The Alaska daily empire., 1915-01-09
ALASKAN RiTEs
 WAR Es
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perhoppno Aladkan has had moro Interesting war experience in Etfeae .han Charles 8. Sargent ior many years head of Che Dawson and Fair oaMka mercantile house oL safEQnt piuska who. W'th aira. sargent had been living in Pafls ior sevefal yeaIa at the time the war began.
 Sargent closed out his Interest tn tho mercantile buslne1a in the inter. ior fow years ago. and lol time operated ln Fairbanks gold quartz pro narti6s Later he mud Mr9 Sargent vent to Paris to live. ID 9 letter to ". x. Thompson, editor of the Fair hanks New8.Mlner Mr. Sargent tells of his experience In Branee Tho lel- tor was written from Havre, 10 which place the Sargents fled rom Fafla aL the time the French capital was threatened by tho invaders
 The letter first printed n tne News- Miner follows:
 Vllla Les Algues, Rue du Bean Pane.
 rama. .sninte Adresse, Saine inioric-
 ure. France. November l6. 1874.
 Dear Friend Thompson.
 Have jugt read late copies of che News-Minor lfrom Juiy 2S to August fl0t and am surprised at the amount Of war news you give your readers ft is more ,han Inc Paris papers wore giving for some days.
 Immedialely after tho war began ] the papers reduced t1eir.s size tor two l reasons the workmen nearly all went 10 war and there was no news Go ] publish as the censor has cut right fand iell on war news. There i5 one Paria paper that presents the appear I ance of a checker board, there being so many blank specs in the columns daily
 J am sure to excite your sympathy when l ten you that being a refugee and hard hit by ,he war. l have taken to Journalism.
 However. having seen SO much oi tbe troubles of other people during Che past three months my own seem Go sink into significance
 Alter two exciting weeks in Paris during the days of mobilization of the ] army Hrs. Sargent and ] went in line with some friends who had q chateau in Che north of France. For two weeks aH was peace and quiet .ih that beautllul spot Then all was l changed, automobiles in great num- bers whlszed by. the trains were crowded with passengers, long trans of flat ears also crowded with peo. fple who taking with them some of Che aousehold eftects5 then came three ! days procession Of farm wagons drawn
 y horses too old to SO to war small carts drawn by dogs. and carts. baby cartridges. and wheel barrows pushed by women, all Of these vehicles piled ] mgbt with tho hurriedly gotherel per
 onal effects of the peasant people oi Belgium.
 Everybody was in @ rush going they knew not where. lheir only thought was to escape the cruel fate which had beallen so many Of their com lpatriots ct Che hands of the enemy i yhe sound Of cannon became more dindnct and we too joined the ad vance patrol Of the rotreating French army and returned to Paris.
 We arrived ID the city at Che timc l Of one of the daily bomb dropping feats from German aeroplane.
 The committee at the American ! Emoassy then advised an Americans ! who were not obliged to remain, ts leave the city.
 We thought Of going to the soutt 1 of France but the rush was In tha 1 direction and no railway tickets were ! 10 be had for days in advance. TC l Bordeaux the French government wal ] moving so no chance there out VIC 1 were able to buy tickets for Hayr' ! good on the morning train oi the thirt day
 1 Or that morning we left for tht station at 6.SO and at o'clock w, l'had secured our seats on the trair leaving at nine and after being side | tracked many times for troop trains ! to pass we arrived at Havre tbreC hours late
 -Iavre was crowded with regugeei l no rooms were to be had, but we ii nally got The promise Of one which Ewooid be vacated late in the evening i.and lucky VIC were, for people less ] fortunate with more money than we had. slept on the floor in the halls Of the hotel.
 The following day with our same | friends from the Chateau, we secured a furnished villa at Sanite Adresse ia suburb Of Havre, overlooking the bay and English channel. This villa bad first been vacated by family who feared the approach of the Ger mans and had fled to Brittany One morning in the middle of October we awoKo to find ourselves in the cen ter of the new capital Of Belgium
 The Belgian government bag and ] baggage, had come from 0stend by steamers to Hayre and the French government had secured hotels and Villas for their occupancy in this sum I mer resort Of Sanite Odresse.
 With this town 8 seat of govern ment and the making of Hayre the landing base for the British troops. Havde has become a cosmopolitan city ID bright uniforms, thousands of