The Monticellonian., 1919-03-07

< since last November II. What
 will be the next distinguish ing feature of the Place de h Con corde, one of Paris great places, and perhaps the most magnificent pubic square in the world? asks the Kansas City Star Will 1t, too be tragic? For an air of tragedy has clung to this splendid product of engineering and art
 Thousands died there in the blood madness of the French Revolution; the allied armies of Napoleon held sol emn te deum there in 1S14 in 1871 the hated Prussian encamped in the beautiful square; later the same year 1t was the scene of fierce and bloody conflicts between Versailles troops and the Communards, who had erected bar ricades at one of the entrances; since 1871 the statue dedicated to the city of Strassburg had been continuously draped in mourning and known as the Lost Sister" keeping alive in the minds of Frenchmen the theft of AL sace-Lorraine
 A Place of Beauty.
 It Is a place of lovely fountains and statues. Originally it was intended as center of commemoration, where statues and monuments might be erect ed te celebrate the memory of great Frenehmen and their deeds. Louis XV modestly give it q start with statue of himself. but this no longer stands there. It disappeared In the Reyolu- tion. There are in 1t now eight cOlOs- sal statues representing eight princi pal cities of France-Lille, R0uen, Nantes, Bordeaux, Brest, Marseilles, Lyons and Strassburg. There is now talk of erecting in it some immortal conception of the present conflict and its victorious outcome.
 On one side of the Place de Ia Con- corde runs the broad Rue Royale. eX- tending to the majestic church of La Madeleine. On the opposite side is the River Seine On its right is the Gar den of the Tuileries and on the left the famous promenade of the Champs Elysees In the old peace times the Place de la Concorde was a scene of gayety. Came to It tourists from all parts of the world, about it promenad- ed the fashionables of Paris.
 The note of gayety would die out of the voices of Frenchmen as they passed the figure of the Lost Sister" with it's ever present crepe and son. Der wreaths of mourning. It signifed that France had neither forgotten nor forgiven.
 The day the armistice was declared unparalleled scenes of joy occurred in the Place de la Concorde Captured German guns were brought to it's con fines; soldiers, civilians, women and children gathered there and laughed and sang and cheered with all the abandon of the Gaul. The mourning wreaths were torn away from the Strassburg monument and the statue decked with crown of gold leaves. This crown is still upon the colossal figure of what is now the Redeemed Sister,
 The dreams of many men of genius have gone into the making of the Place de Ia Concorde. Gabriel the architect, and an unnamed engineer of great imagination, constructed the pavilions and balustrades laid the groundwork for the achievement in the middle of the eighteenth century The equestrian figure of Louis XV, which stood in the square until the Revolution, was the work of Bou- chardon. Pigalle, one of his contempo- rarieS, surrounded this statue with fig ures emblematic of Strength, Wisdom Justice and Peace. The square re- ceived its present form in 1854 from designs by Hittorf. The great statues of the cities were made by four fa-