| Show E THE i rie URBO HO 2 im nuta aar iiii mf bract tc OFT lie BLOW THE WHISTLES RING THE BELLS HANG OUT OLD GLORY eda davias RAI N I 1 PARIS nov 2 P al the greatest war of alt all times came to an end at 2 p rt today the allies and aid germany signed an armistice three hours earlier on the field of battle early this morning the german delegation passed thru the allied lines under a while hag flag wid and immediately signed the capitulation sedan was captured by the americans early this morning PARIS nov 7 the allies and germany signed b art an armistice at 11 II this morning hostilities ceased at 2 0 clock this afternoon aler noon the americans took look sedan before lie hie armistice became effe effective clive one of the newspaper extras which were issued on november 7 1918 in celebration of 0 the take fake armistice by ELMO SCOTT WATSON a western newspaper union N THE morning of november 7 1918 1913 roy W ho howard ward ON 0 president of the united press arrived in brest france from paris to embark on a ship for america and within a few hours the whole united states was in a delirium of joy the long awaited news had come at last the war is over the war is over was the thrilling cry that echoed throughout land for howard had flashed to the united press office in in new york word th atthe germans had bad signed an armistice immediately newspapers served by the U P dusted iduster off huge letters of type which had not been used for years within a few minutes their presses began pouring out extras whose screaming C JR t I 1 admiral II 11 C B wilson headlines shouted the biggest news story of the cen tury schools were dismissed impromptu parades were organized and crowds of men women and children surged through the streets they played improvised tunes on all sorts of musical instruments st but in the midst of the rejoicing came a message which ended the celebration almost as quickly as it began it was all a mistake they were told their celebration was premature for no armistice had been signed over in france the guns were still booming men were still lying dying true the end was almost in sight but the war was NOT over yet so the hopes that had been raised so high were dashed to the ground by what has come down in history as the take fake armistice mi stice of november 7 1918 how did this fake armistice which has been called the greatest hoax in modern press reporting and the cruelest crudest hoax ever perpetrated on the public happen who was responsible for it ua those were questions which were asked almost immediately after the event but it has taken several years to get at what seems to be a nearly complete story of the affair when howard arrived in brest on that november morning 19 years ago he found that seaport filled with rumors of an armistice that afternoon he called upon admiral henry B wilson american naval commander at brest who showed him a telegram which he had received from capt later rear admiral richard H jackson naval at the american embassy in paris it said armistice signed this morning at eleven all hostilities ceased at 2 p m chance for a scoop instantly howard recognized the importance of the message it was as though the biggest news scoop in history was in his hands he immediately asked permission to send a flash to the new york office of the united press just to make sure his subordinates there would have the news in case it had not been flashed to them from paris he was escorted to the telegraph office by admiral wil sons aide and because this apparently patently ly gave his message official indorsement endorsement indor it was not sent to the inter allied censorship bureau in the bourse in paris as would ordinarily have been done with a press dispatch from brest instead it was sent direct to new york had howards message been sent to paris there is no doubt that tha it would have been held up there although for a time the rumors of an armistice were believed sufficiently to cause a number of small celebrations in the rench french 1 capital almost immediately after sending his first flash howard filed another message t to the U P office in new york saying that his first message was un confirmable by one of those queer turns of fate this message was sent to the censorship bureau at paris where it was held up by the french censor and did not reach the united states until nearly 24 hours later the censor also held up all other dispatches bearing on the rumors of an armistice including one from fred ferguson uni united ted press correspondent in paris denying that an armistice had been signed because of this delay the news of an armistice based upon howards first flash was allowed to spread throughout the united states slates and cause the premature celebrations already referred to when it became apparent that howard was going to be severely criticized for his part in the affair admiral wilson immediately issued a public statement assuming full responsibility for giving out the news and absolving the united press president howard then sent a dispatch covering wilsons Wil sons statement but this was also held up by the censor in paris so the public in its first reaction to its disappointment heaped unmerited censure upon howard and his organization and it was not until june 1933 when the state department in washington issued papers relating to the foreign relations of the united states that he was officially exonerated of all blame still a mystery meanwhile the origin of the fake