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Show President Poincare Makes Official Entry Into 'Recovered' City. PETAIN HONORED j Yankee Troops Cheered fey Happy Throng; Take Part in Celebration,, METZ, Sunday, Dec. 8. After giving hearty greetings io the French troops three weeks ago, Melz today received President Poincare and representatives representa-tives of every branch of the French government. The enthusiasm shown wns more than significant. In the first surprise ai again finding find-ing themselves French, tho people of Lorraine were unable to express their emotion. Thoy now have become fam- ) iliar with French uniforms and French ; martial music has been heard every J day since the first entrance of Gen- ' eral Mangin's army. They have be-' come accustomed to French occupa 1 tion which, true to the military sp'irit 1 for which they are famous, they thor-oughly thor-oughly enjoy. t The visit of President Poincare and representatives of the French govern-' menl meant more than military occu-1 pation. The people of Metz looked (upon it as a sort of official entry into possession of the city. They approved ' of it by the presence of a. throng that continually cheered President Poincare Poin-care Premier Clemenceau. Marshals I Joffre. Foch and Petain and Field Marshal Haig and General Pershing, who wore Included in the official parly that assembled here today. All the bunting in- Metz was flying whpn the presidential train pulled Into the station a. little after 9 o'clock. The streets were as crowded as it was possible pos-sible to allow. TIip girls of Metz, wearing their national na-tional costume, were banked on both sldps of the street from the station to tho Esplanade. Behind them were packed men and women carrying tho French flag and wparing artificial tricolor tri-color bouquets in default of real flowers. flow-ers. Shouts acclaiming the president, the country and the general officers could bo heard from streets long before their carriages approached in sight. Accordingly Ac-cordingly along the square of the esplanade es-planade where great grandstands crowds covered the housetops and filled the windows, giving the visitors a heart welcome. Marshals Joffre, Foch andPetain and Generals Pershing Persh-ing Faoll'e and Gouraud received the warmest greetings when they were recognized re-cognized by the great throng. A notable feature was the presentation presen-tation of the baton of a field marshal to General Petain, announcement of whose elevation to field marshal was 1 made last month. The crowd gave a I tremendous cheer when the president handed the baton to the marshal and another as Premier Clemenceau advanced ad-vanced to give tho noted soldier the accolade. But tho enthusiasm which seemed to then have reached its limit, took another upward bound when President Poincare embraced Premier Clemenceau. The ceremony took place on tho esplanade es-planade in front of the stuate of Marshal Mar-shal Ney. The 131st regiment of the 33rd division of the American arrav was drawn upon one side and the famous marines in front. Other French troops formed the other side of the rectangular space. The American troops had tho honor of leading the line during the review and "The Star Spangled Banner" was wildly cheered as the regiment marched march-ed by in columns of eight in faultless style. The marines of Dixmude whose fame had reached Metz even during hostilities, provoked fresh outbursts of cheering as did the passage of various sections of the troops in review. The societies of Lorraine bands of men and women, young and old filed through the streets during the morning morn-ing singing' tho "Marseillaise" thus adding to the general enthusiasm. METZ, Dec. 8. President Poincare today in the presence of a large crowd on the parade ground here presented General Henri Philippe Petain with the baton of a marshal of France, thus carrying out formally the elevation of General Petain, the announcement of which was made last month when h.e entered Metz. Great enthusiasm prevailed pre-vailed during tho presentation of the baton and later when the troops of the garrison passed in review. President Poincare was accompanied by Premier Clemenceau, M. Dubost, president of the senate and Paul Des-chanel, Des-chanel, president of the chamber of deputies. To witness the event Marshal Mar-shal Foch, Marshal Joffre, Field Marshal Mar-shal Sir Douglas Halg and General Pershing made tho Journey to Metz. PARIS, Doc. 9. (Havas) General Mangln will enter Maynco (the French bridgehead .on the Rhine), this week at the head of Uie Thirteenth and Forty -third divisions, each unit of which has been cited for bravery. In order to meet ihe wishes of various var-ious units which desire to enter Alsace-Lorraine and the Rhine provinces prov-inces the government has decided, according ac-cording to the Echo de Paris, change from time to time the troops in the occupied oc-cupied region. French troops will bo sent to the Rhine bridgehead' and into the Palatinate arid tilso into the American Amer-ican sphere of occupation where troops will be relieved later by others. oo |