The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-07
s'WAR TURNS RIVIERA
4 INTO BIG HOSPITAL
Most of Famous Hotels Now
Filled With French and
British Wounded.
MANY CONTRASTS SEEN
Nv MONCuRE ROBINSON.

On BOARD =, l.. VI. EXPRESS ron
PARIS. Jan. "a hurried departure
from Cannes. consequent upon the mo-
bilization from tomorrow of all ex-
press trains for the transportation OF
troops north and of wounded south is
my excuse for writing you from the
train.
The Riviera H. one great hospital
from Cannes to Nice, from Nice to
Beaulieu, and from Beaulieu to Monte
Carlo and Cap Martin. and about one
half the best hotels are converted
into hospitals. conyalescent homes and
dispe nsaries At Cannes the Carlton
Hotel is the largest hospital, with It's
1900 beds not yet quite filled the
q. Casino is the next largest. aCcommo-
dating 400 wounded. while the Hotel
GalHa Is third, with $50 beds The
Beau Rivage Is now being prepared by
tho English az Cannes for the recep-
ton OF English officers and men ex-
clusve!y and will therefore be prop
sriy organized and managed.
. To an American with the high stand
ards OF fresh air cleanliness and COM
% fort which even our poorer no pitfalls
provide. the disorder and lack OF ven
I have seen with three eNceptons) is
appalling, even where, as In the case
. of the Cannes Casino, with its floors of
parquet or tiles ana its high ceilings
proper sanitation would be not only
pot sible but easy
% The Casino Municipal de Cannes is
perhaps the most interesting of all the
hospitals on the Riviera to visit, on ac-
count Of the sad contrast of It's present
state to that OF other and happier
days The vestibule is the Bureau de
Reception The great hall Is filled
. with sixty-eight beds containing the
least seriously wounded on the right
in the Sale des petits ChevauN ct de
La Boule are sixty beds with the more
serious cases the Sale de BaCClrat
facing south and flooded with sunshine
houses all the cases OF rheumatism.
, pneumonia, bronchial colds, sc while
the restaurant on "A level with the ter
: races and overlooking the blue Medi-
"terranean brings health and str myth
s'to the convaleucent, who ha X In the
u sunshine and amid the flowers of tho
= famous gardens The conyalescrnts alone
Care allowed fresh air, the other rooms
are kept Theoretically sealed and the
air is beyond the power Of polite words
Ito describe.
The Bar American with its red ,led
floor and white rpolin walls also fac
ing south, Is now the 50. dDpert-
tions. and where formerly bottles lined
the shelves behind the bar itself are
now rows of instruments, an auto
ciave and other sterilizing appliances.
Across the corridor the cabinet de
toilette makes an excellent barber
shop, where the soldiers have the un-
accustomed luxury II shave and "A
haircut as soon as they are able to
leave their beds.
On the second floor the small card
rooms accommodate the non-commis-
stoned officers. The Salon de- Lecture
has heen converted into an excellent
Sale de MecanothGrlpie, a sort of
glorified lander gymnasium, where
electric ba tbs, rowing machine and va
rious other mechanical contrivances
for artificial exercise strengthen
wounded muscles and restore shattered
nerves. These apparatus, donated by
kind foreigner, constitute the only
really modern and efficient department
OF the hospital me Direction and
the Docteur-en-Che occupy the small
rooms on the second floor front, where
formerly much money changed hands.
II is fair TO say that In spite Of the bad
air, the dirty linen and the general dis
order the wounded seem happy and
comfortable and that only three cases
nave been lOSt : nee the CASINO was
opened as a hospital in october,
In striking contrast to this lack OF
system and order IL the hospital or
ganized at the Hotel Gallia, where
many English nurses are in charge and
where large windows thrown open onto
balconies admit fresh air and sunshine
and where the wounded recover with
"A rdpidity that rs Ouuds III French
doctors. who Shruc their shoulders and
ts.Hv ,.rftA -,1n IN
and pain: mon Dieul Aver &c cour-
ant d'ar les pauvres doivent srrement
MOURN" (Heavens, IN this draught
the poor souls ought really to die)
The food, however, in nearly all the
hospitals is excellent and not badly
served, and champagne is given once a
day 10 the eonvalescents who need mild
alcoholic stimulant,.
At Nice there Is among others ono
small hospital, beautifully appointed
and efficiently managed by the Prn-
cesse Eugene Murat, where many ladies
have given their services as well az
their financial fApstnance.
At Monte t'drlSithere are numerous
hospitals and at Cap Martin there II
one. all of which are rapidly Milling AS
the trains bear numbers of wounded
south. II the French are brave fighters
they are Drawer still I'm the way they
bear their sufferings-patient uncom-
planning and grateful for the least kind
ness--and | have seen men with a leg
or an arm amputated smilingly adjust
ing a wooden limb and patiently strug'
Cling to use it, "Vive la France - is
all they say and feel.
At Cap Martin great interest centres
about the Senegalese barracks where
500 stalwart blacks. larger and bette
looking than tho South African negroes
arc drilling under an able commandan
preparatory to leaving I'm March or Apri
for the front. Although childish in theil
simplicity, these big men show "A sur
prising aptitude for drill and discipline
and 1t was most interesting to watcl
them go through their mannuYres-ril'
drill. marching, running. charging, auC
most startling of all, their hayonet at
tacks. in which, rushing forward at grea
speed in single files, they thrust the
bpyonets with great force into the rrced
ing chests of straw dummies, hung from
a row of cypress trees which lined tn
barrack walls. These exercises over IT,
| men were set to their lighter tasks o
cleaning the horses. cooking lunch, whicI
| Is done over wood fires in huge cdldron
into which everything in sight is thrown
| and those not qualified for these usetu
! occupations are arranged in squads O
I twelve and are taught to play blind
| mans buff" follow the leader" AM
! other non-African games, to the success
| OF which loud shrieks OF merrlmcn
\ testify.
|, Their quarters arc not luxurious bu
are very clean and each man has hi