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Show I SEC. BAKER BACK I FROM THE FRONT Full of Confidence in Ability of Gen. Foch Sees Great Preparations. WASHINGTON, kprll L7 Stal H iho work ahead of bin by personal knowlt-rlxp of ronditlons at the bnttli H fronts in Europe. Secretary Baker re- : H turned to his desk at the war depart- ' H ment last night from his trip abroad . H There Ls no doubt that he bellev.- adequate meaaorea to checkmate ii" t'.erman effort will come out of the H pooling ot all allied ami American re- sources under the command of Gen- H eral Foch. the Impressive French com- mander-in -chief H Officials faralliar with the eircuni- stances of his conferences with the H British and French authorities and, H with Generals Bliss and Pershing n - H card it as a most fortunate thing that I he was on the scene when the Ger- 1 H man blow was si nick. His presence j H serVed lo expedite greatly the deel- H ion to pool all allied r sources in men H md munitions Baker Approved. H The prompt action of General Fersh-'j H ing in placlnc his men at General ' H Foch's disposal la know.- to have met H with Mr liter's hearty approval. The H French general made a deep impres- H y sion upon the secretary, who is known H to share fully President Wilson's be- H lief that victcry can only spring from H unified command under such a H leader. During his r.. Mr. Baker visited H Fnsland. 1-ranee and Italy and saw H the battle fronts, he has been in H the American front line trenches un-H un-H der fire; once a German shell ex- , H ploded close to his automobile, and H on another occasion he stood in the H window of a battered buildinp behind H the allied line to watch high-power H missiles tear great craters in a field H leaa than a hundred yards away. H While the Picardy was In its open-H open-H ing stages, his partv passed alone the whole British line, covering 200 miles H in two nights and a day of motor-H motor-H ing. Later Mr. Baker saw another phase H (A war. In Italy he visited Venice H He found it a deserted city; its streets, H and canals, flanked by palaces and art H works of priceless value, were de-H de-H serted An occasional soldier and here j H and there a lingering civilian were the H only people of whom the party caupht I sight. Only one store, a lace shup. H was noted by me party as being open.( H To the few persons who remain in H Venice, the American consul has be-1 H come guide and helper The American I Red Cross is carinc for them through I ReturnJ on Liner. I Mr. Baker sailed for Europe on an i I American cruiser. He returned on a H famous liner, formerly German, but I now an American transport. Tlx only! I incident was a radio call yesterday I from a burning steamer, which the I transport chanced her course to an- swer. Otherwise the party would have ' I landed twelve hours sooner. When he reached France, the war1 secretary placed himself In the posi-j I lion of an American soldier. Just ar-I ar-I rived at the coal of his ambition "over I there." He wanted to know exactly I what preparations had been made for I the care of the men from the time they arrived. He knew what the gov-j I ernment was preparing to do on this' Beclnninc nt the debarkation ports.! Mr. Baker and his party, undi r the cuidance of General Pershinc's off!-. I r rs. followed the life of an American I I soldier in France step by step, until H ihey arrived in an advanced listening: H post in front of the American lines. Turning back, the party followed the wounded men through the iiressmc stations, over the ambulance paths and into the vast network of Ameri can hospitals that have been erected There probably SO per cent of all those wounded in action will be restored to such an extent that they will return to duty. It is. only the remaining 20 per cent who will be sent home to be fared for and reeducated by the government, gov-ernment, not to be returned to civil life until they are fully able to support sup-port themselves and places have been found for them Sees Operations. The wholr vast project of American operations was mapped out beforr- ihe H secretary. It represents one of the H createst undertakings any nation has H over encaged in, and ven to the man under whose hands have passed all the H plan, it was amaz'nc because of its ' bisneai a;.; tn thrrough workman- Ilk way in whirh General Pers'ilnc and his officers nt" d'inp their great Jcb. The figures of the task are astound int.. i hose who w.'.i v.ith Mr Bake I o ei the whole complicated system thai it; being Ut up taj that lis ,i cannot be grasped except when it is RCtualt) sedi. In Lkfl sincle item of wnrOiouses for Amariuan supplier in MOrace behind the 1 'es an almosl i.n h)tOVttble project Is beinc rapidly completed, if all the warehouses were lr.in together. tliCS would strew!; f-om Washington to Nr. York as one ust vault of war male- lnls In reser.'e Hundreds of mites t-f fallwaj have beer laid, docks and jrilicn construct-r,l construct-r,l i, MM today transports have made the round trip to PYnuCe In sixteen c'.tys. ysninsf the sixty or seventy lays tt ti ok st often during the winter. Mr. Baker returned more than ewr lontldent of the capacity and Judg nienl ol General Pershing for the great burden of reMponslbili'.:. he is benrinu. Thr American eomniar.der Is said to he enveloping and broadening even ss hi pi my he Is building is expanding-Visited expanding-Visited School. Purine his visit to the American st tor. FitreUry Bakei Bpent some tun at an artillery seitool where Ameri-,nn Ameri-,nn gunners are hem:; trained. The party witnessed a irlal attack on a Lrench, beclnninc with n machine gun barrace. runnlnt into .i lisht howitzer p.nd ttnch mortar bombardment and culminating in salvos from heavy trench mortars aimed at the d -miction of machine gun nests or other local lo-cal strong points that mlcht check an advance No doubt was left in the visitor?' Pllndi of the stimulus given French !):tii by the arrival of American ficht-Ing ficht-Ing tnrces in France. Mr Baker was given repeated proof of ihc amazing decree of comradeship that has sprunc Up between the American and French soldiers and the Americans and the civil population among whom they move daily. Differences of lancuace huve not hindered this friendship. Where the toncue fails, sign lancuace is quickly devised. France has taken the Americans to her heart and they are responding in kind The only question on which the secretary sec-retary exercised his authority as head of the war department durinc his absence ab-sence related to the publication of information in-formation concerning the troops in France ami their activities. He cabled instructions that all such information should be given out trom the headquarters head-quarters of the expedltionar forces Mr Baker went abroad convinced that the publication of casualty lists in the form oricinally used was harmless. He was quickly convinced, however, by the wisest military advisers in Europe that valuable information could he rurniehed to the enemy in this way and it Is very evident that General Pershing's will is to govern hereafter all that Is given out about the activities activit-ies of the troops in France. |