was tied while he and his chief officers discussed whether Park should lose his right hand, his eyes or his life.
But he escaped from them, and after nearly two years of wandering in search of the Niger's source, during which time he suffered many hards.h.i.+ps and had many narrow escapes, he returned to Kano, the place where he had been ill.
At one time during his journey Mr. Park arrived in the neighborhood of Sego, and as a white man had never been seen in that region before, the natives looked upon him with fear and astonishment. He asked to see the king, but no one would take him across the river, and the king sent word that he would by no means receive the strange traveler until he knew what the latter wanted.
Park was tired, hungry, and discouraged and was preparing to spend the night in the branches of a tree when a native woman pitied him. She invited him into her hut, and with the hospitality for which the natives are noted, shared with him her food. By signs she made him understand that he might occupy the sleeping mat and as she and her daughter sat spinning they sang their native songs, among them the following, which was impromptu and composed in honor of the stranger: