Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-12
IN FRENCH LORRAINE.
Where Americans sssa First Blood in
World War;

In n communication to the National
Geographic Society. Mrs. Harriet Chal-
mers Adams. the distinguished travel
er, gives a graphic picture Of French
Lorraine. that part OF France where the
first American soldiers. under General
Pershing fell. A part Of the commu-
nication has been issued as war
geography bulletin, as follows:
81 entered the French military zone
as a war correspondent, equipped with
a magical little yellow hook which
carried my photograph and the facts
about my nationality, place Of birth
magazine affiliation, and residence nj
home and In Paris. 1t had ushered me
safely past innumerable gendarmes
and sentinels on the way to Compeigne
and Rheims. even to .front-line trench
es in Champagne: now it brought me
to Nancy, in northeastern France, the
most beautiful town in the republic,
capital of historic Lorraine.
"A famous Frcnchman has called
Lorraine the most beautiful burial
ground in the world Flanders is a
mud hole and Champagne Is all chalk,
but Lorraine Is an enchanting land.
with harmonious hills and noble
trees and fern -bordered streams rush.
ing TO the Rhine. The quaint vii
lagos which escaped the German on
slaught perch on the hillsides like
Christmas toys and the humblest vege-
table patch Is q garden.
but there are tombs in every
flower -strewn field. for no region on
earth has suffered more from fire
and sword. All the races Of Europe
have coveted Lorraine since the days
OF the Romans. When the kaiser
waited In the forest with his 10000
cavalrymen for word from his victor
ious army that he might cross the
frontier and make a triumphant en-
try into Nancy. he was but following
in the footsteps OF earlier barbarians
who have swept across the Rhine.
Nancy. Is little over five miles
from the front, and is bombarded by
the Boches' most powerful guns. the
$50 millimeter. which have a twenty
mile range. The shells come mainly
at night, when there can be no warn
ing. In daylight French aeroplanes
hover guard over the city to watch
for the distant white cloud which her
alds the oncoming shell. The tocsin
sounds the alarm and the 100000
inhabitants scurry to the cellars.
On every house with n cellar q great
cross is painted. the double cross of
ancient Lorraine.
Few people have left town. Trains
are running: shops are open. Nancy
has her work to do and keeps at 1t
doggedly. Also, she houses and feeds
5000 refugees, mostly old women
and little children. who have crept
over the fields In terror from their
cannonaded homes still nearer the
German line. The number increases.
Few cities in Europe are as archi-
tecturally beautiful as this ancient
capital Of the Duchy OF Lorraine, the
Land of Lothair. named after a grand
son OF Charlemagne. united with
France in 1866. Each Of a hundred
gates and facades Is worthy a pill
grimage to Nancy. In the cathedral
many women In black were praying
before lighted candles. The stained
glass windows were broken and mend
ed with paper. Three houses across
the street were in ruins. Yet the
park nearby was the picture Of peace.
Shafts of sunlight slanted through
the chestnut trees and q black-robed
priest sat on a bench In the shadow
telling his beads
II motored to the barracks on the