V
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY, MORNING. MARCH 17. 1918.
BALANCE OF POWER . LIES WITH THE ALLIES ON WEST FRONT
'I
WHERE ALLIED AIR RAIDS CENTER The circles show the main objectives of the Alii eel air raiders. They divide into
two groups. Those near the coast in Belgium, not all of which can be shown, where are the great airdromes, from which
the raiders start for England, are attacked chiefly to check such raids. Those in the south, junction points of the vital
railways on which German armies depend for food and munitions, are harassed to interfere with the supply of those armies.
Geographical Facts r
Must Be Understood
Morale of Nations
Controlling Factor
Material Considerations Alone Cannot Win War and Without Vic
tory and Defeat for Belligerent Groups There Can
. Be No Permanent Decision.
Political Considerations That Guide Policies of Central Powers,
Especially in the Region to the East, Are of
Foremost Importance.
U - --
- - By HILAIRE BELLOC
Author of "Element, of the Great War" and Britain moat dUtinguished
military critic.
. i Copyrlgbt. 11)18, the Tribune Association, the New Tort Tribune)
TURJNG the continued lull before the opening of this season's fighting
the lull every moment of which is filled with preparation for the great
' coming struggle it is of value to learn to appreciate the importance of cer
5 tain reorrar-hical facts which are and will be closely connected with the last
; Stages of the great war. They should be especially interesting to the Amer
lean public, since the names of most of the points involved are already fa
miliar to it from the press. But the teoetarhical meanines of those places
and their Importance in military maneuvers are still not understood by that
fiubllc, and unless they learn to understand them during this time of wait
ng the movements of the war which will soon begin will Be difficult to fol
. low.
First, as to the points the bombardment of which from the air one reads
of almost daily In the present development of the aerial offensive by the Al
lieswhich, by the way, is proving the increasing superiority of the Allied
air navies. Treves, on the Moselle; the railway junctions outside of Thion-
, tint and Metz; Mannheim and Ludwigshaven opposite; the airdromes behind
the Belgian towns near the North sea coast all these are outside the actual
war tone, but are the points which most concern us.
Choking Attacks
on Britain
The bombardment of the airdrome
behind the Belgian roast haa for Its
''principle object Interference with the
German air raids on London and on
other point on the coast of Southern
England. The craft used by the Ger
. man for these raids over the sea start
their expeditions from very large con
- yeentratlon points, where they are
. ' Stabled. These are not numerous and
Messrs thoroughly known to the British.
- The perpetual harassing of them by
bomb dropping Interrupts though it
cannot aa yet put a complete end to
the air ffense aaglnst the civilian
centres Of Britain. It Is really, al-
though civilian imaginations are slow
' to selxe that fact, much the best defence
that London ha against attack from
the air.
Mannheim and Ludwigshaven. apart
. from the great manufactories of war
v material which are located there, form
a point of great importance for two
reasons. The first la that one of the
, chief crossings of the Rhine Is there.
The seoJknd Is that from the very fact
r of Its being a principal crossing, six
' lines of railway converge upon It. TJn
, . fortunately Mannheim Is not far from
the extreme limit possible for success-
ful air work on a large scale at the
; present stage of development. It repre
-, sent a radius of approximately 160
miles.
Individual machines can, of course.
go many times that distance and drop
. a bomb or two on their way. We have
.-. even had one case of an air man flying
from France to very nearly beyond the.
Oerman lines In Russia; but for engine
trouble be would have crossed those
; line and landed on friendly soil. There
waa another caae of a Frenchman flying
. irom behind the trench line In Lor
raine, passing over Munich, where he
dropped bombs successfully on the rail
way station, and landing safely behind
the Italian lines In the Venetian plain.
But for continued raids by many ma-
, chines carrying a considerable weight
of explosives Mannheim represents, not
; 'l- Indeed the last limit of possibly effec-
tlve radius, but still a lengthy one.
