Particularly is this true in the medical world. Dr. Sherman came here from Pittsburgh, the invited guest of the Mahoning County Medical Society, at the suggestion of J. G. Butler, Jr., who wanted him to tell the physicians of this city and county the many things he had learned by close application and association with conditions in European hospitals and trenches. Dr. Sherman was filled with an enthusiasm that he made every man who attended the annual banquet of the Mahoning Medical Society feel. Particularly was he anxious to bring the local medical fraternity to a realization of the methods and treatments developed by the horrible carnage raging now in the European countries. He drove home his point without gloves when he told physicians of Youngstown that medical men throughout this country were given too much to criticising new methods rather than investigating them.

The Carrel method, he explained at length. It is simply a newly discovered antiseptic solution, conceived by Dr. Alexis Carrel, which sterilizes wounds and arrests infection and inflammation before they have an opportunity to spread and result in blood poisoning and death.

* * *



TRANSLATION

REPUBLIC OF FRANCE CITY OF REIMS

TO THE INHABITANTS

At the moment when the German army is at our gates, and will probably enter the city, the municipal authorities request you to preserve all your presence of mind, and all calmness necessary to permit you to undergo this trial.

There must not be any manifestations, any riotous gatherings, any outcries to trouble the tranquility of the streets. Public Service, Charity, Health, and street maintenance should continue to be safe. You must co-operate with us. You must remain in the city to help the unfortunate. We shall remain with you at our post to defend your interests.

It does not devolve upon you, the population of an unfortified city, to alter events. It does devolve upon you not to aggravate the consequences. To this end it is necessary to keep silence, dignity and prudence.

We rely upon you, you may rely upon us.

Reims, September 3, 1914. DR. LANGLET, Mayor.

* * *

Mr. Butler said to visit European capitals is to witness a revelation difficult to convey in mere words. Soldiers of every nationality are treated by the expert and world famed in medicine. Human wrecks, victims of shot and shell, are repaired and rebuilt. It matters little whether a man is friend or foe, as long as a spark of life is there, he is picked tenderly from the trench and everything known to medical science done to bring about his recovery.

The mind is filled with horror and wonder of it all. New thoughts bombard the mind as one looks on. A man is brought in. His face is practically shot away. It seems that even should he recover he will be so disfigured that life will not be worth the living. The Carrel solution is applied. By plastic surgery and other means the disfigured mass is shaped. In a few short weeks the man again begins to resemble a human being and eventually is well, with little more than a few indistinct scars. Not infrequently he returns to the trenches. Some of the things that shock the mind are metal jaws, screened behind false beards, artificial noses, ears, cheeks, eyes and limbs. Sometimes when a man is facially disfigured beyond repair, that is, when nature can never replace the countenance, a copper mask is fitted. These sculptors in flesh-and-blood do their work with such precision and accuracy that it is startling and cannot be believed unless it is seen.

The war has seen the springing up of many hospitals of special character. There are groups of institutions where only faces are treated, eyes, ears and nose, maimed limbs, etc. Medical attention in most cases begins in the trenches and the patient is carefully watched while being transported to the hospital. By sterilizing wounds shortly after they occur, infection and pus are robbed of their chance to hinder nature and the patient recovers in a few weeks from a frightful wound that if infected would take that many months. There are many things of today that help in the preservation of human life. The highly developed X-ray has played an important part in this great war. Electricity, new antiseptics and anaesthetics have been at the finger's end of the skilled medical profession, to work what can honestly be called miracles and wonders.

One of the strange things of this great war is the fact that new, unheard of diseases are developed. It has tended to make common rare diseases and greatly increased those that are usual. Thousands die, having no mark upon their body. Post-mortems held have disclosed in nearly every case that such deaths were caused by shell shock. Bombs from the huge guns dropping near a company of men will often so disarrange organs that death follows quickly. Many who survive lose mind, sight, hearing, speech, and so on. This has become one of the common things of this great war. As a result the warring countries will find themselves confronted with a new and difficult problem when peace comes and normal times are again established. There will be hundreds of thousands to pension and no doubt insane institutions will have to be enlarged. Rest is often a saviour. Men taken away from the fronts, minds blank, in the quiet of home often regain their reason. There is the large percentage that God in his goodness does not see fit to restore that will form an elephantine problem. There will have to be vast pension lists, for these men often have large families.

