Evening journal., 1915-03-05
BY WILLIAM PHILIP smMs,
United Press STAR correspondent


or out of as Verdun. Belfort and the |
rest of the war zone towns in the |
east of France.
Why? Fear of spies, of course. The
nearest good sized town TO the iiring
line in spite of all that can be
done, spies are ever present. For an
outsider it now requires pass from
General Joffre's headquarters To stay
here even for few days. Then three
separate and distinct passes must be
obtained before one is permitted
even to buy a railroad ticket out of
the place, one from the local police
authorities, one from the local mill
tary authorities to whom the police
permit must be shown. the last from
the special officer of the provost
guard at the railways station where
both the FIRST and the second passes
are examined
If you love romance and have
properly developed imagination. all
your troubles coming and going are
more than compensated for For of
all the towns in hearing distance of
the fighting line. this one has most
to offer with the minimum of discom-
fort. The hotels here. though crowd
ed, are not bad and if you stay long
enough you will get a pretty fair idea
of the folks who go to make up the
war. generals and men. English and
Turcos, French and HindoOs. Canad-
ians. Sengalese, Australians New
Zealanders Moroccans. aviators. sub
mariners, naval officers, secret SER
vicers. spies ami Red Crossers.
IL is just after lunch. As the cof-
fee room begins to fiji up you take
your place by the window overlook
ing the large square in the middle
of which stands the heroic statue
of Jean Bart, who played the dickens
with British shipping in bygone years
but who holds a British standard
in his hand just now.
Waiting for the waiter to bring
your coffee, you read the names Of a
string of cafes on the opposite side
of the Place. They are odd First
| is the Cafe of the Stars" while
next to il is the Cafe of the Uni
verse" The adjoining Cafe of the
Bank" next to the imposing pile
which is the Bank of France (branch)
/ is not so heavenly in name. but the
Cafe of the SUM-" on the other side
of the bank takes up where the Cafe
of the Universe" left off. The Cafe
of the Moon" comes down a peg, but
the last of the bunch claims the dis
tinction of being the "Cafe of the
Eclipse"
But your coffee has come and the
strangely mixed company about you
is agog. Captain Biddleton has the
floor His listener is an American
woman magazine writer. Biddleton
Is uniformed in a strange suit of
khaki, which is neither English, nor
| American. nor Canadian, nor Indian
nor anything else. He is mysteri-
Dusly connected with the Belgian
army and calls himself Captain
while claiming TO be English. The
Belgian officers simply call him Mon
sieur." Draw your own conclusions
He is one of the mysteries of Dun.
kirk. He is talking OF campaigning
IN Central American republics where
ifty poems are an army and where ;
Britisher can lick a regiment-pre
sumably proportionate TO the SAM
lrmy in size.
His voice is drowned out by Steel's
Steel is an American drummer H'
has business" with the Belgian gov
ernment. He is faultlessly dressed
In fact is the best dressed man in
the room by far.
Biddleton eyes him with suspicion
for. from remarks dropped by him
self, he was in the intelligence de-
partment of the French army at tho
beginning of the war. Steel ignores
Biddleton's disappearing glances and
finishes the anecdOte which he is
relating to a Belgian major who
speaks English perfectly but who fails
almost completely to understand
American. Steel probably will put
across q deal in the afternoon for a
million pairs of army shoes or nit
tens or sanitary toothpicks for the
! trenches. On the sofa are two mid
dloaged ladies who appear TO have
| steel ramrods for spines. One is the
Duchess Somebody or other. her COM
/ paniOn being the Countess What's
/ ber-name, of the Belgian nobility.
They are talking very earnestly to
a Belgian colonel, an attache to
Baron de Broqueville, the war minis
ter They are trying to get the col
Onel to plead their cause with the
baron. their desire being to found a
! portable hospital of % beds TO fol-
low the Belgian army when the Ger
mans begin their retreat. Their the
Ory is that no buildings will be left
! for hospitals. The colonel explains
that several such hospitals will follow
the Belgians and only military
stretcher-bearers and chauffeurs will
be permitted along. The Duchess
and Countess say they don't mind
/ q, III - 80.
names mentioned in connection with
the scheme or words TO that effect
The money for the hospital had yet
to be raised anyway. Did the col
onel know of anyone who would do
nate eight Rolls-Royce Auto-Ambu-
| lances? An American correspondent
was introduced by the colonel at this
point and the ladies condescendingly
gave him permission to cable TO his
/ journal that Americans might sub
scribe to the portable hospital which
i the Duchess Somebody-Or-O and
! the Countess Whats-Her-Name had
/ founded
j The American newspaperwOman
is now trying TO get a British air
commander TO see how il would help
the cause of England to allow her
TO go up in a dirigible and fly over
! the German lines SO she could de-
scribe the courage of the Allies prop
| erly.
A naval officers pretty wife is talk
ing more than she should to a good
looking man in a clergyman's frock
i and a Red Cross arm band. while a
Belgian captain is trying as delicate
I ly as possible to intimate TO her thai
| nnrinin InInila nnnnnnInd t-iih tho