Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-26
NIGHTS COOL TOUCH
CALMS WAR FEVER
AS ALLIES SLEEp
Then as Dawn Breaks Ova,
the renches and Martial
Routine Begins Suspicion
and Alertness Prevail.
BY GEORGE DUFREsNA

fAhlS, Sept. e.
During the terrific fighting in northo..
and eastern France, the troops NJ o..
Allies have had very little sleep ,rh.
has been great deal of night syh,,..
and heavy rains have made the posIton
of the men In. the trenches vastly uncor,
Portable.
The trenches within the circle of for,.
are cloaked before dawn by mist h..
and there, hidden under temporarv sho,
ters, groan or murmur tells whero ,h.
soldiers sleep o nstraw, behind the in,
trenchments. The stations of tho 1oo.,
lines are filled with straw and amons
sacks and accoutrements the moro SorI
tunate are asleep, crowded close, under
the open sheds.
Here and there, as one moves, shadow.
loom out of the mist-the close standirs
sentries, singular figures, hidden in ybi,s
vapor TO the waist, all wearing heav,,
cloaks of different types, but made mi.
form by the military cap, the shouldered
or grounded musket.
The challenges run round in suhdro.
tones. Even suspicion seems lulled In
the truce of the night the mind evon
of the sentry is passive. The artificial
atmosphere that makes all but the knnu,n
uniform an enemy is forgotten for tbs
moment. '"s
Looking back at Paris, the citv !,
shoulder deep in white mist Onlv ,ha
spires and towers emerge, gray and
sleepy. The summit of the Eiffel Tower i.
lost again in a yet higher belt
AS the gray light grows yellow ars
red with the coming sun, the towers ars
projected against it, as If floating In
mid air, city of dreams. Can this be
the town that is waiting half emntv
garrisoned with soldiers, every public of.
flee n barrack or ambulance, for ey-
pected bombardment, almost certain siago,
Yet only few miles to the NORTH
how few the citizens do not vet know
the advance patrols of the enemy aro
also resting, sleeping under the sams
bands Of white mist.
And behind us, also hidden bv tbs
mist. the restless movement of tbe
Allies troops continues. Trains ara
shunting and banging. there is the rat
tic of heavy wheels on the roads.
The yellow light widens the mist lifts
and grows thin. The sentries seem Ia
shape themselves and swing their coaks
general stir rustles out of the shell
ters. The clatter of cooking pots and
boots, even of voices, begins round us
The night has been warm, and sultry
feeling falls again at once with the
opening of day. A cavalry patrol vis-
ibe already IN its lighter blue uniforms
files past. The men move out to their
work on the earthworks. There is the
rattle of arms as the muskets are freed
from their standing stocks. Strange
sheaves these, in their threatening lines,
by the edges of uncut cornhelds. They
begin to glitter as they are lifted in
the early sunlight.
The sound of n distant shot, unex-
planned, startles my little circle of view
into alertness. The truce of night goes
in an instant with the mist. Suspicion,
the sharp tension of prospective attack,
change In second the atmosphere. Or
ders, loud voices and movements tell the
beginning of another day in the war.
Paris. as l return, is already awake;
sharply outlined and stirring. Carts are
moving in and out of one gate, which
has opened early. Small parties of off
GERS roll out noisily in motorcars from
their city quarters.
1t is time to get back to the suppressed
shepherded existence of a civilian in a
town under military government, for
whom rumor-fed ignorance is considered
to be the only safeguard against panic