Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1927)
AMERICAN FIELDS OF v I HPNOB OVRSAS (ContinmeA from pe 1.) ' - , Romagne. and sometimes to ! the ricbt of it where units of the 33 had been ia and outand where, unit of the 5th were driving labead. And w pa w hujsumj r. . ooat of Romnne. astride the old Cuuei iwui i d" American Military Cemetery In mnce was later established, and j,ere that 30,000 American. Leg ionnaires will come on their sa cred pilgrimage thU fall to j the graves of their comrades in France. probably the artillery support o Sle Third Division laid - U first Vjlied sheTT on this hillside, and perhaps the first Americans to set foot there were from the Third; yet perhaps again they ere from tie 32nd. It Is an odd circumstance that the map of this operation hows that one. of the few instances of lost contact be tween divisions serious enough and sustained enought to be re corded, occurred right here east of Romagne in the fighting of the J4th and 15th of October Be ween the right wing of the 32nd And the left wing of the Stir there as a ap. and that gap Is where Romagne cemetery stands today. By October 16th the left wing of the 5th had swung over and es tablished contact, and perhaps the rth division can best claim the capture p fthat particular terrain The details of this military his tory matter not so much. In the Mpuse-Argonne battle there -was lory enough for all, and those were three divisions out of 21 1 which fought ihere. suffered great losses there, and achieved a great rictory. It is worthy of record, bow ever, that when the men of the 89th Division were coming up late in October, to relieve the 32nd and make the final push of the great 45 day battle, the commont fre quently was heard among the ad vancing troops "Those hoys cer tainly built a Jot of nice ceme teries." 1 ; Sounds casual, doesn't it? But t meteries. in the nature of things were casual matters in thos days. iSJath was an hourly companion. Vyliiirial was when and where it might be, with just as much of mple reverence and care as the rent allowed. Little cemeteries il.pre were, wher numbers had fallen close at hand, and scatter ing graves there were, and some .ort of a cross on each grave, and ; imie nuai aisK iney called a doe tab," and maybe a helmet hung upon the cross. But the 32nd h;id notably neat and orderly Ut- tlp cemeteries, dotting the road sides, oh so often, as you came y.p toward Romagne-Montfaucon on those late October days of if is. Somebody, somehow, had found time to collect a little wire ; ! rence in the plots. Somebody, somehow, had found ways to Ted an extra slab and mark there on that (his was a cemetery of the 32nd Division. Someway the. tired rain-soaked, doggedly faithful liv ing had found a way, at God knows what weariness and risk, to give a little more than the sim plest soldiers burial to the? glor ious dead; One noticed it, even during the age long, heavy hiking. as one came up. over; what they called roads, to take ' a place in that: battered hut ever admiring line, to take a place tomorrow maybe, under one of the make shift, crosses. r j . " ' - "Those boys certainly built :a nice lot of cemeteries." '? .- ; There was perhaps no real con nection between the notable ef forts of the boys of the 32nd to build nice temporary cemeteries on their battlefields, and the la ter selection: of the hillside outside Royigne as the site' of the grer permanent American cemetery ol the whole Meuse-Argonne battle area. When the last shell had been fired and the last of the bat tle dead hurried, If so happened that the crossroads at Romagne was an exceptionally central point, and a most generally accessible point, of the many miles of area between the forest and the river, between Vanquois ; and Sedan There the battle - dead from 21 American divisions were reverent ly assembled. From there, a very great number of them started the last homeward journey to a final resting place in the United States. And there fourteen thousand, one hundred and seven of them rest today, and for the ages, while the rolling hillside has been made green, and the flag of their coun try floats always in the breeze and white maifble crosses stand I row on row in perpetual memory or all which they have given. And there 'The Second A. E. P." will pay reverent homage this Septem ber. And those .. later boys of the Graves Registration Service cer tainly, built a nice cemetery. Most people nowadays go to Romagne from Verdun, which could not have been done in 1918 because the German army would not let you. The American rail head for the Argonne battle was at Bar-le-Duc, southwest of Ver dun, and narrow gauge lines came from there, and from St. Mene hould. The main line to Verdun and on to