Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-05-02
THEWs1ToR ToPARIs F1NDS
\ THE CAFE TERRACES WE'LL
RONIZED.E

that ina gination is apt to draw con-
sists of a city peopled with only sor-
children and invalids. Not only the
boulevards of Paris, but every busy
section of the city Is we'll supplied
with able-bodied men. the majority
visitor to Paris who has heard widely
exaggerated tales of city of wom-
en-" invariably asks the question.
Where do all the men come from -
The answer is simple. They come from
the ranks of those physically unfit to
fight and those whose economic duties
could not spare them.
Government and a certain amount Of
commerce must go on, war or no war.
There are not sufficient physically
unfit" men In Paris to take over the
running of the absolutely essential por-
tions Of the economic machinery of the
city and the nation. 1t follows that
some men, a considerable number as a
matter of fact, have to be withheld
from the army in order to preserve
the nation from an economic crisis.
They are the men who crowd the bou-
Ievards after the work of the day is
done, and they are the men. also. whom
one encounters all about the city fill
ing responsible positions where a sub
stitute might blunder. France cannot
spare those who run her banks and hef
factories and her railroads. no matter
how badly achievements at the front
may be needed.
AS for the portion Of the men who
are physically unfit" they have been
drafted into positions left vacant by
stronger individuals who have been
sent to the front. The physically I'M
fits are seen behind the counters in
the big department stores. They bios
som out as drivers Of the ineradicable
taxfcab They possess themselves of q
stiff bosomed shirt and the upper por-
ton of a tuxedo suit and appear as
walters until the end of hostilities
shall rob them of their places or prof
of them. naturally. are holding high
positions. but the majority were
thrown out of work at the opening Of
the war and were forced to take what
they could find afterward.
So it is that Paris finds itself we'll
provided with men to undertake the
performance Of all the lesser tasks
which are attached to the running Of a
huge city and which, individually, are
inconsiderable details. but in toto as
sumo tremendous importance in the life
Of civilized community
One is surprised coming to Paris
TO find that street cars are running
and that the underground railways
still continue to operate. One Is graft
ned to note that the mail carrier makes
his daily rounds undisturbed, appar-
emily, by the battle situation in the
north of France. and that the butcher
and the baker and the milkman are
regularly stocked with supplies which
they in turn find means to deliver to
their customers. All these little
things mean much to thousands Of in
dividuals who have learned to depend
upon them. The physically units"
have contrived to take care of a large
share of them for the people who
dwell in the French capital.
Like the Londoner. the Partisan
grows morbid with constant thinking
he seeks something to drive the ever
recurrent idea from his mind for a
short space. Cafe life has been sadly
curtailed. and, besides. there is neither
music nor dancing there. Parading the
lighted boulevards gives insufficient
and soldiers that speak of war. The
theater only is left. 1t fell into obliv-
ion during the late summer and the
fall when the French were little used
to war. and had no patience with any
thing but the blacklist kind Of gloom.
But now with the gradual return Of
mental equilibrium to the populace a
change Of intellectual diet Is in de-
mand, and already In answer to the
signs of the times a score OF theaters
have opened, including the National
Opera Comique.
The crowds that attend them are not,
however, the old joy-bent Parfsians of
peace times, fippant, gay, colorful, but