:; The two Junctions outside of Metz and
., Thionville are more important, though
' the work there Is much more delicate,
because the French naturally desire to
', spare these two chief towns of Lorraine
as much as possible. Luckily for the
allies, the railway Junctions at both
.'' places are well outside of the densely
populated area.
Breaking Railways
! For 70 Miles
The Importance of these two Junctions
v Is this: That if both can be completely
Interrupted there will be no direct rail
.: , way Communications between the fSr-
man base and the German front over a
. cap of something like 70 miles. As
'.,, points for the concentration of German
L troops, either In support of their front
lines or during rest peripds, they are
also or great importance.
But although less understood because
the place la of comparatively small
:.' strategic Importance. Treves (which It
' will be noted is much more frequently
bombed from the air than any other
' place) Is the most Important of all
. these allied air objectives. If you will
look at your map you will see that
' , north of the Moselle valley there Is a
? large hilly forest district, with very few
roads and no large towns, lying partly
: In- Belgian and partly In the Rhenish
"vprovinces of the German empire. It in
cludes the Ardennes, the EMfel and what
the Belgians call "Haute Range"
. ; Though there Is one line of railway
.; crossing this country the whole district
la little suitable, because of Isolation
'and the broken character of the ground,
i- for good communication and the single
railway is not a main line and does
not lead up to the system on which the
German front in France depends for
its supplies. ,
The two great avenues of supply of
this front are to the north and south
of this mass of hills and forest ; to the
north goes the grat backbone railway
of Northern EuroDe the Paris-Berlin
line, of which the crossing of the Meuse
Is at Liege. This railroad was the chief
artery of communication for the original
German advance. To the south of this
mass of hills is the line of the Moselle
valley, and Treves Is the knot or Junc
tion point for all Its communications In
addition to being a considerable depot
for men and material.
Most Important
Point of Attack
The continued bombardment of
Treves, therefore, of which the railway
stations by this time have been de
stroyed, is of the highest Btartegical
value. It is. luckily for the allies,
easier to reach than almost any other
point of equal importance behind the
enemy's line. It is only 75 miles from
the airdromes when the allies' offensive
bombing planes start Roughly, that is
only about half the distance from the
airdromes to Mannheim. That means
that half of the weight in petrol which
the planes destined for Mannheim
would have to carry, Is saved In a raid
on Treves, and in mere mileage It
means that there is much less than
half the risk of being hit by the anti
aircraft guns on going or on coming
back.
In this matter, by the way, the actual
mileage la an Insufficient index of the
comparative dangers, because the risk
obviously Increases more rapidly than
the distance the time to send warnings
and to prepare resistance ahead of the
raiding planes being a function which
rises in efficiency more rapidly than
the direct trajectory of the flight. The
same is true of the liability to engine
trouble, of the exhaustion of petrol, etc.
MAIN RAILWAYS
MINOR RAILWAYS .
German Policy of
Division in East
The other geographical point which
ought to be understood Is the political
geography of the states which the Ger
mans and Austriarls are now carving
out of the western provinces of what
waa once the Russian empire.
It is a mere commonplace, of course.
which we all take for granted, that If
Prussia can obtain a negotiated peace
she will turn these states into depend
encies of the great Central-European
empire, of which she will be the head.
and that although they will enjoy some
form of nominal autonomy they will. If
she Is unbeaten in this war, be no more
than provinces under her dominion.
They will certainly, for Instance, have to
furnish contingents of troops as her
allies In any future war, and they will
still more certainly be economically at
the mercy of German exploitation. Ail
this, I say. Is understood everywhere in
Europe and taken for granted. It Is
equally understood and equally taken
for granted in the enemy's countries
quite as much as In ours that If his
armies are defeated on the west the
whole of his ambitious scheme In the
east collapses.
What are not equally appreciated are
both the magnitude of Germany's east
ern effort and the policy of division on
which this new erection of states Is
based.
