FRANCE IN MOURNING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 31 March 1915, Page 8

FRANCE IN MOURNING

SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE. RUTHLESS DESTRUCTION. THE WORK OF GERMAN VANDALS AN AUSTRALIAN LADY'S LETTER. In an intensely interesting letter from Paris, dated Fanuary 22nd (addressed to a friend in Sydney, Mrs. Banks (formerly Miss McConnel, of Queensland), gives a graphic description of the effects of the war in Franee. She says: "One did not realise in Australia what the French are suffering —we talked of the Belgians—and knew little of France. The first days I was here I could hardly bear to go about —the whole place is in deep nronrning. In the trains everyone is in black, at the Arc d'Etoile, usually so gav, the people walk about in little groups in deepest mourning. If one did not know the cause one would think they -were all returning from funerals. Their faces are sad and patient —a few seem quite crushed. "Where England has lost one I should think they have lost 10, and their enemy is still so near, firing day and night on the trenches. A good deal of France Has been destroyed; Lille was a great industrial centre, now in rains, and other industrial towns have gone to ruin. Valuable mines of crystal, etc., in the north of France have been blown up. The Germans are extracting all the metal they can from all .the mines they can get . They take away all the cattle, destroy the farirs, strip the houses of every scrap of any value in them, and impoverish the districts they hold. "In Belgium they are now cutting down all the trees, and extracting all the cdaL However is the place to be made productive again T But, in addition to the terrible impoverishment of her own people, poor France has thousands of Belgian Tefugees on her hands, and with mearljr all her men "sous les drapeaux" has little coming in. ENGLAND'S TRADE.

. "Compared to this England is getting off very lightly-indeed j Tier commerce is increasing,, and some of her towns are doing better than they have done for many years; also slie has no army in her borders destroying' her towns, and farms, and mines. The losses of France are enormous. We must remember that but for her and Russia we should have been iruch worse off than we are now. Even the Zeppelin raids, which have begun, cannot do us nearly so much harm as the German* occupation has done France. I have found out here a member of the Ijyceum. Club, who is doing a great deal of work with a French committee. She and X had four soldiers to tea this afternoon from one of the hospitals—all out for the first time. "Two of them, Frenchmen, had never seen Paris before. I went to meet them at the beautiful English hospital set up in the Avenue Kleber, and took some flowers to two poor English youths whohave been in hospital for three or -four months, and are only slowly recovering from serious wounds. They . liked to hear about the Suez Canal and the Australian troops. There were all sorts of men.in the wards—some frorr Morocco with their flashing brown eyes! _ "We took three French soldiers and one English one away to tea in taxis. The English boy' has' lost his foot, and will never fight again; the others were older—all; married- —one a Breton, one from Gre'tfoble, another from the centre of France. They all looked very sad, I thought. One has hurt his hand and arm, beyond recovery—he was done for some time ago at I*a Bassee, where the French now are. The man from the south only came in a week ago from the last engagement at Soissons.- He said to me he would like to make me some return, and if X were" not going away would write and ask his wife to send me a few flowers from her cottage-garden. , 'fThese French are so courteous and gentle, with their quiet smile and their respectful manner. One turned and took the English boy's hand.' 'Camerade!' he said, and the English boy. looked at me, explaining, 'We seem to understand one .another, althongh I do not know French. My best friend is a Moroccan —his arm is always round my neck in the ward.' X told the Frenchman how glad I was to have been with them after all they Bad done and" borne for us women, who sit protected at home. They said simply they were glad too, and that the English were, brave soldiers. THE PEACEFUL FRENCH.

"The French do not Hke _ fighting; they are peaceful and home-loving j they have a far-away look in their eyes, but tbey are dauntless, and are enduring this life at the trenches with unrivalled heroism. One" man told me he\he had been in the trenches for 35 days without a break. Mile, de Carparin told: me a iriend of hers had been fighting eight days and nights with, hardly any sleep. The better-class men, artists and men of- letters, hate it—they say it is a life like hell, and indeed it must, be. English people seem not to realise all that France is so quietly suffering, but the men that aro coming will do their share bravely. "Germans are living quite brightly, one hears, with their theatres and # cafes open; hotels full, and many factories at work. And they say England wished for the .war, and caused it. They art paying' agents in Italy and America thousands of pounds to cany on the crusade against us. My late Celtic professor, Kuro Meyer, has gone from Berlin to the United States, and makes fiery, speeches over there against England" to Irish and Germans. Harvard University, which' had invited him to lecture there, has now cancelled the invitation. He has said such hateful things that he cannot be forgiven. _ . "To those who can stay in Australia and have no call tojthis agonised Europe, I can only say 'stay where you are.' No one could possibly think of more enjoyment while we are engaged in this awful straggle."