Metz is of course re stored now, and better traveling than to change and go to Gun Doulcon. -which is but six miles from Romagne. Verdun is 20 miles and you can get autos at either place," so why not choose the storied cltidel where the flow er of France stood and died in or der that "they shall not pass." The -signs of .the battlefields are disappearing, except at places like Montfaucon, where they ere pur posely preserved. The plow is on the country again, and where it is not plowed, weeds grow up and cover old rpjns. But. as it loses the warlike desolation, the land grows lovlier, and at the great before the decade ago. to the visit- the American cemetery there has been planting and care, and the: brown hillside is green under its white crosses. The tree, will ; be quite attractive next summer,' in a land where no trees stood EheU fire less than a It will be a revelation; lng Legionnaires. . i Many Americans '. come to cemetery, especially in the sum mer months; Next September the whole American Legion conven tion will come there, and men will move among the crosses tp: find a well remembered name,! and say, "He" was tbe corporal of my squad you know;. , Went through all tHe hell in "the woods,' clear up to Grand-Pre. . When " they counter attacked he wouldn't leave last time I saw him he lay back of a piece of wajl, plugging away at 'em. : Said he was hit In the leg and couldn't, run. Thjnk maybe he was just stubborn. We found him there when we got back Into the town." ' 4 There are more than1 ' fourteen thousand such tales to be told at Romagne cemetery. They over whelm you when 'you stand and look across the pld hills, at the green slope and The crosses.' Each one of them died for oh so many things. -; ; ' This spirit of our greatest field of honor overseas quite belittles the casual facts about the ceme tery, the guide book facts you might call them. The cemetery is only 150 miles from (Paris' (how far it seemed when we first came that way) but 72 miles from Rheims and a little farther from Chateau Thierry. You can gq from any of these places by rail or motor. There is- a nice rest house maintained by the -Graves Regis tration Service of the Army, with two or three sleeping rooms if yon care to stay the night. Certain grey-haired women sometimes stay, wanting to see the sUnrise, and the sunset, and go out again to stand or kneel by a certain cross for a long time. Casual topic ists will not stay so' long, as there are higher points from which to see the battlefields, and there is nothing worth ' the mention at the town. It was never much but a cross-roads farming village. In, the fall of 1918 after we took it, an M. P. stood at the cross roads, by the public wash house, and di rected traffic, and a rolling kiteh en found a little shelter under what was left of the wash house oof. But it will (be different this September. Plans , of the, American Battle Monuments Commission call for a handsome chapel at the cemetery, to cost $300,000 land for finishing the stone wall all the way around, and more" trees and flowers, It will be a very lovely place, as it is already a very sacred place, one of the most sacred tor 'American, outside their own country!, The Stars and Stripes flies from the hilltop, it is the first thing you see coming from, any direction. and seeing, it there you realise' it is the handsomest flag in all the world. . r - . . Tt The. cemetery, ia. plain.' and well ordered, the graves close together, the crosses In perfect " lines, the walks of crushed bright stone. The permanent' marble crosses " will soon be In place, ' Meanwhile tBe wooden ones have been kept fresh ly painted. There' Is' no distinc tion of rank among our soldier dead, as" at Arlington or our other military cemeteries at home, , A colonel's cross ' and a private's cross are the same, and almost the first decision of the Battle Monu ments Commission was that this should never be changed, j There will be no special monuments for Individuals. Even the official lists Jn the rest house are not' made up by rank. TJjey are alphabetically arranged and. also by military or ganizations. From them any grave may easily ;be found at once. The name, rank, organization, heme state and date of death are on each cross. And the. crosses iden tical, except that the Star of Dav id and not the cross is the mark er fOf those, of the Jewish faith.. Romagne will be the chief cem etery visited by the American Leg ionnaires this fall, for almost ev ery American combat division is represented in' those silent ranks, rue aead gathered there came from many miles around. There is a little group of Unidentified. Known but to God" say their crosses, and there wilFbe a tablet in the chapel for thosesyet "Miss ing." But