Evening star., 1924-03-02

1Ot1s
hurrah-here was a rich land for the
taking!"
You ought to hear Alsatians like
Hansf or the Able Wetterle tell it.
In a certain restaurant of Strassburg
where such men Of culture gather, 1t
is a story that is never. old, but ever
new, on which to exercise their wit
and historical erudition.
News few back to the forests. and
the tribes poured in by the hundreds
of thousands. But news had also
gone to Rome. and julius Caesar en-
tered Alsace with his legions. In the
plain where Belfort is today he met
Arievistus-who sprung on the in
habitants the phrase, then new. that
necessity knows no law and the
argument that Germans, too numer-
Gus at home, had the right to con-
quer richer lands"
The battle was great and the Ger
man rout was terrible. Caesar let
loose his cavalry on the fleeing horde
and $4,000 invaders fell. Now, that
cavalry was composed OF Alsatian
volunteers!
TN a way, it was the first victory OF
the Marne: but it was not the
first of those incessant watches on
the Rhine The Rhine was a great.
impossible river. with swamps on
either side. During 1000 years 1T
formed natural frontier between the
farms and vineyards of Gaul and the
barbarian forests. Sometimes. in
great summer heat, when the Rhine
was low, or in unusual winter cold.
when 1t froze, the tribes would make
a raid into Alsace to pillage and
burn.
Our ancestors signaled their peo-
pie to the defense by great fires on
the heights Of the Vosges." says Wet
,terle. ION the Taennchel, on Mont
Sainte- Odile, and on the .Donon. you
still see what they call the Pagan
walls They inclosed vast. Alsatian
shelters against marauding German
tribesmen, and their watch towers
for the really first watches on the
Rhine
Alsatians have a biting Irish wit.
"In the first dawn Of history" Han
81 says, 1.-The Alamans (present Baden
population) led the way. Tradition
says that they made straight for our
hencoops, to gather all the eggs and
make kolossal omelettes SO great
and In such a hurry that they broke
the eggs with their feet and cooked
the shells up in the omelette. From
which the men of Baden are called by
Alsatian peasants, to this day, gal
fiesla,' which is a Gaulish remnant
for 'yellow-feet.'
with these bad Baden-Badens
came the Boiens (modern Bavarians),
whose feet were so big that they con-
tinued to stand upright when killed
so that our warriors had to push
them over-it was extra labor.
with them were the Saxons, who
become intelligent at forty years of
age: the Suabians, who had such
loud voices that nobody else could be
heard--when our Alsatians came to
call all Germans by the Gaulish name
Of 'Schwob'; and the Borussians
(Prussians), worst of all, whose
leader wore a bulls head. with the
horns, for a helmet-whence the
phrase 'bull-headed.'
Hansi is witty, but serious.
"The hordes passed, always. They
did not settle among us. German
professors pretend that we were
'Germanized' by few thousand poor
devil tribesmen who Joined the Ro-
man legions and swore to protect us
against their brethren over the Rhine
Tut, tut! They were proud to be
dressed, fed, and paid; and they were
soon assimilated.
Their children spoke Gaulish and
Gallo-Latin, and called all other Ger
mans 'Schwob' who arrived a week
later than their own parents! AL
SAGE picked up the German language
under the Franks, at a much later
period, when the Franks had become
civilized in North France: and the
first recorded treaty-breaking was In
that language. It was the Crime OF
the Luegenfeld.
1T happened between Thanh and
Cernay, when the grandsons OF
Charlemagne swore. with pomp and
ceremony, to remain content with
their Kingdoms and never attack each
other-Lewis Of Germany. Charles OF
France and Lothair, who had been
given q neutral strip between them
At the last moment Lewis said he
needed vineyards.
'whichr inquired the easy-g going
brothers. .-
"'The slopes Of Alsace,' answered
Lewis. It made Charles and Lothian
laugh-they were a third OF Lothair's
kingdom. But no. they said. stick
to what you have already sworn
That wine would go to your head,
- "The wine OF Alsace want to Ger
many's head" affirms tho Alsatiau
painter, solemnly. "A few years later
Lothair died. and, Charles of France