Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-20
Paris Is Gay, Writes Novelist Chester,
But There Is No More Cay P'ree''

In breathless silence and at q dollar
throw. through the slit ,of q curtain
on a balcony. /At the proper mo
ment.. each night, the members Of an
opposing tong broke In, their faces
distorted with bloodthirsty fruy.
shrill i~mprecations filled me- air, the
corpse was overturned. the lights
went out, the furniture clattered and
crashed. six punches OF ~firecrakers
were let off in the darkness; and. as a
close to the evenings. entertainment,
the visitors went pouring out of Mott
threats, to go back home and ever att
err recite their narrow escape, and
give New York the undeserved repu-
tation of being the most lawless city
in America!
So with the thrilling wickedness Of
Gay P'ree;;'' mostly framed for
simps" from Squeedunk and Husk-
vile ard. New York, and such centers
of credslity.
The police decided. and wisely. that
Paris, at this juncture, had no use for
purposeless frivolity. The business of
Paris. as the business of France. is
war, and war, and. nothing but war:
SO now there is nc place for overly
ebbulent Americans to go but home
to their hotels, or pensions. or apart
ments, or wherever. ~
At II the theaters close, and all
song ceases, and the only place to get
a supper and a drink is where you
sleep; therefore, as far as night
carousing is concerned, Paris is not
gay.
Her true gaiety rests now. as it al
ways has rest ID, in the spiri. OF her
people. They have looked into dis
torted with bloodthirsty fury. the face
of Death. but the visage of that grim
monster has put no fear In their eyes,
since a sacrifice to this lesser devil
removes the threat Of one far more
terrible; the vision of the Hun pos
sessing France!
Death becomes as trivial as a
nurses tale of a DOGGY man when
compared with the catastrophe of the
Hun in France; for there has never
been a time when everything which
the Hun represented, from his eleva-
ton of the body above the sou to his
table manners, has not been dreadfu
to the French mind.
For decades the entire purpose and
intent of the Hun has beer 10 build q
human body which should stride tri.
umphant over the bodies of the mer
Of all other nations; and the French.
man, who had done his utmost to cul'
tivate the fine graces of both body
and mind. was supposed to be especi
ally effete. a trife to be swept aside
with derision.
How m%agnihcently the Frenchmar
disproved that ignoble estimate, anc
established his manhood for centurie!
to come. has been shown at Verdun
on the Marine, on a hundred battle
fields, and is shown now in Paris
daily. where there is laughter on tn
~boulevards, and the gay poilus or
leave sip their hot coffee under thu
dripping awnings. while the worle
swarms by Them on the pave.
We have not een one French per-
son who moped. we have not seen one
French person who sat dull and in
different. and allowed himself to con
template in dread and fear the awfu
ira gedy which assails civilization.
1t is not merely that they feel nee
essary to preserve the spirit of cheer
! fulness in order to approach the tas(
which still lies before them, but be
cause they are so constituted as to &C
cept cheerfullv their duty to them
selves. to each other, and to sacred
France. :. N.4-- ~.A.
Such sublime courage can nave bu
one end: victory.
And when the war shall have come
and gone and the great design Of tn
Infinite shall nave been accomplished
whatever that design may be which
needs such appalling ear for it's &C
complishments. Paris will be here
and she will be u~nchanged: and sht
will be gay gay in the best sense O
that term-for Paris is more than {
city, she is a spirit, and the spirit il
immortal!