armistice message still remained something of a mystery it was partially cleared up last year with the publication of the book 1 I found no peace written by webb miller united press foreign correspondent and published by simon and schuster one chapter in this book is devoted to howards explanation of the origin of the message he cites the statement of col edward M house that it was a french official who started the rumor howard however declares that in his opinion no brench french official ever phoned the news of an armistice to the american embassy on november 7 basing that opinion on conversations he has had with american and french intelligence officers he believes that the bulletin communicated munica ted to ambassador sharp was phoned by a german secret agent who had probably several months earlier tapped the vi col E 51 louse house vate wire connecting the embassy and the quai quad dorsay and waited for an occasion to use it that occasion came during the first week in november when rumors of an impending suspension of hostilities were in the air and this german secret agent rang up the embassy announced himself in perfect french as speaking for the foreign office and gave his message which was later communicated to admiral wilson at brest that is most likely the real origin of the fake armistice according to howard who says if ever the french officer who in my belief was in fact a german secret agent working in paris tells ills his story or ii if his official report to the german war office is ever made public the secret of the false armistice will be revealed but not wise inasmuch as president wison and the germans had been exchanging notes in regard to an armistice the arrival of colonel house lus ills personal representative in paris was certain to increase the talk that an armistice was not far distant on november 5 marshal foch wrote to general pershing commander of the american forces thus it can happen that the enemy may spread rumors that an armistice is signed in order to deceive us there is none let no one cease hostilities of any sort without information from the marshal corn com mander in chief despite this warning what foch feared would happen did happen and if howards theory is correct it was the enemy who spread the rumors this theory is partially confirmed in the book without censor written by thomas M johnson A I 1 E F r correspondent for the new york sun and published by the bobbs merrill company in 1928 in commenting on fochs message to pershing johnson says it was a wise precaution for there were such rumors whether or not as many believe of german origin and one of them caused the so called fake armistice after giving the details of how howard obtained the news and sent it out johnson continues there are all sorts of surmises as to why the american embassy took the rumor seriously enough to send it to admiral wilson but even now 1928 admiral jackson remains silent howard ferguson and the united press acted of course in good faith and the fake armistice was strictly speaking no fake at all A reference to the chronology of those historic days will show how true that statement is terms of an armistice on november 6 president wil sons fourth and last note to the german government was received in berlin it stated that marshal foch has been authorized to receive properly accredit 11 4 t 44 marshal arshal iU foch ed representatives of the german government and to communicate to them the terms of an armistice armis at 5 on that evening secretary of state erzberger head of the german armistice comm mission left berlin by special train for spa taking with him full powers signed in blank by the chancellor prince max von baden on november 7 early in the morning foch received the first wireless message from the german general headquarters announcing noun cing the names of the delegates and asking that a meeting place be fixed the marshal replied at once directing the germans to present themselves at the french outposts on the chi may gourgies la capelle guise road ad and made arrangements for a temporary suspension of hostilities tili ties in that sector thus an armistice was actually in effect on november 7 even though it had not been officially agreed upon and signed by representatives senta tives of germany and the allies the germans left spa at noon traveling in five motor cars and reached chimay chamay after many delays at 6 p m there erzberger fr dec decided ded to push on for brelon instead of fourmies fournies Four mies reached that town about an hour later and left at p m at p m the delegation crossed the german front lines and began bumping across no mans land the leading car in which erzberger was riding carried a large white flag A soldier stood on the running board blowing short blasts on a trumpet at frequent intervals about meters from the german lines the procession was halted by french soldiers A captain came up to Erz bergers car recognized its passe passengers hers and got into the car with them then he escorted the procession to the town of la capelle near by what follows is history how they were taken to the railway station of rethondes Reth ondes in the north part of the forest how they were received there by the allied commissioners in the most famous dining car in all history how marshal foch announced to them the terms under tinder which an armist armistice ke would be signed and how finally a little after 5 on the morning of november 11 that armistice was signed |
