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Show I1 g ifi& To Bring- Bacfe fie 77,000 American Dead Would Require a Gigantic Coffin That Would Reach a Block and a Half Along Fifth ! I, . a Avenue and Fill the Street from Sidewalk to Sidewalk. i ' ' ' ' " '" " The Distressing Truth Revealed Why It Is Not Possible ' i to Properly Bring Back Our Soldier Dead from the Tom Battlefields kM'v f i ! By Rene B ache. H'j'j' a NY American mother whose soldier H!) i Za boy lost his life in France, or any wife whoso husband died In the war H; ' "over there," has a right lo demand that the body be -brought back and slven to her H, J Cor burial in this country. The Govern- M' , I ment promised as much, and the "War Dc- ji partment will do its beat to make the "1 ' promise good. ( 1 But there are difficulties which by most ' people are not understood at all. H; 'S 1 The principal agent of destruction used ' . In the great conflict waB high explosives, i in shell?, in bombs, and in other instru- H ji I' ments for killing. It Is estimated that 3 J l per cent of the 77,000 American dead were it literally blown to pieces. How In such cases could the fragments be collected and H I Identified? (1,1 In numerous instances where our fight fl'ii'i lne Men were killed by high-explosive i shells their fate was shared by French K ' comrades-in-arms. Burning parties picked ' up such remains as they could find aud B! Interred them, marking part of the ground H , as the grave of an American soldier and H'l another part as the grave of a French H; soldier. There were many cases where i I, bodies of horses or other animals killed 1, at the same time were burled with the ! bodies of men. i, " There are 18,000 Americans who died in jj 1 hospitals, of wounds or disease, outside the I 1 war zone. Eleven thousand of these are to ) be brought back Immediately; the rest will I' ' remain, by the expressed wish of their . families, where they are. I With those who" lost their lives in the ' war. zone the situation is entirely different j ) v Already they have been buried twice, the j ' first Interment being usually by the regl- - mental chaplain, without a coffin just a I , covering of the body with earth, to get it H I out of sight and for sanitation's sake. H" This was always practicable when our H troops were advancing. "When they re- B , , treated, the American dead were often of ! i necessity left unhuried. The Germans In- ppH ' terred them higgledy-piggledy in trenches ' dug for the purpose. Indeed, in many in- 1 , stances the Yanks were obliged to bur i their own dead in this wretched fashion. H When 'the fighting lines were long sta- Hl fr tionary, bodies sometimes lay unburied for B weeks before It was possible to reach them B without undue risk. H Many small temporary cemeteries were H established, in which thousands of uncof- H I j fined bodies were laid to rest. The sites H ' 1 chosen were usually on low ground, be- H cause in such places the burial parties H were relatively safe from shell-fire. Bat H there came, four months of continuous rain, H i and the cemeteries were flooded. One H there was which for a long time was under H four feet of water, which washed some ol H ( the corpses out of the shallow graves, so B 1 ' that they floated to the surface. H This is distressing, but it is the truth. H Everything was done that could be done in H y the circumstances. A concrete dam was H built around this particular cemetery, and H , attempts were made to get the water out H with gasoline pumps. H f)i But the water seeped in beneath the H concrete as fast as it could be pumpec H i !', ' out; and finally, as a last resort, mer Hlj V equipped with long rubber boots and ga: 1 II v masks were sent in to grub literally foi jlij tnc bodies. It was a dreadful task, bu' Hki:' ne' Got them. H ( The possibilities of mistake in return l' j ' ing to American families the bodies o H I dead soldier boys are many and drcadfu H to contemplate. Recently 200 were brough H t i ( , back from Russia, and out of that smal number no fewer than twelve were sen 1 'I to the wrong homes. H 1 After the Spanish war and subsoquen :i fighting in the Philippines, the bodies o H I I, ' many dead American soldiers were brough I' i back to the United States. Several of thi H coffins were found to contain the corpse H i of Chincs'o coolies. H li: Frequently it happened In Franco tha 'k, American soldiers and German soldier H J perished together and were buried togott 1. ,F or. Nothing Is more certain than tha , efforts to fetch our dead bojs from the war zone will result In the incidental importation importa-tion of German remains. One can easily see how many an American mother or widow might thus weep over German bones, or even put flowei3 on the grave of the very man whq slew the mourned son or husband. For it must bo remembered that the bodies shipped lo this countrj' from the war zone will be impossible of identification identifica-tion after their arrival. They will be saturated with disinfectants, disinfect-ants, and inclosed in metal-lined caskets, hermetically sealed. It will be clearly explained ex-plained in every instance that they are on no account to be opened There are now in the war zone, in France, 52.200 American fighting men, in-- in-- terred in proper cemeteries. Much clamor has arisen for the return of their bodies to tho Union States. But the