Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-21
CONDITIONS IN PARIS
ARE WILDLY DESCRIBED
Sterling Heilig, the Correspondent,
Writes of the Alternating Alarms
and Hopes Of Populace.
Whirr Of Circling Aviators Over
head Is Measuring, But the Fears
of Zeppelins Are Constant.

Vivid and intimate descriptions of
conditions in Paris-the alarms. the
hopes, the determination of the inhab-
itants-are given in a personal letter
from Sterling Heilig. the well known
correspondent of The Star. to a friend
in Washington, as follows:
Mrs. D., our neighbor, has just
come in to read the papers and give
US the latest news Of her husband,
the lieutenant, who Is going up like
a rocket. They want to make him
captain and inspector of new automo-
bile-van trains of shell supplies. and
his wife is fighting the promotion on
general principles. Better stay OBJ
scure and useful, she says; death loves
a shining mark: and he knows his
present Job, which is directing a train
back and forth, to the front-the only
danger is when at the front, except
when van blows up-melinite. 1t has
happened.
Every night we hope for rain. To-
day, for example, it is raining cats
and dogs Every one tranquil. We
shall doubtless sleep sound tonight
The rain on the roof soothes doubly
in Paris-since the Zeppelin raids.
Those big sausages dare not navigate
the air in wet weather. The rain in
creases their weight by tons.
Rain Relieves Zeppelin Strain.
"A wet night means freedom from
that strain-not immense, but real and
cumulative in its effects on the nerves
wondering IL tonight's the night.
There is an excellent aeroplane patrol.
forty-three aeroplanes of the camp
retranche of Paris, and, they say, some
fifty between US and the front. Not a
day passes but they turn a Zeppelin
or several back-they always run. But
now and then they slip through, or
may slip through. Any hour Of the
circling aviation over Paris. 1t re-
assures. All the same our parlor man
telpiece is crowded with masks and
quarts of solution against poison gas
floor fiat Four floors above us; two
below. Comparative safety from all but
the biggest trinitrotoluol explosive
bombs 1S0 pounds) and ditto from
gases: which do not rise above twenty
feet from the ground.
Paris is no place for fun. The the
aters are all open, of course. and the
moving pictures, cafe terraces, big
shops, everything, in fact: but every
one is quiet and serious, and such an
awful lot of women in black! They
know they have got the Germans to
beat, but also know that the cleaning
up will take a lot more lives, vast eX-
pense and misery. They will never con-
sent to a lame peace They will clean
things up for good If it takes their last
dollar. and they've got good many
dollars.
Fashion Devotees In Red Cross.
IF one comes as a special correspond
ent. with excellent credentials. one can
get to see the front-and risk getting
killed. Otherwise. no tourist has
ghost Of a chance to see anything that
resembles fighting, unless 1t be the re-
pulse Of Zeppelin raid at night. The
fashionable world has turned, for the
most part, Red Cross especially the real
aristocrats. I know men of fifty years
of age, among the great old families,
who have been fighting since August.
Contade (whose great-grandfather was
the last duke made by Louis XVI, and
marshal of France) enlisted. at forty
eight, as a lieutenant. So, at forty-six,
Prince Gerard de Lucinge-Fausigny,
whose ancestors were kings of Jerusa-
lem, or words to that effect. in crusad-
ing days. He Is volunteer lieutenant.
1.-The fashionable remnant that can't
stand it has fed to San Sebastian, the
one spot of real gayety in Europe at
this moment. Everything goes there.
brilliant and rich season. They shut
their eyes to the war. They will get it
in the neck (socially) after Fashion
able Paris is going to be much changed.
Twenty French war widows keep or
der in the convent-it's a convent Gem
etery. 1 think we shall not go on much
of a vacation. No one is going"