New-York tribune., 1918-03-17

become famous IN American history
the chief city behind the sector
'ctich the Pershing army IS taking
oper from, the French. In its streets
thousands Of american boys acill
spend thei'. leaves from the trenches
-utrough it ausiU come long trains Of
supplies-its defence may be the
qreat test Of American arms.
Moselle," roared Kurt Won
Stantz from the tribune of
the Reichstag. eve shall take the
whole of Lorraine 1t seems very
likely, then, that Nancy, as many as
sert, will be one Of the main points of
attack in the next German offensive.
Nancy, the former capital of Lor-
raine, which was left to France by the
Treaty of Frankfort in 1871, is Of his
torical interest. Illustrious at the time
of the Dukes of Burgundy, their last
scion, Charles the Bold, came to a mis-
cradle end there. Thence the three
last "Roman Emperors" went to be
crowned at Vienna. In 1914 another
German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II,
believed that Nancy would fall three
days after the hostilities began and,
according to his habit, was already
dressed for the part-had his face made
up. like the actor he is, for triumphal
entry. But he had reckoned without
the defence of the Grand Couronne,
and above all without the indomitable
will of nation.
Evidently the Kaiser no longer be-
leves in strategical warfare since the
failure of Won Moltke, jr., and Won
Kluck's great coup in the classical
battle Of the Marne-so fortunate for
the world. He always loved theatrical
mise-en-scene, and, setting scientific
warfare aside, he now endeavors to
achieve an historical, political success
chiefly with the view of humiliating
France. This was his aim in attack
ing Rheims, the crowning place of our
kings, where Joan of Arc stood beside
Charles VII in the cathedral. 1t was
for this purpose that he threw half a
million of his picked men into the fiery
furnace of Verdun. This once again
will be his object in attacking Nancy,
and / grieve to think what this place,
so rich in historical remembrance for
US French, will suffer.
Famous in Days
Of Ancient Rome
AS I write 1 see once again before
me the panorama I know so we'll. From
the Plateau Haye there lies before me
a view of long stretch Of close roofs,
towers, spires, churches, high iron
frameworks This is Nancy itself,
united to it's suburbs by secluded,
shaded avenues. In the distance
sparkles the lake of the Seille, which
forms a boundary, for it is German
to-day. To my right glides softly the
Moselle, no longer dashing impetuously
through rough mountains and thick
woods, but as far as Metz and Co
blenz bordered by vineyards, already
so famous in the Rome of old, where
big clusters of purple or golden grapes
reflect in the water their color and
light. Close by the small River Anne,
zule, a tributary of the Meurthe, is
dominated by the abrupt hill of Amance
and the woods of Champenoux, where
so many of our brave dead are lying
for this was the theatre Of the first
German attack in 1914. 1t may be that
of the new offensive, and Nancy, as sc
many other French towns, will once
again suffer.
Ever since the eleventh century has
the old Lorraine town known the clasf
of arms and all the desolation it leaves
behind. But each time, with the elias
ITCHY so marked a characteristic oil
the French nation, she has emerged
stronger than before from the flood o.
vicissitudes. The years 1870-'71 die
not spare Nancy, though they dealt
leniently with her.
Town Surrendered