New Britain Herald Newspaper, February 1, 1919, Page 5

Thi Gentleman From Paris— YOU w® & pet hobby, indulge it to the it: it may lift you from the obscut and commonplace to a position ¢World influence and us fulness; §7ay enable you eventually to perfod Some great service fcr nankind, There #8 once a busy Ohioc manu- facturer 10 developed in recreative hours gfking for astronomy. He spent 1g¢f hours at his office toiling with b@hess problems, seeking the best wol markets and sending forth his arg Of salesmen. Success and money @ne his way and he found leisurefne to indulge his fancies. One of thef Was a study of the stars. It becamy® fad with him. Upon the su- perstyoture of his home he placed an oprvatory. From the corners of the oth he brought together the best teles/Pic lenses procurable. Then he gaveghimself over to a study of the heayns—just for the pure love of it, andm his own quiet world. He had no ambitions to become a greater- thg-Galileo. jventually, however, the world sqght him out—or rather his neigh- bgs—and sent him to the Congress of t United States as a representative fm the Commonwealth of Ohio. To Yashington he went, virtually an un- mown; and an unknown he remained or a time, just as many another Con- ressman has gone to the natlonal apital and done his bit without ex- citing any political stampedes or presi- dential booms. But with the gentle- man from Ohijo it was different. May- ber in his studies of the stars back in Ohjo he had read his own horoscope and glimpsed the future in store for him. One day the House of Representa- tives had before it an appropriation bill including among its provisions an item of $2500 for a new filar microm- eter for the United States Naval Ob- wervatory. No one seemed to know anvthing about a micrometer. The conecientious Congress seemed bent on determining the full details of the proposed appropriation before putting on their O. K. “What is a microme: ter?” the question was raised, and they were thinking of sending out for a Government tist to solve the riddle. At this juncture the gentleman from Ohio took the floor. He was known among his associates from the Buckeye State as a lawyer, a manu- facturer of wooed byproducts and char- coal pig iron, but not as an astrono- sci mer. Among other Representatives from other States he was not known at all. But he promptly told the House all about “a filar micrometer.” ‘A filar an instru- ment that is attached to the eye end of the telescope, which has the spider lines running it, the same as in a surveyor’s instrument, and by the use of these lines, which are illumi nated at night by electrical lamps, the use of which has been greatly proved in the instruments, they cun get their ohgervations of the stars and the heavenly bodies more accurately. In fact, without their use, the right ascension and declination of stars and heavenly bodies——" In this fashion he continued until the chairman reminded him that his five minutes had expired, whereupon a member of the House asked “that the gentleman's time be extended five minutes,” which was done to the sat isfaction of the august representatives of the people. When the money finally was voted the naval observatory, not a man there but knew the importance and function of a filar micrometer. The incident may appear trivial, but it was the first time the world had ever heard from this particular gen- tleman from Ohio. It served to give him “place.” Since that day in 1910, when he was a “fresiman” in the House, the gentleman from Ohio has come forward by leaps and bounds. Although a Democrat the Ohioan was figuratively taken to the bosom of the Hon. James Robert Mann, the Repub- lican “whip” of the House, and the two became cronies. So close were they that when Democratic President Wilson appointed the Democratic Ohio astronomer ambassador to France in the summer of 1914 the same Republican Mann delivered himself of this warm panegyric: “We know that the country will be represented at its fullest height abroad while the gentleman from Ohio represents us ambassador to France.” Probably the Hon. “Jim” Mann wove a subtle double meaning into that eulogy of an Ohio astronomer representing his country “at its full- est height abroad,” but there can be no gainsaying the fact that the gentle- man in question has beyond all per- adventure proved himself a star of the first magnitude in the diplomatic firmament. For he is none other than the Hon. William Graves Sharp, the United States ambassador to France, micrometer is acros im as as MRS. WILLIAM who arrived home a few days ago on a brief visit from Paris after repre- senting this Government so adequately and efficiently during the whole of the world war in the court of our great ally, France. History will allot him a great place. He went to Paris in the fitful sun- shine of that summer of 1914, just before the horizon was clouded by the approach of the impending war. He was in Paris when the blow struck home; he stuck to his post while Von Kluck and the right wing of the Ger- man hosts swept up to the very gates of the French capital. Through all the trying days for France and Eng- land that followed he upheld the dig- nity of the Stars and Stripes, at the same