The way men may be pieced and patched together is one of the finds of the new medical era. It has been discovered that bones in legs and arms practically shot in two can be brought together by means of silver and vanadium steel plates fitted with screws and that the bones will knit and after a period the afflicted can walk almost as satisfactorily as if nothing had happened. Dr. Sherman while in this city this week displayed a steel plate that he worked out and used with marked success in the hospitals of France. These plates are applied in what would seem to be a very simple manner. A man may have a leg or an arm practically shot off. By placing the broken bones together, after a treatment with the Carrel solution to keep down infection, a plate is fitted on either side of the fracture and screws are applied. This holds the two members solidly together and in a few short weeks the bones knit. In time this place is practically the strongest part of the limb. What this means can best be told by explaining that before the discovery, an arm or a leg so badly shattered was simply amputated because this was the only safe and logical way to save the life of the individual. In the olden days gangrene would invariably set in and the patient die within a short time unless amputation was performed promptly following the accident.

Dr. Carrel has gone a long way to eliminate this danger.

Having seen with my own eyes the wonderful results of this treatment during my visits to the American Ambulance and other hospitals in France, I requested Mr. Laurence V. Benet, superintendent of the American Ambulance, to furnish me with an authoritative description of the treatment. The chief purpose of this is to enable medical authorities in this country, particularly those connected with hospitals maintained by iron and steel plants, to gain a reliable outline of the treatment. Dr. Benet, in spite of the fact that he is one of the busiest men in France, kindly agreed to furnish this information. In doing so he accompanied the description with the following letter:

* * *

1 Avenue De Camoens Paris, October 26, 1916.

Mr. Joseph G. Butler, Jr., Youngstown, O.

My dear Mr. Butler:—

In compliance with my request, Dr. Joseph Lawrence, of the American Ambulance, has kindly prepared a short note on the Carrel treatment of wounds, and this I am now enclosing. I trust that you will find it sufficiently explicit for your purposes, and that it will be of use and interest to you.

Now that you are again home I hope that your wonderful trip in France will be less than a mere memory and that the labors of the Industrial Commission will prove, as they should, most valuable to the manufacturers and exporters of the United States. Believe me that it was to me a great privilege as well as a great pleasure to have met you and your distinguished colleagues, and that my only regret is that I was unable to be of greater use to the Commission.

I am, with very kind regards,

Sincerely yours, LAURENCE V. BENET 1 encl.

* * *

The Carrel Treatment of Wounds.

The Carrel treatment consists in thorough irrigation guided by the bacteriological observation of the wound.

For the irrigation of the wound, Carrel has chosen a certain size of rubber tube about 4 mm. in diameter into which he punches small holes at intervals. The one end of this tube is shut, the other end is allowed to protrude from the dressing.

On the surface wound, the tube is laid over the wound in the direction of the greatest diameter of the wound with the open end towards the most elevated part.

In perforating wounds, the tube or several tubes, when the wound is large, are passed through from both sides, or pushed into cavities or pockets that may exist.

If the wound is not a perforating wound, but a deep wound, the tubes are planted deep into the cavity that may be formed. These tubes are always of sufficient number to thoroughly irrigate the broken surface.

Over the uninjured skin, about the wound, is placed thin strips of gauze which have been steeped in vaseline, the skin having been thoroughly washed before with soap and water.

To keep these tubes in place, a bandage wet with Dakin's solution is placed over them. The wound is flushed every two hours with Dakin's solution. The amount of solution used per wound, varies in proportion to the size of the wound from 500 c.c. per day up. Wounds are dressed daily.

The bacteriological observation is made by taking a smear from the most vicious part of the wound at intervals of two or three days. The number of bacteria on these smears is noted and counted per oil immersion field. A count of more than 75 bacteria per field is considered infinity. When there are less than 10 bacilli to the field, and not less than 5 to the field, three fields are counted. When less than 5, and not less than 7, five fields are counted. When less than one, from five to twenty fields will be counted.

A wound that retains a count of one bacillus to two fields or less for three observations, is considered bacteriologically clean, and suitable for operation. If the wound is a compound fracture, it is advisable to close the wound, converting it into a simple fracture.

If this can be done without exerting too great tension on the sutures.

If the wound is a flesh wound, and can be drawn together without too great tension, its closure is indicated.



The important parts of the treatment consist in thorough irrigation, and careful bacteriological observation. The bacteriological observations are charted on charts similar to temperature charts.

