The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-08-23
PHILADELPHIA AND BOSTON
STRENGTHEN HOLD ON LEAD

love and pity is destructive and i'm.
plies distrust.
sometimes wonder where all ,,osa
PttiIs soldats have zone TO. They
neither appear in the no.
on the streets. They nave been SUI
perseded by the "poilu' that hardy
r~oughened individual who il now.
hho"n as one Of the best fighters i'm
the world.
IT II wouldn't be- absured 10 tbinJc
IT, one would say that all these men
nave sroWn two or three inches I'm
heieht. whether il is military clothes
anu bearing. or not. I don't know.
Du' the race Of NOS petits soIdats''
80 iondIy n psrsistontly chung TO
" writers OF s stories" has van
ished from the earth.
remember those first DAYS when
the question Of England's entrance
huhE IN h balance. The tension
mere IN Paris was so positive. so act.
ual' taat Is seemed as IL il were a
band oil fine steel drawn tight around
'he heart. Of which one was conscioux
every minute. every second.
Would they fight? Would they? II
meant all the difference between life
and death to France.
What Heartened France.
And when England had declared
war. there was almost a spirit OF re-
Jolcing and jubilation in the France
which was sending off her men by
the millions.
And all those hot DAYS when mo,
marched by, bowed under their beavv
~knapsacks. and the stilI breathless
nights when the clear call of tho
bugle would summon us from our ter
race 10 the dimly lighted Moutpar-
nasse silently to watch another re-
giment leaving.
The utter lassitude OF those days
the neat. the tramless streets. the End
less walking 20 be done. the close
SHOPS the painful uncertainty, life
broken into three parts only-the morn
ihg' the noon, and the evening paper.
And then the tears I who never
weep unles ! am furiously angry
cried helplessly every time I saw a
group OF young volunteers 90 cheer
INK through the streets. every time T
saw a father reach out trembling
hands TO read the evening paper. al
the glimpse OF the 20year-old officers
iliing BY the Alsace statue, sauItingi
with barred swords and on their ear
nest young faces. white with emotion.
me determination to win back tho
lost land FOR France or die.
Then came h black DAYS or Sept
ember. and after them the new spirit
OF France was born. that spirit which
spells patience. endurance. r~esigna-
uon; n after them. too. came a
wave OF black. Of mourning through
all France which shall never Rivo
way colors and gayety again. while
any or rs are still alive.
Changes OF A Year.
~ the end OF a year France Is TO
me the nation par excellence 81 the
war. The French have amazed the,
world as soldiers. a. tacticlans. a.
citizens. "LUnion Sacree" is mor,
Of a remarkable fact here thar in Ger.
many. where anything else Il treason
and mutiny
They have stood me bnr' Of tho
entire war. Seven of their DEPART
ments-their richcsf.are invaded Their
land o. oyer-run with English who are
just sitting around and not fighting.
They are producing ammunition not
only for themselves. but the English.
They have stood The brunt of tho
entire TO think how many mon. and
yet now az the beginning OF This sec.
oud year. with their loses. their fin
irrial depression. their scarcely
changed line of front boo eleven months
with The imporfonf English army SD
% ~rctrcafInr Russians. there is no
one ~ them who would give in. even
Tor splendid peace terms
As TO Che other rurnfr|ga I have
seen during The war. word pictures
will ave to suffice ! do NOT know
them as J. know France