New Britain herald., 1917-10-24
SEVEN OF STAFF
KILLED AT WORK
They Have a Hard Time Getting
Out Rheims Paper

Rheims, Oct. 24-"L'Eclaireur de-
IEst' has no humorous column, no
editorials, no sporting page and no
dramatic reviews, and yet it is prob
ably the most difficult paper in the
world to edit. The printing shop
stands just behind the cathedral of
Rheims, and the chief reportorial
task of the staff Of "L'Eclaireur' is
to count the number of shells which
fall into the city each day.
1t is not difficult assignment. The
| reporter can hear them all from his
desk, and many he can see, for the
cathedral, across the street, is still the
favorite target of the Germans.
Sometimes the reporter does not
have to look so far. The office of
! IL Eclaireur" has been hit eleven
times during the bombardment and
seven members of the staff have been
killed. One big shell fell fair in the
composing room and wrecked all the
linotype machines, and so now the
paper is set by hand.
It is single sheet and the circula-
ton is limited, for only 5000 or 1000
civilians have stuck to Rheims
throughout the bomba rdment. Many
more stayed during the early days,
despite the rain of shells and the chill
dren went to underground schools in
great wine cellars of the town. Pres
emily, however, the Germans began to
put gas shells into the city, and then
came the exodus. The few who are
left dwindle for there are daily
civilian casualties in the city.
Our Correspondent Writes.
I'VE arrived in the city at noon,
and after lunch at a far end of the
town, which is almost out of shell
range, we went to the office of LEO
laireur.' The editor met us and ex-
planned that it was a very quiet day.
Not a single shell had fallen in the
city since midnight, he said. He was
decidedly apolegetic about it. The
reputation Of Rheims was only under
a temporary cloud, for no sooner had
| we entered the newspaper Office than
the guns began and thirty shells fell
within the next hour. One was, GER
tainly not more than two hundred
yards from the office, but the work
went on without the slightest inter-
ruption. Indeed, a copyreader whom
we saw at work never once looked up
from his task. He was the only copy
reader I ever met who merited I'M
stinted admiration.
I'm the next room printers were
setting ads. They were mostly of
houses which might be rented for
next to nothing. They too, showed
not the slightest trace of being shell
shy.
But if there was any one in the
visiting party who felt uncomfortable
he was unwilling to show 1t, for just
outside the door of the newspaper
Office there sat an old lady with a
lapful of fancy work A shell came
from over the hills, and in the sec
onds while it whistled and then
smashed the old lady threaded her
needle.
"a day later when some of us were
willing to confess that of all miser-
able sounds the whistling of a shell
was the meanest, we found a curious
kink in the brain of every one.
"It was the universal experience
that the slightest bit of cover, how
ever inadequate, gave a sense of safe
ty out of all proportion to its utility.
Thus we all felt much more uncom-
Portable in the square than when we
stood in the composing room of the
newspaper, which was shielded by the
remains of a glass skylight. The same
curious psychological twist can be
found among soldiers at the front.
Again and again men will be found
taking apparent comfort in the fact
that half an inch of tin roof protects
them from the shells of the Ger