The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1919-03-08

has been place of gladneSS
\ since last November II. What
will be the next distinguish
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. Will ii, too, be tragic? For
an air of tragedy has chung 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 a sol
emn te deum there in 1914; in 1871
the hated Prussian encamped in the
beautiful square; later the same year
Ii 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.
1t Is n place Of lovely fountains and
statues. Originally it was intended as
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 it Il start with Il 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 anfStrasSburg There is now
! talk of erecting in 1t some immortal
conception of the present conflict and
! its victorious outcome.
On one side of the Place de In 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 In Concorde was scene OF
gayety. Came to II tourists from all
parts of the world. about ii 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 its ever present crepe and SOM
her 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 In COncorde. Captured
German guns were brought 10 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 In 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 Nv
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 1884 from
designs by HittOrf. The great statues
of the cities were made by four ia