Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-11-27
FORMER OMAHA
PASTOR WRITES
OF PARIS SCENES
Rev. ]. Henry Stitt Describes
Captured Guns and Fine
Spirit of French in
Capital.

An inspiring word picture of Paris
just before the armistice is con-
tanned in a letter written to The
Bee by Rev. Mr.. ]. Henry Stitt,
formerly pastor of the McCabe
Methodist Episcopal church of
Omaha, and now Y. NJ. c. A.
worker with the American troops
in France.
Having been in the field with
Our American troops as a Y. NJ. C.
A. worker since August, it is by
way OF an agreeable change that
one gets run UP to the capital city
at just such an hour aslthis," he
writes.
"One Of my favorite haunts of
pre-war days in Paris was the
Place de la Concorde, with its
memories of the guillotine and the
surging crowds of hungry revolu-
tionists.
Behold the scene now! Guns, |
guns, guns, small guns, big guns,
trench mortars, machine guns, mot
tied or camoufaged in colors like |
those of the coat of one named Jo-
seph. They sprawl or spread over
the spacious square or flank them
selves around the obelisk which |
now marks the spot where Louis |
XVI of France and Marie An
toinette of Austria gave up the
ghost, and still they are so numer-
GUS that they must overflow into
the Champs Elysees, where they
stand on either side with harmless
muzzles gaping at the passing
rattle
All Captured Guns.
"And as | gaze at them | bless
God in my soul that every last gun
of them is captured German gun.
"Mingling with the quietly radi-
ant Partisan crowd as the afternoon
October sunshine grew brighter,
how good it was to handle and gloat
little over these monsters, their
bolts and machinery all rusted, and
each marked in hurried but unmis-
taxable lettering that it had been
captured by such and such French
misunderstanding put on by eager
poilu fingers, while the breech-
blocks were still hot from the hell
fire fed to them by German gunners.
who cares that the hard asphalt
pavement has in many places been
deeply indented and broken by the
mere weight of these captives? Their
long barrels pointed upward seem
to suggest that each is the embodied
spirit of German soldier with out
stretched neck vainly searching the
heavens for sight of the horrid air
plane that will now never trouble
Paris again.
Crowd About Statue.
But there Isl one. corner of the
place that instinctively you turn to-
wards. 1t is the statue of Lille, one
OF the eight which symbolic the
great Industrial centers of France.
Lille, so long in the enemy's hands.
and delivered by the gallant British
only last week, but not before hun
dreds of its fathers and sons were
torn from their agonized families
and marched away to Germany.
THE crowd here is denser, but
where is the statue? 1t is almost
hidden under its bower of wreaths
and flags. A specially large wreath
done in stars and stripes is over
the doorway leading to the small
interior. 1t is the gift of our Ameri-
can ambassador.
"A queue of Parisians stands
quietly waiting to. purchase at the
desk bonds for the present war loan,
Just as the Omaha folks did at the !,
booth in front Of the Douglas county
court house. Outside in brilliant
letters are the words 'Souscrivez
a l-Emprunt' Subscribe to the loan).
The queue moves a notch, girl
comes out, eyes bright with emotion,
and newly purchased bond in her
hand. She takes the arm of her
blue uniformed soldier husband,
brother or cher ami and the two
go off merrily together
French Are Wonderful.
They are wonderful, these
French Quiet, tense, unspeakably
brave. Heretofore we have greatly
misjudged them. The world has
seen their royal soul at last.
But what is that flock of birds :
with strange plumage, looking down !
at us from the higher ground of the
terrace leading off to the Tuileries? !:
Nothing more than great host !
OF unhappy German airplanes that !;
will never fly again, their plumage !
all bedraggled and their engines all ;
awry. The black maltese cross on /
the underside of the lower planes
marks too we'll their identity. The
scientific horror of the long-range
gun and the airplane has done its
worst, but Paris still smiles in the
October sunshine, the little birds
bathe in the fountains, and Napoleon
sleeps calmly on under the dome of
he Invalides.
Glimpse of President.
"On the way back to our Y. head
quarters l had the pleasure of a
passing glimpse of President Poin-
care as he entered one of the salons
10 attend a reception for certain
representatives OF the allies. He
had just returned from visiting lib
Grated Lille, where, with character
istic French love for an epigram. he
had said to the people, You were
hidden from our eyes, but not from
our hearts.
"a chance meeting with Rev.
John Calvert of Benson and with
Bishop Hughes Of our church