THE AWAKENING OF YPRES.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 178, 13 July 1920, Page 7

THE AWAKENING OF YPRES.

4 NIGHT IN THE CITY OF MIRACLES.

A night in Wipers! Sounds very romantic, does it not But really it is rather prosaic. Last night I slept in this not more than seven hundred cards from Heil Eire < • t-t. end vet 1 failed tr> be impressed by the fact (writes H. J. Greenwall, in tlie L-uidon ••Lady Express).” Last November I was particularly impressed by the manner in which ins ruined city was. being twated by tourists of all nations. Now the tourist traffic seems more slack, but the renaissance of Ypres has begun.

In six months wonders have been worked —one might say miracles. Where there was nothing but destruer- -i a-’d disorder there is now something that one can hardly define, it is as o a good miry had waved her wand, and order had come cut of chaos, j The breath of the spirit of life has been wafted into Ypres, and a generation hence there w.h be a new and possibly beautiful city standing on the ruins of old Ypres. Haw this miracle- has been wrought it would be diificult to explain. Perhaps the splendid example of King Albeit has led his people to get to work and to begin to rebuild their city without waiting for anybody to 'come to their assistance. Most certainly there is the most perfect organisation. NIGHT LIFE. Last night 1 went to sk-.-p while a piano opposite wa< grinding out the ••.Merrv \Vi<low” vnise. Here I want to says that the "night Ide ’ of Ypres 1< certainly on a brighter 'tale than in I’aris. '1 he cafes have no fixed hour tor closing; they stay open as long as they like. And the streets are more brilliantly lit by electric light than Paris. 1 was awakened before five o’clock this morning by I pres going to work. Lorries crammed full of workmen thundered past my window, and before the day was w’cii aired \ pr- A s was hard nt it—with its sleeves up and ns back well into its job. 1 fiave been out on a tour of inspection This morning, an I I have seen st lot of what -has already been accomplished. Eod-tiJed roots are dotted :;!l over the landscape. oell hoies nave been filled in. r.lth aivb >■: <-our«e. th ■■• re are hundreds of thousands still requiring attention. Drainage work on the battlefield and on the roads is well under way. New imiises are springing up like mnshrr.oms. and there are many shops which can sell von anything Irom a baby bonnet to a box of the best cigars. Everything in Ypres is mtrh cheaper than in Paris. ( NO CINEMA. There i= lib yet a picture palace, but everything will ccnio in good time. They do hat e a nmngri' sort < f entertainment sometimes. however. It consists of song- fropi the popular operas, a one-act farce, and pianclogues. But the twenty tliensatid-cdd inhabitants of Ypres-have more serious things to think about than entertainment.'. The Cloth Hall is being tidied up. and is to be rebuilt. The Ypres cemetery is being put right again, although there are still hundreds of graves blown to bits b/ Hun shells. The station, through which repl trains now run, is flanked by a new park in which flowers are already growing. Certainly there i is a breath of life in Ypres. [ Come to Ypres if you must yen ; tourists; it puts mm h-needed money j into the pockets of the Yprois. Hut a i word of warning to you. Do not monkey I with sh’ells you may find on the battleI field. There are accidents here every ; day. Two "duds” have gone up quite 'close to my hotel since 1 began to | write this article. And the graveyards | ot I pres are full enough already.