Evening star., 1916-12-24
Use of All Light, Heat and Power for the French ARMY
Results i'm @Dark" Christmas i'm Honmes of Paris
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence OF The Star.
PARIS. December IA, 1916.
n LII the world will look back on
h\ the historical winter when
~ Paris. the ':ty of light. went
q q dark for the sake of the army.
1t interests America. because America
has coal enough to supply heat. gas
and electric light to Paris in the good
old style. but we have not had ships.
as yet. to get the coal to France, and
the ships which France controls are
carrying other necessary things for
the army.
Paris has gone dark on a question of
coal.
If we want Christmas brightness. we
must look in at one of the war hos
pitfalls, gay with full electric light,
steam heat and holiday cheer. At the
American Ambulance Hospital the man
who will do Santa Claus was trying on
the costume and false face.
Hello, King Cole" cried somebody.
Coal, coal, coal,
France has more coal than ever-yet
do not waste the coal
1t is no paradox.
Coal must decide the war. When
Germany irrupted through Belgium. she
seized twenty-seven Of the forty French
coal mines of the north. 1t ought to have
ruined France. by calculation. AS a
fact. France managed to maintain half
of her old production. receives 1000. 900
tons per month from England, and has
opened new mines. On the other hand.
all France today is munition fac
tory. The allies have the lead in war,
at last; although SO ill-prepared at the
beginning, and they mean to Keep 1t.
Everywhere munition factories call Tor
coal gas and electric light and power.
They must be served frSt-au they
want. Shall Paris waste? No, Paris
will economize an extra surplus Tor
them.
Surrounded by blazing munition fac
tories Paris sits in the dark.
The Cafe de la Palx, regularly Is
one of the brightest spots of the town.
Richard Harding Davis called it the
center of the world, because every
body. more or less. meets in 1T at some
time. Yesterday I lunched at the Cafe
de la Paix. 1t was day OF FOG. ana
Paris being on a line with Labrador.
the winter sun is weak. Regularly In
winter Paris restaurants are gay with
electi ic light at lunch time. Now we
lunched in pale twilight. The bulbs
glowed reddish under a low preston
of the current.
Every one was talking of the "twi-
light" In truth, it was plenty light
enough, but il takes time to get used
to the new regulations. None com
planned The tone was mildly joking.
All the same, the wan glow gave new
look to the gay scene.
Was 1t wan? At 2:30 pm. out in the
street We perceived that the cafes
lighting had been better than we imag-
tned, for the street. the famous Boule-
ward des Capucines. was dull There
was a dimness. Could it be imagina
ton? The sun is not running on war
preston: II must be the same mild
light of any foggy winter Paris after
noon before the war. It's fact, all
right, the cause Of t being the shop
windows, cafes, cinemas and theaterS,
whose lights are at low Preston and
reduced in number.
went to a business Office, one flight
up. on side street. The hallway and
stairs were unlighted. SO that 1t was
almost necessary to grope ones way.
The Offices were barely heated and the
clerks were working by few faint,
scattered electric lights beneath green
shades. in truth, the ma jority of Paris
business Offices are economizing greatly
on light and heat. What do they care i?
They send out for the afternoon pa
pers.
went to a department store It was
$3.50 pm. and the vast establishment
seemed a fairyland of brightness by
comparison. But l say fairlyland ad-
Visedly, because there is something un-
real about the pale radiance of all
those thousands Of electric lights at
reduced pression-Jhe more of them
the more fairylfke the effect. The
bulbs do not burn red. the great shops
make their own electricity, but ii is a
chaste and white efYulgence, not the
blaze of other days. The women seem
to like 1t.
At pm. now. in the street of Paris,
1t is dark.
The sun has set-it always does at 4
p.n., in the winter.
Regularly, 1t is the most delicious
hour. Paris at nigntfall used to flash
and twinkle. spangled with a million
lights. which made the heart exult