American business, but rather along the Avenue de l'Opéra, the Grand
Boulevards, and other well-known business streets.
In the Avenue de l'Opéra, at the intersection of the Rue Louis-le-Grand,
the Paris shop of the Singer Sewing Machine Company is closed, while on
the other side Hanan's boot and shoe store is also shut. Just off the
avenue, where the Rue des Pyramides cuts in, the establishment where the
Colgate and the Chesebrough companies exploit their products likewise
presents barred doors. Two conspicuous American establishments remaining
open in the Avenue de l'Opéra are the Butterick shop and Brentano's.
Mr. Lewis J. Ford, manager of Brentano's, said that they had lost a
quarter of their employés and fifty per cent. of their trade by reason
of the war, but proposed to keep open just the same.
In the Grand Boulevards the Remington typewriter headquarters are
closed, as is the Spalding shop for athletic supplies; but the
establishments of the Walkover Shoe Company, both on the Boulevard des
Capucines and the Boulevard des Italiens, are open.
In spite of the hardship entailed upon American firms, they are far from
complaining. On the contrary, there is a concerted movement among
American business men at this time to assist the French in keeping the
industrial life of Paris going as normally as possible during the war.
At night Paris is still dark and silent, but in the daytime the city is
beginning to adapt itself to the new state of things. Many places from
which the men have been called away to serve their country are being
filled by women.
Women are becoming tramway conductors, and there is talk of their
working the underground railway. Girl clerks are taking places in
government and other offices.
The unusual state of things prevailing in Paris is the cause of many
picturesque scenes. This morning there was an unwonted sight of a
hundred cows being driven by herdsmen of rustic appearance along the
Boulevard des Capucines. A little further on, the eye was arrested by a
brilliant mass of red and blue on the steps of the Madeleine, where a
number of men of the Second Cuirassiers were attending special mass.
The cheerful tone which prevails among the people in the street is very
noticeable. All faces are smiling and give the impression of a holiday
crowd out enjoying themselves at the national fête, an impression which
is reinforced by the gay display of bunting in most of the streets in
the center of Paris.
A remarkable sight is the Rue du Croissant in the afternoon, at the time
when the evening newspapers are printed. The unusual number of papers
sold in the streets has brought thousands of boys, girls, women, and old
men from the outlying districts of the city.
[Illustration: Photo by Paul Thompson. Woman replacing man in traffic
work.]
There are thousands of them eagerly awaiting the appearance of the
_Presse_, _Intransigeant_, and other papers. The narrow,
picturesque old street is one seething mass of human beings. Hundreds
also wait in the Rue Montmartre. As they wait, they pass the time by
playing cards or dice.
Many industries are severely affected owing to the absence of men. One
of them is the laundry industry, which is unable to deliver washing,
owing to the want of vehicles and drivers. In consequence, many
Parisians have now adopted the soft collar. No one at this hour pays
attention to questions of toilette or personal elegance.
However, no one dreams of complaining of lack of comfort. All want to do
their best to help the national cause in any way they can. The warmth of
patriotic feeling is magnificent.
Already it is proposed to name streets in Paris after Samain, the young
Alsatian who was shot in Metz for French sympathies, and after the curé
of the frontier village who was murdered by German soldiers because he
rang his church bells to give the alarm of their approach. Never did a
nation rise to repel attack with a deeper resentment or a more vigorous
_élan_.
One effect of the war has been to anathematize the name of Germany. The
Villette district, through its local representatives, has presented a
petition to the City Council praying that the name Rue d'Allemagne shall
be changed to that of Rue Jean Jaurès, in honor of the assassinated
socialist leader.
Scenes of extraordinary enthusiasm marked the departure of the Fifth
Regiment of Line from the Pépinière barracks to-day. Long before six
o'clock, the appointed hour of departure, the Avenue Portalis and the
steps of the Church of Saint-Philippe du Roule were black with people.
At six o'clock the bugles sounded, the iron gates opened, and the
regiment, with fixed bayonets, swung out into the road amid ringing
cheers and shouts of "Vive la France!" As the standard-bearer passed,
the cheer increased in volume, and men stood with bared heads and waved
their hats in the air. The regiment entrained last night for the Belgian
frontier.
