Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-06-30
SEEING BATTLEFlELDS and RUINED
AREAS OF FRANCE FOR FIRST Time
Writer Describes Sensations Experienced First Sight of Devas-
taton Left in Wake of WarAdmration for the Wonderful
Spirit OF the French PeOple-Abandoned War
Material on All Sides

n All Sizes.
Of b-Tb"d-Wlre -cntanglcncn1s. dug
outs, trenches and abandoned hutS
stretched along the roadway. No
Mans hand stretched before us for
/ miles. We, reached Fort de la Pom
pcIIe shortly after noon. The fort had
. been lcvelcd to the ground. but we
were able TO proceed 20 feet below the
ground and along the tunnels lead
Ing Ia No Mans land The bones of
dead bocheS and horses are still un-
buried. Here we found abandoned
tanks and guns.
RcimS, city Of 10000 before the
war with many fine public buildings.
Including the cathedral, now has less
than q dozen buildings standing and "A
population of 1000 people. Refugees
are just beginning to come back, and
few shops are being opened. The
beautiful cathedral with it's wonderful
stained glass windows whore kings
have been blessed, is il mass Of ruins
with nothing but the walls standing
German prisoners were removing the
stones bricks ana mortar from where
the roof had fallen to the auditorium
below II was estimated that II
would take a hundred prisoners weeks
to remove the debris.
German prisoners are being used TO
repair The parts of the buildings
that can b" used rs temporary quar-
tiers and in rebuilding the sewers and
water systems. II was here we saw
Germans hitchcd 10 wagons taking the
place of the horses they have killed
or stolen.
Work of Fiends.
The members Of our party shud-
dof"d as we %a2od on the spectacle
of this ruined city Could this be the
work of men or of ficndS? Can such
wounds be healed? Can the Germans
who inflicted this destruction ever OBJ .
tain forgiveness?
To those in America whose only in I.
tereSt in war has been desire to get .
over here before everything is all .
cleaned up" | can send the message .
that they need not fret if they are .
delayed a year or two. Their chill /
dren's children will stiIl look upon the .
ruins Of invaded France.
With the sun of spring but a few
days old, it already begins to smell .
bad in western Belgium ana north .
eastern France. Bones of men and .
horses are all about unburicd. Great
piles Of ammunition aud lines of /
trenches lie Just as if the troops had
away yesterday No prog
reS~ has been made in the rcstora-
ton of homes, factories or stores.
Mile after mile we sped through
wrecked towns and villages in which
civilian residents are just being per
nitted 10 return.
Vicious Dissertation.
We stopped at once famous coun-
ry villa. The beautiful home had
-ecn occupied by German officers.
When we went from room to room and
ound filthy pictures and obscene
poems scrubbed and scrawled upon
lie walls, when we found priceless
ape>trieS with spikes deliberately
Iriren through them, when we found
tatuary deliberately knocked about
With rifle butts and everything NOV.
Die carried away we wondered what
ort of men had dwct therein.
Just rs it seemed our hearts could
iand no more, we came upon a little
ronp of laughing, kissing country
of our party caught enough
I the conversation to learn that nam
IA goat had Just successfully incrcas
d the population with baby goat-
nd France could even smile with SO
tile assistance.
We returned with increased adml-
alton of the French nation and n
reater appreciation of the hardships
hat had been endured SO hcroicallv
Martyrdom Of France.
no more pregnant emotion can grin
IL human soul than those inspired hy
10 scene We had bchcld. Here men
ought for empire and left their mark
n nature. These ruined villages. this
'rturod earth, this awful deSolation
stretching for miles in every direc-
in showing what men viii 81
. when they put on the livery of I'm d,
nrial militariSm.
We know now what France has
lftered, and we know that all she has
st is loss to the whole world Her
Nful martyrdom, her heroic cndur-
nee, her indomitahlr f0rtitude crv
oud from these heaps of stone which :
ere once peaceful homes or the cen
rs Of industrial prosperity, now
He'd for a brief time only. In this
ar the spirit of evil sat upon the
rome and sent his slaves to chal-
nge civilization In the providence
God the end was certain. That end
e saw on the battlefield. for there
'spotism died and the new Justice
I France and for the cause of right
rs born.
We returned to Paris through Cha
au Thierry with the conviction that
It a tenth of the devastation. de-
ruction and looting has ever been
Id or ever can be.
| have Since read the peace terms
III a new understanding and I do