AMERICA HOLDS
POWER BALANCE
Stull ('orrc I'liiiib nl Copyright.
IP In. |,\ I'nitiii Cross.i
WTII TIIK \ M KKK A N A KM V IN
KliANCK. July 1 thy muili. As the
world war enters its tilth year, the
lighting iotee> of America hold the
lisl.im ■■ ol potter In the greatest
snuggle itl tile time of 110111.
The righting men ol \merica have
been tried on the world's most his
torie battlefields, and have proven
that for bravery, lor stamina, for till
ol tiie tilings that it takes to win hat
ties, they need how to none.
The American in the field is a man
oi lighting heart.
lie represents America's balance of
power that will carry the democracies
ot tlic world to victory over German
autocracy.
lint butt this power is administered,
how it is equipped, how it is fed, how
it is clothed, how it is munitioned
lmw it is given "eyesight" by airplanes
that it shall not tight in the dark, how
it is nursed wh'en ill and wounded
upon these things depends the dis
tarn e to \ ictory.
No Pause Till Victory
it may tic near, or it may lie far,
and Americans, Frenchmen. Britishers
(and Germans) may know that the
American fighting man will not ion
aider his job done, until the Allied
cause is victorious. But the distance
is not to be measured by the resist
a nee of the German alone. Incom
potence at home, faulty leadership in
any of the branches dealing with the
war, is going to mean a longer path,
and a path dyed with American blood.
Representatives of America's bal
am e of power are arriving in France
by hundreds hourly. As this is writ
ten more than 1,000,000 men have
landed Kvery man brings the hour
id victory nearer, but the administra
tion. the leadership, must be behind
him
I have been with the Americans in
every important action to date, from
the first raids In Lorraine to the tak
ing of Cantingy in Picardy and the
second battle of the Marne. The men
taking part in these actions were from
every corner of the United States.
They ranged from newly enlisted men
to veterans.
Rut always there was the same
spirit, regardless of the difficulty of
the task or the hardships involved:
cheerful obedience of orders, anxiety to
get at the job and complete it. and
certainty of execution and then modest
dist lainicrs of having done any more
than was their duty.or more than any
Other Ameriean would have done.
In Training
I inline t lie early months of this
Vo ir. Hie Xmerieans ill frame were
merely training. Titey eoulil not tie
figured as real fighting units In the
intrii.it' game of trench warfare
firm, northwest of Toni, then on the
( In i iin I a - Dames, then near l.une
villo. anti later near Verdun and in
Alsace, American units appeared.
Tin > wen put in line with the french,
and soldier and officers alike learn
ed from their french instructors the
I ' tii • of tin- new war g title It was
an it I,smile ioh Losses \ ore almost
mine'.,u:l. heavy at Lrsi. Then
tin- \merii ms begun to h-.irn. They
h aieed how to take river during
sliell | ire. They leat n.-d v. hen to
keep quiei in oilier words when it
was to their advantage not It) shoot.
They hot atm- trained, reliable troops
Wh'-'i tin- gigantic German offensive
broke in Mart It stiine were put Iter
muitently into the litu- in the Itieurat
legion and norllivvest of Toul in the
place of from li divisions which were
rushed away to the hig buttle line.
Others followed the french, and In
l’lciirdy took their place in the line
which they still hold, and which they
extended by the capture of Gatitlgny
On the Marne as bright a page as
is to be seen in American history was
written by the Americans who
stopped the German advance there,
for live days they fought unceasingly.
They met the best divisions the Ger
man high command could throw
against them. All were turned back
Munitions carriers, ambulance men,
supply men—In fact, everyone
worked or fought day and night. It
was tlio extreme lest of \mericun
stamina to date, and was met glori
ole l> Tue best traditions of America
were more than fulfilled. The tier
man rush toward 1'aris was stopped
The morale of the french was raised
to new heights at the sight, and by
Iho story, of these Americans on the
winding Marne, Insisting even In the
face of the last extremity that the
German should not cross.
Changed Course of War
America paid a price* in lives of the
in-..i type ot men sin has to offer in
tin* cause of democracy in the lighting
nu thn .Marne Hut during those live
da> wIhmi a thin line of Americans
stood between the Herman and the
road to Paris, the entire course ot
the war tor the coming months was
changed. The \merican. despite his
lack of technical training, had won
for himself a place in the line of bat
, tie alongside flu* seasoned troops of
! the allies. He had demonstrated that
, the fighting instinct of the Ameii an
had only to stirred to respond. In
stead of requiring long periods of
training, he had shown that with the
institution he had received at home,
when he stepped from the transport
tc» French soil he was ready.
Oil the Marne the American proved
his worth as a stout hearted open fo ld
tighter, either on defense or offensive.
At Cantignv lie displayed his quali
ties as a “storm troop."
Then* was a vast difference between
the lighting at Cantignv and about
Chateau Thierry. On the Marne it
was. first, resistance against wave
after wave of advancing Hermans
coming across open country, through
waving wheat fields or woods Kvery
third man carried a machine gun The
American was forced to find such
cover as he could, also in the open.