Dakin's Solution. (Sodium Hypochlorite at 0.50%)

1—To prepare 10 litres of solution, weight exactly: Chloride of Lime (Bleaching Powder) 200 grms. Carbonate of Soda (dried) 100 grms. or if used in crystals 200 grms.

Bi-carbonate of Soda 200 grms.

2—Put the Chloride of Lime into a large mouthed bottle of about 12 litres capacity. Add 5 litres of water (half the quantity) and shake well two or three times. Let this stand all night.

3—Dissolve in another 5 litres of water of two Soda salts

4—Pour this latter solution directly into the bottle containing the maceration of lime. Stir well and let the solution stand in order to allow the precipitate of Carbonate of Lime to settle.

5—At the end of half an hour, siphon the clear liquid and filter by means of a paper, in order to have a perfectly clear solution. This should be kept away from the light.

6—No heat should be employed in the manufacture of Dakin's and ordinary Tapwater should be used.

* * *

Preparation of Dakin Solution.

Technique of Dr. Daufresne.

The solution of sodium hypochlorite for surgical use must be free of caustic alkali; it must only contain 0.45% to 0.50 of hypochlorite. Under 0.45% it is not active enough and above 0.50 it is irritant. With chloride of lime (bleaching powder) having 25% of active chlorine, the quantities of necessary substances to prepare ten litres of solution are the following:—

Chloride of Lime (bleaching powder) 25% CI act....200 gr. Sodium Carbonate, dry (Soda of Solway) 100 gr. Sodium Bi-carbonate....80 gr.

Pour into 12 litre flask the two hundred grammes of chloride of lime and five litres of ordinary water, shake vigorously for a few minutes and leave in contact for six to twelve hours, one night for example. (Shake until dissolved) at least the big pieces are dissolved, large pieces float—notice only floating pieces. At the same time, dissolve in five litres of cold ordinary water the carbonate and bi-carbonate of soda.

After leaving from six to twelve hours, pour the salt solution in the flask containing the macerated chloride of lime, shake vigorously for a few minutes and leave to allow the calcium carbonate to be precipitated. In about half an hour, siphon the liquid and filter with a double paper to obtain a good, clear liquid, which should always be kept in a dark place.

Tritration of Chloride of Lime (Bleaching Powder).

Because of the variation of the products now obtained in the market, it is necessary to determine the quantity of active chlorine contained in the chloride of lime which is to be used. This, in order to employ an exact calculated quantity according to its concentration. The test is made in the following manner:—

Take from different parts of the bar a small quantity of beaching powder to have a medium sample, weigh 20 grammes of it, mix as well as possible in a litre of tap water and leave in contact for a few hours. Measure 10 c.c. of the clear liquid and add 20 c.c. of a 10% solution of potassium iodide, 2 c.c. of acetic acid or hydrochloric acid, then put drop by drop into the mixture a decinormal solution of sodium hyposulfite (2.48%) until decoloration. The number "N" of cubic centimeters of hyposulfite employed multiplied by 1,775 will give the weight "N" of active chloride contained in 100 grammes of chloride of lime.

The test must be made every time a new product is received. When the result obtained will differ more or less than 25%, it will be necessary to reduce or enlarge the proportion of the three products contained in the preparation. This can be easily obtained by multiplying each of the three numbers—200, 100, 60 by the factor N/25 in which N represents the weight of the active chlorine per cent of chloride of lime.

Measure 10 c.c. of the solution, add 20 c.c. of potassium iodide 1/10, 2 c.c. of acetic acid and drop by drop a decinormal solution of sodium hyposulfite until decoloration. The number of cubic centimeters used multiplied by 0.03725 will give the weight of the hypochlorite of soda contained in 100 c.c. of the solution.

Never heat the solution and if in case of urgency one is obliged to resort to trituration of chloride of lime in a mortar, only employ water, never salt solution.

Test of Thetalkalinity of Dakin Solution:—

To easily differentiate the solution obtained by this process from the commercial hypochlorites, pour into a glass about 20 c.c. of the solution and drop on the surface of the liquid a few centigrammes of phenol-phthaleine in powder. The correct solution does not give any coloration while Lebarraque's solution and Rau de Javel will give an intense red color which shows in the last two solutions existence of free caustic alkali.

TECHNIQUE—Dakin Solution.