most of fhe crosses have divisional numbers, the divis ions in the Meuse-Argonne battle being the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 26th, 28th, 29th. 32nd, 33rd. 35th, 37th, 42nd, 77th, 78th, 79th 80th, 81st. 82nd, 89th", 90th and 91st, and units from others. The dead of the 2nd and 36th from Som- mepy and Mont Blanc, to the left of the Argonne, are gathered here too,! and here and there Is the - . v . . . name of an outfit of non-combat-tant" troops, service units 1 from which these men literally raii away that they might go to the front and "join up with the war." Forty-four German divisions op posed those 211 American Outfits at one stage or another of the final battle of the war"". There were nine American divisions - In line at the beginning! and several of them were relieved and then went in again, while Others that had proved their mettle, were call ed out and sent up to Flanders to help the Belgian and i French ar mies In' the final smash there. And all of -these have left their soldiers under the crosses at Ro magne.' j " The government is more than forfilling its promise "to those who chose that their" beloved dead should rest forever on the fields of glory .where they fell. Romagne is hallowed ground, and every care is being given ft. It is ' a land of memory and to it many Ameri cans to give their tribute of re membrance. , It is a fitting place for the Le gion's pilgrimage. This is the last of the five ar ticles on American! cemeteries abroad. ' MAJESTIC TREES REMAIN iSTANDING ( Continued from ipajr 1.) economic use. The Save The Red woods League is now at work to preserve 15,000 acres of redwood forest in its wild state and is re ceiving the .sympathetic coopera tion of timber owners, according to the American Forest Week committee. At the same time, the commit tee emphatically directs public at tention to the fact hat the paost extensive and thoroughgoing com; mercial reforestation project in America is under way in the red wood forest, thus assuring . the ' commercial as well, as scenic per- petuajtjpn of. a forest Vhose enor mous area would invplve tremen dous economic waste were it to be entirely preserved in its primitive state. The redwood operators are aid ing natural reforestation by plant ing as high as 30,000,000 young redwood trees a year. Among the major redwood lumber companies definitely committed to reforesta tion, are the Union, Mendocino, Pacific, Hammond, Glen Blair, Albion, Northern Redwood and Little River Redwood companies. There are redwoods which have attained a height, of from 325 to S50 feet and a diameter of more than 25 feet. They belong to the most ancient species of tree in the world, the Sequoia, being cousins of the giant Sequoias of the Sierra Nevada range which are no longer lumbered but preserved as rare natural monuments. The age of both varieties of the Sequoia is one of the wonders of the natural world. Some of the big trees are known to be over four thousand years old. Although the Pacific Coast for est region is much less in area than the combined area of the other two main forest regions, its timber stands are so dense and so heavy that' Oregon, Washington and California hold about half of the volume of standing commer cial saw timber in the United States. The Pacific Coast produces ap proximately 31 per cent of the. entire lumber produced in the United States and the manufac ture of forest products is steadily increasing as the cut in the south em states declines and manufac turing enterprises move westward Washington and Oregon lead all other states in the amount of lum ber cut annually with California. coming fifth. California, it is interesting, to note, is the largest lumber consuming state in the Up on. ' The per capita consumption of' lumber in the -Pacific, Coast states as a wliole," according to the American Forest Week committee, is around 1000 feet, while . in the rest of the United States it aver ages only 300s feet. This is due principally to the large amount of Individual homes' built on the coast. ; - ' tn the three Pacific Coast states between 75,000,000 and 80,000,- 000 acres were .originally 'forest land, of which 40,000,000 are still virgin. Twenty million acres have been cut or burned over. On the greater part of the forest lands of . this Tegion. natural re production is easy and abnndant. the American Forest Week" -com mittee says, it if ire Is excluded during and after logging, advance young growth protected from in jury and seed trees left. The rate at which timber grows, In the red wood belt of California and In the better portions of the Douglas fir belt in Oregon and Washington is not exceeded in any other portion of the United States, according to foresters. It is significant, the