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PARIS WAR DAYS
[Illustration: Myron T. Herrick, American Ambassador in Paris.
_Frontispiece._]
PARIS WAR DAYS
DIARY OF AN AMERICAN
BY
CHARLES INMAN BARNARD, LL.B. (HARVARD)
Knight of the Legion of Honor
Paris Correspondent of The New York Tribune
President of The Association of the Foreign Press in Paris
Chairman of the Harvard Club of Paris
TO
_Ogden Mills Reid_
EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE
THIS DIARY IS DEDICATED
IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY OF
HIS FATHER, THE LATE
_Whitelaw Reid_
PREFACE
This is not a story of the world-wide war. These notes, jotted down at
odd moments in a diary, are published with the idea of recording, day by
day, the aspect, temper, mood, and humor of Paris, when the entire
manhood of France responds with profound spontaneous patriotism to the
call of mobilization in defense of national existence. France is herself
again. Her capital, during this supreme trial, is a new Paris, the like
of which, after the present crisis is over, will probably not be seen
again by any one now living.
As a youth in the spring of 1871, I witnessed Paris, partly in ruins,
emerging from the scourges of German invasion and of the Commune. As a
correspondent of the _New York Herald_, under the personal
direction of my chief, Mr. James Gordon Bennett--for whom I retain a
deep-rooted friendship and admiration for his sterling, rugged qualities
of a true American and a masterly journalist--it was my good fortune,
during fourteen years, to share the joys and charms of Parisian life. I
was in Paris during the throes of the Dreyfus affair when, at the call
of the late Whitelaw Reid, I began my duties as resident correspondent
of the _New York Tribune_. I saw Paris suffer the winter floods of
1910. Whether in storm or in sunshine, I have always found myself among
friends in this vivacious center of humanity, intelligence, art,
science, and sentiment, where our countrymen, and above all our
countrywomen, realize that they have a second home. With a finger on the
pulse, as it were, of Paris, I have sought to register the throbs and
feelings of Parisians and Americans during these war days.
I acknowledge deep indebtedness to the European edition of the _New
York Herald_, and to the Continental edition of the _Daily
Mail_, from whose columns useful data and information have been
freely drawn.
C. I. B.
_Paris, October, 1914._
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Myron T. Herrick, American Ambassador in Paris. _Frontispiece_
Shop of a German merchant in Paris, wrecked by French mobs
Sewing-girls at work in the American Episcopal Church
American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly
Paris workmen hastening to join the colors
Woman replacing man in traffic work
General Victor Constant Michel, Military Governor of Paris until August
27, 1914
The Statue of Strasbourg, after the capture of Altkirch in Alsace by
French troops
Americans in Paris besieging the American Express Company's office for
funds for their daily bread
French Negro troops from Africa entraining in Paris
Flag of the 132nd German Infantry Regiment, captured at Saint-Blaise by
the 1st Battalion of Chasseurs à Pied
Robert Woods Bliss, First Secretary of the United States Embassy in
Paris, September, 1914
A party of American volunteers crossing the Place de l'Opéra in Paris on
their way to enlist
General Joseph Simon Galliéni, appointed Military Governor and Commander
of the Army of Paris, August 26, 1914
Étienne Alexandre Millerand, Minister of War, August 27, 1914
Parisians watching the German air craft that drop bombs on the city
Eiffel Tower's searchlight to reveal bomb-throwing air craft and air
scouts of the Germans
Wounded French soldiers returning to Paris with trophies from the
battlefields
29th Infantry Reserves, Army of the Defence of Paris
General Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies in France
M. Émile Laurent, appointed Prefect of Police of Paris, September 3,
1914
Workmen erecting a barricade in Paris
"Sauf-Conduit" issued by the Prefecture of Police to persons wishing to
travel
One of the wards in the American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly
PARIS WAR DAYS
_Saturday, August 1, 1914_
This war comes like the traditional "Bolt from the Blue!" I had made
arrangements to retire from active journalism and relinquish the duties
of Paris correspondent of the _New York Tribune_, which I had
fulfilled for sixteen consecutive years. In reply to a request from Mr.
Ogden Reid, I had expressed willingness to remain at my post in Paris
until the early autumn, inasmuch as "a quiet summer was expected."
Spring was a busy time for newspaper men. There had been the sensational
assassination of Gaston Calmette, editor of the _Figaro_, by Mme.
Caillaux, wife of the cabinet minister. Then there was the "caving-in"
of the streets of Paris, owing to the effect of storms on the thin
surface left by the underground tunnelling for the electric tramways,
and for the new metropolitan "tubes." The big prize fight between Jack
Johnson and Frank Moran for the heavy-weight championship of the world
followed. Next came the trial of Mme. Caillaux and her acquittal. Then
followed the newspaper campaign of the brothers, MM. Paul and Guy de
Cassagnac, against German newspaper correspondents in Paris. The
Cassagnacs demanded that certain German correspondents should quit
French territory within twenty-four hours. As several German
correspondents were members of the "Association of the Foreign Press,"
of which I happen to be president, I was able to smooth matters over a
little. Although my personal sympathies were strongly with the
Cassagnacs, who are editors of _L'Autorité_, especially in their
condemnation of the severity of the German Government in regard to
"Hansi," the Alsatian caricaturist and author of _Mon Village_, I
managed with the help of some of my Russian, Italian, English, and
Spanish colleagues to avoid needless duels and quarrels between French
and German journalists. Finally, the day of the "Grand Prix de Paris"
brought the news of the murder at Sarajevo of the heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. My friend, Mr. Edward Schuler, was despatched
by the Associated Press to Vienna, and when he returned, I readily saw,
from the state of feeling that he described as existing in Vienna, that
war between Austria and Servia was inevitable, and that unless some
supreme effort should be made for peace by Emperor William, a general
European war must follow.
