The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1914-10-29
Marvellous Change Wrought in
the Gay City by the War.
6ouIevards Are Almost Deserted, But
People Are Not Depressed-5rit-
ish Soldiers Welcomed as He
roes by the Citizens.
BY GEORGE DUFREsNE.

0y NGSnSE 6OT hG0NEs
Paris.-To look for the first time
upon the subdued and demure face
which Paris presents to the world is
to experience the surprise of ones
lifetime. No one familiar with the
French capital under normal condi-
tions-its exuberant gayety, its sleep
less pursuit of pleasure, its crowded
theaters, its thronged boulevards and
overflowing cafes-could ever have
imagined that Paris was capable of
such an extraordinary change in the
course of a few weeks. The meta
morphosis is staggering; it is almost
impossible to describe it adequately
in words.
Imagine, if you can, the wheels Of
Partisan life running at quarter
speed. Imagine, if you can, the echo-l
ing quietness of a Scottish Sunday de-
scended upon the fair face of the
once vibrant city. Picture to yourself,
If you can, the grand boulevards, that
are accustomed to seethe with anima-
tion until midnight, and long after,
damped down, as it were, each eve
ming at eight or nine o'clock. Think
of a Place de lOpera, ordinarily pal
pitating with wheeled traffic of all
sorts, now so quiet and still that you
might almost play tennis on the car
riageway in broad daylight and risk
the occasional interruption of a pass
ing cab or military automobile.
Think of the Champs Elysees as a
study in perspective, the Place de la
Concorde as sort of geometric void.
But the people of Paris, or as many
of them as are still left within its
walls, seem in no way depressed by
the sudden change which has over
taken the course of their daily ex-
istence. They are subdued and chas-
tened, perhaps, by the contemplation
Of events that may still befall them
selves and their fair city. Paris, re-
sponsive to the stilled voice of its
street traffic, may speak in whispers;
but it is perfectly calm now, and even
confident in the ultimate issue of the
war, be it long or short
At a rough guess, I should say that
three out of every four shops in the
heart of the city-as the visitor To-
Gates the heart-are closed on ac-
count of the war.
Occasionally as you move about the
city you come upon scenes that re-
joice the heart of a Britisher. In
Paris, as in all France, the British sol
der is a hero, and by now he has
ceased to be a novelty. Ever and
anon just now in Paris. you seem to
encounter a stray soldier or two in
khaki. On one Of the main boule-
wards saw three. All of them, as it
happened, belonged to Scottish regi-
ments. Two were in "trews" and the
third wore the kilt. Everybody on
the boulevard turned round to look at
them. l had scarcely opened conver.
sation with them when observed
that between the three of them they
could not have produced one regi
mental badge. All had been parted
with as souvenirs to an admiring
populace. Their glengarries were
bare of badges and SO were their
shoulderstraps. One of the men in
tartan ''trews" had even surrendered
the ribbons of his bonnet.
But the most interesting figure of
the trio was the one in the kilt. Not
even his kilt had the souvenir-hunt-
ers spared. He gently turned up the
outer fold of it and showed me how
he had been cajoled into parting in
"swatches" with quite a large portion
of the undermost section of it. And
even as spoke lady demanded and
obtained a button from the tunic of
one of his comrades. Truly, hero
worship has inaaisold ways of express
ing itself
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