The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-15
HEADQUARTERS OF
 ALLIED FORCES IS PICT URESQUE SCENE

F'urnes, West Flanders, Jan. 15- From the main headquarters of the Belgian army in the Horel de Vile here, one gets perhaps the most col orfu1 glimpse of the trappinEs of war that may be, had anywhere among the Allies It is picturesqueness lacking in lnnalxi-clad England
 In front of the Hotel de Vale Is the square where three rulers of three of the Allied powers met their generals several weeks ago. Here the most modern war vehicles tostIe the pri1n- itive when the armored car locks wheels with a, cape-covered mule drawn cart of the French African soldier. The square is packed with every description of conveyance. Be fore the door of headquarters is line of war-stained automobiles still showing traces of their aFistocratic past. Tn the middle of the square motorbusses converted into kitchens and commissarist wagons, are sur runded by a hungry mob of soldiers.
 The uniforms are bwildering in their variety. The most conspicuous is the red-trousered French infantry men. Some French cavalryInen are present with their helmets dfsportfng its long horse tail, but with the bright metal covered by dull leather. Bel gtan guides in ther gren with red trimmings add to the color, while the SQu1et note Is struck by the Btg1an ar td1ery in American army blue.
 But the most picturesque effect is provided by the French and Belgian African strops, many thousands of whom have marched through Furnes this wek. Their officers, in high cantled saddles, are mounted on beautiful horses. They wear long blue, red-Hned capes which float be- hind them as they gallop along, with everything except the background for a desert picture. The soldiers wear a. more sober colored cape, with a. tur- ban like hood. Their blue boIero Jackets are trimmed in gold and they wear baggy corduroy trousers.
 These Africans seem asf distrust- full of their white allies transport as of his food and for hours the little hooded carts, each drawn by three way through the square. Behind the carts came trains of pack mules loaded with ammunition and en- | trenching tools, and looking like a prospector's outfit in the Rocky Mountains.
 The square is scene of constant bustle. and activity. Staff officers come and go,- the Belgian war min l fster rushes in for few moments conferen with the king and his staff, and away again in his military car. Cavalry regiments with sleek horses, rested now after their ter rible retreat from Antwerp, line up ! for inspection. while a cyclist corps l inssfrom a scouting foray clean and Irepair their trenches Unattached units play about waiting for orders ! or food. Suddenly a pig strays into 1 the square and after a race around and underneath some armored cars I he is. captured and disappears into a \ house just off the square, where some soldiers are quartered- He makes his l next appearance at a portable field l Kitchen captured from the Germans | and now standing before ninth cen
 fury church in which as thousand sol Ediers have slept the night before in Isstraw covering the stone Tagging.
 These are the actual fighting men
 on Almost constant duty, yet the key note is gaIety.
 When a group of their officers | gather about the dining table in the I quaint old hotel, with the date 1573
 carved In It's oalxen beams war is the supreme topic, but its grimness is
 relieved by jokes and laughter. In fl moment of silence the judge advo- Icate tells how at midnight the night
 death, one of these woman caught
 dressed in the robes of a priest. All
 had been shot at sunrise that morn
 ing. A moment of gravity followed
 the story then the whole table 1 laughed over the naisfortunes of a
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 merchant, who described in moss I comica1 terms the capture by the
 Germans of his cellars.
 Of civilian life there is scarcely a
 trace, brown robed monks move about, but as their business is chief
 Iy concerned with te sick and wound
 ed they become a part lof the war
 scene. The tradesmen, mostly old
 men, seldom venture forth from their shops. No children play in the
 streets and a woman in public is g
 rare sight,
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