The procedure is very simple. The solution, however, must be between 45 to 50% hypochlorite. Anything above this strength will burn and anything below is too weak. The edges of the wound should be covered with gauze which has been well soaked in vaseline, the solution should then be introduced into the wounds from an irrigator every two hours. A stopcock should be put on the tube and only sufficient solution should be allowed to enter the wound to completely saturate all parts of the wound. In other words, the wounds should be bathed with the solution every two hours—do not mistake this and irrigate continuously. You can easily tell how much solution it takes to keep the wound wet.

Rubber tubes are used. The end of the tube is tied off and six to eight small perforations are made so that the solution can run into all parts of the wound. If the wounds are superficial, the same kind of a tube can be used to which a cuff of turkish towel is wrapped around the end of the tube.

If you feel that the wounds are sure to be infected, it would be well to lay them open freely and immediately start this treatment, be sure to have the skin well protected with the vaseline and gauze and see that the solution does not run out of the wound on the bed. Just keep the wound bathed every two hours.

I have been informed that a movement is on foot to inaugurate the use of this remarkable discovery in the United States military hospitals, and that the Rockefeller Foundation has in view the erection at New York of a large hospital where the treatment may be studied and still further perfected for the benefit of this country.

* * *



TRANSLATION

APPEAL TO THE POPULATION OF REIMS.

Dear Citizens:

To-day and in the days following, many from among you, both prominent citizens and workmen, will be kept as hostages to guarantee to the German authorities the quiet and good order which your representatives have promised in your name.

It is to your security and to the safety of the City and to your proper interests that you do nothing which may break this agreement and compromise the future.

Have realization of your responsibility and facilitate our task.

Men, women, children, remain as far as possible in your homes, avoid all discussion.

We depend upon you to be equal to this occasion.

All riotous gathering is absolutely forbidden and will be immediately dispersed.

J. B. LANGLET, Mayor. L. ROUSSEAU, DR. JACQUIN, E. CHARBONNEAUX, J. De BRUIGNAC. Assistants.

* * *



XXV.

A CITY IN AN ARMY'S PATH

Few who read this book have ever been in contact with actual war. In order that they may have an idea of what happens to a city which finds itself in the path of an irresistible enemy, some account will be given here of what happened to Reims, a city about the size of Youngstown, having a population of one hundred and twenty-five thousand and being situated on the north bank of the river Aisne, in north-eastern France.

When the Germans attacked France they hurled their great armies by three routes. Not only did they violate the neutrality of Belgium and Luxembourg, but they also sent an army across the frontier between Verdun and Belfort, this being the force stopped by the chasseurs at Gerbeviller, as has been told elsewhere. France had trusted too much and was in a desperate plight because her troops had been mobilized on the wrong front.

The first Germans crossed the frontier of little Luxembourg on the morning of August 2, 1914. They were met by the Grand Duchess, who disputed their passage and pleaded with them to turn back. Her little army of four hundred and thirty men could do nothing, and when she turned her car across the road the German soldiers gathered around and, on the order of their commander, pushed it to one side and passed on.

The Germans entered Belgian territory at Gemmenich on August 3, 1914. The next day they attempted to take by assault the city of Liege, Belgium's greatest industrial center, and failed. This city, with its ring of nine forts, blocked the passage of their troops and held the main roads into Germany. After a most bloody and unsuccessful assault, the Germans brought up their big guns and blew the forts to pieces. But they had been delayed five days. Then their hosts swept across Belgium and soon came in touch with the French and English. The English army of one hundred and twenty-five thousand men met them at Mons. The French met them between Mons and Verdun.

At this time the Allied lines swung like a huge gate from Verdun west toward the sea, barring the Kaiser's passage. The Germans then had a million of men, with hordes of the famous lancers, and clouds of these horsemen hung on the right flank of the English, swinging out and around them so as to force Sir John French to fall back or suffer the turning of his flank. Von Kluck was in command of this turning movement, which was made possible by the fall of Namur, Lille and Charleroi. Things then looked desperately bad for the Allies.

* * *



TRANSLATION

ORDER

Having taken possession of the City and the fortress of Reims I command the following:

Railroads, routes of communications, both telegraph and telephone, not only of the City of Reims, but also throughout the immediately outlying districts, must be protected against all possibility of destruction; it is absolutely necessary to protect by a minute surveillance the public buildings along the lines of communication. The City will be held responsible for disobedience to this order: the guilty ones will be pursued and shot; the City will be levied for considerable contributions.