_Friday, August 7._
This is the sixth day of mobilization. Steady rain during the morning.
Temperature at five P.M. 16 degrees centigrade.
Disembarking of British troops in France has begun, and the greatest
enthusiasm is reported from the northern departments. I went to see the
Duc de Loubet this morning and met there Mr. De Courcey Forbes, who told
me that the French mobilization was working like clock-work two days
ahead of scheduled time. He said that about a hundred Germans and
Austrians had been arrested as spies. They were tried by court martial
at eleven o'clock yesterday morning, and fifty-nine of them, who were
found guilty, were shot at Vincennes at four o'clock the same afternoon.
It subsequently turned out that these spies had not been shot, after
all, but had been imprisoned and kept in close confinement.
When Baron Schoen left the German Embassy in Paris, he was treated with
great courtesy and escorted by the Chef de Protocol, M. William Martin,
to the railway station, where he was provided with a special _train de
luxe_ with a restaurant car. Upon the arrival at the frontier, the
Germans actually seized and confiscated the train! Reports of French
families returning from Germany show that not only individual Frenchmen
but French diplomatists and Russian diplomatists have been greatly
insulted in Germany, especially in Berlin and Munich.
Contrast with this the attitude of a crowd which I saw to-day watching
about a thousand Germans and Austrians tramp to a railway station, where
they were entrained for their concentration camp. They marched between
soldiers with fixed bayonets ready to protect them. But the crowd
watched them almost sympathetically, with not an insult, not a jeer.
The mobilization in France has caused an extraordinary increase in the
number of marriages contracted at the various Paris town halls. From
morning till night the mayors and their assistants have been kept busy
uniting couples who would be separated the same day or the next, when
the husband joined his regiment. At the bare announcement of the
possibility of war, the marriage offices at the town halls were
literally taken by assault. As there was no time to be lost,
arrangements were made by the chief officials to accept the minimum of
documentary proofs of identity in all cases where the bridegrooms were
called upon to serve their country. The other papers required by the law
will be put in later.
The statistics of the first five days of the mobilization show that one
hundred and eighty-one marriages were performed a day as against the
ordinary figure of one hundred and ten. In the suburbs the increase is
even greater, and a notable fact, both in Paris and outside, is that the
largest number of marriages took place in the most populous districts.
In the eleventh arrondissement the ordinary figures were trebled. All
wedding parties wear little French, English, Russian, and Belgian flags.
General Michel, Military Governor of Paris, has issued an order formally
forbidding any one to leave or enter Paris either on foot or in any kind
of vehicle between the hours of six at night and six in the morning.
At a meeting of the executive committee of the American Ambulance of
Paris, it was announced that more than thirty thousand francs had been
received, exclusive of the sums obtained by the women's committee, and
apart from the promises of larger subscriptions.
Up to yesterday morning twelve physicians and surgeons and twice that
number of nurses had volunteered to assist the regular staff of the
American Hospital in the work of caring for wounded French soldiers.
Among the physicians and surgeons who have volunteered are Doctor Joseph
Blake, of New York; Doctor Charles Roland, formerly a surgeon of the
United States army; and Doctor George B. Hayes, of Paris.
The women's committee held a meeting at the American Embassy, when
further subscriptions were received, that brought the total amount
obtained by this committee up to eighteen thousand francs.
The executive committee now consists of Mrs. Laurence V. Benét, Mrs. H.
Herman Harjes, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. Charles Carroll of Carrollton,
Mrs. George Munroe, Mrs. Edith Wharton, Mrs. William Jay, Mrs. Tuck,
Mrs. C.C. Cuyler and Mrs. Elbert H. Gary.
[Illustration: Photo. Henri Manuel, Paris. General Victor Constant
Michel, Military Governor of Paris until August 27, 1914.]