Wednesday, July 29, the day after Austria's declaration of war against
Servia, I lunched at the Hotel Ritz with Mrs. Marshall Field and her
nephew, Mr. Spencer Eddy. Mrs. Field was about to leave Paris for
Aix-les-Bains. We talked about the probability of Russia being forced to
make war with Germany. I warned Mrs. Field of the risk she would run in
going to Aix-les-Bains, and in the event of mobilization, of being
deprived of her motor-car and of all means of getting away. At that time
no one seemed to think that war really would break out. Mrs. Field
finally gave up her plan of going to Aix-les-Bains and went to London.
The following evening Maître Charles Philippe of the Paris Bar and M.
Max-Lyon, a French railroad engineer who had built many of the Turkish
and Servian railroads, dined with me. They both felt that nothing could
now avert war between France and Germany.
Yesterday (July 31) a sort of war fever permeated the air. A cabinet
minister assured me that at whatever capital there was the slightest
hope of engaging in negotiations and compromise, at that very point the
"mailed fist" diplomacy of the Kaiser William dealt an unexpected blow.
There seems no longer any hope for peace, because it is evident that the
Military Pretorian Guard, advisers to the German and Austrian emperors,
are in the ascendency, and they want war. "Very well, they will have
it!" remarked the veteran French statesman, M. Georges Clemençeau.
After dinner last evening I happened to be near the Café du Croissant
near the Bourse and in the heart of the newspaper quarter of Paris.
Suddenly an excited crowd collected. "Jaurès has been assassinated!"
shouted a waiter. The French deputy and anti-war agitator was sitting
with his friends at a table near an open window in the café. A young
Frenchman named Raoul Villain, son of a clerk of the Civil Court of
Rheims, pushed a revolver through the window and shot Jaurès through the
head. He died a few moments later. The murder of the socialist leader
would in ordinary times have so aroused party hatred that almost civil
war would have broken out in Paris. But to-night, under the tremendous
patriotic pressure of the German emperor's impending onslaught upon
France, the whole nation is united as one man. As M. Arthur Meyer,
editor of the _Gaulois_, remarked: "France is now herself again!
Not since a hundred years has the world seen '_France Debout!_'"
At four o'clock this afternoon I was standing on the Place de la Bourse
when the mobilization notices were posted. Paris seemed electrified. All
cabs were immediately taken. I walked to the Place de l'Opéra and Rue de
la Paix to note the effect of the mobilization call upon the people.
Crowds of young men, with French flags, promenaded the streets, shouting
"Vive La France!" Bevies of young sewing-girls, _midinettes_,
collected at the open windows and on the balconies of the Rue de la
Paix, cheering, waving their handkerchiefs at the youthful patriots, and
throwing down upon them handfuls of flowers and garlands that had decked
the fronts of the shops. The crowd was not particularly noisy or
boisterous. No cries of "On to Berlin!" or "Down with the Germans!" were
heard. The shouts that predominated were simply: "Vive La France!" "Vive
l'Armée!" and "Vive l'Angleterre!" One or two British flags were also
borne along beside the French tricolor.
I cabled the following message to Mr. Ogden Reid, editor of the _New
York Tribune_:
Tribune, New York, Private for Mr. Reid. Suggest
supreme importance event hostilities of Brussels as center
of all war news. Also that Harry Lawson, _Daily Telegraph_,
London, is open any propositions coming from you
concerning _Tribune_ sharing war news service with his
paper. According best military information be useless
expense sending special men to front with French owing
absolute rigid censorship.
BARNARD.
I based this suggestion about the supreme importance of Brussels because
it has for years been an open secret among military men that the only
hope of the famous _attaque brusquée_ of the German armies being
successful would be by violating Belgian neutrality and swarming in like
wasps near Liége and Namur, and surprising the French mobilization by
sweeping by the lines of forts constructed by the foremost military
engineer in Europe, the late Belgian general, De Brialmont.
I subsequently received a cable message from the editor of the
_Tribune_ expressing the wish to count upon my services during the
present crisis. To this I promptly agreed.
_Sunday, August 2._
This is the first day of mobilization. I looked out of the dining-room
window of my apartment at Number 8 Rue Théodule-Ribot at four this
morning. Already the streets resounded with the buzz, whirl, and horns
of motor-cars speeding along the Boulevard de Courcelles, and the
excited conversation of men and women gathered in groups on the
sidewalks. It was warm, rather cloudy weather. Thermometer, 20 degrees
centigrade, with light, southwesterly breezes. My servant, Félicien,
summoned by the mobilization notices calling out the reservists, was
getting ready to join his regiment, the Thirty-second Dragoons. His
young wife and child had arrived the day before from Brittany. My
housekeeper, Sophie, who was born in Baden-Baden and came to Paris with
her mother when a girl of eight, is in great anxiety lest she be
expelled, owing to her German nationality.