I add also that it will be to the interest of the population to conform to the foregoing commands, at the same time going about their ordinary occupations; thus the inhabitants will avoid having new and serious losses.

THE GERMAN GENERAL Commander in Chief.

* * *

This notice on a white card, 45 by 56 centimeters, was posted on the walls of the City of Reims by German authority during the occupation of September 4th to 12th, 1914.

As they were forced back toward Paris, not so much by actual fighting as by the necessity to keep their lines clear and avoid the turning movement of the swift German division under Von Kluck, the Allied armies swung, like a gate with its hinges at Verdun and the outer edge at Mons, back until they stretched between Verdun and Paris. This movement uncovered the beautiful city of Reims, with its countless art treasures, its magnificent cathedral and its thriving population of more than a hundred thousand people, all of which, as the swinging movement continued, were left to the mercy of the German army. The French evacuated Reims with nothing more than some rear-guard fighting and fell back southward to take their places in the great battle line which Joffre had planned somewhere north of Paris—on the Marne, as it was later evident.

As the Allied forces swung backward to this then unknown position, they were hard pressed by the advancing German hosts. Their retreat will stand as one of the most masterly in history, for during ten days these vast armies retired more than two hundred miles on their left flank without disorder and without excessive loss of men or material.

The English army occupied the side toward the sea in these grand maneuvers for position. Sir John French moved swiftly backward, fighting as he went and constantly swinging outward to prevent Von Kluck from encircling his flank. On the morning of September 3rd, he reached a point between Paris and the sea, actually a little north of that city. Suddenly in response to orders from Joffre, he marched his tired troops through Paris to Lagny, twenty miles east of the capital, where he took up a position on the Marne front.

Von Kluck was almost in sight of Paris in hot pursuit of the English when he found how he had been tricked. He could not attack the defenses, and it was urgently necessary for him to join the main army on the Marne front. To do this he had to circle to the north, around the outer fortifications of Paris a much longer march than that of the English.

The French government had packed its belongings and left for Bordeaux on the morning of the day the English passed through Paris, and the people thought the Germans were about to besiege the city. All buildings in the line of fire had been destroyed, the civilian population sent south, and every preparation made for defense. Joffre only knew the real plan.

The Parisians were amazed when the Germans scarcely stopped in front of their city. They could not understand why Von Kluck should suddenly withdraw to the east, because they did not know how badly he was needed on the Marne front. But Von Kluck must have suspected, for it is said that he told an aide that, "We have met with a great misfortune."

Von Kluck was right, for the masterly strategy of Joffre had won the battle of the Marne before a shot had been fired in that historic struggle.

These facts were gleaned from military men whom we met in France. They show how little the civilian population of a military zone, or even the soldiers themselves, know of the movements in which they are engaged. Evidently Joffre had not confided his plans even to the government authorities at Paris, preferring to have the seat of government move and the population flee rather than take chances of these plans being learned by the enemy. So also at Reims.

The French who had been stubbornly defending the city they love best next to Paris from German "Kultur," were forced to move through Reims and to the south to take their place in the great battle line on the Marne. They went reluctantly and the Germans followed them into the city.

This explains the situation shown in the poster on page 245. The Germans were just outside of Reims on September 3rd, and the Mayor knew that the French army was moving south and leaving the city at their mercy. He counselled his people concerning their conduct, warning them to interfere in no rear-guard action such as was likely to occur. This proclamation was dated September 3, 1914.

* * *



TRANSLATION

PROCLAMATION

All authorities of the French Government and Municipal authorities are advised as follows:

1st—All peaceable inhabitants may follow their regular occupations in full security without being disturbed. Private property will be absolutely respected by the German troops. Provisions of all sorts suitable for the needs of the German army will be paid for as purchased.

2nd—If, on the contrary, the population dares in any form, whether openly or disguised, to take part in hostilities against our troops the most diverse punishments will be inflicted upon the guilty ones.

3rd—All firearms must be deposited immediately at the Mayor's office; all individuals bearing arms will be put to death.

4th—Whoever cuts or attempts to cut telegraph or telephone wires, destroys railroad tracks, bridges, roadways, or who plans any action whatsoever to the detriment of the German troops will be shot on the spot.

5th—The inhabitants of the city or of the villages who take part in the battle against our troops, who fire on our baggage trains or on our commissary, or who attempt to hinder any enterprises of the German soldiers, will be shot immediately.