I was to-day with an American journalist who has an apartment in the Rue
Hardy at Versailles. He is a single man, and his house is a fairly roomy
one. The other day he was waited upon by a military officer, who told
him that sixty thousand soldiers were to be billeted on the
inhabitants--making one to every man, woman, and child in the city of
the "Roi Soleil." They would need some part of his house--which, by the
way, was formerly the domicile of Louis David, the great painter of
Napoleon--and he would be glad if he could make arrangements to lodge
four soldiers. My friend at once consented, and out of the five rooms he
has kept two to himself. In the other three are billeted a cavalry
officer and four soldiers. The only thing the American has had to
complain of up to now is that every morning at six o'clock the officer
wakes him up by playing the "Pilgrims' Chorus" from "Tannhauser" on the
piano.
Germans are still found in strange places, considering the fact that the
French are at war with them. I saw one man ask for his papers at the
Gare de l'Est this afternoon, where with incredible assurance he was
watching the entraining of French troops. He was led away between two
policemen, and ought to feel thankful that the crowd did not get hold of
him. He might have shared the same fate as that which befell one of his
imprudent compatriots last Sunday at Clarendon. It was the day after
mobilization had been declared, and the German knew that he must leave
the country. But in a swaggering mood he said he would not leave until
he had killed at least one of these condemned Frenchmen. His words were
reported, and he fled into an entry and made his way into an adjoining
house, where the crowd lost sight of him. When he emerged a cavalry
escort protected him against the mad people who wanted to lynch him, and
bundled him into a cab. He had been very badly handled, and his face was
streaming with blood. He drove away as fast as the horse could gallop,
but bystanders went after him, climbed up behind at the rear of the cab,
and shot him dead through the little window.
Foreigners who know the women of France, who have lived in the country,
have always given them a very high place as wives, mothers, and
managers. But to-day they merit the admiration of the world more than
ever.
I have seen them taking farewell of their husbands, sons, and brothers
during the past few days, and nothing could surpass the courage with
which they have sent them off to the war. They have struggled bravely to
conceal their emotion, and only after the men have gone have the women
given their feelings free play. An American lady who has seen some of
these departures told me the other day that the sight of the children
clinging to their fathers' hands so as to prevent them going away to the
war was one of the saddest sights she had ever witnessed.
_Saturday, August 8._
Seventh day of mobilization. Ideal summer weather. Temperature, 16
centigrade, with light westerly breezes. The moon is now full--a
first-rate thing for the British fleet in search of German ships; also
useful for French military operations, and for lighting the streets of
Paris, thereby enabling economy in gas.
The news of the capture of Altkirch, in Alsace, by the French troops,
reached Paris at about five o'clock this afternoon. It spread like
wildfire through the city, and a rush was immediately made to buy the
special editions of the newspapers announcing the victory.
To those who are not familiar with the Parisian character, the
comparative silence with which the news was received came as a surprise.
There was no enthusiastic outbreak of popular sentiment, no cheering, no
throwing into the air of hats or sticks.
After forty-three years of weary waiting, the Tricolor floated over an
Alsatian town. "At last!" That was the word that was heard on every
side. The moment was too solemn to Frenchmen to allow them to say more.
The existence of war will be further brought home to Parisians on Monday
by the disappearance of the morning breakfast rolls. In consequence of
the great number of bakers now serving with the colors, it has been
decided to simplify bread making in Paris so as to ensure the supply
being regular, and consequently the only kinds obtainable after to-day
will be those known as _boulot_ and _demi-fendu_.
The regulation of the milk supply is being rapidly organized. Those
households in which milk is a necessity, for children, invalids, or the
old, can obtain certificates giving them the preference. On the day
after application for these certificates they are delivered, together
with full particulars as to the amount, quantity, price, and place of
purchase.
The position of other food supplies is excellent. The only difficulty is
to get them delivered. Housekeepers must fetch their bread and milk if
they want them to time.
Few articles of food have reached the maximum price laid down for them
by the authorities. Fresh vegetables and fruit are very cheap. The only
important articles which the shops have difficulty in supplying are
sugar, condensed milk, and dried cereals.
