Chantilly, all the men wore a flower and had been the recipients of
refreshments and fair words of encouragement.
There was quite a procession of wounded of various nationalities at the
station, and scenes were witnessed which caused the tears to start in
many eyes. A group of Belgian soldiers, including several wounded,
encountered the British convoy on their arrival, and hearty handshakes
were exchanged.
Half an hour after the arrival of the British wounded, a party of thirty
Turcos wounded in the battle of Guise came in and were in turn accorded
an ovation. According to one of the men, they fought for nine days and
nights without a break, but were gratified in the end by beating back
the enemy. With one voice they declared that they are impatient to get
back again into the fighting line.
A British private, wounded in the leg by a German shell, described the
fighting around Mons on Sunday week as "terrific." They first got the
German shell fire quite unexpectedly near the railway station. Two of
their battalions marched through the streets of Mons and were fired on
from house windows by the Germans. Some of the German shells, he said,
were filled with broken glass and emitted a suffocating gas when they
exploded.
Mr. Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the American Committee, left to-day by
automobile for Havre, whence he expects to start for New York on
Saturday on the _France_. It was decided at the meeting of the
committee yesterday afternoon that Mr. Gary should, though absent,
retain the chairmanship, with Mr. H. Herman Harjes, the secretary,
acting as presiding officer. Mr. Lazo, the assistant secretary, becomes
secretary in Mr. Harjes' place.
Mr. F. E. Drake, Major Clyde M. Hunt, Mr. Henry S. Downe and Mr. W. H.
Ingram were added to the membership of the committee.
_Wednesday, September 2_.
Thirty-first day of the war. Beautifully clear weather, cloudless sky,
northeasterly wind. Temperature at five P.M. 25 degrees centigrade.
German prisoners declare that Emperor William has made it known to every
soldier that his orders are to "take Paris or die." A German cavalry
division came into contact with British troops yesterday in the forest
of Compiègne. The British captured ten field guns. But the right wing of
the German army, which ever since the battles of Charleroi and Mons has
enveloped and turned the allied left, continues its advance. The allied
troops have retired partly to the south and partly to the southwest. A
great battle must consequently take place within the range of the Paris
forts. Work on the entrenched lines connecting the forts is actively
carried out and is said to give every satisfaction. The positions,
believed to be impregnable, are strengthened by ingenious arrangements
of barbed wire. It is reported that some of this barbed entanglement
contains live wires fed by the electric batteries of the defence.
In a stirring editorial in his newspaper _L'Homme Libre_, M.
Georges Clemençeau frankly faces the situation now that "the Germans are
close to Paris." He adds: "We have left open the approach to Paris,
while reserving to ourselves flank attacks on the enemy. If the forts do
their duty, this move may be a happy one. From what we have seen of him,
General Joffre belongs to the temporizing school. At this moment there
are no better tactics. The supreme art will be to seize the instant when
temporization must give way to a carefully prepared offensive movement.
I have full confidence in General Joffre."
Lord Kitchener made a rapid incognito visit to Paris yesterday, where he
met Field-marshal Sir John French. As far as can be ascertained, Lord
Kitchener went to the front and had a conference with General Joffre.
There seems to be no doubt but what General Joffre's plans have the
heartiest approval and support of Lord Kitchener. French troops from the
eastern theater of the war are being brought up rapidly, so as to attack
the German lines of communications, possibly near Rethel. Reënforcements
are coming in rapidly from England, and a large new army has formed, at
Le Mans, and will soon be ready to take the field with great effect.
[Illustration: General Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies
in France.]
The usual six o'clock serenade of the German air-lieutenants this
afternoon drew forth a few rifle shots from roofs of Paris houses, and
even a quick-firing gun was discharged at one of these _taubes_.
But the distance was too great, and the two German aeroplanes vanished
shortly before seven in a northerly direction.
This evening President Poincaré and the French Government removed the
seat of government from Paris to Bordeaux, and the following
proclamation was issued:
Frenchmen,
For several weeks, during desperate fighting, our heroic troops have
struggled with the enemy's army. Our soldiers' valiance has brought them
marked advantages on several points. But to the north the advance of the
German forces has compelled us to draw back.
