Evening journal., 1918-02-20

the darkness. and. as close to the
evenings entertainment. the visitors
went pouring out OF Mott-st with
their hearts in their throats, to go
back home and ever after recite their
narrow escape, and give New York the
undeserved reputation OF being the
most lawless city in America
So with the thrilling wickedness Of
Gay P'ree"; mostly framed for
simps" from Squeedunk and Huskville
and New York. and such centers Of
credulity.
The police decided, and wisely. that
Paris, at this iuncture. 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 no place for overly
ebbulent Americans to go but home
TO their hotels, or pensions, or apart
ments, or wherever.
At Il the theatres close and all song
ceases, and the only place 10 get
supper and a drink is where you sleep (:
therefor. as FAR as night carousing is
concerned, Paris is not gay.
Her true gaiely rests now. as it al
ways has rested. in the spirit Of her
people They have looked into distorted
with bloodthirsty fury the face Of
Death. but the visage Of that grim
monster has put no fear in their eyes,
since a sacrifice 10 this lesser devil re-
moves the threat Of one far more ter
rihle: the vision Of the Hun possessing
Francel
Death becomes as trivial as a nurses
tale Of a bogey 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 elevation OF the
body above the soul to his table man
ners. has not been dreadful 10 the
French mind.
For decades the entire purpose and
intent OF the Hun has been 10 build a
human body which should stride tr-
umphant over the bodies Of the men
Of an other nations: and the French
man. who has done his utmost 20 cul-
tivate the finer graces Of both bod
and mind, was supposed 90 be especi-
ally effete, a trile to be swept aside
with derision
How magnlncently the Frenchman
disproved that ignoble estimate. and
established his manhood for centuries
/ to come, has been shown at Nerdun. on
the Marne, on a hundred battlenelds,
and is shown now I'm Paris daily. where
/ there is laughter on the boulevards.
and the gay poilus on leave sip their
/ bot coffee under the dripping avn
/ ings, while the world swarms by them
on the pave.
We have not seen one French person
7 Un
French person who sat dull and indif-
ferent. and allowed himself to contem-
/ plate in dread and fear the awful trag-
/ edy which assails civilization.
lt is not merely that they feel ne
cessary TO preserve the spirit Of cheer
/ fulness in order TO approach the task
which still lies before them. but be
cause they are so constituted as 10
accept cheerfully their duty to them
selves. TO each other, and to sacred
/ France.
SUCH SUBLIME COURAGE CAN
/ HAVE BUT ONE END; VICTORY.
And when the war shall have come
and gone. and the great design Of the
/ Infinite shall have been accomplished,
whatever that design may be which
needs such appalling means for its ac-
complishments, Paris will be here AID
/ she will be unchanged; and she will be
gay, gay in the best sense Of that
/ term-for Paris is more than a city
she is a spirit, and the spirit is i'm
mortali
Another article by tho Chesters will
appear in THE EVENING JOURNAL 10.
morrow.