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Show I By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Fl i UROUGUOUT the United States No- 2 vember 11 Is celebrated ns Armistice I day because It was on November 11. V 1918, that hostilities In the World w war ceased. But Is It strictly accu- jgi rate to say that that date marked the "end of the World war"? Under n2gv one Interpretation of the phrase. It jiVKm Is not, for the war did not end for ,ne United States until July 2, 1021 PfcVp almost three years after President wjja Wilson, commander-in-chief of the tj&w American army, declared the war at an end on November 11, 191S, after ' ' ' Ihe army had been demobilized and the soldiers had returned to civilian life. Surprising Surpris-ing ns that statement may be, It has the authority of no less a person than the attorney general of the United States back of it. During the trying of a case In the court of claims In Washington recently, the attorney general argued rhat the war did not ofnrinlly end until Jujy 2, 1021. when the treaty of peace between the United States and Germany and Austria was signed. This set a woman lawyer, Nannie I.ee King, who was concerned con-cerned In the ca.se, to studying the records, and her findings, as reported in the Washington Star are ns follows: Armlstlcc-s were provided for In the law and customs of war amojg nations ndoptcd by The Hapue treaty. It was provided that the armistice could etate the terms of the contracting parties and what communications mlirht be held In the theater of war. The armistice of November 11, 1918, was signed In Marshal Foch's railway carriage. In the Forest of Complegne, at S a. m., Paris time (midnight, Washington time), by Marshal Foch and Vice Admiral Ad-miral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss. first lord of the Brltlnh admiralty, representing the allies and the United States, and by Mathlaa Erzberger, General von WInterfeld, Count von Obernoff and Captain von Salon, representing Oermtny. Cessation of hostilities was the first provision of the armistice of November 11,. 1918, but tt contained con-tained 35 agreements, all of which have been ful-: ful-: filled. It provided for evacuation of invaded coun- I tries, surrender of German war material, all sub- I marines, mines and destructions to be taken from j the waters; provided for reparations and return ; of ell of our prisoners of war and all of the prisoners pris-oners belonging to the allied countries. The press all over the land carried the glad tidings that the war had coma to an end. Appropriation act of June 15, 1917. appropriating money for the war, provided that enlistments un- dcr the selective draft act were for "time of war" I and that the war should be considered as having I terminated when the President ascertained the j fact and issued u proclamation to that effect. I Appropriation act of July 9, 1918, provided "that J no plan for the construction or extension of any I facilities shall be submitted to or approved by the I secretary of war hereunder after the existing state of war between the United States and Its enemies shall have terminated, and the fact of such termination ter-mination shall be ascertained and proclaimed by the President." November 11, 1318, President Wilson Issued a proclamation to the public, proclaiming the armistice, armis-tice, and said that "everything for which America fought has been accomplished," November 11, 1918, President Wilson also appeared ap-peared before a joint session of congresv to read the terms of the armistice to congress, and advised ad-vised the congress that "this tragical war, whose consuming flames have swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end." November 11, 1918, President Wilson, as commander-in-chief of the army, ordered all draft calls cnireJed and demobilization of the army which had been mobilized for time of war under the selective draft act, as congress had directed that the President should do when the war had come to an end! November 1G, 1918. General March, chief of staff of the army, advised the press that 200.000 men In military camps would be demobilized within two weeks and that demobilization would proceed thereafter at the rate of 30.000 a day. February 6, 1918, the War department announced that up to January 31, 1918, 236,824 men had been returned from France, and the department estimated esti-mated that 160.000 would bo returned In February. Because the armistice had ended the war on November 11, 1918. congress became busy with reconstruction re-construction legislation. March 2. 1919, the Dent ct was passed fir cancellation and settlement of contracts entered Into during the war prior to November No-vember 12. 1918. The act of July 11. 1919. prohlb-d prohlb-d expenditure of funds for land for military mps that had not been taken and In use on ovember n, 1918. March 3. 1921, congress repealed re-pealed all "war-time" legislation acts or parts of cts for tne emergency or time of war that remained re-mained In efTect for a certain length of time after "e waP nnd enJlj rinit'j l92l a trcaty wa signed between the united States of America and Germany and Audita. Aud-ita. Section 2 of this treaty referred to and made ir frml8llc of November 11, 1918, a part of the nh Rnd rC8ervd unto the United States and Its Junl 011 rlht acquired by the armlstlee. aut? 7,l92C' congress passed a Joint resolution nrnUi K knd d'rcctlng the President to Issue a NovaTnt,on annully for the people to observo dVtr, n 118 November II. 1918, ended the mot the n . ""KU-lnary nl far-reaching war in ef of humi" history and the resumption" Peaceful relations. dentVnmb, Z' 1926 anJ November 4. 1927, Presl-the Presl-the .. e lH8Ued proclamations, proclaiming her li, Ai J" M hav,n8 ended the war on Novero- Knt the official date of the "end of the World nnrttJ8 ",0t lhc only 8ubJect connected with our jurttc nation In the war over which there Is cause reinT SlDce A"nl8tlce W Is a day for iPPtioprlat to hKjuire Into the matter of who life WSE:- WW rP 1 Fismes, France. Rene Pheiizot, the first American soldier killed during the war, lies In the French National cemetery near Fismea. This photograph was taken during the special ceremonies In honor of the man who enlisted with the French Infantry and when the Americans Ameri-cans entered the war, transferred to them. He , was given the honor of being standard bearer for his regiment, and was killed. The flag Is his shroud now In this grave. 