From behind a rock or from a hastily
dug hole in the ground he poured his
rifle and machine gun fire into the
Boche lines. Then he fought his way
forward and drove the enemy from
his advantageous positions in Hour
caches and Bois de Belleau. Behind
the fighting man the munitions men
and wagons worked tirelessly to keep
him supplied Positions were con
stantly being changed Food was un
certain. But the American hung on,
and is there today.
D-U...-..:_f'_*:__
--y -
At Cantlgny the American showed
his adaptability to carefully-planned
movements. I witnessed a complete
rehearsal of the attack on Cantlgny
days before it actually toow place. It
was in a great open Held back of the
lines. French machine gunners
played I he hole of Germans. They
had their machine guns hidden in pits
and elsewhere in the field. Other
soldiers, forming a long line, waved
green branches of trees to represent
llte artillery barrage. French tanks
waddled across the field and took tip
positions corresponding to those they
were to take in the actual fight.
French .mil American officers cure
fully instructed tin- men w ho were
to make tlte attack as to just how
they were to follow the barrage, how
machine gun nests were to lie cleaned
out. ami how they were to work in
conjunction Willi t lie tanks Then
< line tile signal, tile soldiers “carry
ing'' tile barrage began waving the
green branches .tlte infantry and
tanks moved forward and the “Ger
man" machine guns began tiring. As
the barrage moved forward, lines were
reformed and tile advance continue.!.
Tilt nia-lime gun nest.- were cleaned
out in good shape, but the clever
French machine gunnels "put over"
one on the Americans that they did
not forget when it came to tlte real
battle.
Frenchmen in Tree
In the center of the mimic battle
ground was a tree, tine of the tanks
waddled slowly by and a detachment
ol infantry moved forward Then,
from apparently nowhere, a tierce rat
tle of machine gan lire hurst on the
Americans, The officer in charge of
the detachment knew that he was the
oretically wiped out. Kvery man
dropped to the ground for cover, as
he would In a real engagement, and
then looked for the machine gun. The
Frenchmen had mounted it in the'
tree. They had also withheld their
lire until the tank had passed, and
made Ilteir play for the men—nnd got
them The tank was signaled to come
hack to put a cannon shot into the
tree. This done, so that they were
theoretically destroyed, the French
men climbed out of the tree In glee.
When il came to the real fight, the
Americans were as cool as In the re
hearsal. They followed the tanks
over, and ran ahead of them in their
enthusiasm. The withering artillery
preparation had demolished the Ger
man trenches, but the Americans
went at the Job of “mopping up." and
clearing the village of any remaining
lloche in a businesslike fashion. Then
came the job of holding on.
Counter-attack after counter-attack
, was hurled against the new American
I
line The artillery lire wa* so hot
that ration parties could not come up.
there being no communication
trenches. For three days men and
officers had little sleep, food or water.
They lived on hardtack and raw bacon.
Itut limy held on \rid us the Ameri
cans on the Marne, they are there
today.
Confidence Boundless
The confidence ol the American sol
dier In his officers, in the oignni/-a
tion that is going to keep him led
and clothed. and in tlu- doctors who
are going to rare lor him when lie
is wounded, is boundless.
A wounded man arriving at a field
hospital or dressing station displays a
childlike eonlidence in the doctor who
fiends over him. If unspoken, writ
ten on the hoy's face there is always:
"Now everything is all right. Maybe
I have been without Bleep and
maybe I am tired; that's all over
now. Here's the man who will take
- are of me."
His wounds dressed, iiis blood again
I sent coursing warmly through Ills
veins, the hoy drops off to Bleep.
1 This confidence of the fighting man
in the organization behind him must
! mil lie shaken. As the number of
men in France increases the problem
ol food, clothing and medical atten
tion multiplies The groundwork of
meeting all of these problems has
been laid in France in the shape of
gigantic warehouses, railway lines
and vast docks at the seaboard. Fpon
the war organization at home falls
the burden of keeping them supplied.
Not All May Fight
In so far as man power is con
■ corned, if should also be remembered
that l.OuU.OOO men in France does not
mean 1,000,000 lighting men. Taking
a division as a unit, it requires ap
proximately 12,000 men and from 6,000
to 8,000 horses to keep 17,000 bayon
ets and artillery in the line Multi
ply this by the number of times 17,000
men you believe it will take to win
the war, and you can estimate the
total number of men who must be
transported and cared for
America’s infantry and artillery that
has been in action has made good.
The American fliers now on th- front
are using Frepch machines chiefly.
They have taken quickly to tb«- game.
German machines have been brought
down, arid German towns have been
bombed. But there are acres and
acres covered with French and Brit
ish hangars and airplanes in France.
On a single night I saw more than
100 French: planes leave one tieUb on j
a single bombing expedition. This is
a nightly occurrence, not only from
this field, hut from scores of others.
We have yet to show our power In the
air.
♦
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