We saw many French soldiers in the trenches. They seemed to be well fed and comfortable. At the time we were there there was no actual fighting, of course, but an occasional shot rang out across "no man's land," when sentries on either side thought they saw a chance to do execution. The ground between Reims and the battle line is a complete network of these trenches, and years will be required to level it again after the war is over. From the advanced trench toward the German lines, at the points where we looked, there was no sign of war except an occasional shell hole and the barbed wire entanglements. The country was green and seemed to be at peace, except for the sound of the guns. It was hard to believe that we were looking across a narrow strip, on the other side of which were millions of armed men and every form of death and destruction that has been invented. Yet all this was there. Upon coming out of the trenches we were unable to find our automobiles, the military authorities having ordered them to separate, so that they would not prove an attraction to the German aeroplanes, otherwise they would undoubtedly have been fired upon. [Illustration: Trenches Visited by the Commission] Following this visit to the trenches, we were taken to the famous wine cellars of Heidsick & Co., containing twelve miles of underground vaults. A few days previous to our visit a German bomb had struck the Heidsick wine cellar and destroyed forty thousand bottles of champagne, believed to be the largest number of bottles opened at any one time in the history of the world. These vaults, during the bombardments, which were numerous, are a safety place for the inhabitants and thousands take refuge in the wine cellars. We were told that there was not a single bottle of champagne missed, a testimony to the honesty of the French people. This visit to the wine cellars was intensely interesting. While driving about the ruined town, the automobile in which I happened to be was guided by a chauffeur unfamiliar with the location, and he drove us across the German lines within three minutes ride of the German headquarters. The major in charge of the automobile squad discovered the error. We were told afterwards that we had a narrow escape from being made prisoners. While at Reims we were at all times within twenty-five minutes walk of the Germans and within ten minutes ride in the motor. The population at Reims before the war was one hundred and eighteen thousand. It is now reduced to eighteen thousand, the other hundred thousand having become refugees, soldiers and "missing". We visited a Twelfth century cathedral which, strange to say, had not been touched. While in this cathedral we could hear the guns booming.