time serving as the intermediary for Germany and Austria. With the release of “frightfulness” and unre- stricted submarine warfare Mr. Sharp still clung to his country’s patient tenets of neutrality until that day in April nearly two years ago when the GRAVES SHARP die was swords st and America joined ith France. He remained over there when General Pershing ar- rived and made the pilgrimage to the tomb of Lafavette; he saw the van- guard of Americ soldiers ar: e saw our army grow greater and lgreater until it moved out in splendid battle array, cpringing up at Chateau-Thierry ana ng on” from Lens to Se- dan; he was there all through the glo- rious summer-and fall of 1918 until the Germans shifted from “kamerad” to “enougl” and signed the armi tice, and now he is home for a bit of rest after four and a half years of stren. uous diplomacy. To have represented France during this America in epochal world war was something more than Mr. Sharp had ever dreamed of back in the days when he was scanning the stars at Elyria, O. True enough. he aspired at one to ambassadorial position, but for one moment suspected the important post he one day would time never ON. WILLIAM GRAVES SHARP U, S! arbassador to Frante hold in the most momentous war the world ever has known, of the close relationship between France and America—two republics-—that would develop his tenure of office. “An ambassador's first duty is to maintain the friendliest relations be- nor great during ‘THE LAST SHOT—What Would You Have Done By Vincenzo de Santo ARIO PORTINARI was an ap- prentice boy at a blacksmith shop in a small town of the Abruzzi the first time I met him—about eight years ago. He was then only twelve and was beloved by all the townfolks, es- pecially on account of his eagerness to learn things and his kind-hearted- ness His great hobbies at that time were books and animals. He had gone through only the first few grades of the elementary school, but somenow or other he had developed an intense fondness for any kind of printed mat- ter. He was too poor to buy books, so he used to borrow them from any one who would lend them. And, in justice to the town, I must say that there were many persons in it who were anxious to help him along. I w spending my vacation there that year and at times I amused my- self in lending him books that I knew were beyond his age and education. After a week or so he would return them with a disappointed look on his face. One day when he brought back a Jittle manual of philosophy I asked him, “Did you read it?” “Yes,” was his rather gloomy an- swer. “That did you learn from 1t?” I Inquired, fesling quite certain that he had¢ not understood a word of it. “j @on’t know,” he replled, “but please ‘ell me just what ‘philosophy’ means, and ‘treatise’ and ‘ethics’ and——" He kept me busy for two hours an- ewering questions. He was about to g0 when he took the book in his hand, openad it toward the end and pointed his index finger at a word which bad svideatly struck both his curiosity and s2nse of humot “And what is this funny one here?” he asked. “Psychic?” I said, “that’s—" “How do you pronounce it?” he in- terrupted. I repeated it and tried to explain its meaning. He laughed heartily, as he made repeated attempts at pro- nouncing the word, which in Italian is “psichico” and it read “pseekeeco.” There seemed to be something in the phonology of this term which actually tickled him. As for animals, he loved them all, but was especially fond of an old and extremely ugly dog of a mixed breed, with whom he shared his scanty meals. Whenever T teased him about the un- sightly thing he first used to argue that Fedele, as he called him, was not at all ugly and then would begin to rave about his exploits and faithful- ness. One day 1 had been hunting and was returning home with a rabbit hang- ing at the end of my gun. Under a shady fig tree, just outside of the towwn. 1 saw Marlo sitting in the grass with a dilapidated looking book in his hands and his faithful dog sleeping at his side. It was 2 o'clock in the aft- ernoon and he was enjoying his siesta. “What are you reading?” I asked. “A third-grade reader which I bor- rowed from Father Raffaele,” he said. ‘He is a good old priest and gives me books that are really interesting. 1 noticed that as he spoke his eyes were fixed upon the dead rabbit I was carrying home. A cloud of sadness appeared on his somewhat sofled but handsome face. His large, black eyes showed something that was between horror and ange:. After 2 moment of deep thinking he exclaimed, “How could you kill that poor little rab- bit 7 “Why, that's good to eat.” I said. “I dom't care” he retorted, 1 DO SOLDIERS like to kill there any personal satisfaction in jab- bing a bayonet through the breast of an enemy or in dropping a shell plumb in an enemy trench? Or do men fight from sheer patriotic motives for the honor of their coun- try and countenance the killing involved simply because it is a part of the “game” of war? Ask any returning soldier. read the answer of an Italian officer, whose story is vouched for by no less an authority than Professor Vincenzo de Santo, specialist in philosophy, and formerly a member of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. wouldn't