Evening star., 1914-08-16

Every store and shop was closed,
every door shut tight, every blind and
shutter fastened Upon the street there
was not q soul to be seen, not even
a gendarme. The Parisians. You, see,
had tacitly agreed that every one Of
them would stay fast within doors
during the German occupation.
when we reached the Champs
d 'Elysees we looked UP and down the
broad esplanade and found 1t as de-
serted as the rest of the city,, not a
as remote from human kind apparently
as if we had been marooned on Rob
inson crusoe's island. -
"As we stood on the curb, craning
our necks up the street, some one
of the party suddenly exclaimed:
There's somebody now!
Looking, we saw, coming up by the
Arc de Triomph. solitary horseman.
He rode slowly up the center of the
street, and he looked about seven feet
tall. He was dressed in the uniform
Of Prussian hussar and was mounted
on magnificent horse.
"'Why, he's all alone" exclaimed one
of our party. And 1t was true. Though
him, there was not a single. solitary
soldier. either horse or foot. bearing
him company A single German troop
er was taking the imperial city of
Paris. the modern mistress Of the
world!
"Isn't that like Bismarck" cried a
young secretary of the legation. He
did not have to explain; we all saw
it In a flash. The Iron Chancellor. in
order to humiliate the Parisians, who
the BerlNese, was sending a single.
lone soldier in to take possession of
their sacred city. Despite the feeling
of sympathy with the Parisians that
we must feel, after dwelling through
months of hardship with them. we
could not but feel a thrill OF admira-
tion at the magnificent audacity of this
great German statesman.
And. as the solitary horseman. with
head erect and eyes set firmly to the
front, rode slowly by us. we saw that he
was unarmed! Another stroke Of that
wonderful Bismarck! Not only was a
single German taking the French cap
ital: be was taking 1t all unarmed!
LAS the horseman passed US. riding into
the heart of the city. we saw. coming
about quarter of a mile behind him, a
squad Of about a dozen mounted troop
ers. with rifles ready for use. AS they
approached the street corners they made
little excursions OF into the cross streets,
evidently to see whether any ambuscade
was laid for the troops following. AS
they passed us. they saluted, which was
more than the giant Hussar had done.
Following these scouts, there came a
regiment Of the LIST Bavarian Army
Corps. We learned afterward that this
honor Of leading the occupation of Paris
was given to the Bavarians instead Of
the Prussians who had borne the brunt
Of the war. through another one Of those
skillfully diplomatic strokes of Bis
marck.
you see. a few years before. the
and the Bavarians had taken the side Of
Austria. When the Prussians were VIC
torious. they imposed little or no war
burden on the Bavarians. who were the
second among the German states, but
merely insisted upon their entering the
defensive alliance that Bismarck then
formed-the alliance that later became
the German Empire. When the war be-
tween Prussia and France broke out the
Bavarians. who. for generations, had
been allies Of the French. went into the
war as allies Of the Prussians, but they
did 1t in a half-hearted way. They kept
their word, but it was generally known
that they had no enthusiasm in the
matter.
Accordingly, when the honor Of lead
ing the entry into Paris was to be be-
slowed. the shrewd old Bismarck, seek
ing to make the Bavarians feel good,
gave them the honor of marching In
the van.