As to the policy of division dividing
in order to rule the whole business of
Prussia Is to diminish and weaken Po
land. Of all these states Poland is the
only one with a real national conscious
ness of a great past and of high civili
zation. A strong Poland, with access to
the sea, would destroy the Prussian
scheme of conquest' forever.
Rendering Poland
All But Powerless
The Prussian policy Is not to annex
more of Poland than has already been
annexed bV the shameless partitions of
the past. That would give more trouble
than it would be worth, for, as every ex
ample proves all over Europe, the at
tempt of one white civilized nation to
govern even a small part of another
white civilised nation against its will Is
difficult, dangerous and exceedingly
expensive operation. But if what Is left
of Poland can be surrounded by diverse
states, each containing scattered and
weak Polish minorities and each with a
policy founded on opposition to the
Polish claims for the reuniting of the
subjugated peoples into a single nation,
the Prussian object would be achieved.
That Is exactly what Is being done. The
largely artificial new states called the
Ukraine an academic term only re
cently come Into use and Lithuania are
to have their frontiers drawn with the
express purpose of limiting the poor
remnant of Poland.
But apart from this policy of dismem
bering and bleeding the Polish nation
the ne force she fears in the east
Prussia proposes to create other Imper
fect and artificial states full of the seeds
of division among themselves.
In the Courland she will rely upon the
German minority of rich men In towns
and the rich land owners outside.
In Lithuania he will depend upon the
hitherto not very accentuated divergence
between Polish landlords and Lithuanian
peasantry with the organization of the
Catholic church flattered as much as Is
possible by the conqueror.
But from Lithuania she will take
Livonia and make something separate
of It,, small as It Is, to keep up geneVal
friction.
In Esthonla she will work Just the
other way, and there she will depend
upon the Protestant religion of the small
population of a half million which it
contains to remain pitted against the
Catholic populations of the southern
neighbors.
Roumanla she intends to keep as it is
now, divided in hair is;itn more tnan
three million Roumanians subject to
Magyar rule, but she will add to Rou
mania Bessarabia as a source of friction
against the Ukraine, In so far as this
last state can be said to have any real
national feeling.
Will Master Ukraine
and Control Black .Sea
The Ukraine "sie will pit against
Poland by creating an artificial false
frontier and subjecting many hundreds
of thousands of Poles to alien rule, and
she will "protect" that large territory,
keeping It in strict economic dependence,
controlling Odessa, mastering the Black
Sea, cutting off Northern Russia from
warm water and preventing one of the
richest granaries of Europe from feed
ing the western part of the continent.
Lastly, we should remember what this
great German scheme means In mere
figures. There is a doubtful element in
the constitution of the Ukraine which,
according to whether it is made larger
or smaller, shows a difference of five
million in population. But with the
Ukraine even In Its narrowest limits
this congeries of new, largely artificial
and opposed states will actually double
the German empire In numbers. With
the Ukraine at Its largest they will more
than double It.
There were before the war nearly
70,000,000 souls within the limits of the
German empire, including, ' of course,
the annexed populations governed
against their wills in the Polish and
Danish provinces and in Alsace-Lorraine.
In the new districts, which will
be subject to the central empires, there
is another 65,000.000 to 70,000,000. As
for the dimensions of this district, the
extreme length is 1000 miles, and the
average breadth perhaps 300 ; the ex
treme breadth, according to the limits
of the Ukraine, being from 650 to nearly
800 miles.
That Is the state we have before us.
That is the price to hold which the
Germans are seeking a negotiated peace
and liberation of which can only be
effected by our victory.
Another vital matter, which It Is well
to understand before the military oper
ations recommence, and with which the
American public may be unfamiliar. Is
the question of civilian morale in Eu
rape. Man Is a citizen of a nation
through an Idea, Just as he Is a mem
ber of a religion through an Idea. But, i
also, he Is himself he suffers in hi I
body or In his immediate domestic af
fections In far more positive fashion.
