Show FRENCH VALOR WINNING BACK RUINED HOMES Dogg Dogged d Tenacity Pulls Devastated Area Past Crisis STARTLING CHANGES Over One Half Million Tom Torn Cannon Houses Fully Restored PARIS May 19 B By The As- As Associated As Associated Press Of Of de it may be said today that to the due in n no ao small measure dogged fortitude ind nd tenacity of ot Its returned Inhabitants tho tI O area has safely passed the crisis In Its re- re rc ry co 0 cry from the wounds suffered through more than four tour years ears ot of to estimates of ot arlous agencies the end of tet ear It If all aI goes well should bee eo this vast ast sore soro in the side of France practically healed Ith the exception of ot course course of ot some somo of ot the cathedrals and other historic mon mon- monuments monuments mon monuments which neer never can be re- re replaced replaced re replaced placed placedA V A general Idea of ot how bow the work Is progressing ma may be had from the fact that of the i dwelling houses which wore were crumbled by cannon have save now been completely restored Other forms of OC reconstruction are arc going for- for ii u 1 and nd nfl in less loss than fIe fhe fly e years after tc the greatest struggle the world orld has 1 ever eer er seen more thou than 4 of ot the terror terror- terror stricken stricken people who fled from the German Invader are arc back on the soil boIl they love lo and arc are beginning to catch a glimpse of ot normal undisturbed undisturbed undisturbed contentment While the world orld talks of reparations and the political aspects of o the ot of the Ruhr these hardened cather weather refugees are plugging owa away from sun un to sun to restore thel their cottages and replant their gardens GER C TO HELP SELVES This Is their one object True to the of ot the aver aser- aser average age ge pI 0 Frenchman these I men and women want ant wantonly wantonly only the opportunity of ot homes for themselves es places where here they v wilt no longer loneer be patronized itS HS refugees places where they may till the soil and enjoy Its rhe waste ate no time discussing the and are willing IllIng to leave lease such things to their political I leaders aders It If they th themselves may be left lett ed In their efforts to pros pros- prosper prosper per the land which once formed uch a fertile ferUle part of ot France corl of The Associated Press who Mho has made a tour ot of the devastated de regions comes outstanding conviction conviction with the a aay ay tion Uon that of ot all the elements enter enter- entering entering entering ing into the work rk of ot reconstruction the greatest factor of ot all has been and still is the sheer will II on the part of ot the people to restore ST CONTRAST Although there are still many id 1 signs of ot war ar the contrast be- be beH between be between H tween Heen een the wartime aspect of ot the countr side and that of ot recon recon- recon t 1 is startling There are treat great stretches ot of o rolling roiling sun sun- Eun kissed fields still so full of ot lead and steel Etcel and yawning shell holes that atlon so jar tar far haa has J been een Impossible but there are even greater stretches which hM have hate e re- re responded responded re responded to the plow and are aro now with a fuzzy growth ot of green spring grain There here here are arc miles ot of grown weed hillsides hillside still matted w Ith barbed w wire Ire but there are ara also great pies of ot it that ha have base e been combed out particularly from froni the des Dames des Dames region like huge tangled skeins of hair and andare andare andare are rolled up along the roadsides to 1 and disintegrate l er e everybody body Is at work Adolescent striplings who were mere children lIdren when the tho great e odus ci-odus occurred and who are v et too oung to do the heavy work ot of building are following ox drawn ox harrows harros s over the tho fields while their sturdy turdy handed fathers fathera are lilting heavy beams and stones Into place while their wrinkled but wiry mothers are washing clothes cook cook- cookIng cooking ing leg meats and doing other house house- household household household hold LIKE UKE l EW CITY This metamorphosis from desola desola- desolation desolation desolation tion to reconstruction Is particularly in cities and towns toll that II were e most completely destroyed tor for example which bore the brunt of ot some tome of the mot most terrible bombardments of o the war looks almost like a anew new city Ch Chauny uny also the little villa villa-go In Inthe inthe the Somme which completely disappeared dis- dis disappeared appeared has been almost entirely restored The large chemical tac- tac factory fac factory tory there one there one of ot the that were wiped out out-Is out Is again hum hum- humming humming humming ming with business and Is much more modern and better equip equipped pod than the old one More than 19 similar factories Tn In the devastated legions have been completed Practically everything e In the vil 11 village til- til tillage lage has been restored except the church This Is true almost ever ever- ever ever- where even where the church apparently Is the last thing to be rebuilt Absolute Absolute Absolute lute necessities must come first Lille Lillo and other cities of oC that t type pe are making progress but their do- do do was so colossal and the amount of ot debris to be removed was so 50 much greater that restoration restoratiOn restoration necessarily must be slow |