[Illustration: 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.