The civil authorities alone are in a position to spare the inhabitants the terrors and scourge of war. They are the ones who will be responsible for the inevitable consequences resulting from this proclamation.

Chief of Staff, Major General of the German Army VON MOLTKE

* * *

White card, 45 x 56, posted on the walls of the city of Reims by German authority during the occupation of September 4th to 12th, 1914.

On September 4th the Germans entered Reims, having met with no resistance. They occupied the city without interruption until after the battle of the Marne, which historic struggle began at sunrise on September 6th and continued along a front of about 140 miles until September 12th.

In this battle, which was lost to the Germans because they had been out-maneuvered and compelled to shorten their front so that they were rolled up on both right and left wings, two million, five hundred thousand men were engaged—the greatest number taking part in one battle in the history of the world. Of these nine hundred thousand were Germans and the remainder Allies, principally French, the English having only a little more than one hundred thousand men in France at that time. On account of their superiority of numbers, the Allies were able to extend their front and thus threaten the Germans with envelopment at both ends of the long battle line, which reached from Meaux, twenty miles east of Paris, to the fortress of Verdun.

The losses in this tremendous battle are said to have been exceeded only by those of the battle of Flanders, which began October 13, and in which more than three hundred thousand men were slain. The losses at the Marne have never been officially stated.

* * *



MAYOR'S OFFICE REIMS

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The inhabitants are requested to abstain absolutely from touching shells which have not been exploded and are requested to notify immediately the police department, Rue de Mars regarding any such.

The least shock may cause the explosion of the projectile.

Reims, September 7, 1914. DR. LANGLET, Mayor.

Notice posted in Reims by order of the Mayor, September 7th, 1914.

* * *

Next followed the battle of the Aisne, in which the invaders were again defeated and forced to retreat. It was in this battle that the Germans made their last stand south of Reims. They had prepared strong positions on the right bank of this river as they moved toward Paris and in these tried to stem the tide of battle without avail. They were pushed back slowly out of these positions, some of which we were shown, and after being driven to the north of Reims, they began, on September 20th, the bombardment that destroyed the famous cathedral and many of the finest structures in the city.

It will be seen that the Germans, on their entry into Reims, guaranteed the safety of life and property. They had forgotten this when, on September 15, the victorious French reoccupied the city. Five days later, without reason or any other motive than revenge, the Germans, now making another stand in the trenches to the north of the city, opened fire on the cathedral and the bishop's palace nearby, destroying both beyond repair.

* * *



TRANSLATION

PROCLAMATION

In case a battle takes place today or very soon in the environs of Reims or in the city itself, the inhabitants are advised that they should keep absolutely calm and are not to take part in the battle in any manner. They must not attempt to attack isolated soldiers nor detachments of the German army. It is formally forbidden to build barricades or tear up pavement of the streets in such a fashion as to hinder the movement of the troops. In a word nothing must be done which will in any way tend to hinder the German army.

In order to insure sufficiently the safety of the troops and in order to keep the population of Reims calm, the persons named below have been taken as hostages by the commanding general of the German army. Those hostages will be hanged at the least sign of disorder. At the same time the city will be entirely or partially burned and the inhabitants hanged if any infraction whatsoever is committed against the preceding rules.

On the other hand if the city remains absolutely tranquil and calm, the hostages and the inhabitants will be placed under the safeguard of the German Army. By order of German authority,

Reims, September 12, 1914. DR. LANGLET, Mayor.

* * *

Both armies surged backward and forward over Reims twice, and it is not surprising that the city suffered severely. Nevertheless, the French officer who gave us the information outlined above was firmly of the opinion that the cathedral had been wantonly destroyed in revenge for the defeat and humiliation suffered by the German commanders at the Marne and the Aisne. Whatever may have been the motive, and regardless of how great may have been the excuse, the two illustrations of this splendid structure shown in a previous chapter are sufficient to stamp its destruction as a crime that can hardly be justified by the plea of military necessity.

Reims, when we saw it, with the story that is told by the proclamations reproduced, furnishes strong evidence that General Sherman was right when he described war.



XXVI.

SOME IMPRESSIONS OF FRANCE AND THE FRENCH

In closing this work it is my hope that the reader will consider that its inspiration and purpose have been stated with sufficient clearness, but in this final chapter I am venturing to record my general impressions of a truly great nation seen during a period which must be regarded as part of the most vital epoch in its history. This concluding chapter will have accomplished my purpose if it portrays the patriotic nationality of the French under existing conditions, in such manner as to be considered worthy of emulation in our own country.

