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April 14, 1918 - Don Martin spent the day in Paris with other war correspondents

Don Martin dairy entry for Sunday, April 14, 1918: 
Having decided not to leave Paris till tomorrow, took it easy. Went for long walk through Tuilleries, meeting Bingham of N.Y. on way back. At 12:30 went to [New York] World office and met Martin Green, Joe Griggs and some others and then went to the New York bar where we sat for three hours with Percival Gibbons, war correspondent of the London Chronicle and Myrtle Williams of Colliers. Gibbons, one of the best English correspondents, told many good stories. Went from there (alone) to the Chatham Grill and had a good steak. Then to the hotel. Have decided to go back to Neufchateau. 
German drive against British continues serious. Good many persons pessimistic now but I’m not. It is pitiable though how helpless U.S. is. France is the only formidable ally.

Weather cold and rain.

       'Percival Gibbons' of the 'London Chronicle' is a mystery; no information was found about such a person. The famous war correspondent named 'Percival' was the American Percival Phillips, working for the London Express, but who had been hired by Commodore Bennett to cover the British front for the New York Herald as 'Special Correspondent of the Herald with the British Forces in France'. His bylined dispatches were appearing on page 1 (Second Section) frequently, and Don Martin should have known that. This would have been Don Martin’s first meeting with Phillips; could he have accidentally mixed up the last name with Floyd Gibbons, Chicago Tribune, and got the London newspaper wrong?

Comments

  1. Vintage DudeApril 14, 2018 at 7:38 PM

    I find it strange that Don does not refer or mention Percival earlier as he got connected to the London office. It is unclear how he made his decision to go back to Neufchâtel . He shows concern about the British losses but recognizes the ability of the French while the Americans are not heavily involved. What does he expect to achieve going back to “N”?

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