kill a rabbit if they paid me a thousand lire. I wouldn't kill even a fly. It's terrible. If dogs were good to eat, maybe they wouid shoot my poor little Fedele.” That was the last time I saw Mario until the spring of 1916, at a training camp in a mountain town not very far away from Rome. He recognized me first. If he hadn’t told me who he was I would never have known him. He was a second lieutenant in the artil- lery and his speech and manners were those of a perfect gentleman. He had also grown up to be a strong, robust and very good-looking youth. “Goodness,” 1 said, “how long have you been in the army?” “Seven months,” he replied; “six months at the military school in Turin, where I got my commission, and one month here.” “Why, I thought you were too young to be calied to the colors, marked. . “I wasn't cailed, sir; 1 volunteered.” “You volunteered!” I said with some astonishment, recalling the last con- versation I had had with him eight vears before, “I thought you said once vou wouldn’t kill a fly. What do you expect to do when you go up to the front?” He gave me a severe military 100k, mixed with a significant smile. “You must not judge me by what I said when I was a boy,” he declared, “I am 4 man now. I have changed. When I ‘go up’ T expect to kill as many dirty Huns as possible.” Our conversation at this point was interrupted by the appearance on the scene of the colonel in charge of the camp, whom I had gone to see on a military errand. T returned to Rome that same day and heard nothing of Mario until the month of February of last vear, when I read his name in the list of those honored for distinguished each other? Is victions. Por In this case Huns armistice services in the citation man “Sublieutenant attle from The following was the Supreme Com- Mario Portinari, bronze medal and promotion to full lieutenanc On January 15, entirely of his own will and at the k of losing his life, he rescued horses from an inclosure whi being heavily bombarded by the enemy.” The next time I heard from him was also through a citation in a newspaper, which read: “Captain Mario Portinari, silver medal. During the retreat from the Tagliamento the battery in his charge was overtaken by an enemy patrol. He and his men fought desperately, anni- hilating the enemy, which was four times superior in number, and saving their gun.” I wrote him, congratulating him on his exploits and honors, but did not receive a reply until a few days ago. The following is, in part, the letter he wrote: “I have been in a hospital here in Rome for about a week. . had to undergo a severe operation in my left shoulder, from which several pieces of metal were extracted. Although yet strong enough to exercise myself, I am writing to you, for I am in a reminiscent mood. not “Looking some papers 1 came across the letter vou wrote me in March of this year. This latter brought back to my memory that beautiful summer of long, long ago, when we first met in the Abruzzi and also, very vividly, the brief talk we had at Camp early in 1916. “I told you then that I had changed and that I intended to kill as many Huns as I could. Well, I wans »= son- fess, now that the whote thing is over, that I was just talking. I had not changed at all. The mere thought of killing any living thing, and especially over of You may not agree with Mario Portinari’s point of view, but you will concede that when it came to fighting the “blond beast” the Italian had a hard time living up to his con- On the day the armistice was signed inari sighted over his battery piece di- rectly upon a German artillery post where many Germans range was easy; the gun was working fine and a shot home—well, twenty or more dead But five minutes remained until the : would go juncture the most extraordinary thing hap- pened to the Italian brings you to the startling climax. were congregating. The into effect. At this officer. ~ This story human Duty cause and solve beings, the to hurt my very soul country, to our great humanity made me re- to take the step I took when I volunteered. That same duty made me act soldler should act when in battle. 1 want to say, however, that I felt, the in service, like a lamb I wager that nine hundred and ninety-nine soldiers out of a thousand in this war felt the same as I did, with the exception of the Teutons, who have differ:nt na- different ideas and different bringing up. as a all time as in armor ture, We read and hear so much of the expression ‘A born soldier.” I do not think that is a nor do T think that it can be applied to many Italian or Allied soldiers. As for me, I'd much rather be called an ‘artificial soldier.” “I shot thousanc e, and I can tell you that not many them went wy. But I am not to confess that each shot t a pain through my heart when I of its effect my feeling from the begin ning to the ve This same feel- ing almost cos life, but I am not sorry, especially because it turned out as it did. compliment, hells while up ashamed ser s end me my Che last few hours of battle were for me the most stirring, the most un- able and the most painful of all my I do not mean painful to the body, because I am not referring to the wound I received on my shoulder