The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915Various
History
The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
The other Sunday morning at the hour of mass, when two German aeroplanes
were engaged in their genial occupation of throwing bombs over the
residential and business quarters of the city, I assisted at several
sidewalk conversations in the district lying between the Madeleine and
the Rue de Rivoli. Nowhere did I find the least sign of excitement.
Indeed, there was curiously little interest shown as to the results of
the explosions in that neighborhood; only a grim acceptance of this
daily visitation as something to be added to the score in the final day
of reckoning and some expression of surprise that the French aeroplanes
(supposed to be constantly on the alert for these visitors) should not
have found some means of putting an end to the nuisance. At the same
time I heard several spectators express their admiration of the German
aviators' courage and appreciation of the ease and grace with which they
handled their beautiful machines. In the cafes that evening, when the
full list of the casualties and damage had been published, one heard a
good deal of criticism, seasoned with Attic salt, on the subject of the
belated appearance of the French aeroplanes on the scene, and hopes that
the boulevards might soon be rewarded by the spectacle of a duel in the
air. They seem to think they have earned it.
But in the afternoon all Paris was out--in the Jarden des Tuileries, in
the Bois, at Vincennes, basking in the sunshine of a glorious Autumn
day, Madame et Bebe bravely making the best of it in the absence of
Monsieur. (Not that Monsieur is always absent; the proportion of men in
the crowd, and men of serviceable age, was considerably larger than one
might have expected.) If the object of the German aviators is to instill
terror into the hearts of the Parisians they are wasting their time and
their bombs.
Those people in London who complain about not being able to get supper
after the theatre, and other minor disturbances of their even tenor of
existence, should spend a few days in Paris. They would observe how
easily a community may learn to do without many things, and how the
lesson itself becomes a moral tonic, unmistakably stimulating in its
effects.
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