Skip to main content

January 8, 1918 - Visit from Silver Creek friend

Don Martin diary entry for Tuesday, January 8, 1918:
Had a pleasant visit with Dan Ried, once of Silver Creek. Had dinner with him in Savoy. Talked about everyone in Silver Creek, particularly of John Knox and his family. Afterward I went to Dan’s room and met other members of the Am. comm. of which he is a member. Wrote letter to Dorothy + sent it by Dan. Dan told me some interesting things about his observations in France and I shall write a story about them. Early in the day I saw Colonel [John] Buchan, intelligence man for the Foreign Service [Director of Information].
Got lot of letters from N.Y. One from Joe Tumulty, Secretary to President Wilson [from 1911-1921].

Weather wintry. Coldest day of year. Snow.

Pres. Woodrow Wilson with private secretary Joseph Tumulty, 1915 

     Mr. Bennett followed up his letter of the day before with a short one on January 8.
January 8, 1918
Dear Mr. Martin
     The enclosed letter [not found] explains itself. You may find the sub-editors mentioned useful as sources of information or counsel when working up news features. You would do well, therefore, to get in touch with them and cultivate friendly relations with any who seem likely to be of service. It might be advisable to show one or another of them some little courtesy – an invitation to luncheon or dinner. I shall willingly refund to you reasonable outlay so incurred, as it may be productive of news results and thus prove a good investment.
Yours truly,
J. G. Bennett
- - - - -
   That day, January 8, in Washington, President Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress in a major speech laying out America’s aims for the Great War in 14 points, which became known as Wilson’s Fourteen Points. They were generally well received. Don Martin noted the event in his diary the next day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 14, 1918: Don Martin’s funeral service in Paris

        A funeral service for Don Martin was held in Paris on Sunday, October 13, 1918, at the American Church, rue de Berri. The New York Herald published this report on Monday, October 14, 1918. MANY FRIENDS AT CHURCH SERVICE FOR DON MARTIN Simplicity and Sincerity of Character of “Herald” Writer, Theme of Dr. Goodrich’s Sermon                     Funeral services for Don Martin were held yesterday afternoon in the American Church in the rue de Berri. They were simple and impressive. Before the pulpit rested the coffin, over which was spread the American flag. Floral offerings were arranged around it. Flat against the wall behind the pulpit were two American flags and the tricolor, and on either side were standards of these two emblems. Uniforms of the United States army predominated in the gathering of 200 persons composed of friends Mr. Martin had known for years at home and friends he had made in Fr...
2 comments
Read more

Welcome to Don Martin blog on Armistice Centennial Day

Welcome to the World War I Centennial Don Martin daily blog, on Armistice Centennial day, November 11, 2018. Don Martin was a noted war correspondent reporting on the American Expeditionary Forces in France in 1918. Regrettably he died of Spanish influenza in Paris on October 7,1918, while covering the Argonne Forest offensive. He missed the joy of the Armistice by a month. Beginning on December 7, 2017, this blog has chronicled each day what Don Martin wrote one hundred years earlier – in his diary, in his letters home, and in his multitude of dispatches published in the Herald newspaper, both the New York and the European (Paris) editions. The blog, for the several days following his death, recounts the many tributes published, his funeral in Paris and his trip back to his final resting place at his home in Silver Creek, New York. To access the daily blogs, click on the three red lines at top right, then in the fold-down menu, click on Archive. There are 316 blogs from D...
1 comment
Read more

August 31, 1918: Don Martin reports Juvigny victory, role of French tanks

Don Martin diary entry for Saturday, August 31, 1918:  With Smith [Chicago Tribune] and [Edwin] James [New York Times] went to the 32 nd headquarters. There was not much of a story. The Americans advanced and took the village of Juvigny. I stopped at the hospital and talked with some of the men who had been in the Juvigny fight. They are all from northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Wrote about 900 words cable.       Published in the New York Herald on Sept 1. Americans Advance on Germans to Northwest of Soissons  in Face of Vicious Fire of Many Machine Guns FRENCH SHOCK TROOPS AID IN GREAT ATTACK Aim of General Pershing in New Terrific Assault  Is to Demoralize the Enemy HUNS MAKE FIRM STAND Many Americans of German Descent  Show Loyalty in Desperate Fighting By DON MARTIN Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France [Special to the Herald] WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Saturday    ...
Post a Comment
Read more