I walked to the chancellery of the American Embassy, Number 5 Rue de
Chaillot, where fifty stranded Americans were vainly asking the clerks
how they could get away from Paris and how they could have their letters
of credit cashed. Three stray Americans drove up in a one-horse cab. I
took the cab, after it had been discharged, and went to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, where I expected to find our Ambassador, Mr. Myron T.
Herrick. M. Viviani, the President of the Council of Ministers and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, was there awaiting the arrival of Baron de
Schoen, the German Ambassador, who had made an appointment for eleven
o'clock. It was now half-past eleven, and his German excellency had not
yet come.
I watched the arrival of the St. Cyr cadets at the Gare d'Orsay station
on their way to the Gare de l'Est. These young French "West Pointers"
are sturdy, active, wiry little chaps, brimful of pluck, intelligence,
and determination. They carried their bags and boxes in their hands, and
their overcoats were neatly folded _bandélière_ fashion from the
right shoulder to the left hip. Then came a couple of hundred
requisitioned horses led by cavalrymen. Driving by the Invalides, I
noticed about five hundred requisitioned automobiles. I was very much
impressed by the earnest, grave determination of the reservists, who
were silently rejoining their posts. Some of them were accompanied by
wives, sisters, or sweethearts, who concealed their tears with forced
smiles. Now and then groups of young men escorted the reservists,
singing the "Marseillaise" and waving French, British, and Russian
flags. At the Place de la Concorde, near the statue of "Strasbourg," was
a procession of Italians, who had offered their military services to the
Minister of War in spite of Italy's obligation to the Triple Alliance.
Later, at the American Embassy, Number 5 Rue François Premier, I found
Ambassador Herrick arranging for a sort of relief committee of Americans
to aid and regulate the situation of our stranded countrymen and women
here. There are about three thousand who want to get home, but who are
unable to obtain money on their letters of credit; if they have money,
they are unable to find trains, or passenger space on westward bound
liners. Mr. Herrick showed me a cablegram from the State Department at
Washington instructing him to remain at his post until his successor,
Mr. Sharp, can reach Paris; also to inform Mr. Thomas Nelson Page,
American Ambassador at Rome, to cancel his leave of absence and stop in
Rome, even if "Italy had decided to remain neutral." As soon as the
German and Austro-Hungarian ambassadors quit the capital, Mr. Herrick
will be placed in charge of all the German and Austro-Hungarian subjects
left behind here. I met also M. J. J. Jusserand, French Ambassador at
Washington, who intends sailing Tuesday for New York. M. Jusserand
informed me that official news had reached the Paris Ministry of the
Interior of Germany's violation of the territory of Luxemburg, the
independence of which had been guaranteed by the Powers, including of
course Prussia, by the Treaty of London in 1867. M. Jusserand was very
indignant at this reckless breach of international law.
At the suggestion of Mr. Herrick, a committee of Americans was chosen to
co-operate with him in giving such information and advice to Americans
in Paris as the efforts of the committee to ascertain facts and
conditions may justify. The committee think there is no cause for alarm
on the part of those who remain in the city for the present; and that
Americans will be able to leave at some later date, if any desire to do
so.
The committee will endeavor to learn what can be done in securing money
on letters of credit or travelers' cheques, or in getting means of
transportation to such places as they may desire to go.
The committee includes Messrs. Laurence B. Benét, W.S. Dalliba, Charles
Carroll, Frederick Coudert, James Deering, Chauncey M. Depew, E.H. Gary,
H. Herman Harjes, William Jay, F.B. Kellog, Percy Peixotto, and Henry S.
Priest. The chairman is Judge E.H. Gary.
Mr. Herrick asked me to convey a private message to one of his friends,
but as the telephone service was interrupted, Mr. Laurence Norton, the
Ambassador's secretary, loaned me his motor-car for the purpose. On the
Cour La Reine a procession of young men escorting reservists and bearing
a French flag appeared. I naturally raised my hat to salute the colors.
The crowd, noticing the red, white, and blue cockades on the hats of the
chauffeur and the footman, mistook me for the American Ambassador or for
a cabinet minister, and burst into frantic cheers.
In the German quarter, near the Rue d'Hauteville, a couple of German
socialists who were so imprudent as to shout "_A bas l'armée!_"
were surrounded by angry Frenchmen, and despite an attempt of the police
to protect them, were very roughly handled. A German shoemaker who
attempted to charge exaggerated prices for boots had his windows smashed
and his stock looted by an infuriated crowd.
The news that the German shops were being attacked soon spread, and
youths gathered in bands, going from one shop to the other and wrecking
them in the course of a few moments. Further riots occurred near the
Gare de l'Est, a district which is inhabited by a large number of
Germans. A great deal of damage was done.
Measures were taken at once by the authorities, and several cavalry
detachments were called to the aid of the police. The youths were quite
docile on the whole, a word from a policeman being sufficient to turn
them away.
The cavalry, too, only made a few charges at a sharp trot and were
received with hearty cheers. Policemen and municipal guards were,
however, stationed before shops known to be owned by Germans.