French Ambassador, Am-bassador, ?J. Jusserand, pays thai it is 'an artificially stimulated movement," Cardinal Gibbons says: 'The experiment experi-ment of exhuming the bodies would be a useless one, to say nothing of the distress and pain caused to relatives." The American Legion, at its recent convention con-vention in Minneapolis, passed a resolution to the effect that ."the bodies of American dead be not returned from France, except in cases where parents or next of kin so desire." The "movement" to which Mr. Jusserand refers, however, is to press for the immediate immedi-ate return, at Government Govern-ment expense, of all the American dead now ,in Europe. It is being very strongly pushed In Congress. If It be "artificially stimulated," who Is giving It stimulation? The answer is that the real force behind the movement is the self-stylo a "Purple Cross," which is another an-other word for the l"n-dertakers' l"n-dertakers' Trust. They sco big money in it for them. If proof of this be demanded, it is furnished fur-nished by an editorial printed in The Casket ' (September 1, 191D), which is the official orcan of the FnnAr.il (MTC.HaIHAl- MEWS JCiC" A French Burying Squad Assembling Heroes of the Battlefield for Burial. Directors' Association. It reads: "Suppose, Mr. Funeral Director, that . some one were to come into your offico and tell you that he had a scheme for in-i in-i creasing the number of funerals this year by more than fifty thousand. "What would you do? "Most likely you would rush out wildly 5 Into the street and shout. 1 "But. Mr. Funeral Director, -with your neatly appointed offico and your not-en-i tirely-pald-for motor equipment, this offer Is being made to you In all seriousness, t "In alien soil there lie more than 50,000 American men who died in battle or of dis-- dis-- ease during their tour of duty abroad, f "For nearly every American soldier re-1 re-1 turned some funeral director will be called t upon to perform the necessary duties of 1 reception nnd burial, t '"Extra business, gentlemen, legitimate, patriotic; kindly, sympathetic, remunera-t remunera-t tive extra business. No additional number f of widows and orpans. Only the final lay-t lay-t ing away of America's sons in the bosom a of their dear motherland." s With which whole-soule'd exordium "The Casket" urges all undertakers to get busy t and bring tho rcquisito pressure on Con-s Con-s gress to put through the scheme so prom-i- ising of big profits for them, t Tho undertakers aro pushing propa- ganda designed to cause uneasiness among U W k jMk people whose boys died in the war and lo 32USlllUL .1W tLlll IM V persuade them to write to their Congress- WMMx il'MIWIK " ' H men and bring other influence to bear. I fl --iL S v A lWA " Hir&'i, - 'k Listen to the testimony of one bereaved J KliUeY tftKei S AFC . MX mother. Mrs. Mabel Fonda Gareissen, of fesC"l Mlht No. G10 West One Hundred and Fourteenth A 1 Q. mijdrtiS? ,ZL 7rwggSaBi street. Now York City. She writes: FTeSSMlg 1116 5CJieme WMi WMMW-1 "I am a Gold Star mother and vitally in- WW$& &Mim?ift terested in what is to be done with the O O S-mmSWl bodies of our soldiers who lie In France fOT ISM 10635 KeaSOOS W Therefore I decided to discover for myself WM SfelfeWv? the truth of persistent rumors that the.' kWWMmmWm0U l- Purple Cross (Amer- .- ' , K WM Wl if j' lean Undertakers' ' ' M 'M Association) is back v-- fwS vJ r.n'iiy of the movement lo , . rimS& SM bring to America f the bodies of out tflij heroes. tMM0mmwk!k iMtmMli : Wm40 ? "I asked Miss i oroeUo iPi Where Qu undertaker. We saw K 4S2?S ' V : ' ' 'W'lY,)i$r Roosevelt ao there a tall, pale- 7&:" . ' i ' r-?rj? the Family! faced man. with f4f&7r ' M , S&V d avI horn - rimmed ' ' " CV ' 4ml&Mt esled. wuKiff 5 ' fe7 X'"' " 'Yes,' he said, 'the dead in France aro lo be returned. Every pressure is being brought to bear. We have powerful representatives rep-resentatives at Washington not only our own, but Congressmen. We have been after the Congressmen for a long time.' " 'Arc. yon sending embalmers over?' " 'No, the dead are in no condition for embalming. We shall use strong disinfectants, disin-fectants, place the bodies in hermetically Bealed casket3, and they will not be reopened.' re-opened.' "'Shall you ship all tho caskets from America?' " 'Yes, we shall uso our own caskets, made in America.' '"After our dead arrlvo, can wo be certain cer-tain they are our own?' "He hesitated and cleared his throat 'Well ho said, with very evident doubt, we are going to be as careful as possible." "As -we left ho save each of us a beautiful beauti-ful pink rose. Wo dropped thom on the sidewalk when out of sight. "Is it possible that the undertakers of this country would profiteer and use to that end tho bodies of our American, boys, one of whom is my own son?" An answer to Mrs. Gareissen's question is furnished by tho editorial above quoted (O 1020. International Feataro ScrTlc. Inc. from "The Casket." "Extra business, gen tlemen remunerative extra business." Big money in the scheme fi'om beginning to end if It goes through FA'tv' thousand caskets to start with! If all tho American dead; were put in one casket St would requiro a coffin 300 feet long, about sixty feet high and would cover a block and a half of Fifth avenue and stretch from sidewalk to sidewalk. There is no article of merchandise on which the profit is larger