WAR TEA PARTIES IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2801, 20 June 1916, Page 3

WAR TEA PARTIES IN FRANCE

There are many kinds of war tea parties, but among the most-interesting are those which are given for the soldiers, either the men. home on leave or the convalescent men from, the 'hospitals, writes Paris correspondent of "The Queen." Endless charming stories are the rounds of the salons to-day of what the men say, what they enjoy, and how very appreciative they are. Frenchwomen, Englishwomen, and American' women are all anxious to bo hospitable to the soldiers, and some women whose circumstances allojv of nothing 'more active.than to help in, this way, are doing excellent work in' the sense that they are giving to the men the thing they love—a taste of home. Many of them have never been in anything but a peasant home before, but' the affection which makes the real home is the thing they look for far more than .anything suggestive of riches. An English lady entertained some men ■ from a hospital the other day, and among her guests-was a soldier who had not been out of the hospital for eight months. He had lost one leg and one arm, and the other leg was paralysed. But he was full of enthusiasm for his little "outing," and it was repeated'a fortnight later. Anyone who has a drawing-room cinema, a gramophone, or a friend who will'come and tell stories or recite 'poems, can get most enjoyable party, and it is noticeable among the French soldiers that-they- like to .be instructed ,on the cinema rather . than be amu6ed. Tfiey like to see the pretty things which belong to' the lady of the house, and they enjoy the quiet touch of intimacy better than the more arranged programme.. .For our women who aro In France, in such numbers nursing the sick and feeding the hungry, there ; is no more treasured reward for their sacrifices than the ! mutual. appreciation which exists between t them and their patients, or between them and those. whom they, are privileged to help in reconstructing a. home. The finest essence of this fine T?vc_e is expressed in its simple soldiera aild its peasant people; on the battl'efield_ they show, magnificent courage, in the hospital they show equal courage and a patience that is divine. The mutilated man who -grumbles is almost unknown, and there are men with shattered nerves who at the request of a woman who is nursing them will make a superhuman effort to dominate" those, nerves and .bear the torture.of..their: dressings without moving a muscle' or uttering a cry. You are 1 on your knees to the soldiers of France as you are on your knees to the soldiers and sailors we ciaim as our own people,- and to all those who are fighting in the Allied cause. To' th'ink about them as we know them,,read 'of' them, hear about them,' is the finest' men® ' tonic ,of the. time, and. if such thoughts do not spur us to further and Letter energies (as individuals,, not as nations), there is small hope for us. The tea parties of the early days of the war, when everybody brought their knitting, are not very general now. The suppression of cakes', is less common than it was, and the toilettes of the -women aro quite lip to date; The one distraction that. is. never indulged hi is dancing; for ever is the tango dead and temporarily all other dauces. Bridge maintains its sway, particularly over those who are no longer in. their earliest youth, music has-a certain place, literature is reasserting. its power, .anil art in aTijits branches is making itself felt. People discuss the reviews, the few new 'novels, the few new plays, or'the revivals, the pictures otil and new which are being exhibited, and you realiset as you listen' that intellectual. France is as keen and as alert as ever it was. i '