This situation imposes on the President of the Republic and the
Government a painful decision. To safeguard the national salvation, the
public powers have as a duty momentarily to leave the city of Paris.
Under the command of an eminent leader, a French army, full of courage
and zest, will defend the capital and its patriotic population against
the invader. But the war must be pursued at the same time over the rest
of the land.
Without peace or truce, without halt or faltering, the sacred struggle
for the honor of the nation and the reparation of violated right will be
continued.
None of our armies is cut into. If some of them have undergone
losses--too great losses--the vacant places have been immediately filled
by the dépôts, and the call of the recruits ensures for us for to-morrow
further resources of men and energies.
Fight and stand firm--such must be the watchword of the allied armies,
British, Russian, Belgian, and French.
Fight and stand firm; while on the sea the British help us to cut our
enemy's line of communications with the outside world.
Fight and stand firm; while the Russians continue to advance to strike
the decisive blow in the heart of the German Empire.
It is the duty of the Government of the Republic to direct this stubborn
resistance.
Frenchmen will rise on every side for the sake of independence. But in
order that this formidable struggle shall be conducted as efficaciously
and with as much spirit as possible, it is essential that the Government
should be left free to act.
At the request of the military authorities, therefore, the Government
will be temporarily transferred to a point in French territory where it
can remain in constant relations with the whole of the country.
The Government requests members of Parliament not to remain too distant
from it, in order that, in conjunction with them and with their
colleagues, they may be able to form a solid core of national unity in
the face of the enemy.
The Government leaves Paris only after having assured, by every means
within its power, the defence of the city and the entrenched camp.
It knows that there is no necessity to recommend the admirable
population of Paris to remain calm, resolute, and self-possessed. Every
day the people show that it is equal to this highest duty.
Frenchmen,
Let us be worthy of these tragic circumstances. We shall win the victory
finally.
We shall win it by untiring will, endurance, and tenacity.
A nation which is determined not to perish, and which recoils neither
before suffering nor sacrifice, is sure to conquer.
* * * * *
This proclamation had a good effect on the population.
The wife of my concierge voiced the popular sentiment when she said this
evening: "Ah! Monsieur! We may have some pretty bad _quarts
d'heures_ here, but we have such confidence that all must end well,
that my husband's old mother and our little children will remain in
Paris with us." This remark was made five minutes after a German
air-lieutenant had flown over the roof of the houses in my street, Rue
Théodule-Ribot, and had dropped near the Parc Monceau a bomb that made a
terrific noise, but did no damage.
_Thursday, September 3._
Thirty-second day of the war. Dazzling sunshine, cloudless sky, and
light northeasterly wind. Thermometer at five P.M. 27 degrees
centigrade.
The forward movement of the Germans, the "Paris or Death" rush of the
Kaiser, seems, for a moment at least, to have come to a standstill.
Although precautions had been taken in expectation of a German attack
from the region of Compiègne-Senlis, no contact, says the French
official _communiqué_, occurred to-day. In the northeast all is
reported quiet.
Disappointed Parisians scanned the sky in vain for their five o'clock
_taube_. A _marchand-de-vin_ on the famous "Butte" of Montmartre
arranged a tribune with numbered seats commanding a splendid view of the
city. Field-glasses were on hand for hire. Orchestra stalls were paid
for at the rate of ten cents a seat. The performance was announced to
begin at half-past five. This worked very well yesterday, when the
evolutions of the two German air-lieutenants, accompanied by pyrotechnic
display, netted a lucrative harvest. To-day, however, the enterprising
theatrical manager was forced by his public to return the money at the
"box office;" this was promptly done, the performance "being postponed."
The postponement was due to the appearance of several French aeroplanes,
which evidently had been sighted by the Germans.
Now that the French Government has gone to Bordeaux and temporarily
transferred the capital to Gascony, the only heads of the diplomatic
corps remaining in Paris are the American Ambassador; the Spanish
Ambassador, the Marquis de Villa Urrutia; the Swiss Minister, M. C.
