The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-02-28
yGoRGE RANDOLPH CHESTER
and LILLIAN CHESTER.

copyright. 1915, by the Newspaper
Enterprise Associatton)
PARIS. Feb. 2s.-Roses grow IN
Ehe south OF France. In the shelter
ne the green hills, where summer
hides until she can once more spread
her fairy carpet over the world. and
deck it with bright colors, the gay
Blossoms cluster against garden walls
and Chamber over quaint trellises ana
nod from the very wayside.
road winds down along the sea
and twists among the cliffs, and up
there CLEAN white chateaux. red
rooted and yellow-roofed. amid their
oddly mingled palms and pines. Atoms
the road the tiniest of horses. draw
ing the gauntest and tallest OF carts.
comes p1odding patiently. its bells
tinkling and its driver, wfde~cheeh,-
ed fellow with a pipe IN his moutn
and a peppermint stripe across the
end of his mufIer, sits in droWsy con-
tent. the reins dangling loose.
4 bright-eyed old woman steps
6r6kfy .aIong, her market basket on
her arm: a study peasant girl with
push cart: a boy racing with a dog;
Gust enough movement to give life 10
the restful panorama
out there the deep blue water,
held lovingly in the arm of q greer
0loped promentory, and Spreading be-
yond to : blue tnflnIty. The waves
tumble merrily in on the beach.
sparkling and flashing in the sun
light. and tossing their dainty caps Of
peari on the sand with reckless ex-
raTagance.
A lew .guIls ride fat-breasted o.
he,water, bobbing like corks; a few
Others circle laziIy in the air; ana
above all. over gulis and sea and beach
and winding road, cart, old woman
girl and boy and dog, roses and green
clad hills and white chateau2. there
bends a. serene blue sky. deep, faith
omless, with only here and there a
flock OF heeey cloud to make the blue
more vivid.
And to think that all this glorious
Paradise was given to man to be us
lord and master, given to him that he
might enjoy and live in peace ana
But what is that new movement on
the road among the hills?
Something gray passes there; a
big covered wagon; another. a0otheF'
q long procession Of them.
Ambulances, for up in the hills
there are vast hospitals Tor GONZALES
centwounded.
of peace and plenty, the Thought Of
thanksgiving for the gift OF all this
beauty of sea and sky aud sh!ftIps'
breathing life, fades away.
War: There is war in the world
var so colossal, so far-reachinS, thai
nc. human being, even in the most
seductsered spot of this terrestiaI
universe, can be free from its deaU'
ening touch.
Why should there be war; TINS wall
sW Il y all nature Is devoted
10 the business Of living, and blossom.
inS into beauty, should human kind
hive suddenly fallen upon itself 10
main and mangle and destroy!
Why should humanity have risen
In one mighty appalling madness 70
KIN itself!
Whv should it have bent all its en-,
cry, and all its mind, and all the
resources of the teeming earth, to the
one grisly business Of death!
There Is no sane mind but that
stops, startled, to ask this uuanswer,
able question. no properly constituted
soul which does not cry, out In an
agony of passionate protest against
this awful condition
We must stop it: There must be
We rzi1. for a time. until there
comes the chilling thought of the i'm
poteace Of our fury What can We
do that we are not already doing?
There succeeds feeling OF utter
Eelplessness, a feeling that this ruth
less cataclysm Of carnage Is super
natural In its immensely, and there
IS faint moment when one, seemins
pitifulIy small and weak before .
1nopster so gigantic, recoils from the
struggle, and would like TO creep
away Into q hole somewhere and
numbly exist until the storm has pass
It Is necessary to still that panic
Of the mind, for it is little less than
panic, a recoH and a quatling Of sell
4Eailst . disaster so universal t''''