A Journey Through France in War Time Part 3

It gives me great pleasure to take advantage of your kind invitation to send by the American Industrial Commission of the American Manufacturers' Export a.s.sociation, a message to Industrial France.

France has met in a way that evokes the admiration of the whole world, even of her enemies, the recurring emergencies of this greatest of wars. The patriotic self-sacrifice, the valor, the uncomplaining endurance, the ingenuity which the French people have shown during these two years of war reveal what is in truth the "birth of a new nation". To an extent which scarcely seemed possible, France has discovered within herself the resources of men and materials with which to meet the demands of the struggle.

Europe has learned many important lessons, not only in military science but also in industrial efficiency, since 1914. She has much to impart to the United States in these matters. Yet such has been the wide-spread destruction of men and property that France, and indeed all Europe, must needs call upon other countries after the war for a.s.sistance in rehabilitating her industrial and commercial life. France will need to draw upon our stores of food until all her fields are again producing; she will need our materials for reconstruction where war has brought waste and desolation; she will need our machines and implements to carry on the manifold pursuits of agriculture, manufacturing and commerce. To France, as to all the countries where war is causing destruction, America opens her vast stores of goods.

The American Industrial Commission will be doing service not only to Europe and to America but to all humanity, if it can discover the ways by which the wealth that nature has so lavishly showered upon the New World, may be most effectively poured out for the restoration of the Old World.

Very sincerely yours, (Signed) MYRON T. HERRICK.

The time on the boat was largely occupied in meetings of the commissioners and the formulation of plans for the work in hand; committees were appointed and a great deal of work done.

Among the various discussions, the subject of people living to a great age in Bulgaria was brought up. Specific instances were noted; one, a pair of Bulgarian twins both of whom lived to be one hundred and twenty years of age and both died on the same date. It was suggested that the two oldest members of the Commission, Mr. Farquhar and myself, should emigrate to Bulgaria and take a fresh start.

The Lafayette had, mounted on its stern, one of the favorite French guns known as a 75-millimeter. The captain told us he had orders to fire on the Deutschland if the submarine happened to turn up. The first officer, under instruction from the captain, showed the operation of the gun to the commissioners. This was very interesting; everything was done except to fire off the gun; all the maneuvers were gone through and we discovered on the lower deck enough sh.e.l.ls to fight a good sized battle.

On Sat.u.r.day, previous to landing, a bazaar was held on the boat for the benefit of the French hospitals. This was a very successful affair; contributions were made or supposed to be made by all the pa.s.sengers.

Among other things, I donated a quart bottle of champagne. This was sold at auction, the first bid was one dollar, made with the understanding that the last bid was to be no higher, but was to get the champagne.

These bids continued until the bottle finally brought seventy-five dollars. It turned out to be a very good article with all that.

We were also informed before entering port that we were protected by two submarine destroyers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Autograph Signatures of the Commission.]

We discovered on arising, Sunday morning, September 3rd, that we were in the Bay of Biscay and two cruisers were circling around and gradually escorting us into the port of Bordeaux. We were told subsequently that the wireless apparatus has been disconnected and we had been chased by a submarine.

The first land seen was the sh.o.r.e of Spain, the course of the vessel having been diverted on account of pursuit by the submarine. At four P.

M. on Sunday a commission from Bordeaux came out in a tug boat to meet us. This delegation consisted of the prefect of Bordeaux district, the mayor of the city and other notables. They boarded the boat and we entertained them with a dinner party. We reached the Bordeaux dock about ten o'clock on Sunday evening, but did not land until the following morning.

III.

BORDEAUX AND PARIS

Upon going ash.o.r.e, we discovered on the docks a number of stalwart laborers. We wondered why they were not in the army, but were told they were Spaniards. The docks were covered with motor trucks from Cleveland, piles of copper bars, and also very large quant.i.ties of munitions and barbed wire made by The Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company and the American Steel & Wire Company. We also saw on the docks steel bars furnished by our own Brier Hill Steel Company.

We were first impressed by the very large number of women employed. We visited several telegraph offices and all were "manned" exclusively by women. We also saw women driving large army trucks and milk carts, and women selling newspapers, some of them anywhere from seventy to eighty years of age. Newsboys are apparently unknown in France.

We were given a reception by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, and quite an address was delivered by the president.

We then visited the docks, which are extensive. The improvements contemplated will make Bordeaux one of the great world ports. In going about the streets we were struck by the number of women in mourning; in fact I can hardly recall any women, except the servants in the hotel, who were not in mourning. The shop windows were filled with mourning goods and people pa.s.sing on the streets were either women in mourning or soldiers home on leave of absence, many of them crippled.

We were next taken to the prison camp where the prisoners of war were held. We happened to reach it when the prisoners were having a siesta.

There were about four thousand in the camp, some hired out to contractors. We talked to some of these contractors, who in turn had talked with the prisoners, and were told that a great many of them were such voluntarily; that is to say, they were very glad to surrender when the opportunity presented. The prisoners were mostly Germans, but there were some Austrians and a few Bavarians. The French people never speak of them as Germans; they always call them "Boches", which, rendered in English, means vandal. They were fat and healthy and apparently contented.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Grand Theatre, Bordeaux. Closed until the War Ends.]

In the evening at Bordeaux a banquet was given in honor of Monsieur Gaston Doumergue, Minister of Colonies. All the commissioners were invited. On my left was Monsieur Etienne Hugard, Vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and a soldier who had been in battle within a week previous. On my right sat Monsieur G. Chastenet, Senateur de la Gironde.