During the past week about three thousand papers of nationality were
issued at the American Consulate-general, and some sixteen hundred at
the Embassy. This number may be taken as approximately coinciding with
the number of American tourists now in Paris, as virtually all of these
had to secure papers of nationality in order to register with the
police.
Post-office regulations are still very strict. Following the discovery
of numerous spies in and about Paris, General Michel has issued an order
strictly prohibiting conversations on the telephone in any other
language but French. When this order is not obeyed, the communication is
immediately cut off.
_Sunday, August 9._
Eighth day of mobilization. Hot summer day, with light southwesterly
breezes. Temperature at five P. M. 26 degrees centigrade.
This may be regarded as the first Sunday of the war. Last Sunday was a
day of rush and clamor in Paris. All shops were open and filled with
eager customers; the streets were crammed with shouting crowds and
hurrying vehicles; everything was forgotten in the outburst of national
enthusiasm. In the afternoon and evening the city was the scene of riots
and pillage.
To-day Paris presented a strong contrast. The news of French and Belgian
successes at the front had cheered the hearts of Parisians, and, in
spite of the strange aspect of the boulevards, denuded of their gay
terraces, and of most of the ordinary means of locomotion, the city had
something of a holiday aspect about it.
In the afternoon the city was crowded with promenaders dressed in Sunday
garb. The proportion of women to men has largely increased, but the
arrival of numerous reservists from the provinces caused Paris to
appear, temporarily at least, somewhat less empty of men.
Indeed, the aspect of the city very much resembled that of any Sunday in
summer, when the city is normally far from crowded.
I met MacAlpin of the _Daily Mail_, who said to me:
"I took a walk in the Bois de Boulogne yesterday afternoon. In a lonely
alley I was stopped by three cyclist policemen. They asked for my
papers. Fortunately, I had with me my passport and the 'permission to
remain' issued to me as a foreigner. If I had happened to have left
these in another coat, I should have been arrested.
"The policemen told me those were their orders. They added
confidentially that they were looking for Germans. After this I saw many
more cyclists on the same errand. They are hunting the woods
systematically, because many Germans of suspicious character have taken
refuge there.
"I rang up a friend on the telephone, and began, as usual: 'Hullo, is
that you?' I was immediately told by the girl at the exchange that
'speaking in foreign languages was not permitted.' 'Unless you speak in
French' she said, 'I shall cut you off at once.' I suppose she listened
to what we were saying all the time.
"I went into a post-office to send a telegram to my wife. 'You must get
it authorized at a police office' I was told. Not the simplest private
message can be accepted until it has passed the censor."
No one is to be allowed from now on to have a complete wireless
installation in Paris. Many people have set up instruments, some for
amusement, some, it appears, for sinister purposes. No one may send
messages now, though they are allowed to keep their receivers. In order
to hear the messages which come through from Russia, the Eiffel Tower
station, it is explained, needs "dead silence" in the air.
It was even announced two days ago that no one would be allowed to pass
in or out of Paris between six at night and six in the morning. But this
caused such inconvenience to so many people that the Military Governor
of Paris was asked by the police to rescind his order, which he at once
did.
The tenors and baritones and sopranos of the Opéra and other theaters
are going round singing in the courtyards for the benefit of the Red
Cross. The Salon is turned into a military stable. Where the pictures
hung, horses are munching their hay. The Comédie Française is to become
a day nursery for the children of women who, in the absence of their
husbands, are obliged to go out to work.
Mr. Herrick told me this afternoon that a few days ago the Telegraph
Office refused his cipher cables to Washington. The Ambassador at once
protested at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the Minister, M.
Doumergue, forthwith gave orders authorizing the telegraph office to
accept his cipher messages. The Austrian Ambassador, who is still here,
is not permitted to communicate by cipher telegrams with his Government.
This is quite natural.
_Monday, August 10._
Ninth day of mobilization. Hot, sunny weather. Temperature at five P.M.
29 degrees centigrade. Light southerly breeze.
Depicted on all faces this morning is anxious but confident expectation,
for the public are conscious that a desperate encounter between two
millions of men is impending in Belgium and on the Alsace-Lorraine
border from Liége to Colmar.
