ANONYMOUS WAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11215, 22 October 1914, Page 2

ANONYMOUS WAR.

FRANCE HAS HO HEWS. SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE. ("The Times.") BORDEAUX, September 12. Bordeaux has birred up many bitter memories of defeats of the past; it hits evoked many comforting con trusts full of hope for future victory. The '■' Now Franco" is on its trinl nr.cl will emerge with flying colours; the Old Franco of 1870, with its disastrous dissensions, its .jealous generals, its chaos and decay has passed away. Those who lived through tho < ; amice terrible" of forty-four years ago are best qualified to draw the happy contrast between then and now. M. Clemouceau, who stands for the fighting spirit of France, finds himself again in Bordeaux. Mayor of Montmart-re, and a fighter of the Commune, ho hat? come hero to support the Government with his criticism and advice.

"Who," he asks, "remembers now thafc Jules Simon on his arrival in Bordeaux had in his pocket an order for the arrest of Gambetta? In tho country, as in tho capital, war against the foreigner and the SrenchnTaii was in full progress. I only awaken these terrible memories the better to show the spknd:d satrahic tion aroused in our hearts by the spectacle of the truly brotherly union between all Frenchmen to-day. dambetta wa-ed tho war against invasion under the crudest attacks of a merciless opposition. Compare the situation then with that of to-day, when all parties ask noth:ng of the Government but that it every means of defence, and shall show itself-capable of obtaining from the country its maximum of etopency. The "brotherly union of all frenchmen" is not a mere phrase; it is a Sty. It is shown in the.smallest, details/of everyday life; it is shown n tho kind-hearted welcome given by the Southern and Western provinces to the thousands of jho have arrived from the theatre of war; it is shown in the lobbies of the improvised Parliament at tho Apollo, where Socialist and Reactionary meet 'o help forward tho business of France; it is shown in the Press, whero newspapers of the most wide-ly-conflicting'opinions are made bedfellows bv adversity in the same minting offices. It is not the bro■■horlv union" of a common sorrow, lv.it the bond of a common will to conmier France is confident of victory, nod that fires every letter from the front and gives those who remain behind the strength to bear the silence which lias fallen upon the country. NO CASUALTY LISTS. ■ This is an anonymous war, and even in victory the secrets of "la bas are not revealed. Tho names of the generals and of the troops who have won the battlo of the Marne are unknown. Not a single official casualty list has yet been issued since the war began. No word as to the fate of tho fortresses of La Fere, Loan and Rheims has yet been uttered. The first and only new? of the overrunning by the enemy of the north of France was contained m n list of the ransoms exneted from Amiens, Lens, Lille and Armentieres. No details have yet appeared of the furious fighting around Nancy and. Verdun. Since the recapture of Millhausen no word has come from Southern Alsace.. _ ■ t . Civilian France is in a darkened room, and with great appropriateness the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs

has been temporarily lodged in the local Deaf and Dumb "institute. The newspapers live by taking in each other's washing. Ttoms of news which filter through "to Bordeaux' forms the only source of information —the English papers do duty among the many newspapers of Bordeaux for many dayi. In sheer despair before (heir empty columns editors reprint their rivals' leading articles. English are loaned to tho various Embassies and G'overnnienfc Departments. A banker of Bordeaux, who "sked me for "The Times," told me that in IS7O Paris war, almost entirely -Impendent tmon England for her news of events outside. Mis sister, who was shut up in the besieged oity.foiind ; n the aj-'ony columns of "The Times," ■vhich readied Paris by balloon, news of her relatives in the provinces. "RUS IN URBE." Correspondence from the front is -'ated from nowhere, or like a letter 1 have in front of me, ", 'From my tree trunk." Tho calm gaiety with which this susnense is borne is shown in a charming letter from a lady in Paris, in which she says:— "We pass from anxiety to hope, but our spirits are calm. _ Tho attitude of every one is adrn'rablo. .Everybody speaks to everybody else in the ■street, in tho Metro, so great is the desire for anything in the shape of •lews. Our only suffering is the lack of news. Yesterday we 'laughed and laughed. The whole of our Rue do Calais laughed wildly. We had to abandon our country place at Nesles on Sunday leaving there our crops, beasts and fowls in the care o? our faithful servants Joseph and Robert, "Our Joseph not having any news, the village and the post office being evacuated, seeing that he was alone, and recalling our orders, ' rather lose everything than remain in danger,' arrves in Paris unci informs us that tho 'convoy' h at the gates of Paris. T o-o off there and begin the drollest procession you can imagine. There was Joseph, a long rod in hand, driving the heavy wagou drawn by two cows and laden with wheat. Young Robert, also with a rod, stirred the beasts up. Behind the cart cam« our third cow and then our horse Thrahim, drawing the cart which was laden with provisions, cages of ducks and hens, potatoes, etc. I. in my black rrown, feathered hat. and white gloves, take Ibrahim's bridle and wo enter Paris, skirting the outer boulevards — our old dog Nesla in a basket under tho cart, with her tongue hanging out, rabbits on the tomatoes, and ducks lyiu«z on a bed of beans. " Thus we arrived at the Rue de Calais. All the neighbours at the windows were immensely amused. Our oourtyi.rd rang with the laughter of the children (dear little ones, they will liave milk now). The cows mooed, J be cocks crowed, and the hens clucked, all astonished to find themselves on the stones of an' elegant courtyard suddenly become a farmyard. For a moment we forgot that our hearts are grinned as if in a vice and that all our thoughts should be kent for our heroes—those who are fighting."