Very choice wines were served and the champagne was reserved for the last. There was a speech by the Mayor and a response by the Minister of Colonies. We were given information as we went along and some of this I will record. We were told that a great many submarines had been captured by the French in nets. The popular impression is that when captured the submarines are left under water six or seven days, then brought up to the surface and the bodies of the officers and seamen, who in the meantime have died, are either burned or buried. The submarine is then manned by a French crew and thus turned into the French service.

We made some inquiries in regard to the labor situation and we were informed that before the war a common laborer received four francs per day, about eighty cents of our money, and that they are now receiving five francs. The women received two francs before the war and they are now receiving three. There are no labor unions in Bordeaux or in the vicinity.

We had here our first visit from newspaper correspondents. A number of important Paris papers were represented, with the New York Herald, the Chicago Tribune and other leading American papers. We met the general of the Gironde and the marine official. We were told that at any of these functions we were not to mention the names of the officials to whom we were introduced, and this enabled us to talk quite freely. One of the generals whom I met at this banquet said that the war would end in December, 1917.

On Tuesday, September 5th, the Bordeaux Fair was dedicated. The commission was invited and we took part in the exercises. These fairs are an annual event in many parts of France. There is a very large theatre in Bordeaux, which has not been opened since the war. We were given an invitation to enter it. It is certainly finer than any theatre I had seen previously.

We were then taken to the celebrated wine vaults of Bordeaux, owned by J. Calvert & Co. and Bardin & Gustier. Some of these wines date back to the early part of the last century and the vintages are all the way from five to ninety years old. There were sixty thousand casks of wine stored and about ten million bottles of champagne. The money value of the stocks is very large. We were told that America was one of the best customers for these high grade wines.

In the evening we attended a reception to the Minister of Colonies at Ville de Bordeaux. This was a very enjoyable affair and we met some noted French people.

Wednesday, September 6th, was the birthday of Lafayette. We had been invited by the American Chamber of Commerce to a.s.sist in their celebration at Paris, but were unable to reach that city in time.

Instead of going to Paris on this date we visited the Chateau Margaux, built in 1780. We were shown through the private vaults. We met the d.u.c.h.ess, a most charming personage, a grandmother at the age of thirty-five, a very plain, una.s.suming lady. I supposed up to the time I was introduced to her that she was a newspaper correspondent. During the tour through these private vaults, the guide discoursed on the making of wine, from the planting of the vines to the bottling and selling process. This was all very interesting.

The different sized bottles of wine were described as follows: half pints for sick rooms, pints, and then quarts, with all of which we were familiar. He then told us of the magnum, holding two quarts; the Jereboam, holding three quarts, the imperial, holding five quarts, and the Nebuchadnezzar, holding the Lord only knows how many quarts--pretty nearly as big as a barrel.

In the port of Bordeaux were a great many neutral boats. On the sides of these boats in very large letters, appeared the names of the boats and the flag of the particular country, also the name of the country. We saw vessels from Italy, Greece, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Holland. We were told that no nation at the beginning was prepared for war except Germany. It seemed to be the unanimous opinion that the war would last at least one year longer.

Monsieur Gustier, president of the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, departed at one o'clock for Paris in a de luxe car. This car was the one usually occupied by President Poincaire and known as the president's car.

Before departing we were given a noonday luncheon at the Hotel Terminal by the "Committee General Franco-American Society."

We were now for the first time told that we were being entertained by the French government, through its different chambers of commerce. On the way, two of the general officers of the railroad company boarded the train.

We noticed on pa.s.sing through the country, that all the people working on the farms were either old men, women or children, the young men all being in the army.

One of the things, earnestly desired by the French people is to increase the birthrate. A bonus system has been proposed as well as all sorts of plans for increasing the size of families.

We learned here that four million men and women in France were engaged in the wine industry.

We arrived in Paris at 10:30, September 6th. The only light visible was the moon. The Hotel de Crillon, formerly a castle occupied by the French n.o.bility and transformed into a very comfortable and aristocratic hotel, was our stopping place.

Early on Thursday morning, September 7th, I paid my first visit to the American Ambulance. I met Dr. Metcalf, a former Youngstown physician. He has charge of the New York and the Frank H. Mason wards. At the time we were there six hundred soldiers were under treatment. Deaths run about two per cent.

This was my first visit to an army hospital and the impression will never be forgotten. There were men in all different stages of wounds, some of them convalescent; others on the dividing line; with others the treatment was just starting. This American Ambulance is considered the best managed hospital in all France. General Frank H. Mason, who had been consul general and in the consular service more than thirty years, had charge of it up to the time of his death. He was succeeded by Monsieur Benet. It is a thorough business organization.

On this same day I visited Mrs. Frank H. Mason, the venerable widow of General Mason. We drove out together and I again visited the Ambulance in her company. She has been active in benevolent work for many years and was greeted everywhere with signs of affection. She took great pride in the ward named for her husband. In this ward most of the soldiers under treatment are officers.

I also met at the Ambulance Major Kipling, the head of the "flying corps". They have there about a dozen military ambulances that go to the front and bring back the wounded. Over seven thousand have been brought in since March. Two trips are made daily.

I also met at the Ambulance Mrs. Benet, a society woman, but in nurse's garb and actively at work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Miniature French Flag carried by the Author through France. The Waving of this Flag by an American Aroused much Enthusiasm.]