Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-09-03
This makes the running Of the farm
somewhat OF partnership affair and
| q ,ms to work quite aatisfactor1ly."
Pa,is O. the Eve 81 war.

somewhat OF = partnership AFFAIR and
q ,ms to work quite satisfactorily"
Paris on ths Eve Of War.
The 1lth Of July I arrived In Paris.
It was . national holiday. Singing,
dancing on the streets Little boys
with hddles, girls with skirts slit higher
than ever, the crowd on the boulevards
testing, jostling. laughing--and gamb-
ling at roulette and rouge-et-noir upon
sidewalks. And not for one night only.
either: this year the ever-blithe- Par
isian gala had lasted for three HILARIOUS
days. Never had I seen Paris so gay.
Electric lights everywhere, arches,
bands, and flags. rollicking soldiers,
students, tourists, girls. and beggars!
Other cities have their carnival moods,
but in Paris gayety 10 an art. Mo-
where in the world are there such en-.
thusiastic demonstrations Of youth and
song, of love and kisses. That night,
along the Seine, laughter exploded with
the fireworks until the dawn came up.
But today-there is no dancing on the
streets OF Paris. On, there are still
kisses; but they are different now
they are drowned in tears! Yes. there ,
Is still youth, but It is ebbing. ebbing
away. draining Paris down to the
WoIACH dIiU OlO HIGH. 0OuBB SuoEc ~
but one song left-'Le Marseillaise."
on every corner. "A Berlin! Hou!
Hou! A Berlin! Hou! Hou!" In the
cafe everyone jumps to his feet. In
stantly the place is emptied. From
Queerly bearded students. from girls
standing ON chairs. from aproned
waiters-yes. even from the fat throat
madame. the patronne. at her desk the
yell goes up: ''vive la France!" And the
blue. white ana red banner, with a
thousand boys in It's wake, marches.
shouting down the Boulevard San
Michel: "A Berlin! Hou! Hou! A Ber-
lin! Hou! Hou!"-leaving q seething
wake OF patriotism behind. For ff-
teen days clouds hung over the city,
drixzling little every day. alternate
sunshine and rain threatening all tbs
time. For fifteen days also the mental
tension frightened. frightened. az II some
one were screwing up q spring. What
will Servia answer p the chasseur OF
my hotel asked me. - he brought in
my paper. Three days later . friend
~ policeman was asking: do you
think Russia will stand by the Siavu?"
Another week and it was my calm. In
telligent laundress: THAT German
Kaiser, he L. truly mad" Next came
the question: "Will France mobilize?
VIII Germany declare war;? And last
Iy: "Ah, II England will only keep
faith" There grew less hope OF peace.
Blacker and blacker grew the chance
Of escape. At every cafe the CONVEX
eation became more and more serious.
At every doorway the concierge gos-
siped while the cordonnier and the
facteur dejectedly shook their heads.
Groups formed and grew larger. here,
there, everywhere; behind that tree, in
front Of the bakery, inside the char
cuterie, chatting excitedly over tho
news. Two words jumped out like rife
shots from every discussion; one heard
them again and again: "L'Allemagne!"
and La guerre!" Down the streets,
racing from the Grands Bouleyards. this
camelots came running every after
noon. shouting Ia Patrie!" and La
Pressed" The papers were snatched AMI
fought for on every corner: the first
editions barely lasted TO the Pantheon.
BY o'clock the evening OF the
mobilization order. at every doorway,
laundry, milk depot and pastry shop
stood women, staring out blankly Into
tho street. or weeping silently. or
whispering, two and two. Leaning
against q lamp post I saw young girl
painted ana powdered like clown.
with dyed hair. earrings. and flesh
colored stockings, creature dressed
for musical comedy. crying bitterly.
crying and hopping her face till her
handkerchief was red and black with
melted cosmetics. There was no at
tempt at privacy anywhere: 1t was thu
abandonment OF sorrow. Women with
month old babies. sobbing; old ladies'
and school girls gazed, weeping. out o.
window after window. 1t was night
mare. Paris, gay Paris, In tears? It
was incongruous, grote.aue, impossible
It was like the atmosphere one feels
before an earthquake or tornado.
Ones flesh fairly crawled, a. II one
were treading on corpses.
What was the matter with the
streets? They began to grow queerly
silent. To be sure. occasional ner-
vous, determined yellow taxicabs sti'.
few up and down, barking with q new
importance-but the auto buses--
where were they? In single hour
everyone in the city had disappeared:
Every station was deserted.
Clackety- clack, clackety- clack! up
the forsaken wooden pavement came
cavalry lieutenant In cuirass and he'll
met and horsehair plume. gallopins
with orders Shop shutters began to
60 up And still the weeping women
stood haggard in the doorWays. Far
away came the sound OF cadenced
shouting on the boulevard, louder and
louder: "A Berlin! Hou! Hou! A Ber-
lin! Hou! Hou! A Berlin! Hou! Hou'
The reaction had already set tn.-Col-
liers.