Lardy; the Danish Minister, M. H.A. Bernhoft; and the Norwegian
Minister, Baron de Wedel Jarlsberg.
That American property may be safeguarded, in the extremely improbable
event of an occupation of the city by the Germans, Ambassador Herrick
requests all American citizens owning or leasing houses or apartments in
the city of Paris or its vicinity to register their names, with
descriptions of their dwellings, at the Embassy. If worse comes to the
worst, notices will be posted on American dwellings, giving them the
protection of the American flag.
Mr. Robert Bacon, former Ambassador to France, is stopping at the Hôtel
de Crillon in the Place Vendome. He lunched to-day with Mr. Herrick, and
both express optimistic views of the situation from military,
diplomatic, and financial standpoints.
My servant, Félicien, telephoned me from Aubervillier, some ten
kilometers from Paris, saying that he, together with four men of his
squadron, had become separated from his regiment, the Thirty-second
Dragoons. They had lost their horses in the marshes and woods near
Chantilly during a cavalry engagement and had been instructed to make
their way to Paris and rejoin their regimental dépôt at Versailles. The
party was in charge of their sergeant, who explained that the regiment
had at first been sent towards Metz, where they took part in the daily
fighting all along the line there, and that suddenly they were entrained
and rushed across country to Péronne, to check the advance of the
Germans in their march upon Paris. This seems to indicate that the
French generals did not fully appreciate until too late the really vital
importance of the concentrated rush upon Paris of the right wing of the
German armies, where all their strength had been assembled. The dragoons
seemed pretty worn out, but were in good spirits and anxious to get back
again in the fighting line. But they must go to Versailles to obtain
their remounts. Sophie made a succulent lunch for them in the kitchen.
They ate beefsteak, potatoes, cabbage, fruit, rice, and cheese, washed
down with half a dozen bottles of light claret.
Every one seems to be trying to get away from Paris. It is a sort of
exodus. I watched my opposite neighbors, Baron and Baroness Pierre de
Bourgoing--the latter better known as Suzanne Reichenberg of the Comédie
Française--getting into their motor-car at half-past five this morning,
accompanied by a maid and a pet dog. Baron de Bourgoing was in the
uniform of a captain of territorials. He will go with his wife as far as
the outer fortifications in the direction of Versailles.
The news of the election of Cardinal Jacques della Chiesa as Pope, with
the title Bénoit XV, does not arouse as much public interest here as
does the nomination of M. Emile Laurent as Prefect of Police, in place
of M. Hennion who, on account of ill health, retires at his own request.
M. Laurent has for twenty-three years been secretary-general of the
Prefecture of Police. He was born in 1852. He is thoroughly familiar
with every phase of Paris life. He is a man of great energy and of
prompt decision. He is a very kind-hearted man and has done much toward
relieving misery in the capital. The appointment is a very popular one
and gives general satisfaction.
[Photograph: Photo. Henri Manuel, Paris. M. Émile Laurent, appointed
Prefect of Police of Paris, September 3, 1914.]
_Friday, September 4._
Thirty-third day of the war. Hot, sultry day with light northeast wind.
Thunderstorm, with heavy rain in the evening. Temperature at five P.M.
28 degrees centigrade.
Americans still left in Paris were very busy to-day registering their
addresses at the chancellery of the Embassy in the Rue de Chaillot. They
had to have their leases with them. I registered for my little place at
Vernon and also for my apartment in the Rue Théodule-Ribot. Among well
known Americans whom I saw at the chancellery were Messrs. James Gordon
Bennett, De Courcey Forbes, Julius and Robert Stewart, William Morton
Fullerton, Mrs. Duer, formerly Mrs. Clarence Mackay, Dr. Joseph Blake,
and about a hundred others. All sorts of wild rumors about the
approaching Germans were current. One tremulous little lady said that
"when the Germans entered the forest of Compiègne, the French set fire
to the woods, and then shot down the Germans like rabbits as they fled
from the burning thicket!"
