New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-26

and every other large building which
can be spared, are hospitals.
Keeps in Touch with the Line.
For the British have come, TO take
possession Of that part Of the city
which lies closest to their warllke &C
tivities. Besides the eternal business
of patching up thousands and thou
sands of wounded, other affairs OF the
British army which il is not discreet to
mention have their focus here. SO the
town lodges hundreds Of officers, Of Red
Cross workers, both male and female;
Of military chauffeurs and ambulance
drivers. and il billets thousands OF sol
dicrs who assist in all these activities.
There are, too, the legitimate camp fol
lovers, such as women relatives Of men
in the officers hospital, government
couriers, correspondents, and the la
dies who run the retreshment stations
which feed the wounded on their way
through TO other bases further south.
Now. the Briton is not by nature
"mixer." He is too shy. He doesn't
know how. Travel the length snd
breadth Of the British Isles, in peace
times at least, and you will scarce
make an acquaintance on the trains.
he pursues his business aloof from
the inhabitants. The Frenchman, too,
has his reserves. Though in France
a whole train compartment will make
acquaintance during the first hour OF
the journey, the FrencEman IS chary
Of taking you into his home or his life.
The consequence is that. although the
Allies here are working together with
mutual esteem, they mix, socially, Ike
oil and water. The high town within
the walls is still French, more French
than il has been for a century, what
with the disappearance of the tourist.
Part at least of the low town is en-
tirely British. Near the high town is
a great cafe which fronts a nuniC pal
theatre. closed since August 2 last.
There the elderly Frerchman. too adj
vanced in years to be drafted into
the Territorials. does his drinking Of
evenings before the memorable O'Clock
law closes all doors ami sruffs out all
lights against the dangers Of aircraft.
The British officer docs his drinking
and chatting in the American bars of
the hotels. In the hotel where ! I've
one seldom secs a Frcnchman. Occa-
sionally a French officer drops in to
luncheon with his British confreres;
now and then we have an Interpreter.
That is about all.
There is, however. very close and
intimate contact with "tke line"
reached by the hundreds oe fast auto
mobiles which ply back and forth in
disregard Of speed rules. IN an hours
easy run one can be under the guns.
At all times Of the day and night these
automobiles are drawing up. the khaki
e tkx.,v H., 49, :,
road dust. Out come officers T. refresh
themselves and to gossip. Of personal
talk. ] find. there is very little. An
officer at the base dislikes to ask an
officer Just from the line about Smith
or Jones; he may learn that Smith
has gone the way OF good soldiers,
and il is a cohventiona,ity IF this war
not TO mention the dead. The talk is
largely technical-of the running time
of trains, the movement of this bat
talon or that, of new aeroplane de-
signs, Of new German tricks.
Where Extreme Types Meet.
Extremes meet curiously out here.
Every American knows how, in certain
remote towns, the passing of the Over
land train is the one event Of the day,
which draws the natives like magnet.
1t is the same with the British colony
here. The one event is the arrival of
the daily boat bringing passengers and
newspapers from England. As the hour
approaches, every disengagod person
seems TO rise and drift toward the
docks. And the passage from the hotel
to the docks, what with the mixture of
races and costumes, is picturesque
enough. There are the aforesaid fisher
folk, the barefoot women, carrying
great panniers Of fish slung across their
backs from their brows, or nets
wrapped on poles. There are French
sailors in their white and blue. There
are the soldiers and sentinels of the
French garrison. Because this is far
behind the lines, where conspicuous-
ness is not dangerous, they dress still
in the long blue coats and red trousers
Of the old regime Of costume. There
are Ghurkas o, the British army. Little,
stout fellows, with faces like peasant
Japanese. They wear broad hats, like
sombrcros, cooked up at one size. Also
there may be a detachment Of Sikhs,
the most picturesque troops on the
western front. They have bearded,
brown faces, usually classical in out
line. One sees twenty Olympian Joves
. IN every OHM company. ONlNt the
bodies below are not Greek at all. Your
Sikh is slim, meagre. He has high,
square shoulders and very thin shanks
which the tight puttees of the British
uniform show off 10 disadvantage. lie
wears a khaki turban, with the end
floating down his back, and he has
dignity which nothing in the world
can shake. The meanest among them
walks like a king. By way of Oriental
contrast, you may meet next squad
OF French Turcos, in Zouave uniform.
Then there are the British. in uniform
khaki, with those variations which
mark off English and Irish from Scotch
and Welsh A strangely mixed squad
stands at attention or loafs at ease
along the edge Of the dock. They are
the bearers for the hospital trains and
boats. The British theory OF warfare
holds that soldier on the line should
be as fit as an athlete at the starting
mark. When the medicos discover
that a man has a flaw like fat feet.
too many varicose veins, or incurabIy
bad digestion, he goes back 70 carry
wounded SO these men present a
g.-.Li. 80 Hiobland kilts and cans