New Britain herald., 1914-08-21
LA FRANCE BRINGS
 l374ANER|CANS HOME
Voyage Of Mystery Made by French
 Line Steamer.

French line steamer Las France, her rails festooned with 1,374 American refugees from about every quarter of the European continent As she slipped past the Lady of Liberty on Bedloe's Island a cheer went up from the homesick throngs on the port side, while those on the starboard felt thrill no doubt, as they caught a glimpse of Manhattan's sky palaces, looking for all the world like a Max field Parrish dream through the haze.
 There was many a thrill in the stories they told of the flight from the war of EurOpe-slories of German spies shot down in the streets of French towns; of women, wives and mothers clinging to their husbands and sons as the men answered their country's call to arms; of French mobs attacking and wrecking Ger man owned shops, and last but not least of the steady tramp of marching soldiers which seemed to sound con- stantly by day and night from every corner of the French republic.
 ~And then of the ten days wait at Havre while the steamer due to sail on August 4, remained fast to her mOorings until the British and French cruisers could clear the waters of hos tile battleships. It was impossible not to catch the fever of war as men and women alike told the story of these ten days.
 British Troops on Show.
 Shipload after shipload of British troops, the men of Englands expe. ditionary force, steamed into the har. Dor of Havre. Everything moved like m a n lay. From the wharves the soldiers marched to the camping grounds on the cliffs back of the city, pitched their tents and waited for the day when their train should pull up ready to transport them into Belgium.
 And by the time the France cast off and headed her nose toward the Western Hemisphere 3O,OOO of these men had stepped onto French soil- at least that was the estimate gener- ally accepted as correct at Havre At Boulogne, at Dunkirk and Ostend the same thing is going on. Rumor had it at Havre that the British force was to number 100000 men, the pick of England's soldiers.
 Voyage of Mystery.
 In way it was voyage of mys-
 
 country 1t was not definitely known that she had sailed on August IA un- til day before yesterday. Even the passengers did not know when they were to sail. They were on the steam CT and they were getting food-that was enough for most of them. They had been in Paris after the mobiliza- tion orders were issued; they had seen banks, restaurants, hotels and shops close as if by magic, and a good many of them had re1t the first dis agreeable sensations of hunger.
 Many of them went from Paris to Havre in cattle cars, "capacity, six men and forty horses They had been packed in like cattle, too, and for eleven hours had been forced to stand or sit on the f1oor women and children and men alike. Some of these cars were partly filled with sol- diers the civilians taking what room was left And 1t was the soldiers who kept their spirits up, singing war songs recalled from 1870, laugh ing, talking and boasting in their own way of the march to Berlin"
 Conveyed to Open Sea.
 The France was conveyed from
 
 torpedo boat destroyers. Soon the story went about that the captain had his orders to sink the ship rather than let her fall into the hands of enemies. Maybe this was so; more likely, however, it was not. But it had a strong effect on some of the passengers and did not contribute to their ease of mind.
 nt nnt or sounded by wireless on the entire voyage Off the coast of Newfound- land the other night the France al- most ran over a small fishing craft That was the most exciting event of the trip. Outside of New York a British cruiser was sighted patrolline the waters for German vessels.
 On August 5, when the captain sent out word that he didn't know when the France would sail together with the announcement that passengers would b ekept on board for $2 a day each, some Americans got together and formed a committee for the relief Of any who might be in need of help. Harry A. Wheeler, the Chicago banker who rejected a nomination to the Federal Reserve board, was made it's chairman. The other members were Judge Norman s. Dike of Brooklyn, Robert Redfeld of Chicago, Judge George A. Carpenter of Chicago and Henry Bloch.
 $5.OOO Raised at Concert.
 A dozen women, some with children, Who were found in the steerage all though they very palpably belonged in the first cabin, were rescued by this committee. On Wednesday night a concert was held under the manage nent or the committee and $5.OOO subscribed to be sent back for the aid or stranded Americans in Paris Edna ALE and no..a.. 1a4l.