During the necessarily brief and hurried visits made by our Commission to many parts of France, I met many notables, generals, under officers, parliament members, prefects, as well as great commercial leaders, but regret that owing to lack of time and my ignorance of the French language, opportunity for investigation and conversation with the bourgeoise was slight. Nevertheless it would be impossible to travel through afflicted France as our Commission did without experiencing an acute impression of the solidarity and quiet, determined patriotism of the French people. They stand as one to fight the war to a decisive finish. They treat the war as some gigantic job, about which there is to be no questioning, no weighing of sacrifices of life, comfort or finances, and which simply must go on until finished satisfactorily.

This development of the French character must come as a revelation to those who have in the past regarded the French as a volatile, frivolous, impulsive people, virile, yet lacking the accredited determination and persistency of the Teuton. This impression has been a great mistake. The faces of the men and women of France alike show no sign of vacillation. The French are counting the terrific cost, as becomes the thriftiest of nations, expecting to collect a bill that in their opinion has been running since the Franco-Prussian war and through the humiliating and irksome years which followed under the "favored nation" clause. From any other standpoint I believe few Frenchmen ever permit themselves to dwell upon the ruin and suffering the present cataclysm has brought upon their country.

Upon comprehending this attitude of the French, the thinking American cannot avoid speculation as to what would happen in these United States should a like emergency confront us. We may not dismiss such thought with the statement that such an emergency is impossible. It is a most unpleasant possibility and must be faced. We might be unconquerable, in the sense that Russia cannot be conquered because of her magnificent distances and natural barriers against a foe; but without the preparedness and the single-hearted patriotism of the French, an invader would find nothing in America to prevent him from working destruction beyond calculation and inflicting humiliation that would be even worse.



As these lines are written we are still at peace with all the warring nations. Our neutrality has been preserved only by submitting to outrages such as have been endured without forcible protest by no other great nation in the history of the world. If our patience with Germany serves as an example to the world of how a great and magnanimous nation may make sacrifices to encourage peace, our policy will prove to be wise. If, on the other hand, it serves only to make the Germans believe that we are too mercenary or two weak-kneed to defend ourselves and thus encourages further transgressions, our peaceable policy will have been a great mistake. After an opportunity to observe at close hand the methods and motives of the German war party, I am frankly afraid that the latter situation will prove to be the outcome. We shall be indeed fortunate if we can keep out of the war that has involved half the civilized world.

Nations like men profit by experience. The French people have records of history and civilization extending beyond the days of the Roman Empire, and that civilization has gone steadily forward through many centuries. No wonder then that they excel us in many things; the wonder is that they do not excel in all. In architecture and the arts, France leads America. This must be admitted by any fair-minded person familiar with the facts. But in industrial affairs the story is different.

Our country has adopted more progressive and efficient methods in the industrial field than can be found in France, where efficiency is not the word so much as is the comfort of the workers. This is particularly true of the iron and steel business. We saw in France not a single steel plant that could compare in efficiency with the great plants of this country. By this is meant that in none of the plants visited was the output per man nearly so great or the share enjoyed by the worker nearly so large, as is the rule in this country. Since we did not see the plants to the north which had been captured by the Germans, perhaps it is not altogether fair to make this comparison. Nevertheless the same impression was gained in the inspection of other industrial operations. The French workman is more artistic but he does not move so rapidly or produce so much as does the American. Neither of course, does he enjoy so large a remuneration. On the whole, wages are much less in proportion to individual production in France than in this country.

To the resident of a country which has not had a war within the memory of a generation, it is hard to convey by written or printed words a just conception of what a great war means to any country involved. The outward, visible evidence of individual restraint was one of the most vivid things witnessed on our trip through France: at least this was the case with me and, I believe, with some others of the Commission.

In France the individual has disappeared; he has been swallowed by the State; the nation in its dire necessity, obeying the law of self-preservation has practically obliterated the individual as such. He has become simply a small part of a great whole, a whole so inconceivably more important than any of its parts that all of them are completely subordinated.

The average American citizen would resent with heat the regulations regarded as a matter of course in France. He would fume and fret and all but rebel, if asked to live as the French people are forced to live during the war.

