| Show ranee ranee rance Chagrined Over Wilsons Wilson's Failure E To Visit Devastated Northern Regions r For Intimate Information at First Hand Service clec Cc dent Paris April 1 12 Br By Mail President lall President irons Wilson's failure to tour tho devastated dc ms of ot northern France lily bly was u displeasing ing to the tho Iu In uth ruth it way was WJ more than a cause uso qC of chaIn chain charin cha- cha rin In f lt it provoked provola rc resentment The Presidents President's reason for tor not p Uj the trIp thu tho French so greatly di do- do Ired to havo o him make was that h hiL he iL suffering from a l cold and as the feather was severe sO he feared the tho ex- ex sure might aggravate ato his cold an and andy iy y him up during durins the most important stage tabe of oC the peace conference Ho lIe considered con con- it much more Important that e C should participate in the work oCo of oC 10 o peace conference than that he hould should view Mew the ruins or of thu tho war Therefore ho was w un unwilling unwilling- vIlling to take the h I k which a visit to northern Francen France In n Januar January involved In It was only when la 3 a remaining in Paris was ascribed ascribed in lomo omo quarters to lack ack of Interest In Inho inho I tho ho devastation llo that the tho President compromised com com- promised b by making a visit to Reims His trip to in a n. snowstorm flayed tho the open criticism of his neg neg- lect ct but the undercurrent still ran strong trong Tho The argument arg of the Presidents President's critics among the French was that It 51 ms ns as Impossible for him to g get t the rI right light ht e on peace unless his views af t f PC peace was waa focused through the tho ruins f t the war 1 I can understand nd now and sympathise thise with that view vices for Cor as ono one of oC a aart party arty art of or journalists who were the quests of oC tho the French gover government Jo I Ilave lave aYe made the trip which the tho French ere so extremely desirous President Wilson Vinson should mal make eWe e. e Fj We were taken talen to Lens Arras and and ind Demain The Thc special train which carried our part party was the first I ger ger train to go So through those regions since inco tho the Germans overran the tho territory terri terri- tory four years calS ago ao The reconstruction tion of oC some of oC the bridges and track ha had been completed only a few Cew days previous to our trip Passenger Train Curiosity I 1 A At t and Denal n where the c civil il had remained throughout the tho four years of oC German occupation tho tho ho special was so much of oC a a. curiosity that the tho people flocked locked out to see it he children c especially seemed to be instate In state et t of nr t great t v r t n t Residents T th l J i I r i o-n o I gave us s the Astonishing t lJ Information n i t that our train was the first pa passenger I train that the small children had ever For or four Cour years cars before our coming com- com ing Donal and Denain had seen only troop trains and so a a- passenger train cc dc was as interesting to the chilI children chil- chil I dren up to C G and 7 years ears as a circus r i In starting to write of oC Lone Ions and Artra Ar- Ar fras tra an un overwhelming o sense of inability to de describe tho the reality of or these scenes of ar of ruins and desolation oppresses metro me mc To tro view Lens and Arras as they are toda today to- to day da is js to have the mind stunned Ono One mist feel fed them to Lo understand what the they are arc Their Thell ruin is so awful in its r completeness that the Impression one through h the cys eys are arc submerged c by the emotions that th flood from the heart To get detailed impressions isS Is S Impossible even cven to the most calloused For IFor For while you OU ma may fix your sight on a detail for nn an instant the overwhelming overwhelm overwhelm- ing In awfulness of the whole horror blots r out the tho detail almost Instantly One simply Stares stales blankly horror stricken l las as one would If IC coming suddenly upon ret e. e human Jurman body that had been ha ed to pieces fl J City Obliterated Pi Our first visit was to Lens Before the he war nar Lens was the principal center r of bf or the coal Industry of oC France giving employment to workers In the city and Its suburbs there was a population lation of over o The train stopped at a roadway of oC granite which we w were re informed had gust been heen cleared of ot wreckage a e. e We Ye walked up this roadway for a dis- dis taneo tanco of oC perhaps three blocks I sa say perhaps fT fr it was Impossible to distinguish distinguish dis dis- where the the- str streets et ha had been Jin J in Lons except the main thorough thorough- h- h I rare e along which we walked The rest of t the streets without exception had teem been so o covered with debris that the they were er completely obliterated Our guide I French colonel who had been the them m mer er of the Lens Lens' min mines be before COTe the their tar ir led us up to th the top of oC a l last vast ast Cap p of or debris a mixture ot of brick bricks U lister stor wood and machinery l For or a no word was spoken The French rench have an Intuitive sense of oC the tho i tama tic In Tn silence we t cro perI per per- I pUtted to take talce In the scene