The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-09-15
SEEING THE CURTAIN RAISED
ON THE WAR DRAMA m PARIS
Intimate Description of Opening Days of the War as Re-
fected in the Gay French Capitalists Run" Was
On the News Stands.

Wavering rentes
Ihat evening some anti-var r,oters
on the grand b~Oulevards were char.ed
ny the ponce, but Paris OF the 'lit,,e
commerce. ~frequents this grand
quarter as they call it, about as much
as they do e York. Over all the
rear farls nung a silence that seem
eu elpra1inS with suspense. The de-
fusion that the French are an excit-
able people began to disappear. also
mysterlOuSfy at the same time did
small money. "'
wednesday, July 30, the newspape
reading crowd was a good deal larger
and out a good deal earlier. They
nung about h little kiosk newsstands
tnlck as bees on a hive. This was the
DAY on Which the easy going delibe-
rate French contracted the r1shjpp
habIt-everybody reading while hur-
rylng along, q thing unknown, as the
Frnech above all things like to digest
thel: news in pleasurable leisure.
RUSSIA was mObilizing, Belgium
armtng her forts, French troops guard
ing farIS railways, water works and
IlOur mills. But what they were read
ing was tina french rentes had lost
their balance and were falling back
ward. IL observers had been watch
Ing they would have seer the people
or the little shops shut all their doors
tightly this hot July day, the little
doors that work with a bell attach
ment to their owners. who
live side by side with their goods But
their owners were out today, pursued
by the strongest instinct of French
tradition, to get their money in their
hands in the form that rolls the
only form in which they have the least
prominence. The money as they say,
which has weight and sound.
Run on the Banks.
SO began the second run, the serious
run on the banks, but the real panic
came on when the people Of the small
interests made the rush on the modern
bias de laine' of France, the savings
bank, which, with a maximum only of
1000 francs for an account, al the be-
ginning of this year had deposits OF
nearly 5000, 600 francs. Solid blocks
of people made ''black noles Of Cal
cutta" out Of the always noisome, in
adequate little Paris postot1ices, and
in drawing out their savings still fur
ther overworked the overw orked post,
office force that not only has in charge
the telegraph, telephone, :axes, ole
age pensions and dog licenses, but the
Calsse Epargne as well. And 1900
O9e francs were drawn from the say.
ings banks that day and yet the gen.
eral impression was hat there was
really no ready money.
Making the Qucne."
Today was formed the habit O.
making the queue" the dominan'
feature of all action these five day!
and h French, whose idea Of pre-
cedence has been that the latest ar
rival goes up head earned the ethic'
of getting into line.
That afternoon saw the final diSap
pearance Of gold and the growing dis
trust of the billet de banque", an
the city grew even quieter.
Thursday, July 3O-The same whit
faces behind the white papers,; tn
same rushing throngs through tn
streets. Under foot swirled an
swished in the summer breeze a rae
Of discarded papers, and this in nea
Paris, in France where waste pape
: is boarded like bank notes. Grea
: Britain had sent her fleet to sea IN
/ der seale orders, most of the world
/ stock exchanges were closed, ever
French soldier had been ordered to hi
t post, but what they were readin
E was that settlement day On the Par
bourse had been postponed a nNonti
Strike Against Making Change.
D Then was put into effect the strik
. against making change and 1T was tn
people of the little commerce" thu
t did it. A strike against that fear {
: hell that was looming up before then
u "A StI1hc VI IL liz AA0
2 have made the worlds b unio1
0 green with jealousy, a strike OF sue
power and magnitude that must hay
made the Socialists, who at that vel
f moment were unsucceSSfElly plann1r
G complicated and exhaustive meaSul
for making the fear Of war sufhc
s wild with envy, a compreliensl'
a strike which these little shop keepe,
e of Paris, the bankers, the butcher
e the milkmen, the grocers, the selfe'
it of all small produce, set IN motlon o.
r tween a Monday n a Thursday.
The stupidest, the most exaspera
ing, the most irrational, the most e
Il fective strike, that caught the Peep
as flies are caught on fly paper, Co
e ceived spontaneously. wthou thougl
or organization, with a solidarity Il
spired solely by the psychological su'
e gestien of fear, that mounted aut
m~atically from those who control Il
o machinery Of daily life e a progre
hNI