Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-17
OEM OF FRENCH
lIEV MOST SUBLIME
&lity of Suffering and
ourage of Soul Have Sus-
tanned Poilus
CHIT WAR AT HOME
iintain Sacredness Of Humble Cot
Awaiting Hero's Return From
Firing Line
BY HENRI BAZlN
NJ Correspondept EucninO Public LeoDr
scffh the American Army ~ France

NJ Correspondept Ercnin0 Public LscVr
| scffh the American Army ~ France
PARIS. Nov. 10.
q ,The rain was coming down in sheets
\ 4 the train rolled from the front to-
ard the capital. and although it was
mt in the afternoon. night seemed
skeproaching opposite me in the COM
yartment sat Il territorial permissionaire
FrinlkIed and grizzled. in soiled and un-
Xempt uniform n long pipe in his teeth
His gaze riveted upon the foggy land
1cape had been looking him over,
&otinR the number of his regiment, won
zering his name and the pays of his
& &rigin promising myself l would ad-
&ress him when he came out OF his
Severie.
Suddenly. without taking his eyes
4rom the window and as IL speaking
0loud, he said
* 'sPur sur, there are those who don't
worry They are right. parbleu because
they car
Surprised u, the unexpected words,
corroborated in reply. "Pur sur.
4 ''Mas les femmes. pas he continued
that is, the most of them" resuming
<Ais revere and his gaze intent upon the
fRin-driven window. Beyond its watery
Hurface, for him, as for me. was France,
that dear France. portion of 1t peace
dul and agricultural. yet demonstrating
n the here and there grave amid carrot
and potato fields what happened at the
Marine. :
at* noted -four in a row, cross and
eockade over them, as the train rushed
paAt, thinking of all 1t has been my
Business to see and live with these last
two years. the soldier and civilian. the
trench and the battle, the living and the
dead--and the women Of France that
apart from very few had held as true
rs if they had been poilus on the line
F had witnessed many times before
!, fiiat which | would witness again in a
few hours as | returned to the American
camp-a railroad station in Paris. ere
0eparture of trains leaving tor the 'front.',
eroups and couples close to each other
IL fond embrace. the poilu in his blue.
hts mate in her apron, her familiar dams
Suatre mols. nest ce pas?' and his "Oui,
ma mie. Oui, ce nest pas 81 long.
q These women of France were In the
aimplc garb of workman's wife, shawl
on shoulder without hat. courage writ
ten all over them ! had stood and
Watched them many times fascinated by
fheir attitude. their fortitude, their
brave holding back of tears; nearly
every cne in something Of outcr or
inner mourning for a brother dead, a
4 co0sin mutilated. another disparu, bid
ding good-by to the husband on his way
back to le regiment. And every night.
4 Il seemed to me, | could see out there
Through the rainy window a vision of
fheir home. their lonely life. the century
~ that four months before the next per-
mission, IL IL ever came at all, living
ar la pensee with her man out there
IN the mud and slime and vermn of Il
Winter trench, coming in with the dark
rom the munition factory, the shop. the
.riving of a tram, lighting the lamp
0reparing her simple meal, counting
h lay one less ere prayed for realiza tion
u her "bientot."
: q Oh. these women of France Main-
Raining the .iacredness of a humble
home that for more than 100 days had
bean kept intact for him, her poilu out
there in all weathers. amid rain and fog
and cold and sunshine, fighting lifes
battle as he daily fought that of la
3 Pntrie.
~ Oh, these women of France. Wait
lng. sweating. hoping. living in memory
and espoir, looking forward to the end
OF four months with their ever possible
striking of the hour that would tell OF
: 6eath or a grievous wound: but as her
Doilu. as all France that is worth while
sholding. holding. holding
80 Oh, these women of France \ poet
(. here and there will record their nobility
of suffering. their courage of soul Tc
: the mass of US they will be but work.
mems wives with calloused hands and
unfeminine allure: to some of US whc
Vision beneath the surface, soldiers
<very one of them. ...... -