Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-03
MADAME CARRIES ON
IN PLUG STREET
By LIEUTENANT LEON ARCHIBALD
British Royal ENGINEERS

This wa. written IT. r. before the recent rssapturs
fUBIio LED6Eh.
THE war has been the means of bringing
L to the surface in countless thousands
Of civilian lives a quality which bears a
marked resemblance to that sterling trait
known as bravery, so abundant and so
eminently essential In the composition of
the perfect soldier. Many people whose
peace-time vocations made few or no de.
mands upon their ability to engage and
overcome a supreme difficulty today find
themselves as truly deserving Of worlds
profoundest appreciation as does the per.
sonnel of our magnificent armies. In this
connection I have in mind some folk who
live behind the lines in France-and not
so very far behind, either.
AS A rather suitable illustration. allow
"A me to mention the case Of Nine. Der
Guard. who kept the little shop in Ploeg.
steert. better known perhaps as Plug
street" Since the beginning of warfare
OH the western front this village With its
immediate environs, has been front.seat
observer Of bitter, wearisome strife. Once
a picturesque and comely hamlet Of cob
bled, shady streets, tiled cottages and the
scene Of playing children, it Is now
blasted. blackened ruin. where the senses
are assailed by jarring detonations and
an atmosphere heavily burdened with the
foul odors Of decaying flesh. Each day
there rises from this moldering pile of
ruin cloud upon cloud Of bloodred dust, as
wars messages Of cruel hate arrive; the
surging tide Of soldiery which hourly ebbs
and flows from rear to front and back
again across this tortured. sver.wastins
wreckage Is wont to feel relief when some
kind whim of fortune relieves them OF Its
guardianship.
DUT in spite Of all this Nine. Derouard's
- little shop strove valiantly and sue.
cessfully to live up to the motto. Business
as usual" which had been chalked above
her door by some admiring customer in
khaki. How she did 1t only Madame
Derouard. II she would, could tell you why;
why sh. did it only Madame Derouard, II
she could, might explaiA. ! can merely
tell you what l saw.
ACROSS the street from Madame's shop
a is the church, or what is left Of it--a
jagged heap Of broken brick and mortar.
Behind the church and almost opposite the
store still stands a semblance Of the house
OF Pere lie Grand, the village priest. who
tarried in the desoated village as long as
one brick of his church remained upon
another. At last with widely scattered
flock excepting Sne; with house Of wor.
ship crumbling into dust, he, too, was
forced to wander of behind. to let time and
his wondrous faith make whole again
wearied, broken heart. Only hfty
yards above, the little store is the inter-
section Of two important arteries Of traffic,
upon which crossroad stands signpost,
whose face, pockmarked by shrapnel, bears
words like these: DO not halt here.
Liable at any time to shell fre."
TNARLY in the fall of 1914 some German
~ high explosive, the hrst to visit Ploeg.
steert and obviously intended for the
church, smashed all the glass In Madame
Derouard's store. Just about this time
her husband. a reservist. went to hght.
| Her empty sashes were very promptly
filled, not SO the rent made in her heart.
Again. and but q few weeks later some
| bursting shrapnel necessitated the giaziers
| return. A mason and q plasterer could
| also have been used to good advantage.
| -Four times that fall and winter the win.
| dows Of the shop were broken. while heavy
| dstonations and jssssd iron splintsrs tore
| on the tilss and forced the humbls dwell.
~ 10 the oslias. ~ last thea e1ock of
Am teeanas e>h,Sc>ee ~ uqp 4 -.