I met here Mr. Robert Dunn, war correspondent of the _New York Evening
Post_, who is the only newspaper man I have talked with who really
saw the fighting near La Câteau and Saint Quentin. Mr. Dunn went on a
train with his bicycle last week, provided only with a _laisser-passer_
for Aulnay in the Department of the North. The train was brought to a
stop near Aulnay, and the passengers were informed that German cavalry
occupied the line a couple of kilometers further on. Every one got out.
Mr. Dunn jumped on his bicycle and wheeled off to La Câteau. Here he met
the British retreating in good order. He remained with them as they
retired toward Saint Quentin. He saw them spread out in thin lines and
pick off the German gunners by their splendid marksmanship. Most of the
British were wounded by shells. Very few of them had bullet wounds. At
Saint Quentin a few Highlanders came limping along, thoroughly exhausted
with their five days' continuous fighting. But although pale and hungry,
their jaws were set with determined grit. Their superb pluck impressed
Mr. Dunn immensely. As they were sitting at a café, some French soldiers
led away a German spy, with a towel wrapped around his eyes. The man
was executed.
I met a British staff officer at Brentano's bookstore, as he was buying
maps of the environs of Paris. I told him that Lord Kitchener had been
to Paris and had conferred with M. Millerand, the French Minister of
War. The officer said: "I am glad to hear of _that_, because at a
certain phase of the fighting in the north, the _French completely
failed to support us_."
I called upon Mr. William G. Sharp, the newly appointed United States
Ambassador, and upon Mr. Robert Bacon, the former United States
Ambassador. Both are stopping at the Hôtel de Crillon. The Paris
newspapers seem highly pleased at this "strong diplomatic
manifestation"--the American Ambassador of yesterday, the American
Ambassador of today, and the American Ambassador of tomorrow
--constituting a delegation from the United States to see that
the rights of universal humanity are respected. Parisians salute the
Star Spangled Banner as it floats over the American Embassy as the
symbol of the "World's Vigilance against Barbarity,"--such are the
words of _La Liberté_. M. Gabriel Hanotaux, writing in the _Figaro_,
attaches equal importance to the attitude of the United States as
interpreted by its three representatives, saying: "Mr. Herrick is very
happily not leaving us. He has followed the whole course of events which
led to this fatal war, watching with a just and noble spirit. He has
kept his Government accurately informed of all, and he will continue at
the head of the Embassy."
The _Matin_ says, "that of all the diplomatists accredited to
France, it was Mr. Herrick who took the gallant initiative to remain in
Paris, and Parisians deeply appreciate this. In making this choice, Mr.
Herrick said that he regarded Paris not only as the capital of France,
but as that 'Metropolis of the World' spoken of by Marcus Aurelius. He
feels that he is the American Ambassador to both these cities. In his
eyes this 'Metropolis of the World' possesses a Government, invisible
doubtless, but perpetually present, and one with which he wishes to
remain in touch. It is at one and the same time to Paris, in its period
of trial, and to the fatherland of the human race, that Mr. Herrick
wishes to give the pledge of his affection. Thus he is remaining as a
link between those of his compatriots who are residing among us and the
citizens of the free Republic across the sea that has more than once
declared itself the sister Republic and which professes as much love for
our 'traditions' as we ourselves esteem the passion for 'progress', of
which it gives the example."
_Saturday, September 5._
Thirty-fourth day of the war. Hazy autumnal morning, clear and hot in
the afternoon, with light northerly breeze. Thermometer at five P.M. 26
degrees centigrade.
Germans appear to have evacuated the Compiègne-Senlis region, and are
apparently moving towards the southeast, thus continuing a movement that
began on Friday. General Cherfils, the military critic of the
_Gaulois_, taking a very optimistic view of the situation, thinks
the movement may be to assure a retreat by some route other than by a
return through Belgium. General Cherfils says: "This rush of the German
right wing upon Paris is the last bluff of terrorism of the last German
Emperor! The Kaiser thought that he could frighten us and induce France
to make peace. After which he would be free to return with his armies
against Russia."
