The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-31

woman, whose mother is A arican. Two of her sons are already in the Italian Army and a third will shortly follow.
 By TALLEYRAND-PER
 PRINCESSE DI POGGIO-SUA
 Paris, Jan. 31-We are going our way on a pilgrimmage to the dying land. We are going to help those who have gone through the Valley of Death.
 { Why are we in our homes? What have we accomplished to merit our physical and material preservation? Why have thousands lost their homes, 1 husbands, children and had to suffer i worse than death?
 As we hasten through this sad au- l tumn day these and other thoughts came into my mind.
 We left Paris in this early morn ing, huyrring oYard the Mouse on the 1 same road our soldiers followed dur ] ing the Battle of the Marne. We are yet far from the actual war zone, yet many signs of warfare become appar- ent.
 
 meet imposing motor-vans; presently we come in sight of the aviation fields further we notice a camp presenting great animation. Big, fine men are hurrying to and fro, building barrack: and we recognize our American allies
 The days are short at this time o1 the year, we have to think of putting up for the night, which we pass il luxury, thanks to Mme. Achille Fould'I hospitality at Jean d'Heure, where her lovely home is partly turned into hospital.
 There we find two young Rec Cross nurses who were severef. wounded in the hospital of Vadel1n court, shelled by the Germans avia. tors, who, not content with that aton' continued to fire upon the poor nurses and the wounded they tried to ge
 out of the flaming barracks. Mourners Increase hOurtv We all have a special thought o1 this day for our dear departed ones Since August, 1914, every hour th' number of mourners has tragjcally in creased, and one feels this misty, coll , day as if the atmosphere were ladel with their agonizing prayers. !, After hearing mass we set off fo
 the headquarters of the Verdun army
 Gen Guillaumat sent motor wit one of the staff officers, Lieut.. Gas
 quet, to fetch us.
 On our way we stopped at Chau I montsur-Aire to see Mile. Sirodet, a F admirable woman, who, without an
 cta hn self-appointed mission through las l Winters bitter weather, going fror . one devasted village to another, help s ing by her words and sympathy man t a despairing soul. She has now foun : friends to help her materially in he t work of mercy.
 t We are now in the land of desola t ton. Many villages were damage d by the battle, some wi1fully mutilate . by the retreating Germans. Other e that had not been in the hands ( e the enemy, nor in the battle line, ar
 still shelled by the airplanes, for CT c emy aviators seem to delight in de $ stroying homes
 = This form of destruction is mo! l. trying to the peoples nerves, as th
 ldSlS StNCld dI 1lOuI D cLIl q reads are splendid, the order perfec > and we are gaining a feeling of st
 curity, although we can hear the fiji
 ing of our guns.
 One comes suddenly into Verdu
 close to the citadel, and wave {
 strong emotion takes hold of me z z Lieut.. Gasquet says, "Now we entt \ the gates of Verdun."
 Stand Upon a Battlefield It This day has been one of those tn; l. count in q lifetime-the rumbling e the cannon, the entrance into the Tor e galleries of the citadel, the moveme1 Il and life going on under the surfa' l. of the earth. We must be 20 yart of underground, and we visit with kee d interest all these wonderful and con n plicated passages.
 er Col. Dehay offered a cordial we
 come and an excellent lunch, aft le which we had the great privilege ct being invited to visit the fort of So or vile.
 lg It would be use ess and pretentio, le for me to try to describe what we no i'd saw. Others have written of that T d. zion. I feel as if I had been sudde ne ly transported into a DantesQue drea O. where every movement of the atm
 sphere murmured words. of woes u
 told.
 How many young men had pass onwards in fuli life to meet gloriol
 but too often painful and lingeri
 death!
 No more vegetation, no more tre
 few shattered, torn trunks standi
 on volcanic soil yet we are told so1
 beautiful forests stood there not 10
 ago. We are allowed to Visit the fo
 in which a fierce hand-to-hand bat
 was fought, and presently we sta upon the summit and see the bait field, for our batteries fire continu ly around us.
 About us are Douaumont, VauX, Mort Homme, Cote BOA, and down { valley before the German trench We now are before land that has all agricultural value for many yea those who lived in villages around will never find the trace of the SD where their homes stood. Bordering the Valley of Death l One has the feeling of being at P border of the Valley of Death. All bare before us.
 We walk through ueep mud; WI 9 we are treading is sacred groU l which has absorbed French manhC ) more noble men have given tn l lives here in defense of their coun
 than ever before in the history of t . world sacrificed themselves for FUNERAL BOUQUET AND f DESIGNS
 JOHN RECK & SON