[Illustration: Shop of a German merchant in Paris, wrecked by French
mobs.]
In spite of this rioting, responsible Parisians may be said to have
remained as calm as they have been all through this critical time. Among
those taking part in wrecking shops were few people older than seventeen
or eighteen.
Already the familiar aspect of the Parisian street crowd has changed. It
is now composed almost exclusively of men either too young or too old
for military service and of women and children. Most of the younger
generation have already left to join corps on the front or elsewhere in
France. It is impossible to spend more than a few minutes in the streets
without witnessing scenes which speak of war.
There are long processions of vehicles of all sorts, market carts,
two-wheeled lorries, furniture vans, all of them stocked with rifles for
the reserves and all of them led or driven by soldiers.
Not a motor-omnibus is to be seen. The taxi-cabs and cabs are scarce.
Tramway-cars are running, although on some lines the service is reduced
considerably. In spite of the disorganization of traffic, the majority
of Parisians go about their business quietly.
There is deep confidence in the national cause. "We did not want this
war, but as Germany has begun we will fight, and Germany will find that
the heart of France is in a war for freedom," is an expression heard on
all sides.
Everywhere there are touching scenes. In the early hours of the morning
a _chasseur_ covered with dust, who had come to bid farewell to his
family, was seen riding through the city. As he rode down the street, an
old woman stopped him and said: "Do your best! They killed my husband in
'70." The young soldier stooped from his saddle and silently gripped the
old woman's hand.
_Monday, August 3._
This is the second day of mobilization. A warm, cloudy day with
occasional showers. Thermometer, 20 degrees centigrade.
At six this morning Félicien, with a brown paper parcel containing a
day's rations consisting of cold roast beef, sandwiches, hard-boiled
eggs, bread, butter, and potato salad, walked off to the Gare St.
Lazare, which is his point of rendezvous indicated by the mobilization
paper. His young wife wept as if broken-hearted. Félicien, like all the
reservists, restrained his emotions. I shook him warmly by the hand and
said that I would surely see him again here within six months, and that
he would come home a victor. "Don't be afraid of that, sir!" was his
reply, and away he went.
I watched the looting of the Maggi milk shops near the Place des Ternes.
The marauders were youths from fifteen to eighteen years old, and seemed
to have no idea of the crimes they were committing. The Maggi is no
longer a German enterprise, and the stupid acts of these young ruffians
can only have the effect of depriving French mothers and infants of
much-needed milk. I bought a bicycle to-day at Peugeot's in the Avenue
of the Grande Armée, because it is hopeless to get cabs or motor-cabs.
While there, the shop was requisitioned by an officer, who took away
with him three hundred bicycles for the army.
The aspect of the main thoroughfares in the Opéra quarter, the center of
English and American tourist traffic, was depressing in the extreme this
afternoon. All the shipping offices in the Rue Scribe closed in the
morning. The Rue de la Paix is never very brilliant in August, but now
it is an abode of desolation. Nine tenths of the shops have their
shutters up and the jewelers who keep open have withdrawn all their
stock from the windows.
Many of the closed shops on the boulevards and elsewhere bear placards
designed to protect them from the possible attentions of the mob. On
these placards are such texts as "Maison Française" or even "Maison
ultrafrançaise."
On the Café de la Paix is the following announcement, in several places:
"The proprietor, André Millon, who is mayor of Evecquemont
(Seine-et-Oise), has been called out for service in the army and left
this morning." Similar messages, written in chalk, are to be seen on
hundreds of shutters.
Steps have been taken at the American Embassy to supply credentials, in
the form of "a paper of nationality," to citizens of the United States,
which will make it possible for them to register as such with the
police, as required by the French Government.
The proposed American Ambulance has been organized under the official
patronage of Ambassador Herrick, and the auspices of the American
Hospital of Paris.
Beginning to-day, all cafés and restaurants will be closed at eight in
the evening. They were left open till nine yesterday as an exceptional
measure, owing to the fact that there was not time to distribute the
order for early closing by eight o'clock.
The aspect of the boulevards last night was the completest possible
contrast to what was seen on Sunday night. The city was under martial
law, and the police showed very plainly that they did not intend to be
trifled with.
Instead of shouting crowds and stone-throwing by excited youths and
women, one saw only a few citizens walking slowly along. One group of
policemen took shelter from the intermittent showers under the marquise
of the Vaudeville Theater, and other detachments were in readiness at
corners all along the line of the boulevards, which were dotted with
isolated policemen.
No one was allowed to loiter. To wait five minutes outside a house was
to court investigation and possibly arrest. There was no sound except
that of footfalls and a low murmur of conversation. It was the first
night of war's stern government.
Germany officially declared war upon France at five forty-five this
evening. The notification was made by Baron von Schoen, the German
Ambassador to France, when he called at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
to ask for his passports.
Baron von Schoen declared that his Government had instructed him to
inform the Government of the Republic that French aviators had flown
over Belgium and that other French aviators had flown over Germany and
dropped bombs as far as Nuremberg. He added that this constituted an act
of aggression and violation of German territory.
M. Viviani listened in silence to Baron von Schoen's statement, and when
the German Ambassador had finished, replied that it was absolutely false
that French aviators had flown over Belgium and Germany and had dropped
bombs.