than on coffins. Each coffin must be inclosed in a box. It Is an ordinary wooden box, costing perhaps per-haps $2.50, but the price the undertaker usually asks for it Is 550. Then the funerals on arrival at destination, with carriages, incidentals and "service." Did you over see an undertaker's bill, and note the way in which it was "built up" out of a variety of items? Only a plumber's bill canJKom-pare canJKom-pare with It in" this respect. And then there nro tho tombstones, lo wind up. The tombstone makere usually stand in with tho "funeral directors," and tombstones, llko everything else, hava gone up in price. The cost of them has doubled and trebled recently. When a monument is in question, you cannot buy the smallest and simplest pattern for less than ?500. II. S. Eckels, Dircclor General of tho Great Britain BlghU Eeierrrd. ifeisiiiii It was the tj! of France ti An American Cemetery in France. Often the Tide Clemonceau til of Battle Swept Over These Graves Obliterating "We look All Marks of Identification or Hopelessly 0e Mixing: Them Up. Franco as Purple Cross (No. 1922 Arch street. Philadelphia) Phila-delphia) offers the following estimate for bringing a soldier's body from France a private job: Average cost of disinterment and transportation to New York 605.00 The above total itemized as follows: Zinc-lined oak coffin and outside box (cheapest) $115.00 Labor, legal fees, etc 120.00 Own transportation and oxpensc of journey 112.00 1 Transport from French port to New Yorlc 100.00 Transport of body in France -18.00 Personal supervision and service.. 50.00 It will be noted that this fetches the body only as far as New York. Ono may safely surmise that "extras" would double the bill. And, of course, the undertaker would not be making such an expedition for the bringing back of one bodw There would bo many, and for each ono the charges for "personal services" and "own IrnnsnnrrnHnn " ntp n-r.ni,i j , wjinaporiauon, etc., would be duplicated. Never wa3 there such a chance for ghoulish graft. Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt's father nnd mother asked the War Department to permit his body to remain In France. They ,felt that tho American soldiers who fell there should lio in the soil thoy died defending. de-fending. A great many parents and widows have been led by the Roosevelts' example to relinquish their desire that the bodies of their sqldier sons and husbands bo brought back. Already letters to this effect have been received by the'War Department from 19,000 families. In two recent weeks 500 such letters came from families who w;ished to reverse a previous request that their dead bo returned. Congressmen have made excited speeches to tho effect that tho French were anxious to prevent the removal of our dead, m order that money-spending Americans might come over in flocks. But, as a matter of fact, the French, in relation to all this sad business, have conducted themselves in the most sympathetic way Imaginable. Their women, peasant and cultured alike, have tended with loving caro the graves of the khaki-clad American dead. They aro doing it to-day, esteeming it an honor and a privilege. They plant flowers on tho graves, ono or more being assigned to each volunteer for the purpose. t At the close of hostilities, with the rf cooperation of the French, conTt sites for burying grounds were chose:' centers into which the Amorican i wero gathered from the temporary cemeteries. There they now rest, a fng the decision as to their final dup tion. Meanwhile (here has been organize!! this country an American Field of Hc i Association, which, when sentiment en u subject ha3 crystallized, expects to sew France a commission for the purposf-choosing purposf-choosing a site for a great central soldia cemetery. Ii is thought that France givo the site. There will be erected a cJ nlficent memorial possibly a.dupllcate. the Washington Monument. Also there in contemplation a memorial ball, wj there located, with a room for each Si of tho Union, on the walls of which be placed bronze tablets bearinj v names of the gallant dead. j According to present plans, the ce tery is to bo mado as much unlike awi cal burying ground as porslble. There be no dismal rows of tombstones, w-grouping w-grouping of graves atiout rocks and uo trees And always will bo J13t.3' there a guard of honor, composed of W men of tho army. who. with fine Wri , and extra pay. will sorve for one yj? being thus rewarded for distinguished v meritorious services. ,ty Tho great memorial ceraotory vdll etfi the special and extraordinary right oi tra-territorialitv. In other words, uw In France, It will bo a part of the ldj. States as much so as the Island oi hattan. And above Its sacred precwj will forever float the-sheltering folds oi" Stars and Stripes. u France has pledged herself to re tho American dead. In the belief oi Field of Honor Association, it'5 ',i taken scheme to attempt to dlsn tt bodies in the war zone, to haul w6"1 dreds or miles to a seaport, to loi" tf on ships, to bring them to this connw. ( to forward them by railroad and in , all parts of the United States. It would tako years to complex uj During that time homes that have ten tho first pangs of sorrow nnd navi a in a measure reconciled would De 1 v into renewed grief. u "Extra business, gentlemen! inj matter of dolIaYs." So says their organ, "Tho Caskot," I j f |