just two minutes before the fighting The wound, to be sure, was more severe than the other had received at different in the last two and a half years I was at the front, but the bodily pain was nothing compared with the pain I experienced in my heart and soul “When 1 armistice heard that the Sharpe, the er of the am At Mount Gilead, O., the future afn- bassador was born in 1889. After spending his boyhood days in that place he moved to Elyria with his grandparents, graduated from the pub- lic schools there and then from the University of Michigan. In 1881 he was admitted the bar in Ohio and three years later began his public life as prosecuting attorney in Lorain County. Tn 1892 he was a presidential elector. Politics, however, was not yet his line. He engaged in the manufac- ture of pig iron and chemicals and developed it so that for the next twenty years, until he retired from active business, it became the largest of its kind in the country. His rea. politicar life began under those circumstances that sometimes discourage men. Named as a candl- date for Congress in 1902, although to By the role of peacem ¥ » 88 the representative of a tral Government, he dared not intl mate the possibility of military in- tervéntion, but it was in his mind all the time. Then when we went in at last the ambassador to France was fres to speak his mind. “All the Allled Governments, as well as those of the neutrals,” he said, “are looking to us to lead the way in war as in the peace to follow. The part which the United States should play and is expected to play in the world’s terrible crisis is a large and command- ing one; it will be great and beneficent only in the proportion that it reflects the degree of united purpose of the American people.” Nothing could have been better sald by any American any time anywhere than Ambassador Sharp’s laconic, “I know of no higher honor or title than to be an American citizen.” in a Case Like had been signed we had exactly six more hours of fighting. “I had crossed the Piave with my battery. The orders were to fight on with the maximum intensit The enemy was retreating in a great and disorderly rout. Only here and there an enemy battery or machine-gun nest put up some resistance. “I had to follow the order and my 5 and my men never worked more perfectly. The rapidity of our fire was maddening. The results among the routed enemy, who were grouped by hundreds and thousands along vis- ible roads and open fields, were stag- gering. “If 1 were not wearing a uniform I would have stopped firing. Thousands of atrocious thoughts went through my mind.; In spite of the fact that I had the greatest contempt for thffse beast- lv Huns, on account of their unspeak- able crimes against humanity and of all the cruel and outrageous sufferings they had inflicted on our people, it hurt my very being to kill so many of them the last moment of the war. iod! I shall never be able to forget those six hours. I would be the hap- man on earth if I could erase experience off my mind. It was right, it was justice. From whatever angle you look at it they deserved all they got; but oh, w] pains went through my heart. “When I a boy in the Abruzzl I stepped once unknowingly on a worm. When I observed the one half of it which had not been crushed suffering and struggling against death, I cried bitterl “This absolute aversion to destroying life, which is so strong in my nature, became more intense after learning that we had only a few more hours of fighting, and I must admit that it was very hard to keep my tears in check. “Every few minutes I looked at my watch. 1 never saw the hours drag so. How I prayed that the time might fly fast! ‘God, Lord of Heavens, rush these hours!’ These were the unspoken words that came to my lips hundreds of times. “Fifteen minutes before the time to cease I spied from my observation point an enemy medium-caliber gun firing in our direction from five miles away. By the time we found the right range on it ten minutes went by. We had only five more minutes. I was about to give the signal to fire when I observed a large number of enemy, soldiers gathering around the gun onm which I had trained mine. They evi- dently rushed to the gun in their mad desire to find shelter from our ma- chine-gun patrols, who were pursuing them. “I could not tell you al] the thoughts that went through my mind at that moment. I can tell you only what I did. T set my watch forward five min- utes and cried out to my men, ‘Cease fire!’ “I was dizzy from the noise and from the tragedy in my heart which had lasted for six hours. I remained at my observation post, as in a daze, for a moment looking in the direction of the enemy gun which I had discov- ered a few minutes before. All of a sudden 1 heard a familiar sinister sound through the air. I looked and saw a big shell traveling from the sun I should have put out of action, toward my post. “That was the last thing I remem- ber of this great war we have fought. When I recovered my senses I found myself in a fleld hospital. As soon as I could speak I inquired whether any of my men had been injured by the same shell. “Hearing that I was the only one hurt by it, I thanked God that I had not fired my last shot.”