Mr. d'Arcy Morel, the financial correspondent of the _London Daily
Telegraph_, came to see me to-day. He lives at Reuil, in the military
zone northwest of Fort Mount-Valérian. He had been up all night, getting
his belongings to Paris, and had just sent his little daughter to Dieppe
on her way to England. Mr. Morel said that the night trains out of Paris
at the Gare Saint-Lazare were filled to overflowing. No lights were
permitted in the cars, and a dozen soldiers with loaded rifles were
placed in a car just behind the locomotive, and a dozen more soldiers at
the rear end of the train. These trains stop at every station and take
about ten hours to reach Dieppe, instead of four hours as usual.
Precautions of guarding the trains are made because several German
armored motor-cars had been signalled dashing about near Marly and
Pontoise. The gardener of my little place at Vernon, which is on the
western line of the Seine, at a point where it is intersected by a
strategic line between Chartres in the south and Gisors and Beauvais in
the north, seems to be confident that Vernon will not be occupied by the
Germans, for he managed to send me today a big basket full of peaches,
pears, string beans, and green corn.
To-day the first oysters make their appearance! This event, trivial in
itself, is significant as showing that the Paris central markets are
able to supply Parisians not only with necessities but with luxuries.
The mute oyster that comes in with the months having the letter "R" in
their names bears eloquent testimony to uninterrupted communications.
I looked in for a few moments this afternoon at the National Library in
the Rue de Richelieu. No signs of war here! A score of inveterate
bookworms were pondering over dusty volumes, inquisitive writers were
exploring literature bearing upon the war of 1870, seeking precedents
and parallels for coming events; a few ladies were looking up files of
old newspapers and fashion plates. The National Library seemed exactly
as in the most peaceful days.
I lunched to-day at the restaurant Beaugé, in the Rue Saint-Marc, a
favorite resort of journalists. The manager told me that it would be
closed that evening. It seems that he had received a "third warning" not
to keep open after half-past nine. As he could never pluck up courage to
eject his customers while enjoying succulent repasts, he decided to shut
up his place altogether. The suggestion made by an Irishman, Mr.
Sullivan of Reuter's Agency, to employ a London "chucker-out" did not at
all appeal to his notions of the traditions of Parisian gastronomic
hospitality.
I met to-day another British officer buying books at Brentano's. He gave
me a picturesque description of the German method of advance. "It is the
scientific development of the wild, fanatic, life-regardless, condensed
rush of the Soudan dervishes," he said. "The Germans mass together all
their big field guns. They close in around them serried infantry, goaded
on by their wonderful, machine-made, non-commissioned officers, who
prick them with sword bayonets, and whenever, from wounds or from sheer
exhaustion, men fall out, they are shoved aside, to die by the roadside,
or to be trampled under foot, like mechanical tools that have become
useless. The German officers and non-commissioned officers are utterly
regardless of life. The German flanks are protected by quantities of
machine guns placed so close together that their gunners jostle one
another. This strange engine of modern warfare creeps on like a monster
of the apocalypse, carrying all before it. Aeroplanes hovering over the
fronts of the columns direct movements by signalling. The dense, serried
mass of infantry offers a splendid target. The losses must have been
frightful--exceeding anything recorded in modern war. The German
infantry are poor marksmen. They don't know how to shoot. Scarcely any
of our men were wounded by bullets. Nearly all the wounds were inflicted
by shells."
The Marquis de Valtierra has been appointed Spanish Ambassador to the
French Republic, in place of the Marquis de Villa Urrutia, who has
resigned. The new Ambassador, who has presented his credentials to
President Poincaré at Bordeaux, and who is expected to arrive in Paris
to-morrow, has not followed a diplomatic career. He is a captain-general
--a title corresponding with that of an army corps commander in
France--and until a few days ago was in command of the military region
of Burgos.
News that the representatives of France, Great Britain, and Russia have
signed an agreement in London not to make peace without previous
understanding with the others, meets with popular approval here, and is
taken as further evidence that the allies are determined to fight the
war to a finish.
_Sunday, September 6._
Thirty-fifth day of the war. Ideal September weather, with light
easterly wind. Temperature at five P.M. 24 degrees centigrade. The moon
is now full.