| Show WHERE YANKEES ENTER FRANCE vivid word picture of port of debarkation bar kation for american troops HUMAN SIDE IS DESCRIBED miracles W worked here in in a year ly american energy mystery surrounds flight and return of allied sea craft by GERTRUDE LYNCH A french efrench port this Is ii not only a port of debarkation for our troops it Is aport n port where many men dien tire are permanently stationed in various military and naval duties it Is a center of aviating avia ting and seaplane stations for welfare and hospital activities les dock work Is done by labor battalions numbering many men nere the shore an days ys of men of the patrol and convoy fleets are spent ilow how is this port to care for such in an influx american en ill tigy argy can answer the question amerl pan energy does cinemas and vaude villes are plentiful a theater leased by the Y id C A providing the best entertainment the town tonn can boast the principal street is lin lined ed with shops where parisian products are censored to suit provincial tastes to these have been added a multiplicity of 0 goods to tempt the keepsake and souvenir tou venir wants of the strangers along the streets that lend lead from the ahtes to the suburbs are baraques bardques bara ques 11 or covered pushcarts push carts extending for a mile luil or more where we ere sold to sailors sal lors tree free with their braney and not too endowed eitl the powers of t selection along the streets the ever varying vary ing never changing war officers of the army and navy davy marines am english temmies tommies Tom mies men and women of the Y SI 31 C A and the red cross casuals moroccans cans al amans rians senegalese sitting in rows with nodding fezzes and hashing flashing teeth peasants aiom rom many provinces each cadi with a dress fighters and monks ovel ove me sea wall Is always a cu curious rl crowd of onlookers in less than a year they have seen first a few ship loads then thein more and still more until now the weekly debarkation of thousands causes little comment let heinle hehnle look out ilear the he conven conversation aaion of two nn an american soldier and a 0 french gollu who lean over the wall and look down to t the landing places where here a swart smart naphtha launch Is bringing to shore an admiral and his staff the american speaks suppose the heinlen do get paris what of that it if they pet get london ahat of that nope they dont for id like to see the old burgs before I 1 go back to the farm but that wont make iny imy difference so long ns as ve me have a foothold in the harbor nil all we risk ask let look out paris and loudon london they arent the war not on your tintype the french jollu who mho understands nil all the english but the tint tintype Pe allusion looks amazed arna zed then relieved relieved lie ile had bad the provincial idea dea that paris arid and tendon london were the war over the seawall tile the od oo erver server looks down on tile the gaibor tom jovn n the way leads by winding stairways of stone and slanting roofs prom irom it rises the tang of brine mingled with tile the odors of warehouses warehouse oil and those thousand and one smells that are ns as much a part of the port as are storage warehouses docks and quays basins and breakwaters beyond the eye travels far to the beauty and mystery of at the ships and the magic of the sea descend s by one of these many routes you find yourself overwhelmed nith dirt and confusions confusion hero thousands of negro stevedores work like a colony of big black ants there are squads ol o and portuguese sailors strike tile the ear it Is a babel of foreign sounds every inch ol of this water front Is covered with en ergy locking docking boust coust construction loading nad and unloading transportation repairs fun america erlea has worked miracles liere here in A i year inside and outside the breakwaters ire are fleets of 0 ocean traffic transports convoys torpedo destroyers patrol and fishing boats sail steam auxiliaries cra craft rt of every possible rel relation atlon to the sen sea one day you may count scores of ships find and the lie next nest hundreds mystery covers cover 3 the flight and i return of these shuttles of ste steam am and steel follow the splendid roads to arit tany by fragrant pasture lands you will find air stations ft here american flyers are badden guarding the lie on en trance of the Knell sli channel helping with nith convoy and patrol to make the U boat menace a nullity welfare work on the way back top stop at one of the learing clearing houses of the troops let us choose the barracks fa familiarly mill arly called there are 12 9 men mell hero here it has housed troops since napoleons lay day and before As you stand at the door of the Y M C A canteen your view takes in a vast field all in monotones mono tones brown earth bi brown own tents brown men against u background of green under a bo bowl ivl of silvery bluethe lie american flags aye are flying ire free e over the french ca men glad to stretch their sea legs are drilling playing ball running walking the bands play gay melodies so great Is the rush for the canteen supplies that tile the doors have to be closed frequently to facilitate the waiting A bugle note sounds high and clear instantly every man inan on oil that immense parade ground Is nt at attention while la marseillaise Marseil laise and the star spangled banner are played fathers and mothers ask what welfare work la Is being done at this port for their sons the Y M C A Is busy it alms first to attract and then hold me boy until corrupt influences are nullified fled |