Immediately after this interview, M. Viviani telegraphed to M. Jules
Cambon, French Ambassador in Berlin, instructing him to immediately ask
for his passports and to make a report on France's protest against the
violation of the neutrality of Luxemburg and the ultimatum sent to
Belgium. M. Cambon will leave Berlin to-morrow.
Since acts of war were committed by German troops two days ago, the
delay in the recall of the German Ambassador had appeared inexplicable
to the great majority of French people, to whom Baron von Schoen
appeared to be decidedly outstopping his welcome.
The Ambassador himself seemed conscious of this feeling, for not only
did he take care to proceed to the Quai d'Orsay in as inconspicuous a
manner as possible, but he also applied to the authorities to detail a
policeman to accompany him in his automobile.
Baron von Schoen's departure from Paris was a solemn affair. He left the
Embassy last, after a vast collection of luggage had gone off in
motor-wagons and other vehicles. A few minutes before ten o'clock,
wearing a soft felt hat and black frock coat adorned with the rosette of
the Legion of Honor and carrying a rainproof coat over his arm, he left
in a powerful automobile, which, by way of the Invalides, the Trocadero,
and the Boulevard Flandrin, conveyed him to the station.
The station employés and the police on duty at the station formed a
silent cordon, through which the departing Ambassador passed with
downcast eyes.
Not a word was spoken as the baron stood for a few minutes on the
platform.
Then the stationmaster said quietly: "_En voiture_," there was a
shrill whistle, and the train, composed of five coaches and three goods
trucks, glided slowly out of the station.
_Tuesday, August 4._
We are now in the third day of mobilization. Weather slightly cooler, 17
degrees centigrade, with moderate southwest wind.
At seven this morning I went with Sophie to the registration office for
Germans, Alsatians, and Austro-Hungarians, Number 213 Place Boulevard
Periere. A crowd of some five hundred persons--men, women, and
children--were waiting at the doors of the public schoolroom now used as
the _Siège du District_ for the seventeenth arrondissement.
Although a German by birth, Sophie is French at heart. She came to Paris
when only eight years old and has remained here ever since--she is now
sixty-one--and has been thirty-two years with me as housekeeper and
cook. All her German relatives are dead. Hers is a hard case, for if
expelled from France, she would have to become practically a stranger in
a strange land. Fortunately she has all her papers in order, and can
show that she has nine nephews actually in the French army. I made a
statement in writing for her to this effect, which she took to the
registration office, but she had to wait, standing without shelter from
eight in the morning to six o'clock at night. After carefully
scrutinizing her papers, the officials told her that her papers must go
for inspection to the Prefecture of Police, and that she must come back
for them to-morrow. She had with her photographs of three of her nephews
in military uniforms. One of these nephews had received a decoration
during the Morocco campaign for saving his captain's life during an
engagement.
I managed to see the Commissary of Police of the quarter and spoke to
him about Sophie, explaining her case and saying that as she was such a
splendid cook it would be a great pity if Paris should lose her
services. The commissary smiled and said: "It will be all right. Sophie
will be allowed to remain in Paris!" I profited by the occasion to
obtain a _permis de séjour_, or residence permit, for myself. The
commissary, after noting on paper my personal description and measuring
my height, handed me the precious document authorizing me to reside in
the "entrenched camp of Paris." These papers must be kept on one's
person, ready to be shown whenever called for. Outside of the office
about three hundred foreigners, including Emile Wauters, the Belgian
painter, and several well-known Americans and English, were waiting
their turn to get into the office. I congratulated myself on having a
journalist's _coupe-file_ card that had enabled me to get in before
the others, some of whom stood waiting for six hours before their turn
came. This is an instance of stupid French bureaucracy or red-tapism. It
would have been very easy to have distributed numbers to those waiting,
and the applicants would then have been able, by calculating the time,
to go about their business and return when necessary. Another instance
of this fatal red-tapism of French officialdom came in the shape of a
summons from the fiscal office of Vernon, where I have a little country
place on the Seine, to pay the sum of two francs, which is the annual
tax for a float I had there for boating purposes. This trivial paper,
coming in amidst the whirlpool of mobilization, displays the mentality
of the provincial officials.
After doing some writing, I went on my new bicycle to the chancellery of
the United States Embassy and saw a crowd of about seventy Americans on
the sidewalk awaiting their turn to obtain identification papers. I met
here Mr. Bernard J. Schoninger, former president of the American Chamber
of Commerce in Paris. The news of the outbreak of war found him at
Luchon in the Pyrenées. All train service being monopolized for the
troops, he came in his automobile to Paris, a distance of about a
thousand kilometers. All went smoothly until he reached Tours, when he
was held up at every five kilometers by guards who demanded his papers.
Chains or ropes were often stretched across the roads. Mr. Schoninger
showed the guards his visiting card, explained who he was, and said that
he was going to Paris on purpose to get his papers. The authorities were
very civil, as they usually are to all Americans who approach them
politely, and allowed him to motor to Neuilly, just outside the
fortifications of Paris.
I proceeded on my wheel to the Embassy, where I found our Ambassador
very busy with the American Relief Committee and with the American
Ambulance people.