When the idea of a nation weakens
and individual suffering or fatigue ob
scures it, then for the purpose of war
between nations this moral factor de
clines. It is higher in some places to
day than in others. It may be rein
forced by one policy, weakened by
another. What is the gauge of it to
day? What sort of barometer can we
consult? That depends upon our Judg
ment our right Judgment of the war
under these last conditions of extreme
strain. Just as under the earlier con
ditions our Judgment was based upon
our calculation of numbers in men and
material.
A perfect answer could be given only
by a mind at once quite impartial
among all the belligerents and at the
same time perfectly Informed. But a
rough answer can be given by any one
with fair Information who has made a
continuous study of the campaign. I
think this rough answer is best arrived
at by comparing the probable present
views of the various governments and
the populations dependent upon them.
The Attitude of
Central Powers
First, let us consider the attitude of
the central powers. The government of
the German empire, under Its modern
Prussian organization, thinks somewhat
as follows: .
We and our allies forniNsne solid
territorial block In the midst of
Europe. Of this block we, the Ger-
man.iiuilr1nv vATnlntilfl flrA A 1 .
........ , .
most exactly half. We have mainly
to concern ourselves, therefore, with
the state of mind of the German
population. If that stands firm the
whole mass will stand ftrm. We
are blockaded by sea and the block
ade has become very much more
rigorous since the United States en
tered the war.
In any war but this such a strain
would have passed the breaking
point long ago. Men would long
ago have reached a point where In
dividual fatigue, suffering and grief
would have outbalanced national
ties and disolved national discipline.
On the other hand, we are fight
ing for our Uvea. We have. done,
things which civilization will not
forgive and which we can only com
pel it to reprieve by showing that
we are Invincible and, therefore.
Immune from punishment. That Is
a great factor of strength, and the
nation knows It.
Next, we are fighting on foreign
soil everywhere. We hold with our
allies some 2.000,000 prisoners. We
are within an ace of upsetting the
equilibrium of our enemies and pro
ducing a general couapse.
The United States will bring a
considerable accretion of men to the
west, but this accretion will be
brought neither in time nor In suf
ficient numbers to affect the Issue.
Now, what about the western nations?
The state that once was called Russia
we can eliminate. It no longer exists.
Three western nations are the crux of
the whole problem. Have they been mis
understood by the German authorities,
and even by the Austrian? Is their In
ternal organization Btronger than the
enemy Imagines? Will It suffice to
maintain the struggle until the enemy is
defeated? Without defeat and victory
on one side or the other there Is no per
manentdecision for Europe at all. Any
one who conceives of permanent peace
without It is living In a world of Illus
ions. 1
I cannot make so bold as t-answer
the question directly, but I can, at any
rate, state how the problem looks to
thooe who are governing In the three
countries.
Strain Heavy
on Britain
To begin with Great Britain. The
mind that is governing Great Britain
(a most complicated organism for It Is
not only political, but soelal and aristo
cratic ; not only this, but highly com
mercial, and to that extent cosmo
politan ; no only this, but financial,
for London Is the clearing house of the
world), seems to stand somewhat thus:
The strain Is far heavier than we
thought It would be even a year ago.
We are mainly an industrial country, '
we are highly capitalistic and our
social arrangements were never
made for such a strain. The strain
Is Worse because we are an island
which lives by Us Import", tvoth of
material, and food, as a diver lives
by his air tank.
Our confidence ultimately repone
In this: that there reside In Britain
certain latent, silent and almost
sub-conscious forces which are ,a
sort of great reserve upon which the
nation draws In time ofgreat peril.
Our nation lawless vocal than other
nations; It is full of astonishingly
individual and eccentric energies
which make the foreigner think us
divided. But the mass in tenacious
In the highest degree, and, though
confusedly, the mass does under
stand that this war Is for this Island
(more than for any other part of
Europe) a matter of life and death.
France Firm in
Spirit to Win
The French reply can be put much more
shortly and simply, and it really is the
core of the whole matter.