From what we could learn the submersion of the individual is far greater in Germany than in France, but to a healthy American citizen, accustomed to doing about as he pleases so long as he is able to pay the price and injures no one else, there is abundant restriction on personal liberty at this time in France. Possibly under similar circumstances we would as a people show an equal spirit of self-repression for the benefit of the national welfare.

The first great lesson taught by war to the death—as this war is for all concerned—is the great outstanding fact that people as individuals must surrender their rights to the people as a whole. Obedience to constituted authority must be absolute. Personal tastes and interests must be ignored or suppressed. The whole nation must work as one man, under the direction of one head, to keep it from being made subject to some other nation having less regard for personal liberty and more respect for efficiency.

I took particular pains to ascertain directly and indirectly from all classes the feeling of the French people towards Germany and the Germans. Prior to the declaration of war it is safe to say the feeling was not wholly unfriendly. Only three months before war was declared a similar commission came from Germany. The German commissioners were treated with great consideration. Plants and industrial establishments were shown, views exchanged and entertainments were the order of the day, or rather of the night, and everything possible done by the French to foster a good feeling, having in mind increased trade facilities between the two nations. But after war was declared, French territory invaded and the unspeakable and unwritable deeds of the German soldiers made manifest, this previous feeling changed to one of hatred and revenge which it will take generations to eradicate.

In our intercourse with the French people a kindly appreciative feeling was manifest towards the English and Americans; a feeling of deep gratitude towards England for the great part she has taken in the war and to America for the generous aid and assistance rendered in many ways. Hospital work and the great aid rendered by American aviators were much dwelt upon, the personal work of American men and women being everywhere in evidence.

Since my return I have been asked by a great many people as to the revival or otherwise of religious feeling as the result of the war, also as to the food situation, the general appearance of the country in France, the manner in which the dwelling houses are built, the maintenance of public roads, the school system of France and its efficiency as well as to the conditions prevailing now compared with former visits. France has never been deeply religious. Catholicism prevails to a great extent at present and has for centuries, although certain parts of France are Protestant. Such divisions and subdivisions of Protestant churches as prevail in the United States are unknown. A Frenchman or a Frenchwoman is either a Catholic or Protestant. Religious feeling is no doubt deeper in the country districts than in the larger cities, and this is particularly true of the Catholics. From the brief talk I had with French people on this particular subject I should say the war has made no difference and the religious attitude is about the same. The thoughts of the French people are so concentrated upon the war and its consequences that but little else occupies their minds.

During our sojourn in France, food seemed plenty and we heard no complaint of shortage. The French are proverbially thrifty and can and do live comfortably upon the equivalent of what Americans waste. When a Frenchman finishes his meal there is nothing left on the plate, on dishes or in the glasses. This was particularly noticeable at all the banquets and luncheons which we attended.

We had but little opportunity of ascertaining prices. The market houses in the small villages seemed well stocked with provisions.

Going to school in France is a governmental affair as all the schools are run by the Government, excepting only the convent schools, where higher education is taught to private pupils. France contains many high grade "polytechnique" schools, arts, military and schools of mines, all regulated and managed through the government department of education. I should say the common school system is not as thorough as in Germany, where education is wholly compulsory. Military education and training in France is a part of the established system of the public schools and is rigidly enforced. There are schools for training of officers the equivalent of our own West Point. Children of the wealthier class in France are taught and trained by private tutors. Retired army officers are largely employed in the military schools.

Our journey through France was largely through the devastated districts. I am certain that when this portion of France is rebuilt it will be done on a more sanitary scale, as indicated by the beginning of the reconstruction by Miss Daisy Polk and her associates at Vitrimont.

I was specially impressed by the magnificent scenery we saw and passed through during the latter part of our journey. The French Alps are considered in scenic effects equal to the world famous views in Switzerland. We were treated by the authorities directing the movements of the military automobiles with a perilous night ride from Le Puy to St. Etienne. Starting about eight o'clock we were taken a distance of nearly a hundred miles around, over and across gorges, steep inclines and winding roads innumerable. We got through safely but were warned from time to time by the peasantry that the ride had never previously been attempted except in day-light. We were several times lost and traced and retraced our steps time and again. But few of the party knew of the real danger we had passed through until told the following day.

Concluding I may say adieu to the reader by adding that the Commission has issued a printed report of its labors, the information contained in that book being the joint and collaborative work of all the commissioners. I have availed myself of some of the information contained in the two chapters in this commission report "The Work of Reconstruction" and "French Business Organizations".

THE END