The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-11-24
VERDUN, STRICKEN, STILL LIVES,
SHINING MONUMENT TO COURAGE:
ONLY Chill DREN and BIRDS CONE
Regret Wasted Candy.

The. principal grief of the polius
appeared to be that a shell two or
three days before had destroyed the
store of the great dragee (sugared
almond) mandatory of Verdun. Be-
fore leaving the manufacturer had
beQueathed his stock to the army,
and they were all regretting that they
,had not been greedier and eaten up
the dragees quicker.
In the trenches near Verdun, as in
the trenches in Flanders, you find the
men talking little Of war, but much
of their homes and their families.
came once upon group OF
Bretons. They had opened some tins
Of sardines and, sitting around a
bucket Of blazing Goals, they were
toasting the fish on the ends of
small twigs. I asked them why they
were wasting their energies, since the
fish were ready to be eaten straight
from tins.
I'VE know they replied, ''but 1t
smells like home"
I suppose with the odor Of the
cooking fish, in the blue haze of the
smoke, they saw visions of their cot
tages and the white coiffed Bretons
frying the fresh sardines that they
had caught
Nearing the Citadel.
The dusk was now falling and, en-
tering the car, we proceeded toward
the lower part Of the town at a snail
pace in order not to draw the Ger
man fire.
We were told that at the present
time approximately 100 shells a day
still fall on Verdun, but at the time of
the great attack the number was as
high as 500, while as many as 200,-
900 shells fell daily in and around
Verdun-
just before we reached the en-
trance to the citadel the enemy, be-
gan to shell the city, and one of the
shells exploded within 200 feet of the
car.
We knew that we were near the
entrance Of the vaults Of the citadel
and could take refuge, so we left the
car and proceeded on foot Without
thinking we walked in the center of
the road, and the sentinel at the cita-
del began in somewhat emphatic
French to recommend Us to hug the
walls tightly.
The Germans are wen aware Of the
entrance to the citadel and daily shell
the spot. II one meets shell in the
center of the road it is obviously no
use to argue while in hugging the
side Of the wall there is a possibility
of only receiving the fragments of
the bursting she'll
A City Underground. ~.
The snbterranean galleries Of the
citadel of Verdun were constructed
by Vanban, and are now hive OF
activity hsarbers shops, sweet shops
boot shops, hospitals-anyth and
everything which goes to make up a
small city.
One of the young officers placed his
"ce1I' at our disposal #
The long galleries are all equipped
with central heating and electric light
and some Of them have been divided
off by wooden partitions or curtains
like the dormitories in a large school.
In the "celP' al1ocated to use we
could see the loving touch of a wo-
mems hand Around the pillow on
the small camp bed was a beautiful
ing-table a large bottle of eau~de-
cologne.
I There is no reason to be too nm
a good little wife to send one pres
ents from time to time
Emerging from the galleries, we
met Gen Dubois, great soldier and
kindly man, one who shares the
daily peri1s of his men
The General invited us to remain
and dine with him He had that day
received from Gen Rivelle his era
vate as commander Of the Legion Of
Honor, and his officers were giving
him dinner party to celebrate the
event
See how kind fate is to me- he
added, @on1y one thing was missing
from the feasible presence of the
La dies-and here you are"
Celebrating Generals Decoration
It would need the brush of Rem
brandt to paint the dining hall in the
citadel of Verdun-
At one long table in the dimly-
lighted vault sat between 80 and 80
officers, who all rose, saluted and
cheered as we entered
The General sat at the head of the
table, surrounded by his staff, and
behind him the faces of the cooks
were lit up by the fires of the stoves
Some short distance behind us was
an air-shaft-
It appears that about week or a
fortnight before our arrival a. Ger
man shell, striking the top part of
the citadel, dislodged some dust and
gravel, which fell down the air-shaft
on to the Generals head He simply
called the attendants to him and ask
ed for his table to be moved forward
yard, as he did not feel inclined to
sit at the table with his helmet on.
An excellent dinner-soup, roast
mutton, fresh beans, salade Russo,
frangipane, desert-and even cham
payne to celebrate the Generals era
vate-Quite treasured us that people
may die in Verdun of shells, but not
Of hunger.
We drank toasts to France, the AL
lies, and, silently, to the men of
France who had dice that we might
live.
! was asked to propose the health
Of the General and did it in English,
knowing that he spoke English well.
l told him that the defenders of Yer
! dun would live in our hearts and the
memories, that on behalf of the
whole British race felt might con
vey to him congratulations on his
honor.
The Flag Of France.
They asked me to repeat a descrip-
ton Of the flag Of France which I
gave first in Ottawa, SO there, in the
citadel of Verdun with a small
French flag before me- went haoL