The Monticellonian., 1917-11-09

| fense or in other newly formed branches of the government have taken houses in Washington. there to live until the war is over. If these resi- dence leasers thought they were to se- cure privacy aad all the delights of domestic life they were mistaken. All their friends who want to come to Washington and who have difficulty in getting hotel accommodations natu- rally turn 10 the new householder to | ask that they be allotted bed and board
 It is 40 miles to the city of Bal ttmore and yet hundreds of Washing ton workers "commute' to Baltimore and back. sleeping in the Monumental city and working in the Capital city. By the fastest trains it is an hour to Baltimore, and therefore the commu- ters must spend two hours a day in railroad travelling in order to meet the | requirements of their positions in the capital.
 Doesn't Expect to Relapse. Washington does not believe 1t is ever going to relapse into the old state of quiet which characterized 1t in the elder days of peace It believes that the government activities will be con tinued after the war to considerable extent and that with largely in- creased army and navy and perhaps 1 stalled, there will be occupation here for almost as many persons as are now at the desk or at the workshop bench within the walls of the town. | Therefore Washington is going ahead with its building operations and other activities necessary to take care of the multitude. Of course it may be that later on there will be slump and that i the city will feel the effects, but there seems to be optimism here among men who are given to conservativism which is only another name in their case for caution.
 De Polignac Comes to America.
 The fliers have come to town, French, Italian and British, to re-en- force the Americans who in this time of war make the air through many hours of the day their home.
 As q member of the contingent of the aviators of the Republic of France | there has come here one man in whom the people of his own country take deep personal interest and in whom l the American people also probably may take an interest when they learn the facts concerning his efforts in life. This man is Corporal de Polig- nae, not long ago promoted from the grade of private, but who in civil life is the Marquis de Polignac, the head of French family whose history has occupied d place in the annals of France for many centuries.
 The home of the Marquis de Polig nae is at Reims, a city which the Ger mans have bombarded a thousand times. The home of the marquis, his 1 business, properties, and, what hurts him more than all, perhaps, the fnsti- tutions which he had created to be models for the rest of France. are in | destruction.
 De Polignac always was interested iii athletics. He was one of the rep resentatives of the French at the great international contests among the ath- 1 letes of all nations. He realized that the French boys and girls were not getting the athletic instruction which l |, 1 strength and their happiness. So it was that he proposed to the French government some years ago that phys | ical training should be introduced into the schools. The plan at first was not looked upon kindly.
 The marquis decided that he would start things himself. At Reims he created a park and into it he put all kinds of athletic apparatus. He em- ployed thousands of workmen in his business and he threw open the park to them in order that they might have place of recreation which would take them away from the temptations of the cabarets. The plan worked to per lection. The morale of the workmen and their families was improved great | ly.
 Then De Polignac started with the children. He studied American meth ods and soon had classes in athletics composed of virtually all the children of the Reims district. The French government became interested, and just as the war broke out it had prom ised the Marquis de Polignac that ath- letic instruction would be started in all the primary schools of France and that the American playground system would be introduced.
 Plans Disrupted by the War.
 Then on came the war. The Mar ouis de Polignae left his villa, his busi- ness his educational work and his playgrounds and entered the French army as private. He served side by side with his own workmen in all the fights which took place between the French and the Germans when the lat ter invaded France. He fought from the Belgian border back to the Marne and then when the French armies struck back he followed, fighting with his orkmen regiment, and finally had t.a..tra ht-h