of or ruin and desolation such perhaps as the eye cc 1 of or man never before had gazed g upon For of oC the tho habitations which had people of the industries that had given work to not a 1 pride lcJ had been left lert upon a brick What O J o saw w was simply one vast ast 1 extended heap of or rubbish In an open When hen we wo had envisaged the Scene cene the colonel spoke T. T Gentlemen he said tilts this is Lens The Tho colonel colonel Cou Is his name ha-d ha his home homo in Lens Lent He lie has been enable Finable to locate the spot where It stood The colonel gave ga us us- usa a lot of oC interesting Inter- Inter stinG esting Information about the coal coal Indu indu industry in- in du try tr of oC Lens Lena and facts which cn n- n bled one to realize tho the extent and the importance of or the thed destruction wrought Ten fur for fuH H The exploitation of t. t tho o mines of Lens tiles kites from only rho Tho city Itself i f course was much older ohler It passed Into nto the tho possession of Spain at nt the end endA A r if f the fifteenth century and did not pally nally revert re to Franco until the peace if f the Pyrenees in 1659 There Thero were sixteen mines In Lens like tho the mines in America the shafts ero cro very deep some of ot them being being- MOO foot feet In III depth The country countr being rhy In character chara the tho mines mines' had to toSe toe Se e steel cased to prevent t flooding It cas as JS by removing these casings s that thattie i tie he Germans ruined tho the mines It will ko ho two and a half halt years ears to pump U Il the tho water out of oC tho the mines and ac- ac to tho to official I French estimate t will be C fully ten years car before Lens LensS S 3 restored to a condition n of or activity nil lid production equal to that which prevailed pre pre- before th the war wat r and Already plans plana for Cor restoration resumption aio mo ti o under way Mining i has haa been beon contracted for tor in ut prance ranee rance Great and Switzerland ie o C French government Is planning p lo hiO to build houses this year r c on ono 10 o site of oC the former city 1500 the thc Blowing year and tho third year car IK It Is assorted that in the tho whole ruing mine min min- e g district of oC p Pas s dc do e Calais tho the Gerns GOIns Ger- Ger ns rendered o coal pits pit useless r many years ears to come Tho The damage is francs We Wc c were taken talen to another high heap debris In the part of oC tho the town hick lay 11 to the west of or the thc railroad hicks acks ac ti and told that lat it was w once the Tho only means of oC cation were parts of or broken stone atone lumps Nearby earb we saw a a. man and boy bo digging in the ruins ruin Some Sorno of ot I I went over o and engaged cd them In il 1 j We asked them the tho I I purpose of oC their excavations The man said tho the site sito was that of oC his former home He lie was a contractor and ho had hi papers of oC much value to him that h lead had d been burled buried un underneath the ruins HI His wife wiCo had been een l killed during the thc war al and he ho and his j son on had sought refuge further south th As soon eoon as he ho heard herd th there re was ws a chance to get Into Ue tho devastated da district he had como corno back hack with his son to find his valuable papers if IC possible This man and l boy were the only nl hum human n beings s In this de spot besides the members of our part party Old OM Jinn Man Finds Tr nure One of oC the officers in our party part told us that tho the soldiers sol who had cleaned up tho main thoroughfare of oC Lons had related to him an interesting inci inci- dent The second day after they j ind-j had l started the clean up work nn an old man appeared en on the scene with a shovel Ho said Ill he ho had been a resident of oC the elt city and ami had come to dig in tho the ruins of or his former home for Cor a box containing containing contain contain- ing his valuables Asked If there was an identification mark on tho the hex hox he said ald inscribed thereon was hi his name which he gave them He lie I duo due nil all one da day and part of oC the night iTo ho 10 next day a shout of oC jo joy from the theold theold old man brought several of oC the soldiers sol sol- diers to tho spot where ho he had been excavating etc lIe He showed l them a 1 box bot chick ho had du dug up and pointed to toi ii i namn on It to provo O he lie en en- en title ruC to o What Wh did you have havo In the box that caused you ou to make tho the long long- journal journ on em foot to bC net get It 1 asked one of oC the tao soldiers soldier The Tho old man opened tho the box bOt to show hov him It contained just twenty francs For that small sum he had I many weary miles and had worked the tho greater part of oC two days digging ging And yet t the they said he seemed to feel fully Cully compensated t for his efforts Arras An-a Cnn Can DC Be Before the war Arras was a beautiful tt- tt ful ul little city of ot about 2000 tants tanh It tho the best was vas example inI li in I Franco ranee of the thc Flemish st style Je of or archi archI- Its Grande Grando Place Place- and nud Petit place with their arcades and their quaint gables mo most t attractive It had ad a largo larg and nd fine cathedral aI and I I 1 j I I us Its town hall wry wag one or of