2 Harry Chapman Gilbert, Washington, D. C, first man drafted for service In the World war, died at Denver, Colo., on July 18, 1927, where he had gone seeking . recovery from tuberculosis. His draft number, 258, was the first drawn by War Secretary Baker In Washington on June 21, 1917. Gilbert's father is a former White House policeman who has served under eight Presidents. He retired about two years ago and went West with his son. Z Memorial erected at Arlington National cemetery cem-etery by Canada, in tribute to the Americans who s was the first American to make that sacrifice. The war department Is authority for the statement that the first war casualty was Dr. Louis J. Ga-nella Ga-nella of New Orleans, as witness the following Associated Press dispatch: New Orleans, La. Dr. Louis J. Gcnolla, a quiet mild-mannered physician who twice has Interrupted Interrupt-ed his work to go to war, has been notified by the War department that he wa's America's first casualty cas-ualty in the World war. Although forty-two years old when America entered the conflict, Doctor Gonclla was among the first to offer his services. Ho was too old for active fighting duty, the recruiting ofllcers told him, but was accepted for medical services. On June 1, 1917, he was on active duty In France, 19 days after his enlistment It was while rerv-ing rerv-ing with the British Second Northumbrian Field artillery, to which he had been assigned, that he received a fractured skull from a bursting shell. He was In the hospital for two months. As a young man Doctor Genella left Tulane university uni-versity to Join the American forces in Cuba. Hie father was wounded with the Confederates at Shl-loh Shl-loh and the family traces its soldier ancestry back to the ranks at Waterloo. Cut In trying to decide who was the "first American killed In the World war" one finds that the claim for that honor Is put forth In behalf of several men. The grave of one of them In a French cemetery Is shown In one of the Illustrations Illustra-tions above. Dut when the American Legion met in Paris two years ago. It was stated that the Legion had decided the honor belonged to Edward Mandell Stone of Chicago, who volunteered In the French nnny In 1914 and was killed on Feb- , ruary IS, 1015, nnd a delegation visited Stone's grave at Romllly-sur-Seine and placed a wreath on the wooden cross marker stating that he was the "First American Killed In the Great War" Although It Is generally stated that James Bethel Grosham of IivanRvllle, Ind., was the first American soldier (I. a member of the A. E. F) killed In action, "even that fact Is disputed and the claim for that honor Is put forth In behalf of a Massachusetts man. Gresham's right to the title Is based upon the fact that on the night of November 3, 1917, under cover of a heavy barrage bar-rage a German raiding party entered the sector occupied bv Company F of the Sixteenth infantry of the First division at Artols In Ixrralnc about ten miles east of Lunevllle, and Corporal J. B. Gresbnm and Privates M. D. nay and Thomas En- fought with Canadian regiments during the World war and died In action. A George W. Woodruff, a World war veteran who works In a butcher shop In Buffalo, N. Y 'has the unique distinction of possessing a picture pic-ture of his own grave In France, where the government gov-ernment gave him an official burial and erected a white cross with his name on It over his grave after he had been officially "killed In action" on October 23, 1918. Six months after Woodruffs return home with the A. E. F. his "widow" received a letter from the War department asking ask-ing her If she wanted her husband's body brought back to America or left in Flanders Field. George took it upon himself to answer this missive, saying say-ing that If It was all the same to them he would Just as soon let his body remain In France. The grave In France Is shown as it looks today. An official death certificate signed by General Pershing Persh-ing was sent to Mrs. Woodruff. His strange-experience became known recently when he applied for membership In the American Legion. 5 George W. Woodruff a. N5T ' right of this compnny were killed during the raid. There the French erected a monument which bears this Inscription "Here In Lorraine soil He the throe first American soldiers slain by the enemy Corporal J. B. Gresham of Evansvllle, Soldier Thomas E. Enright of Pittsburg, Soldier Merle D. Hay of Glidden. Worthy sons of their great and noble nation, they fought for right, for liberty, for civilization, ugninst German Imperialism, Imperial-ism, plague of mankind. They died on the field of honor." The Massachusetts man for whom the honor Is claimed Mas Oscar C. Tugo and that claim Is put forth by Carl E. Clifford, former commander of an American Legion post at Newton Upper Falls, Mass. An Interview with him, published In the Boston Herald recently, states: Mr, Clifford enlisted with the Harvard Medical unit (Case Hospital 5) and served overseas nearly two years with the organization, which wan attached at-tached to the British expeditionary Forces in northern Franco. On September 4, 1917. Base Hosplt-1 fi wai bombed by German airplanes. One ofTlcer and three enlisted men wen killed and several others wounded. This action constituted the first official American casualties in the World war. There has been some controversy over this matter mat-ter in tbo War department at Washington, but the matter was settled in 1921 when Mr, Clifford received a personal letter from President Harding, informing him of the correctness of this Information. Informa-tion. This letter was publicly read at the dedication of Oscar C. Tugo circle (Pasteur and Longwood' uvea), near the Harvard Medical school, In October, 1921. The dedication of this square In Boston In honor of the first enlisted man of the United States army to be killed in the World war, was attended by Surgeon General Ireland, Assistant Secretary of War Walnwrlght, Mayor Peters, General Edwards and Bishop William Lawrence. The naming of the "square" and the dedication exercises were under the personal direction of Mr. Clifford, who. though living In Brooltllne, N. H., 60 miles from Boston, was persistent tn his efforts to have the mmory of his comrade-in-arms fittingly fit-tingly remembered by the citizens of his native city of Boston. Said he: "To my mind It Is Important to estab-tlHh estab-tlHh the fact that it was a Massachusetts man who was tho first United States soldier to be killed in the World war History tells ua that Massachusetts Massachu-setts men spilled the first blood In the Revolutionary Revolution-ary war and the Civil war and their memories are fittingly observed by memorials, but uo one veomt to care about the World war." |