Evening star., 1917-03-11

sights of the war which must not be
allowed to disappear"
Would they disappear" I asked.
'One by one. or oftener-like the
Marquis de Caulincourt" said Fernand
David. How many have not been
blown up by exploding shells. already.
or been abandoned at the trumpet call
to move on to the subterranean fort
resses of the boches. which make an
other wonderful curiosity. They are
veritable. subterranean cities. but our
men don't like them. The hole of a
German general differs from that of a
badger only by its cement walls, car
pets, tapestries and piano. Our men
regret their cagibis"
The cagibis, They are Robinson Cru
soc. the Swiss Family Robinson, the
Oklahoma squatters, the Quarz-Arts
constructions of the Montmartre hill
They are New Zealand huts, Kongo viii
lagos and claque-patins of the vacant
lots round Paris They are the play
houses of architects and artists, Of
canal boatmen and peasants. The ma
terials? Clay, unbaked bricks. s"nd
bags, tree trunks, reeds, turf. broo 4
and heather: and, between stones big
and little. hay, dried weeds or pine
needles for packing, alternating with
the best cement. Devastated villages
furnish windows. doors, woodwork and
half broken furniture to be repaired.
From ruined chateauN they fetch beau
tiful remnants, often architectural.
Mutilated auto buses are transformed
TO houses on wheels. In the swamps
of Picardy they are lake dwellers with
their villages on high piles. In the
chalk cliffs of the Meuse and the Oise
they are cave dwellers-but all in the
sunlight, because the French dislike
binations. There are Arab tents which
terminate in frame cottages and Swiss
chalets backed up against cliffs which
end in sumptuous cave apartments.
adorned with beautiful furniture and
every comfort.
The cagibis" said Fernand David,
"are a wonderful feature of the long
trench line, which extends for 60
miles from Ypres, on the Atlantic, ID
Belfort. by the Swiss frontier"
Tourists will want to take 1t in," 1
answered.
"All these points will be united" he
continued. and we are organizing au-
tomobile services to permit visitors to
be lodged comfortably"
But the trenches are an arbitrary
line" I said. Surely, no high road ex-
listed along them from Ypres to Bel
road?"
1T seems there is thread of roads
behind the front" he said, which can
be completed here and there to keep
to tell it now" (The now" means
much) ALSO. we are establishing a
map in several languages SO that vis-
itors can follow. mile by mile. the ex-
panse of the war and keep in touch.
4 gain, the map will be useful in Paris
10 choose what sectors tourists wish to
visit"
II
I asked II they foresee being able to
accept all who want to make the en-
tire tour from the Atlantic to theeSwiss
''The number of tourists must be lin
tied each week to the number that can
be accommodated" he insisted. "At
need, we shall make persons wait their
turn in Paris, unless they have secured
dates in advance through tourist agen-
cies 1t remains to be planned. In
Paris parties may be told: You sleep
tonight at Ypres, at Rheims day after
tomorrow and so on. Other parties
can go straight to Barbecue or YER
dun. for example. and return to Paris.
Later they will go from Paris to the
scissors sector and return to Paris.
And so on. / imagine that wealthier
tourists will often make these radiat-
ing trips, instead of going down the
whole line at once. But nobody can
tell
None but army inspectors have made
the long trench line from Ypres to
Belfort" 1 unused. Might it not be
who gets fatigued in doing. what he
,leases?" answered Fernand David
They Will have the 1uxuries of all
France afterward to repose in. We
ire now organizing for sufficient hotel
of the modern kind.
n cities like Blois, Orleans. Tours. Car
ana SO on. Hotels are i'm
.reasing enormously. Also. we shall
,acilitate tours to- certain monuments