American Forest committee feels, that on the Pacific Coast where the orig inal timber supply Is the greatest, the largest organized industrial group engaged in perpetuating forests, the Western Forestry and Conservation association, is at work. Cooperating with the Western Forestry and Conservation asso ciation is the Long-Bell company a southern lumber company only recently established in the state of Washington. This company be gan. reforestation-almost as soon as the cutting of timber was be gun. The Long-Bell company's mill at Longview, Wash., i inci dentally said to be the largest lumber mill in the world." The Weyerhaeuser Timber coni- pany, representing tne largest timber i ownership In the world. also cooperates -with, the associa tion and has organized a forestry company of its own to look after its cut-over lands. ; Other companies', working with the Western Forestry and Conser vation association;' in addition to the redwood , operators ; aireaay mentioned y Include : ' The ' Michi gan-California, Fruit Growers Supply, Clover Valley, Standard, W. P. Pickering, , Red River v Booth-Kelly, Hammond, Chevlln Hixop,' Pondosa Pine,' Potlacb, Boise-Payette, West Fork, St. Paul & Tacoma," Clarke County, Pol- son lagging. lKnovan-joraery, Simpson Logging, Shaefer Brotn- ers r Logging, z worinwesiern uj CtAiiininnc tumtwr oTnna.nies.: BIG FRANCE LEGION - PARADE PLANS OUT (Continued Jron pra 1.) ' Royale and into the. Grand Boule vards. The parade will lead along the Boulevards ' (Madeliene; des Italiens;PoissonIere; past the ojd stone gate of Port St. Denis and then south along the boulevaTjl des Sebastopol; to the Rue Riven I and then west to the Jardin des TTuilleres. in the heart of the fa- French capftaL Here the veterans will disband. . ? "i - The great number of musicians, and bandsmen' that ' Tiave made reservations and the international aspect of the "parade promise"; to make it the most colorful in the history of national Legion con ventions. V v M Patton Bros, have on display the latest in Faster Cards. Make your choice from a beautiful and varied selection one of the best displays of greeting cards " ever shown In Salem. 340 State St. () 6.67 I N O R EG O N S GREATEST PUBLIC U T I L IT Y FRIENDLY Watch Your Mopey One of the chief drawbacks about many . investments which are offered you is that you don't know whether your money is actually working for you or not except, of course, on dividend dates. But, when you buy $6.00 First Preferred Shares of this Cpmpany You Jiardly; have to stir out of your chair to test your in vestment i i When you ride u0 the elevator v When you switch on your lights When you. turn on the electric heater When mother uses the electric range the percolator the electric toaster the vacuum cleaner the; electric iron- ; "f You Know Your Investment Is Safe and Is Working for You These shares sell for $90.00 a. share, cash or easy terms. The yield is 6.67. ! It will pay you to investigate this opportunity today! . " ! Investment Department ;I 237 North Liberty Street, Salem, Oregon . . ' , Portland Electric Power Co1. Division Offices at : Salem, Oregon City, Gresham, Hillsboro and St. Helena, Oregon, : ' - ; " ; and .Vancouver, Washington ' . .:' of I w 1 UPMOUSTERED FOMMltORE ET UBi bring the spirit of spring into your home with an attractive new upholstered suite, we are now showing some very attractive designs some with carved mahogany frames. They are the products of the fore most upholstering factories on the coast. In our widely varied selec tion there is a model to suit every taste. . n 'Ult uiiMiMuiiiMUMimiiimmiii i I n in nm I nnm mil ibimi uirinim iniimiimii v i a ''j ji 1 1 y 7 'i "f "li" ""' ' f '"iiYii'U 1 7) ' SPRING SPECIAL Davenport and Chair, covered ail Qver ip mohair dJOO An attractive two-piece suite at a low price ... WvP upjjgi A FEW OUTSTANDING VALUES Mohair Davenport and Fireside Chair with reversible Cl 1 Q ?fl cushions. Regular value $167.50. Special.. V JllleUU Davenport covered with mohair and velour, Regular value $135.00. Special ............,..: . Large size Jacquard Velour Davenport. SDecial .i . - -. Mohair Davenport with reverse cushions. Semi-kidney: shape. Regular value $200.00. Special . Kroehler Davenport with carved mahogany frame . . , : Bed Davenport, complete with mattress. SDecial '. ; . . .... Many other equally attractive values are on display in bur show rooms. Be sure and see them. TUFTLESS MATTRESS $98.50 $67.50 $159.50 $149.50 $119.50 SEALY TUFTLESS MATTRESS During this special sale $55.00 genuine Sealy Mattresses will be sold for this very low price. v. ?' 5Q 10 Place your order now w..-:. yJ5wU 340 Court Street ji... liLER E I S- NO SUB ST I TUT E f F O R .-. M" E L EiC.T It j C I,T Y