Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-10-27

had the air ot man who expects
TO Sc" mo again In six months or "A
year oback IN tho deserted square OF
Sianislas dining at this wonderful
restaurant with the big gun sym
phOny stIll furnishing the music. NJ
Martin has lived In war so long that
h" has quit expecting anything else TO
happen
He goes every morning to his office
I'm tho ornate perfeCtive with its
beautiful furniture made OF pat
tern OF some ancient FronCh king,
hangs his hat and OvercOat In the
ante-room. a room with almost the
daintincss OF lady's boudOir, walks
into his big workroom with It's mir
rors on all the walls mirrors with
gllded frames and the crest Of Lor-
ralne. Here he takes up his normal
duties and issues orders for the re-
lief OF those whom war has driven
from home. This has been his most
exciting activity for four years. II
doubtless seems to him there never
was any other work for n Lorraine
official and when you see these be-
draRgled refugees waiting there in
that splendid official place for the
help which the weary and capable
French officer Is giving to them you
lose all sense OF Its strangeness. You
come away realizing that its part OF
the unchanging strangeness of war.
And you go out into the exquisite
park where women and old men still
keep its natural beauty in perfect or
der and sit under tree wondering
why nothing new ever happens at
Nancy.
You know that In tho morning
there may be some big ugly holes in
some OF the buildings that were in
tact the night before, but there Is
nothing now in this. SO you cit In
the park, wondering how soon your
automobile man will have the car
fixed so you can go onl. II Is very
quiet there, except that overhead
some twenty lanes are circling and
dipping and tumbllng about, but
there Is nothing new in that; since
our airmen began TO train over here
they are always giving that sort Of
show. So / sit there yawning un-
I'll a friendly newspaper correspond
ent comes along and says lets go
over to this church where the Haps-
hurGs are buried. It's the only
church In the war zone the Germans
haven't hit"
1t was something new to do so we
OF all the ancestors OF the Haps-
burgs who once bore an honored
name in Lorraine. Up to four and
haf years ago the emperor of Aus
trla and his royal suite made an an
nual visit TO Nancy to sit awhile in
| this church and pay tribute TO the
memory OF these ancestors. II may
be Just an accident but no bombs
have fallen near the ancient church
where these Hapsburg ancestors are
buried
At last the leak in the radiator was
repaired and ! left Nancy with the
regret | always feel as I drive out
| through IT'S arched gates, Its like
the regret the plainsman has at
leaving the mountains. like the re-
gret a mountaineer has. at leaving
the seashore--the regret OF saying
goodbye to something unusual and
beautiful which has ministered TO
your tired senses And Nancy is
very beautiful today in Its quiet
tragic, still lSveliness.
In IA little while 1t will fill up with
American soldiers, people will throng
back to reopen shops, prices will go
up, American cuss words will be
| heard in the dark corridors OF the
citadel builded in 1915. and some
thing new will ge going on in Nancy.
The next morning | was back
| again at my headquarters. War
doesn't disturb the homiug instinct
| OF the individual Every normal man
wants to get back TO the place where
! his things are-some spot where
i there Is a sense OF permanent loca-
! tlon, a shelter into which no may go
and be alone with what few posses
slons he brought along. A mans
home over here Is where he hangs
! his tin hat and gas mask and real
ICES that he will not have to move
for at least another week. So l re-
turned from Nancy with the sense
OF having been on vacation and en-
tered my headquarters with COM
Portable feeling OF getting back
home. In one corner OF the room
was n big bag Of mail which 1he
military postmaster had Just sent
letters and papers from back home,
1t was the l4th OF September and
some OF these papers were as late as
August 10.
In a few minutes the war was
over for me and | was back In Amer
lea reading the home news and
thinking home thoughts, For sew
eral hours | lived under that spell, I
have no words to describe the power
which mail from home has to re-
store the soul lid make you glad TO
go on doing your job and trying to
he worthy OF the somewhat eNtrava-
giant expectations OF those who wait
and serve on the other side Much
has been said about our mail service
and Il is often incomprehensible and
ineNplicahlc, but l met one incident
IN my mail which gave me a deep
respect for It's slow but sure method.
opened A plain, cheap envelope
addressed to mo in care OF the Y.
NJ {. A. somewhere in France. The
letter II contained was written on "A
half sheet Of note paper and con-
tanned three $40 bills. The writer
represented a little club OF a half
dozen women in America who had
ohoycd an impulse to send me this
money ITO help the distressing sit
uatiOn In France"
with a blind faith in our postal
system they had started this little
letter from n little town in the mid
die west II had come across a sea
filled with submarines and reached
the war Uttered land OF France II
had Travelled five hundred miles
throurh a country where railroads
are being destroyed, towns and cities
Knocked down and all lines OF com.