We took the whole brunt of the
first shock. We havs suffered
enormous losses. Invasion and ruin
are still upon our soli. It was our
military genius which checked the
onslaught, with the fighting odd of
five to eight, at the Marne. - It was
we who prevented the initial and
easy victory of Germany.- No In
ternal differences count among us
compared with our determination
that the power which haa attempted
our destruction by the vilest means,
by the violation of treaties, and by
usages unheard of among civilized
men. shall be destroyed. In this de
termination, with which the whole
nation Is filled, and of which we
chance parliamentarians are merely
the exponents. Is rooted ohr certi
tude of victory. But we have suf
fered far more than any of our
allies, precisely because we took the
first shock. We are compelled, there
fore, to trust In the reinforcement
they will afford us. We will sacri
fice every private difference between
ourselves and those allies to the su
preme common end.
There, I take it. Is a fair picture, of
the contrasting and opposed views on
civilian morale within the belligerent
powers which each,, could It speak by its
existing authorities, would disclose.
The balance, the power to hold on.
seems to me quite apart from material
considerations to lie with the soul of
the west ; that Is, with the ancient roots
of Europe rather than the central
powers.
Steal Copprr Boilers
Peoria, 111., March 16. Burglars broke
Into ' the Todhunter planing mill here
afcd hauled away five copper boilers
weighing 169 pounds.
Experience of a Portland Boy in the War Zone
Visit to French Castle That Dates Back to 915
Thm tecommnTinc lrtter from DmTid Iyorlnt.
son of Mr. and Mrs. Dsrtd Lorin. 812 Marshall
xtreet, who is with the American forces in
France. ciTes intimaU views of people and
places In that land.
Tendency to
Constipation?
with
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IT'S been a busy week, remarkably so.
Our three (lavs' maneuver took un
the first part. The whole regiment
went -this time and If the battalion was
worth seeing what was the regiment !
Like a river almost flowing up the
road.
The first day was mostly hike. An
officer when equipped for the field
closely resembles a well trimmed
Christmas tree. His dunnage is not
heavy but numerous. Besides the light
pack he carries a revolver, field glasses,
English box respirator (gas), the French
mask for an emergency and a dispatch
case. One fortuftate thing is that though
not excessively cold, it is anything but
warm, and that's the only thine one
worries about on a hike.
An Exercise for
the Imagination
"We pitched camp in a grove, almost
parklike, so thorough Is the care these
French put jn their forests, and sur
rounded ourselves with an outpost. In
the morning, we moved out along three
parallel roads, a battalion on each and
deployed to meet the enemy on"-a great
open plain. There is a town two miles
from the edge of the wood and we spent
the day in surrounding and attacking
the town. French officers attached to
us, excitedly Informed us that we would
be annihilated without artillery but the
colonel cheerfully told them that If they
could imagine an enemy they would
better stretch a bit further and imagine
we had three batteries of artillery in
support. It was an Interesting day but
like all such imaginary fights, rather
unsatisfactory. Tou can attend to your
own movements all right but when the
leaders . begin to argue as to what the
enemy 'would do to meet said move
ments ana therefore what our next
movements should be, it's like arguing
religion, everyone nas a right to his own
opinion.
So though nightfall found us In com
plete occupation of the town, most of us
agreed with the French that we were
all dead.
The next day, we "arose early due
to a report" that the enemy had brought
up reinforcements and was attacking.
We beat a hasty retreat with rear
guards out and; did a forced march
home Tou may ' bet we were tired and
glad to see our comfortable rooms and
feather beds again. ' War is quite pleas
ant with this to return to.
In Quest of
Billets
That was Wednesday. Thursday
morning. I received orders to rsDort to
divisional chief of staff on the hllL I
was told that the headquarters company
and regimental headquarters were to
move a couple of miles north to an.
other town and two machine gun com
i panies were to come in here. It was
up to me to arrange the move and bil
lets. I nearly passed out. This town
was full to the brim then, and to move
' out one company 'and brinsr in two was
next to impossible. . -Ji, explained this but
It was the general's orders so It had
to be 'done. It meant finding room for
150 more men, 70 horses and seven of
ficers. Also room for a mess had to be
supplied.