the finest in northern France It was T an au architectural architectural architectural tural gem Arras al also o was historically tant It was wast at t Arras Airas in 1135 1435 that the famous Camous treaty between Charles VII an and Philip the Good was signed It Il was this treaty which separated tho the Burg from Crom the English alli alli- ance In 1640 Arras was taken b by the Spanish Later In 1651 It was be besieged be- be by byan an n army commanded b by tho the great reat Conde Arras saw the birth of or ortho tho conventions con of oC 1758 1 1791 j t During Durin- the war the Germans reached a point about met meters rs from the town The town thus became practically practically call cally No Mans Man's ans an's Land for tho the British and German armies Tho The Germans never nev- nev er or succeeded in occupying the town but for tOr the four COUr years cars of oC the war it was un under er bombar bombardment mont Thero There Is not a house In tho the town that has not been more or less wrecked Many Ian of oC them have been completely completely- gutted butted d. d n But Brit t unlike Lens ns the city was not leveled Its ruins still stand In fact the walls of oC most of the housos houses are intact It Is only onh the roofs and the Interiors that have havo been destroyed for Cor the most part So o one can appreciate what a beautiful beautiful ful city it war wn Cathedral In Here ones one's mourning for the beauty blasted is modified by the thought that thata a a. largo large part of It ma may be restored restore The town hall and the cathedral tho the two monuments which were tho the city's greatest glories however are arc ruined beyond repair O Over 2000 people alread already have returned returned returned re- re turned to Arl Arras s and already an effort which has hag man many touching phases Ts is is being ing made to restore tho the life of or the cit city Hundreds o of Chinese coolies are employed employed em em- in cleaning up tho the debris of ot the theton town ton It was noontime when our parly party party par par- ty ly passed through the streets The had ceased work ork for lunch and were seated about bout in the tho ruins munching heir sandwiches The presence pres pres- enco ence of or th these sc sons ions ons o of Confucius sitting among tho the ruins of the finest European European European Euro Euro- civilization cl gave rise to many re re- re I would have havo liked to have been able to speak Chinese to got get et their thou thoughts and reflections al g their surroundings suu There thc they the Here v ere th re-th the yellow men whose destructive descent Europe ha has feared for centuries centuries- brou brought ht h by the white men to repair tho the destruction which tho the whites themselves themselves them them- selves had wrought ht destruction to which the ruins left leCt in Iii the wake of or the llOr hordes cs ot of Ghen Js Khan were comparatively comparatively el Insignificant In Tn one street through which wo we passed there thero were several buildings tho the lower part of which had boon been so little injured that It was waH possible to resume occupancy nc with sll slight ht repairs The show windows of oC one of oC these shops had a fine assortment of 0 ladle ladies shoes hoes of fashionable make male Another show sho window had a r really ally attractive o exhibit of oC fino fine prints The rhe incongruity of these displays s 's to the surrounding wreckage was so great that one halted in amazement But nut conflict of emotions emo- emo lions was such that one ono was unable to decide echle whether to laugh or to weep Doun rind mid Dennin ami Denain present an entirely entire entire- ly different phase of or th the war ar from Lens and Arras but one ono hardly less leRs interesting Interest Ing Douai and proper proper- lv h were we-e out of the fighting proper I area Both these thele cities which are Important or important or rather were important industrial centers were occupied by the Germans German early In th the war and the German Cerman occupation continued up to the wars war's close cloae The These c towns n present the tho most damning evidence that the German purpose was w to destroy lestroy Trance Prance Industrially industrially Indus Indus- and commercially commercial or at least to deal her a blow from which she bhe could not recover reco in generations When hen one views what the Germans did in jn Denain and they the they did the same In Lille and In the Industrial cities o of Belgium and tho those parts of oC Russia which they occupied one occupied one one be begins be- be gins to comprehend the measure of oC German ruthlessness and to under under- understand stand how now It may bo be possible for tor German Germany Ger Ger- many man although defeated to bo be borela relatively rela rela- relatively ely tI bettor belloI off oft in the future than she was In the past German cavalry all patrols passed through h Douai about August 25 gib 1914 1911 h the Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- The town was occupied by mans on October r r 6 1914 and was liberated lib lib- orated crated without tl fighting October 17 1 S. S The Tice evacuation c of or the civil chU population tion o of Douai was cos begun In n September A largo part of oC the Inhabitants the sick and the were shipped |
