PARIS IN WARTIME.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 168, 15 July 1916, Page 19

PARIS IN WARTIME.

CONFIDENCE OF VICTORY.

(Special to "Star.-)

PARIS, May 9.

Thp "Teat Verdun battle seems to have flickered oat, the French Press making D 0 more ado about it than if it had been "he end of a frontier skirmish. And y~t Verdun wiU for ever' remain the scene 0 [ the "reatest military engagement of si] time. Close on one million men hsre now been in action for more than a nionth, with shells pouring at an average rate of one hundred per minute on oilier side; and 200.000 German casuali' ci —such is the Gargantuan etruggle t;-at has heen going on. A strange apathy came over Frenchmen as this encounter proceeded. Word had reached Paris from the highest authoritj that all would be well; from that moment interest in Verdun just resolved it«elf into how long would the (.α-rmans "keep it up."

IS THE CROWN PRINCE DEAD ?

German propaganda is at times .-.o subtle that even the most powerful intellectual microscope fails to expose its hidden meaning. The latest piece of Teutonic ingenuity, if ingenuity it be— for none appears on the surface of the pamphlet—is to let Frenchmen kno.v that the Crown Prince is no more. T!ie underground railway carriages have been strewn with these my.ncrious missives, presumably placed there by the sullied hands of German intrigue. The context of tie leaflet in question runs:—'" If William 11. died, the Emperor of Oermany would be a child aged nine. This is why the. German Crown Prince's death is kept secret. We affirm that William Frederick, iieir to the German Throne, tras killed in France between September 11 and 14, 1914." This strange effusion concludes: " Frenchmen, repeat to all, 'Tie Crown Prince is dead.'" A death's lead seals the document, and needless to say. no printer's name appears. iiut what "does it all mean? \ wonder if the perpetrators themselves knew?

ARRIVAL OF RUSSIANS. ] The arrival of the Russians at Marseilles, on their way to the western front, 'was one of those surprises which Governments know co well liow to spring upon unsuspecting peoples. As pleasant as it was to Frenchmen, it must hare proved quite the contrary to the Germans. Parisians had not forgotten that mythical army of Russians that "Failed from Archangel to the British shores" some eighteen months ago. so' were reasonably pardoned for being Bonewhat sceptical as to the truth of the above-mentioned news. It was not until the boulevards were well sprinkled with the Czar's soldiers on Easter Monday, that the full force of their advent ■was really felt. Here they were, in their square-shouldered massiveness. cynosures for all eyes. Whatever doubt Bwyhave existed in some miiKls as to the exact extent of the Franco-Russian alliance, there it was. in its most potent solidity, aechumed by the huge crowds that positively swamped the tree-lined thoroughfares of Paris. The presence of bo many eplendid epecimens of Russian manhood, selected for their %bting qnaßtifis.lias placed thp seal of tmity upon the military entente of the iffies. TRAOTBTG WITH THE ENEMY. The French Government is determined to put a stop to any trafficking with Germans. When such trafficking is confined to Prance, it may pass muster: but the idea that French goods have found their way to Germany eince the war started is ahnoet inconceivable. And yet 6uch has been the case, as witness the sentence of five years' penal servitude passed upon a certain M. Racine for la-ring supplied 1,3001b of olive oil and other goods to a well-known firm ol «a de cologne manufacturers at Colojme. Ratine's defence, that he had forwarded the oil in the spirit of a present to his clients, and not as a commercial transaction, seems to have been a particularly unhappy inspiration. Even the plea that the Cologne firm in question was not German, bnt Italian, failed to convince the war tribunal, and the "generouehearted* trafficker saw himself forcibly obliged to retire from business for sixty calendar months. A bad augury for others awaiting trial on similar arraignments. THE VIRTUE OF REPRISALS. The ill-treatment of British prisoners if war in Germany happened to be the theme of conversation between a welJi«nra ex-Minfcter Depnty and mp. "Whatcan you expect?" eaid he. "While Engand passively endnres and shows no wste for reprisals, co long will the Gersuds Cutitiune their svstomatic cruelties.

Now. we in France, although averse to anything in the way of undue retaliation, found ourselves forced to put into prac tiee the eve for eye doctrine as regards the treatment of our men. We found that the system worked satisfactorily, if not admirably. French prisoners are now better fed, generally better treated, and have less to complain of than waa the case when we were pleaeed to play the role of blessed martyrs. Take it from mc. one ounce of retaliation is worth hours of rhetoric and pages of complainte."' REVIVAL OF HOOLIGANISM. The "apache" has shown quite a patriotic reticence eince the -war broke out. but he is making his reappearance. Whether the crowded and festive aspect of Paris has led him to believe that the moment to take down shutters has arrived i≤ not quite clear. The fact, however, remains that aggression by organised bands of these ruffians, mostly under military age, are constantly perpetrated, the last victim being a policeman. Peaceful citizens are attacked by these precocious criminals, women are insulted, and on the whole a state of insecurity, if not of terror, has been created by this new hooliganism. The shooting of a "sergent de ville" has awakened the prefect to something like drastic action, and war is to be declared on these youthful banditti. A NEW ARTILLERY TERROR. From private sources I learn of the appearance shortly on the western front of a new gun, quoted as a marvel of artillery engineering art. For obvious reasons, I am not at liberty to describe this new weapon, which, if report epeaks right, should play no little part in Germany's eventual undoing. Extremely ■mobile —actually more so than the now famous 75 —the latest man-mowing production is capaible of performances against which all previous cannon of the kind must pale in comparison. Such an engine comes as a fitting reply to Senator Humbert's oft-repeated remark that the things we need most are not words, with which we arc plentifully supplied, but guns. The official trials of the new quick-firer—it aleo possesses a rapid action—have proved such that the most rampant pessimist might well smile with joyful anticipation. Things are moving along, slowly perhaps, but none the less surely. THE NAVY STRENGTHENED. .Although in halcyon times of peace such an event would have created much journalistic and public rejoicing, the commissioning of two new French euperDreadnoughts last week passed quite unnoticed. It is even a moot point whether this all-important matter was mentioned at aIL The censor may have had a hand in the suppression of the news. Nevertheless, the very solid-steel fact remains that the French fleet has been mightily strengthened by two units named "1-a France" , and ''Paris." The first of these is to be commanded by Captain Delahet, the Paris being entrusted to Captain Seeing that French arsenals are working short-handed, the constructive feat in question calls for some applause. WHY HOARD GOLD ? Another case of misplaced riches has just come to light, the victim being a news agent, who by hoarding his gold has both loet it and his life. Here was another object-lesson for those -whose avarice is leading them to forget the patriotic principle of depositing their precious coin at the Bank of France in exchange for paper money. M. Eugene Challois had accumulated a little independence, and in his egotism used to boast that he meant to\e?p his gold to himself. He lived like a hermit, but spoke like a millionaire. "My cellar may not :be rich in wines," the unfortunate man used to declare, "but it is rich in better things." This n o doubt prompted someone to verify the oft-repeated statement, if. Challois' body being found this week with the skull battered in. The treasure had vanished, and so has the assassin. The moral, as pointed out by a patriotic Press, is obvious. According to statistics, about a hundred million pounds' sterling worth of gold is etill beiDg held back.