Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1914-12-13
SUEZ CANAL IS NOT FIRST
SLEEPY RHEIMS HAS AN ATMOSPHERE OF MED
IEVAL AGES

| age demands for a canal the Panama
waterway has been made is strikngly
shown by statement from Suez to
the effect that only per cent Of the
ships seeking passage by that route
have a draft Of 2S feet.
In 1869 ten vessels passed through
the Suez canal. In 1912, 5,373 ships
steamed through, Of 2O,275,l2O net
tonnage, and paying for this privilege
around S25,OOO,OOO. Seven out of
every ten Of these ships flew the Brit
/ ism flag England has dominated the
canal ever since the khedive, in 1875,
sold his 1860 canal shares for $40
10000 to the British government.
nose shares are now worth close TO
$500, ,000. 600"
The society also gave out the fol-
loving short pen picture Of the city
of Rheims, which has suffered so
nea'lIy IN the many wars IN which
France has participated:
The tourists Rheims was quiet
and peaceful, even industrial and
commercial peace and neighborly for
pearahce seeming TO reign there. The
Whole appearance of the place made
us Walllke history seem as distant and
unreal as the romance Of FOLKLORE
hhelHS was one Of the most sleepy
OF all truly prosperous cities.
1T preserved with tenacity an air
reminiscent Of the middle n ges Its
homes were old-style. its streets were
cobbly and its young men and women
regularly danced in the open night on
,he naked sands and gravel OF the
parks, as their forbears had done
under the Louis's. Rheims, despite its
more than proper share Of stirrinp
tumultuous history and the wealth
which its commerce and industry
mad brought TO It, maintained an at
utude of listless reflection upon the
days when the kings of France were
crowned with all manner of proud
snow In its wonderful cathedral.
hhelms went into calmy progress
SlNe doze, II there can be such
thlng, Just after IL witnessed the
most thrilling event in all its his
tory-the crowning of Charles VII
presided over by deathless Joan of
Arc
This small French city has been
one OF the restful places OF the world
between wars, but war has awakened
1t more often and caused II more Of
loss and suffering than falls to the LOT
OF most cities. Rheims has lain across
the Dath or many an enemy's march.
1t suffered severely in the campaign
Of 1914. In 1870 the Germans
stormed It's defenses, and German
shells tore their way into It's quaint
limestone homes. Today Rheims has
been mentioned more often In dis
patches concerning bombardments
than any other part of Europe The
brave old town has been forced to
break its rest again and to suffer
the penalties of being a fortress, the
key TO the Champagne plains which
swell unobstructed 10 Paris.
Rheims is the champagne center
Of the world. The last thing Of
which the physical exterior of the
city would make one think is that OF
the clink Of champagne glasses and
the purl of their sparkling, feathery
liquid. Yet there are more than fifty
famous wine firms in the place, and
upon its outskirts are the wonderful
maze of underground cellars, drilled
through chalk formation, where mil
lions OF bottles are ripened every year
"The champagne cellars about
Rheims are second in the interest of
most travellers only to the city's beau
tiful cathedral. During tourist season.
any number of strangers wander
through these underground ways,
with their miles of mellowing pleas
ure. In this article of her commerce
Rheims has done business with all
the world. The grapes from which
the most sparkling OF drinks is made
are grown around the city, on its
sunny fields and hills and about the
Montague de Rheims.
Rheims Is two hours by express
from Paris, 107 miles. II is built on
plain, with hills to the south and
southwest. Strong, detached forts
surround II. Its streets and boule-
wards are broad, and they are bor-
dered by quaint stone and stucco
homes In patterns of yesterday. In
the center of the town, its chief glory
and an object of international pill
grimage, stands the Notre Dame de
Rheims cathedral. II is one of the
worlds very finest specimens of
Gothic Though product of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
il has never been finished; ii still
lacks the towers OF the original de
sign"