So all day Thursday I stood on my
head trying to move French wagons
and horses out of stables, removing hay
from lofts, and persuading indignant
householders to sleep In the back bed
room arid let us have the front. Then
off to the other town to see our quar
ters there. There was no trouble there
for our men occupied barracks and the
officers were to occupy especial bar
racks rather than billets.
Newcomers Sticklers
on Rank
Friday, we moved but I remained here
to receive the machine gun companies.
That day I nearly went crazy. The new
officers wanted the earth. They didn't
like their rooms, they didn't like their
men s billets, they wanted to turn out
the officers already here and take their
rooms. Wherever I went there was
trouble. They wanted store rooms for
machine guns, - shelter for their carts
and they wouldn't put mules In the
same barns with horses. They expected
me to furnish bunks, stoves, wood, oil,
candles and hay for the animals. They
wanted private dining rooms for their
own use and quarters for their non
commissioned officers. They tried to
get former regimental headquarters for
their battalion headquarters, whereas
I was holding It for the first battalion.
Some organisations are cursed with
adherence to ranks. Of course all have
to have it to a certain extent, but some
carry It too far. This crowd knew ex
actly which second lieutenant was the
highest, and they all must have choice
of rooms according to rank. The first
thing they did was to try and find out
what officers already here they 1 ranked.
with the Idea of putting them' out of
their rooms. Tou can Imagine , my di
plomacy. "Captain 8 s room? Oh no.
you wouldn't care for it, sir ; It's very
cold, and besides it's in a priest's house
and they make it very unpleasant," etc..
etc I expected of course to move to
G with headquarters company but the
colonel said Ishould remain here for
the present and continue as town major.
ahead. We had no idea what accom-1 living room. It was the first home of
modations we would find for the night J'the better class we had been In, and so
as the town was .small but we took a perhaps we found It a bit more lmpres
chance A sergeant offered to show us
to a private house where officers could
sometimes get meals. We were met at
the door by an old man who expressed
all manner of delight and assured us
of not only a meal but rooms for the
night, and a stable for our horses.
After putting up the horses and being
presented with an overwhelming amount
of eats we went upstairs (the stables
were in the basement) to the neatest
little kitchen I have seen In France.
Picturesque French
Grandmother
There were row upon row of polished
copper cooking utensils, a mantel with
a collection of old candle sticks from
the time of Louis, and last but by no
means least, a place to wash ! Two
women, his wife and her sister started
work on our dinner while he took us to
the dining room. Here we were greeted
by the grandmother, at least 600 years
old by her looks. I would give anything
to paint her face. Though entirely
toothless, she had a really beautiful
smile and her little eyes fairly' shone.
When we shook hands with her, she
patted our hands and said. MJe suis
ma-ma."
We nearly collapsed at the sight of
a clean table cloth and napkins, abso
lutely unheard of in this section. Old
as she was. the old grandmother
bounced In and out with the dishes and
we had an excellent meal. The old
man requested the honor of eating with
us, and spent the time telling of all the
French officers he had entertained.
Captain S unfortunately had to ride
back after dinner as he had to be on
hand for a conference in the morning.
but the rest of us sat around the fire
and smoked. Our rooms were clean and
big.
Horseback Ride to
B StfJSI
nearby Village t
The platoon is still working in com
pany with a French lieutenant and a
number of poilus. so I continue com
fortably settled here. To tell the truth,
I don't want to move till I have to.
Anyway it will only be a couple of
miles north In any case.
Saturday things were more or less set
tled again and we planned another horse
back ride. This time six of us went.