Several Americans at the Embassy were making impractical requests, as
for instance that the American Ambassador demand that the French
Government accept the passports or identification papers issued by the
American Embassy here in lieu of _permis de séjour_. If the French
Government accorded this favor to the United States, all the other
neutral nations would require the same privilege, and thus in time of
war, with fighting going on only a little over two hundred kilometers
from Paris, the French Government would lose direct control of
permission for foreigners to remain in the capital.
It is estimated that there are over forty thousand Americans at present
stranded in Europe, seventy-five hundred of them being in Paris. Of
these fifteen hundred are without present means.
The Embassy is literally besieged by hundreds of these unfortunate
travelers. There were so many of them, and their demands were so urgent,
that the Military Attaché, Major Spencer Cosby, had to utilize the
services of eight American army officers on leave to form a sort of
guard to control their compatriots. These officers were Major Morton
John Henry, Captain Frank Parker, Captain Francis H. Pope, Lieutenants
B.B. Summerwell, F.W. Honeycutt, Joseph B. Treat, J.H. Jouett, and H.F.
Loomis. The last four are young graduates of West Point, the others
being on the active list of the United States army.
Ambassador Herrick set his face against any favoritism in receiving the
applicants, and some very prominent citizens had to stand in line for
hours before they could be admitted. Mr. Oscar Underwood, son of
Senator-elect Underwood, is organizing means to alleviate the distress
among his countrymen and countrywomen in Paris. He has also asked the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extend the time allowed for Americans to
obtain formal permission to remain in France, and his request will no
doubt be granted.
Doctor Watson, rector of the American Church of the Holy Trinity, in the
Avenue de l'Alma, has offered that building as temporary sleeping
quarters for Americans who are unable to obtain shelter elsewhere, and
is arranging to hold some trained nurses at the disposal of the feeble
and sick.
War is a wonderful leveler, but there could hardly be a greater piece of
irony perpetrated by Fate than compelling well-to-do Americans, who have
no share in the quarrel on hand, to sleep in a church in France like
destitutes before any of the French themselves are called upon to
undergo such an experience.
[Illustration: Photo. H.C. Ellis Paris. Sewing-girls at work in the
American Episcopal Church, making garments for the American Ambulance
Hospital.]
At the Chamber of Deputies I witnessed a historic scene never to be
forgotten. Some of the deputies were reservists and had come in their
uniforms, but the rules prevented them from taking their seats in
military attire. In the Diplomatic Tribune sat Sir Francis Bertie, the
British Ambassador, side by side with M. Alexander Iswolsky, the Russian
Ambassador. The Chamber filled in complete silence. The whole House,
from royalists to socialists, listened, standing, to a glowing tribute
by M. Paul Deschanel, president of the Chamber, to M. Jaurès, over whose
coffin, he said, the whole of France was united. "There are no more
adversaries," exclaimed M. Deschanel, with a voice trembling with
emotion, "there are only Frenchmen." The whole house as one man raised a
resounding shout of "Vive la France!"
When M. Deschanel concluded, there was a pause during the absence of M.
Viviani. The Premier entered, pale but confident, amid a hurricane of
cheers and read amid a silence broken only by frenzied shouts of "Vive
la France!" a speech detailing the whole course of the diplomatic
negotiations, in which he placed upon Germany crushing responsibility
for the catastrophe which has overtaken Europe.
The Chamber, before rising, adopted unanimously without discussion a
whole series of bills making provision for national defense and the
maintenance of order in France.
M. Viviani's speech was interrupted by terrific cheering when he
referred to the attitude adopted by the British and Belgian governments.
All rose to face the diplomatic tribune, cheering again and again.
M. Viviani's last phrase, "We are without reproach. We shall be without
fear," swept the whole Chamber off its feet.
The vast hemicycle was a compact mass of cheering deputies, all waving
aloft in their hands papers and handkerchiefs. From the tribunes of the
public gallery shout after shout went up. At the foot of the
presidential platform the gray-haired usher, with his 1870 war medals on
his breasts, was seated, overcome with emotion, the tears coursing down
his cheeks.
Paris is back in the days of the curfew, and at eight o'clock, by order
of the Military Governor of Paris, it is "lights out" on the boulevards,
all the cafés close their doors, the underground railway ceases running,
and policemen and sentinels challenge any one going home late, lest he
should be a German spy. Paris is no longer "_la ville lumière_"--
it is a sad and gloomy city, where men and women go about with solemn,
anxious faces, and every conversation seems to begin and end with the
dreadful word "War!"
There is no more rioting in the streets. The bands of young blackguards
who went about pillaging the shops of inoffensive citizens have been
cleared from the streets, and demonstrations of every kind are strictly
forbidden. So far is this carried that a cab was stopped at the
Madeleine, and a policeman ordered the cab driver to take the little
French flag out of the horse's collar.
In the evening the city is wrapped in a silence which makes it difficult
to realize that one is in the capital of a great commercial center. The
smallest of provincial villages would seem lively compared with the
boulevards last night. But for large numbers of policemen and occasional
military patrols, the streets were practically deserted.
There is, however, nothing for the police to do, for the sternly worded
announcement that disturbers of the peace would be court-martialed had
the instant effect of putting a stop to any noisy demonstrations, let
alone any attempts at pillage. Policemen can be seen sitting about on
doorsteps or leaning against trees.
