Perth Amboy evening news., 1916-11-02

CO.
"The splendid fortitude, indomit-
able will, and tireless energy of the
French women have always existed;
this great calamity has not developed
new characteristics but has only
served to make known to the world
those great virtues of heart, hand,
and mind which are saving people
and that peoples civilization.
Chiefly, perhaps, because of her
charming femininity, and her dainti-
ness in personal adornment, the
American >public has underrated the
stamina of the French woman. Sup
posedly timid, this war has proved
her to be the very opposite. For ex-
ample, the twenty-year- daughter
of a noblewoman in whose chateau I
spent several days has been nursing
the wounded for two years. When
the war began and the trainloads of
mutilated soldiers began to pass
through the station near the chateau,
this young girl, then only eighteen,
who had never had a sight of human
blood, arose each morning at $50,
met the trains, and went through the
cars caring for the wounds Of those
who had been placed hurriedly. on
board to be taken to the base hospi-
tails in the rear. This girl labored,
and Is still laboring, from ten to
fourteen hours a day, ameliorating
the sufferings of those who have
given their all for her beloved
France. And SO are hundreds, thou
sands of other noble young women
serving the republic.
Some of. the American war corre-
spondents who have been permitted
to visit the munitions plants where
thousands upon thousands of girls
and women are laborfng to keep the
French artillery supplied with high
explosive shells and shrapnel, have
deplored the fact that the nation is
allowing the potential mothers of the
future to sacrifice their strength and
health in such tasks. 1 confess that
1 cannot share this regret. To me 1T
seems eminently fair and appropriate
that these daughters of France who
of necessity are prohibited from Civ
ing their lives to the cause on the
battlefield itself should enjoy the
privilege of offering themselves who'll
ly and without reserve to their sacred
cause, in whatsoever capacity their
bodies and their brains are most eff
fective for that far-off, divine event
the restoration of France and the
fruits of peace that shall last for
all time.
"One of the most amazing things
about Paris today Is that it is a city
Paris but Cheerful Paris stu
dent Of psychology. however, who looks
deep into the smiling eyes of the wo-
men, realizes instinctively that one of
the obligations which each feels and
fulf1lls Is to make as happy as possible
the six days furlough that the men
from the trenches are granted from
time to time.
'4The Opera Comique and the Grand
Opera House are crowded each night
but that regulation which once re-
quired all persons occupying the ia
nous tiers of loges and the parquet
chairs to be in evening dress no longer
obtains at the opera The horizon
blue uniforms and the simple gowns
Of dark material, most often black,
are to be seen on every side. And one
of the appealing customs of the hour
is that every woman as she sits in the
theatre holds the hand of her escort
son, husband or brother, or sweet
heart-while from the eyes of the fl
ancee no less than from those of the
silver haired mother there shines the
light of maternal love, love which
woul protect and comfort, not one
which demands or allures.
"It should be mentioned that the
Sisters of Mercy have returned to
France. bringing with them a gentle
ness an unselfish devotion, tender
ness, and withal an efficiency not sur
passed by any other group of nurses
IN the world. Their heroic service upon
the battlfields of the Franco-Prus-
sian war are brightly written upon
the pages of French history.
zone of interesting by-products of
this war has been the creation of
countless new occupations for women
workers and for disabled soldiers. In
many lines of endeavor novices have
developed remarkable initiative and in
some instances astonishing inventive
faculties. With artificial hands,
manned men are being taught many
gainful pursuits, while women nur-
tured in luxury have turned their
hands to typewriting. the
making of munitions, operating street
cars and subway trains, taxicabs and
fiacres, managing shops. and serving
as mattresses. In the professions the
French woman has made astonishing
strides. not altogether since the out
break of the war, but in the last quar-
ter of a century. For instance. the
young dentists who had taken charge
Of the American dentists office where
called, could not have provided me
with such a completely satisfactory
gold crown had her knowledge been
solely since August, 1914.
zone of the most interesting and
appealing practices of the war is the |
adoption of peasant soldiers by the |
yell-to-do women of Paris. One ac-
Iuaintance of mine, owning a large |
,state on the outskirts of the capital, |
s godmother to $50 soldiers whose |
home before the war was in a dis
rict now occupied by the enemy.
These soldiers make this estate their |
lome whenever they are on a six-day !
urlough She cares for them exactly |
IS if they were her overgrown children /
lot only watchful OF their material |
comfort, but solicitous about their en- |
ertainment as well. When these boy
sh soldiers return to the trenches /
hey never fail to write to their 'chere
Aimee,' as they affectionately call err.
I'm the beginning I said that the
americans had always underestimate
d the courage and strength of char
cter of the French women because
hey were always judged as frivolous
n account Of their attention to per-