The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1919-03-07

ing feature of the Place de la Con-
corde. one of Paris great places. and
perhaps the most magnificent public
square in the world? asks the Kansas
City Star. win it, too, be tragic? For
an air of tragedy has chung to this
splendid prodGct of engineering and
art. #-.<f
Thousands died there in the blood
madness of the French Revolution; the
allied armies of Napoleon held sol
emn tie deum there In 1914; in 1871
the hated Prussian encamped in the
beautiful square; later the same wear
it was the scene of fierce and bloody
conflicts between Versailles troops and
the COmmunards, who had erected bar
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
Il center of cOmmemoratiOn. where
statues and monuments might be erect
ed to celebrate the memory of great
Frenchmen and their deeds. Louis XIV
modestly give 1t q start with statue
of himself. but this no longer stands
there 1t disappeared in the Revolu-
ton. There are in it now eight colOs-
sal statues representing eight princi-
pal cities of France-Lille, Rouen,
Nantes, Bordeaux. Brest, Marseilles,
Lyons and Strassburg. There is now
talk of erecting in it some immortal
conception of the present conflict and
It's victorious outcome.
On one side of the Place de la 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 scene OF
gayety. Came to it tourists from all
parts of the world, about 1t 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 SOM
Der wreaths of mourning. 1t signified
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 its 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 a 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 XIV,
which stood In the square until the
Revolution, was the work of Bou-
chardon. Pigalle, one of his contempt
raries, surrounded this statue with fig
ures emhlematic 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 ia