Parisians are already going through a small revival of what they did
during the siege of 1871. They are lining up at regular hours outside
provision shops and waiting their turn to be served. Many large
groceries are open only from nine to eleven in the morning and from
three to five in the afternoon, not because there is any scarcity of
food, but on account of lack of assistants, all their young men being at
the front or on their way there.
Great activity is already being shown in preparing to receive wounded
soldiers from the front, and all the ambulance and nursing societies are
working hand in hand.
The women of Paris are being enrolled in special schools where they will
be taught the art of nursing, and thousands of young women and girls in
the provinces have promised to help their country by making uniforms and
bandages. Others will look after the children of widowers who have gone
to the front, and in various other ways the women of France are
justifying their reputation for cheerful self-abnegation.
[Illustration: Photo. H.C. Ellis, Paris American Ambulance Hospital at
Neuilly. Ambulance train of motor-cars ready to start out to get the
wounded.]
The Medical Board of the American Hospital held another meeting at the
hospital in Neuilly, to consider further the organization of the
hospital for wounded soldiers, with an ambulance service, which it is
proposed to offer as an American contribution to France in her hour of
trouble.
Just how extensive this medical service will be depends upon the amount
of money that will be obtained from Americans. The enterprise was given
its first impulse at a meeting of the Board of Governors and the Medical
Board of the American Hospital held on Monday at the request of
Ambassador Herrick.
It is intended to establish at first a hospital of one hundred or two
hundred beds, fully equipped to care for wounded French soldiers.
Several places are under consideration, but at present no information
of a definite character can be given on this subject. Later, if
Americans are sufficiently generous in their contributions, it is
proposed to obtain from the French Government the use of the Lycée
Pasteur in Neuilly, not far from the American Hospital. In this building
a thousand beds could be placed, and it is hoped that funds will be
available to undertake this larger ambulance service.
Meanwhile the American Hospital at Neuilly is not to be affected in any
way by this emergency undertaking, but it will continue its work for
Americans in need of medical attention. The special hospital for
soldiers is to be an American offering under the auspices of the
American Hospital and under the direction of the Medical Board of that
institution.
The Medical Board of the American Hospital consists of Doctor Robert
Turner, chairman; Doctor Magnier, who is well known as the founder of
the hospital; Doctor Debuchet, Doctor Gros, Doctor Koenig and Doctor
Whitman.
Mrs. Herrick, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. Carolan, and other prominent
American women have applied for service with the Red Cross.
_Wednesday, August 5._
Fourth day of mobilization. Cloudy weather with southwesterly wind,
temperature at five P.M. 21 degrees centigrade.
Looking out of the window this morning I noticed British flags waving
beside French flags on several balconies and shops. England's
declaration of war against Germany arouses tremendous enthusiasm. The
heroic defense made by the Belgians against three German army corps
advancing on the almost impregnable fortress of Liége--a second Port
Arthur--is a magnificent encouragement for the French. At some of the
houses in Paris one now sees occasionally assembled the flags of France,
Russia, Great Britain, Belgium, and Servia.
Paris is beginning to settle down more or less to the abnormal state of
things prevailing in the city since the departure of the reservists.
Those who remain behind are showing an admirable spirit. Nowhere are
complaints voiced in regard to the complete disorganization of the
public services. M. Hennion, chief of police, has devised an excellent
means of clearing the streets of dangerous individuals. He has arranged
for half a dozen auto-busses containing a dozen policemen to circulate
in the different quarters at night. The auto-busses stop now and then,
and the police make a silent search for marauders. Any one found with a
revolver or a knife is arrested, put in handcuffs, and placed in the
auto-bus and carried to the police station.
Sophie at last got her _permis de séjour_ this evening. The
expelled Germans will be sent to a remote station near the Spanish
frontier. The undesirable Austro-Hungarians will be relegated to
Brittany, where perhaps they may be utilized in harvesting the wheat
crop. Germans in the domestic service of French citizens are allowed to
remain in Paris.
The French Institute is participating in the campaign reservist
mobilization. M. Etienne Lamy, Perpetual Secretary of the French
Academy, is a major in the territorial army and is about to take the
field. M. Pierre Loti, who is a captain in the navy, will be provided
with a suitable command. M. Marcel Prévost, graduate of the Polytechnic
School, is a major of artillery, and will command a battery in one of
the forts near Paris.
Among American ladies added to the list of those who have volunteered
for service with the Red Cross are Mrs. Gary, Mrs. E. Tuck, Mrs. Hickox,
Mrs. George Munroe, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Bell, Mrs. French, Mrs. G. Gray,
Mrs. Gurnee, Mrs. Burden, Mrs. Harjes, Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Dalliba, Mrs.
Burnell, Mrs. Farwell, Mrs. Blumenthal, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Walter Gay,
Mrs. Tiffany, Mrs. Allan, Miss Gillett, and Miss Gurnee.
A number of American and English-speaking physicians and surgeons
responded to the appeal made by Doctor J.M. Gershberg, of New York,
visiting physician to the Hôpital Broca, and attended a meeting held at
Professor Pozzi's dispensary to form an organization offering their
medical and surgical services to the French Government and the Red Cross
Society.
