PARIS IN WAR TIME

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 31, 5 February 1916, Page 13

PARIS IN WAR TIME

"THE LOAN OF VICTORY",

WOMEN AVIATOKS. ! , (Special to "Star.") PARIS, November 29. On Wednesday last the subscription list to the great French War Loan opened. Throughout the country it is known as "L'Emprunt de la Vietoire," though its official name i 3 merely the French 5 per cent loan. That it will be a huge success is a foregone conclusion. France is the sole Power among the belligerents who has not yet issued a loan, and having decided to issue one, it is to be done on a grand scale.

| As regards French patriotism, every class, every individual, is co-operating to make the loan a triumphant success, worthy of its popular name. It is an opportunity to invest with safety and. unusual profit. But the French people are not the only people to whom tlfe loan will appeal. It should prove irresistible to foreigners who are looking for a safe investment at a high rate of interest. The price of issue is 88, and the rate of interest is 5 per cent per annum. The capital invested need not be paid down in a lump sum, "but may be paid in four monthly instalments, a valuable concession for those who, while anxious to subscribe, may not have the necessary capital immediately available. In other words, investors wil'i .receive the guarantee of the French Government foT a loan of a hundred francs, in return for 87 francs, 25 cents in cash, the interest on the capital working out to nearly 5 per cent, or exactly 5.73 pe* cent. In addition, the loan is exempt from taxation, and is redeemable at par in January, 1931.

HOSPITAL ON FIRE. The annex of the Bon Marche shop was on Monday last completely destroyed by fire. The upper floors of this part of the store were used as a hospital, and nearly two hundred wounded soldiers were being tended there. Exciting scenes occurred during the rescue of the helpless heroes, and the doctors and nurses of the hospital showed re* markable devotion, and every man was safely transferred to the neighbouring hospital, Laennec. The alarm was given at 11.30 in the morning, when nurses saw. smoke escaping from the cellars, where the fire originated. The water poured by the firemen on the Bon Marche itself was turned to vapour by the intense heat. This formed a great pall over the building, and gave rise to the report that the main structure had caught fire. The fire was not finallyextinguished until morning. The building itself is valued at more than a million francs, and the cellars and lower storeys were stocked with a large assortment of woollen goods, a number of carpets being among them. A boy of sixteen has been arrested, and has admitted loitering in the cellars to gossip. He was an employee of the establishment, and after the . outbreak was heard to make compromising remarks. He was questioned by M. Guilbert, the examining magistrate investigating the cause of the fire, and has confessed to having smoked a cigarette and thrown it aside on the approach of an inspector, smoking- being a breach of Regulation. , The youth, Andre Poirier, is ,'said to be weak-minded; THE TTERR-rTORiAIST^AYT It was a thrilling incident, and'one not easily to be forgotten," -when,, with the regimental band playing, a detachment of Territorials marched through the heart of the city on Thursday. 'Twas a veritable triumphal procession. The passers-by cheered wildly;-from the workrooms along the route "midinettes" rained down flowers on the troops, and all saluted the flag joyously, proudly, thankfully. Since the war began tha army, though playing the great role in the field, has been little more, than a supernumerary in the capital. It is an anonymouß war for the army chiefs; the civil chiefs are less akin to the modest violet. The communiques.are. as impersonal and unemotional as a Stock Exchange report. The civil authorities do not hesitate to let us know what intelligence and devotion to the commonwealth they themselves have shown. A little of that publicity might be spared for' the army. Would it not be good policy to mention the names of the men who, by their military ability and valour, have "deserved well of the country?" And would it not also' be well to let -the "Regiments gui Passe" pass through Paris with band playing a little, oftener? WOMEN FLIERS. The French women aviators —or, to be exact, aviatrices —are not numerous, but they want absolutely to be incorporated in the French Aviation Corps. Having had licenses to pilot aeroplanes for several years past, they think they would be more useful in their own line pf business than as Red Cross nurses, or as workers in the ammunition factories. They are very patriotic, like all French women, and they want to help. The principal objection appears to. be that The- Hague Convention forbids' the employment of women as fighters, but to that the aviatrices reply that they are not so keen upon fighting in the air as they are in working at the aviation fields behind the lines. They could fly with new machines to the front, and could take old machines back, so that themeawho now do that could be engaged- 3n piloting observers over the German, Iriiies. "We ■ have had five years' they say, "and could do much Better than some of the beginners whomever saw a flying machine at close ra'ngCuntil after the war began. We 'crjiild also give instructions in flying/to the recruits. Pilots are needed all.: the time, and while we give lessons irjefmen now doing that could be useful'elsewhere."

I The arguments" of the French women seem convincing, but as war is a grim business, logic does not always enter into it. The-,- Government will doubtless think frpice before it admits them. The "Uniojy'des Aviatrices" has for secretary MHe-'Marthe Richer, and some of the other members are the Miles. Damidoz a'ltid. Marville and Mme. de la Roche, all of whom did some remarkable flying before the war broke out.