The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-13
WHERE THE FIRST
AMERICANS FELL
French lorraine. 'ST71e Most Beautf-
SuI Burial Ground In Europe"

Washington, n. c., Feb. f2.--In a
communication to the National Geo
graphic society. Mrs. Harriet Chalmers
Adams, the distinguished traveller.
gives graphic picture of French Lor-
raine. that part Of France where the
first American soldiers, uudsr General
Persh'ng. fell part OF the commu
n.catton has been issued as war
geography bulletin, az follows;
Il entered tho French military zone
as war correspondent. equipped with
q magical ilttle yellow book which
carried my pEotogre n and the facts
about nay nationality. place of birth,
magazine anuat!ou, and residence az
home and in Paris. It had uBhered
me safely past innumerable gendarmes
and sentinsls on the way TO Com
peigne and Rheims. even tc front-ltne
trenches IN Champagne: now it
brought me - Nancy. in northeastern
France, thu most beautiful town in
Jhe republic, capital of historic L4or-
raine
"A famous F'reuchmar has called
Lorraine TAG most beautiful burial
ground In the world Flanders Ia a
mud hole and Champagne all chalk
but Lorraine is an enchanting land,
with harmonious hills and noble trees
and fern -bordered streams rushing to
the Rhine. The quaint villages which
escaped the German onslaught perch
on the ldllsidea like Christmas toys
and the humblest vegetable patch is a
garden.
Tomhs in Flower Strewn Fields.
But there are tombs In every
flower strevn 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 victorious army that
he might cross the frontier and make
a triumphant entry into Nancy, he was
hut following in the footsteps of ear
Her barbarians who have swept across
the Rhine.
Nancy ts little over Ave miles
from the front. and is bombarded by
the hoChes' most powerful guns, the
$50 millmeter, which have a twenty
mite range, The shells come mainly
at night. when there can be no warn
ing, In daylight French aeroplan es
hover guard over the city to watch for
the distant white cloud which heralds
the op~oming shell. The tocsin sounds
the alarm and the 100 900 inhabitants
scurry 10 the cellars. On every house
with a cellar a 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 II
ldoggedly. Also, she houses and feeds
1900 refugees, mostly old women and
little children. who have crept over
the fields in terror from their cannon
added homes still nearer the German
live Tho hcr
Few cities in Europe are as archi-
tecturally beautiful as this ancient
capital OF the duchy OF Lorraine, the
land of Lothian. named after a grand
son Of Charlemagne, united with
France in 1865. Each of a hundred
gates and facades is worthy a pilgrim
age to Nancy. In the cathedral many
women in black were praying before
( lighted candles. The stained glass
windows were broken and mended
with paper. Three houses across the
street were In ruins. Yet the park
near by was the picture of peace
Shafts OF sunlight slanted through the
chestnut trees and a black-robed priest
sat on a bench in the shadow telling
his beads.
Grandmothcrs Make SandbagS,
Il motoTed to the barracks on the
outskirts of the city, where the refu-
gees from the nun destroyed villages
are housed. I found as many as ten
| in one room--grandmother mother
and children. With food and stove
supplied this was luxury compared
with life in the ruined village: but
with the shortage OF coal throughout
France this winter, there is great suf
fering, l fear, in those bleak barracks
in Nancy.
The old women make sandhags for
the trenches. One told me shs had
made eighty in a day. The children
attend schooi--the boys learning
trades, the girls domestic science, that
they may look out for themselves
later on. as most OF them are orphans.
An American fund In Paris hoped to
send a Christmas present this year to
every one OF these 1000 homeless
children, ] asked them to sing and
nifty sad-eyed little ones stood up and
piped. Aux morris pour la Patrie.
1 could not keap back the tears.
Service and Unity
II talked with a young woman who
was very Ill and learned she had been
at work in muntion factory in
another part of France. i have seen
as many as 5000 women in one of
these vast arsenais and frail girls car
rying weights which only strong men