Doctor Gershberg explained that the plan is to form three bodies: a body
of English-speaking physicians and surgeons, a body of English-speaking
nurses, and a body of English-speaking attendants. The proprietor of
the Hotel Chatham, a reserve officer in the artillery, and M. C.
Michaut, ex-reserve officer of artillery, have decided to place the
establishment at the disposal of the Red Cross Society for the reception
of wounded soldiers.
Americans arriving in Paris from Germany and Switzerland continue to
bring stories of hardships inflicted on them by the sudden outbreak of
war. Mr. T.C. Estee, of New York, who reached Paris with his family,
reported that he left behind at Zurich two hundred Americans who
apparently had no means of getting away.
He and his family were lucky enough to catch the last train conveying
troops westward. They traveled for two days without food or water, one
of the ladies fainting from exhaustion, and after the train reached its
destination they had to walk several miles across the frontier, where
they were taken on board a French troop train. They lost all their
baggage.
Eight other Americans reported a similar experience. They had a tramp of
ten miles into France, and one of their number, a lady partly paralyzed,
had to be carried. They could procure no food until they reached France.
Finally they obtained a motor-car which brought them to Paris. This
memorable journey began at Dresden.
_Thursday, August 6._
Fifth day of mobilization. Cloudy in the morning, fair in the afternoon.
Thermometer at five P.M. 17 degrees centigrade.
Our Ambassador, Mr. Herrick, whom I saw in the afternoon, is delighted
with the progress being made with the American Hospital for the French
wounded. Mrs. Herrick is getting on famously with her organization of
the woman's committee of the American Ambulance of Paris, which is to be
offered to the French Military Government for the aid of wounded
soldiers.
Mrs. Herrick was elected president of the committee, Mrs. Potter Palmer
vice-president, Mrs. H. Herman Harjes treasurer, and Mrs. Laurence V.
Benét secretary. An executive committee was then elected, consisting of
Mrs. Laurence V. Benét, Mrs. H. Herman Harjes, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs.
Carroll of Carrollton, and Mrs. George Munroe.
Among the women present at the meeting, in addition to those already
named, were: Mrs. Elbert H. Gary, Mrs. William Jay, Mrs. A. M. Thackara,
Mrs. James Henry Smith, Mrs. J. Burden, Mrs. Dalliba, Mrs. Blumenthal,
Mrs. Walter Gay, Mrs. Tuck, Mrs. Charles Barney, Mrs. Whitney Warren,
Mrs. Philip Lydig, Mrs. Hickox, Mrs. F. Bell, Mrs. French, Mrs.
Frederick Allen, Mrs. Farwell, Miss Edyth Deacon, Mrs. Cameron, Mrs.
William Crocker, Mrs. Herman B. Duryea, Mrs. Roche, Miss Hallmark, Mrs.
Robert Bliss, Mrs. Crosby, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Howe, Miss Allen, Mrs.
Carolan and Mrs. Marcou.
At the Embassy, I met Colonel William Jay, whom I had known as a boy
when he was aide-de-camp to General Meade, then in command of the Army
of the Potomac. We talked about the prospects of the war and especially
of the Belgians' superb defense at Liége and also discussed the report
that a British force had been transported to Havre. I called at the
Ministry of War this morning, and Colonel Commandant Duval, chief of the
press bureau there, gave me a _laisser-passer_ to enter the
Ministry three times a day: ten in the morning, three in the afternoon,
and at eleven o'clock at night to get the official news communicated by
the War Department to the newspapers. It is odd to notice the martial
aspect of the doorkeepers and ushers at the War Office. Their moustaches
have become longer and fiercer, and their replies to most trivial
questions are pronounced with an air of impressive mystery. At the War
Office, I met M. Louis Barthou, former prime minister, who expressed
genuine enthusiasm at the heroic fighting of the Belgians. I afterwards
went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see about having my
_coupe-file_, or special pass, viséd with a _laisser-passer_
label. This can only be obtained at the Prefecture of Police upon the
special authorization of the Foreign Office. I was told that although a
few such permits had been granted, no decision will be taken in the
matter before Saturday.
[Illustration: Photo, by Paul Thompson. Paris workmen hastening to join
the colors.]
M. Jusserand, French Ambassador at Washington, together with his wife,
made a vain attempt a few days ago to reach Havre in time to catch the
_France_, which sailed before her schedule time--a precautionary
measure, taken, it is said, to elude German cruisers. M. and Mme.
Jusserand consequently failed to catch the liner and returned to Paris.
Much to my surprise, Félicien, my servant, turned up at six P.M., having
obtained leave from the reserve squadron of his regiment, the
Thirty-second Dragoons at Versailles, to visit his wife in Paris. The
active squadrons of his regiment are at Chalons. The married reservists
are held back until the others have gone to the front. This system is
likely to be an economical one, for all the widows of soldiers killed in
the war will have fairly good pensions.
There is probably no more forlorn street in Paris at the present moment
than the Rue de la Paix, the headquarters for dressmakers and milliners.
Upwards of seventy-five per cent. of the shops are closed, and on both
sides the street presents a long, gray expanse--broken only at
intervals--of forbidding iron shutters.