The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-08-21

EaIlS - NO.EJ - WAAAt Woo uAA believable of Paris in the spring of l94O Is commonplace now, a year later.
 There is an abundance of Ger man soldiers. There is no cafe au lait. In fact, the coffee itself is only 25 per cent real.
 The streets, buildings and the streets cleaners are just about the same as they were year ago, but the city has changed, nevertheless. The following account is what the United Press correspondent saw in an hours stroll in the vicinity of the Opera.
 A large sign on Boulevard deS Italiens building housing the United Press offices, reads: Learn German in Sixty Lessons" Last year the em- phasis was on English.
 Below is a mems clothing store and a shoe shop. On the window of the latter 8 notice informs the restriction- laden public:
 The shoe store syndicate has the honor to inform the public that it will find herein forms with which you can request permit to buy shoes. The personnel is at your disposal to answer questions on this subject"
 Shoes In Odd Sizes
 Set of by a portrait of Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the window Is attractive. Paper strips to guard against splintering glass have been removed. Most of the shoes, how ever, are in small or medium sizes.
 A newsstand on the corner feat ureS German newspapers, magazines, guides to Paris written in German and pamphlets on French wines. Gone are the London journals and the Paris edition of the New York Herald Tribune. On the billboard space on the white, uncompleted Ford building is the latest anti British propaganda poster. Next door a movie house advertises Bel Ami" one of the latest films from Vienna.
 On the canopy of the Restaurant Capucines Is banner in red and black German letters! "Pousset Spa tenbrau Munich"
 Just before the boulevard runs into the Place de IOpera, a theater ls closed by an iron gate. It has not. been reopened since there was . commotion during a newsreel showing some months ago.
 Large Signs in German
 Large traffic signs in black Ger man words on a white background rise around the Place de POpera. Eight of them direct the ways to Red Cross stations. Posters outside the opera house announce the arriv- al of the Berlin Staatsopera, burned out of its Berlin home by British ineendiary bombs.
 Big German military police with signal discs on handles assist French officers in directing traffic, which is mostly military or commercial They prevent pedestrians from walk ing against red lights or outside the passageways
 Here, all day, streams an amazing assortment of vehicles, typical of Paris, 1941 style.
 Eonveyances range from wornout baby carriages to elephant-drawn hanson cabs. (The latter actually appeared there one dayD Bicycles and pushcarts are the most nuner- ous. Leg-driven "velocars" are be- coming more popular. They are built streamlined and are about half the size of an Austin automobile.
 Trailers of All Kinds
 A hundred different kinds of bi- cycle trailers whiz by in half an hour. Some carrying loads of sev- eral hundred pounds. Wood-burn- ing gazogenes, city and acetylene gasdriven automobiles, electric autos and motorcycles, horse-drawn cabs and wagons mingle where even as late as year ago taxis were corh- monplace. Military staff cars and huge, roaring trucks are in the maj ority. Pleasure cars are not permit ted. Members of the diplomatic corps have special permits.
 Most harrassed by the new traffic laws growing out of unusual condi- tions are the bicyclists for whom many streets are one-way, while au- tomobiles can travel either direction.
 On the Place. people emerge from the Metro (subway) stations. De- mobilized French soldiers, some of them big. fezzed men from North Africa, mingle with Germans. Civil ians look upon the French army men with something akin to pained cu- riosity. It is bit unusual to see French soldier
 Looking across the Place to the corner of the Rue Quatre September and the Avenue de rOpera, one sees the office of Der Platzkommandan- tur" is former bank building. Sem tries snap to attention for officers who pass through the door. Quatre September Is barred for block.
 On the other side of the avenue the offices of the Holland American steamship line are empty. A model of the Nieuw Amsterdam, burned during the Netherlands occupation, reposeS in a show window.
 Famous Avenue ROped Off
 Fog two blocks the Avenue de rOpera is barricaded on the west side and used as 8 parking place for German staff cars and supply trucks, many of which are Amer ican made. The letter "" is chalk marked on some.
 The most conspicuous shops along