The French capital is, at the present moment, a city of strange
contrasts. Mothers, wives, sisters, and brides were last week red-eyed
from the sorrow of parting. Now these same women have decorated their
windows with bunting and have no thought other than of working as best
they may to help the national cause.
In the streets, the shrill voices of children pipe the latest news from
the front; small girls cry grim details of the war.
All prisoners charged with light offenses who are mobilizable have been
allowed to go to the front to rehabilitate themselves. The central
prison of Fresnes, which ten days ago contained nine hundred criminals,
has now only two hundred and fifty left.
And all the time Paris lives an every-day, humdrum life, makes the best
of everything, and never complains.
Day by day the aspect of the streets becomes more normal, for the reason
that more and more vehicles are freed from military service and can now
resume their ordinary duties of transporting the public. Pending the
return of the motor-omnibuses, a service of _char-a-bancs_ has been
started on the boulevards, which reminds Parisians of the days of the
popular "Madeleine-Bastille" omnibus.
Diplomatic relations between France and Austria-Hungary were broken off
to-day. War however has not been declared between France and Austria.
I met to-day M. Hedeman, the correspondent of the _Matin_, who
recently witnessed in Berlin the arrival of Emperor William and the
Crown Prince, which he compared to the departure of Napoleon III for
Sedan in 1870. We were talking at the Ministry of War, where I also met
the Marquis Robert de Flers, the well-known dramatist and editor of the
_Figaro_, and M. Lazare Weiler, deputy. M. Hedeman told me that two
days after the declaration of war a skirmish took place near the village
of Genaville in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, between French
custom-house officials and a squadron of German cavalry. The commander
of the German detachment was shot in the stomach, fell to the ground,
and was captured. He was Lieutenant Baron Marshall von Bieberstein, son
of the former German Ambassador at Constantinople. A French lieutenant
of gendarmes helped the prisoner to his feet. Lieutenant von
Bieberstein, who was mortally wounded, said: "Thank you, gentlemen! I
have done my duty in serving my country, just as you are serving your
own!" He then died. M. Charles Humbert, senator of the Meuse, gave the
helmet and sabre that had been worn by Lieutenant Marshall von
Bieberstein to the editor of the _Matin_.
[Illustration: The Statue of Strasbourg, after the capture of Altkirch
in Alsace by French troops.]
_Tuesday, August 11._
Tenth day of mobilization. Warm, sunny weather, with light northerly
breezes. Temperature at five P.M. 27 degrees centigrade.
Expectation of the great battle believed to be forthcoming to the north
of Liége dominates the situation here.
I breakfasted to-day at the restaurant Paillard with M. Max-Lyon and M.
Arthur Meyer, manager of the _Gaulois_. Mlle. Zinia Brozia, of the
Opéra Comique, who remains in Paris, was also of our party. All sorts of
war rumors were current, but as M. Messimy, the minister of war, has
given to M. Arthur Meyer the assurance that while the news given out
"might not be _all_ the news, it would nevertheless be invariably
_true news_," confidence in the official communications to the
press, which are the only authentic source of war news, is unshaken. The
French Ministry of War, in its official _communiqué_ of the
military situation, issued at 11.30 this evening, states that the French
troops are in contact with the enemy along almost the entire front. The
only fighting that has taken place, however, has been engagements
between the outposts, in which the French soldiers everywhere showed
irresistible courage and ardor.
A Uhlan who was captured near Liége on Saturday was found to be the
bearer of a map marked with the proposed marches of the German army.
According to this map, the Germans were to be in Brussels on August 3
and at Lille on August 5.
_Wednesday, August 12._
Eleventh day of mobilization. Hot weather, with light northerly breeze.
Temperature at five P.M. 29 degrees centigrade.
Breakfasted with M. Galtier at the Cercle Artistique et Litteraire, Rue
Volney. Several members of the club had just arrived from various
watering-places. One of them, who came from Evian-les-Bains, said that
he was sixty-two hours en route. The trains stop at every station so
that they have uniform speed, thus rendering accidents almost out of the
question. Only third-class tickets are sold, but these admit to all
places.