Captain S , Dr. P . H . V, S .
and myself. We planned to go south to
C about 10 miles away. There is an
ancient chateau there, and Villaret had
a letter to the owner. By starting at
5 p. m. we could get there in time
for dinner, spend the night, visit the
chateau Sunday morning and ride back
In the afternoon.
. The rtde down was pleasant though
cold but it was clear, and following the
i river, . we couia . watcn , it for miles
PAPE'S
tt OWA1M TWAsOQl.lt or
FOR INDIGESTION
R e HrtwwdJbJJ. S. POfnoe
Ancient Chateau
Is Visited
In the morning after a good breakfast
we climbed to the chateau, which as us
ual crowned the hill. Its outer grounds
were In bad repair but showed signs of
former splendor. Even the gardens were
half surrounded, half supported by
heavy, loop-holed ' walls with turrets
Jutting out Into the village below. The
chateau Itself was built around a court
but only one part is at present occu
pied. It Is In good repair and covered
from . top to bottom with Ivy. We pre
sented our letter and were immediately
received by Monsieur Nickolay, a de
lightful old gentleman, who appeared
only too anxious to show his home. ,
In his way. he is quite a personage
His grandfather was one of Napoleon's
generals and he proudly showed us the
Legion d' Honneur conferred on his an
cestor by Napoleon. One son Is now a
major in the French army but for a
year has been a prisoner In Bavaria.
The ether son Is a private, and we
gathered was perhaps not quite all
th 3re. The minute we entered we knew
we were In an interesting" place. The
entrance was through a small anteroom
with wall lined with excellent pastels
and water colors. Out of It was the
sive, but it was a room that would have
Impressed anywhere.
Treasures Galore
Are Shown
It was practically a museum but so
arranged as to give a sense of comfort.
A roaring fire was going In a tiled fire
place ana reflected all over the room
In the many bronzes and brasses. 1
can't recite the whole list of his treas
ures but there were antique cabinets,
not only of France but even of China
and Japan. One beautiful inlaid Chi
nese caoinei aatea back 2000 years.
There were beautiful clocks and vases,
and every little box or statuette had its
history that must be ' recited. There
were many good palntingsc and a great
number of little water colors of which
I couldn't get enough. They were so
obviously by the same hand that I
asked who the artist was, and found
monsieur had done them himself. He
was so pleased that I liked them that
he took me to the next room, his studio,
where he showed me ten which had
been exhibited at the Paris exposition.
lour or wmon naa received priies.
V , told him I was interested in art
and after that nothing was too good
for us. He opened up old cupboards
and brought out his treasurers, mo
saics, Japanese sword hilts, a collection
of old crests. Innumerable things which
the family had been gathering for
years.
Castle Built
in 915
Then he took us about the castle. It
was built In 915 and had received very
few repairs. The doors . were massive
and heavily hinged, the stone floors
worn to a polish. In a refectory was a
great stone fireplace, eight and one-half
feet acrosi and Tour feet deep, where
he said they used to cook their wild
boars whole. The old raftered celling
was almost black with the smoke of
centuriea He took us through every
bedroom and chamber in the house. A
contrast was certainly found in his son's
room, the one who is a private. Ths
xeiiow apparently just mtaseo being a
genius. He played the violin and paint
ed a little but his chief hobby was mak
ing little toys. The room was filled
with shelves of the most perfect little
models of wagons, autos, windmills.
etc.. all carefully painted.
Downstairs in the main room. I had
noticed a number of little airplanes
made of brass. These his son had made
In the trenches from bits of shells and
cartridges. Later we climbed the tur
ret, and were shown around the battle
ments.
He tried to get us to stay longer but
we had promised to have the horses
back by 4 o clock.
The plans for our week's leave are
maturing, though as yet, none has been
given, and of course the men who ar
rived first will go first. The govern
ment Is establishing recreation centers
In- France, the first being at Aix-le-
Bains, but whether we have to go
these centers or not is not yet" known.
Stops Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Heartburn.
Gases, Sourness and Stomach Distress
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Makes Upset Stomachs feel fine
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