Paris War Days by Charles Inman Barnard

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PARIS WAR DAYS

[Illustration: Myron T. Herrick, American Ambassador in Paris.
_Frontispiece._]

PARIS WAR DAYS

DIARY OF AN AMERICAN

BY

CHARLES INMAN BARNARD, LL.B. (HARVARD)

Knight of the Legion of Honor
Paris Correspondent of The New York Tribune
President of The Association of the Foreign Press in Paris
Chairman of the Harvard Club of Paris

TO
_Ogden Mills Reid_
EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE
THIS DIARY IS DEDICATED
IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY OF
HIS FATHER, THE LATE
_Whitelaw Reid_

PREFACE

This is not a story of the world-wide war. These notes, jotted down at
odd moments in a diary, are published with the idea of recording, day by
day, the aspect, temper, mood, and humor of Paris, when the entire
manhood of France responds with profound spontaneous patriotism to the
call of mobilization in defense of national existence. France is herself
again. Her capital, during this supreme trial, is a new Paris, the like
of which, after the present crisis is over, will probably not be seen
again by any one now living.

As a youth in the spring of 1871, I witnessed Paris, partly in ruins,
emerging from the scourges of German invasion and of the Commune. As a
correspondent of the _New York Herald_, under the personal
direction of my chief, Mr. James Gordon Bennett--for whom I retain a
deep-rooted friendship and admiration for his sterling, rugged qualities
of a true American and a masterly journalist--it was my good fortune,
during fourteen years, to share the joys and charms of Parisian life. I
was in Paris during the throes of the Dreyfus affair when, at the call
of the late Whitelaw Reid, I began my duties as resident correspondent
of the _New York Tribune_. I saw Paris suffer the winter floods of
1910. Whether in storm or in sunshine, I have always found myself among
friends in this vivacious center of humanity, intelligence, art,
science, and sentiment, where our countrymen, and above all our
countrywomen, realize that they have a second home. With a finger on the
pulse, as it were, of Paris, I have sought to register the throbs and
feelings of Parisians and Americans during these war days.

I acknowledge deep indebtedness to the European edition of the _New
York Herald_, and to the Continental edition of the _Daily
Mail_, from whose columns useful data and information have been
freely drawn.

C. I. B.

_Paris, October, 1914._

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Myron T. Herrick, American Ambassador in Paris. _Frontispiece_

Shop of a German merchant in Paris, wrecked by French mobs

Sewing-girls at work in the American Episcopal Church

American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly

Paris workmen hastening to join the colors

Woman replacing man in traffic work

General Victor Constant Michel, Military Governor of Paris until August
27, 1914

The Statue of Strasbourg, after the capture of Altkirch in Alsace by
French troops

Americans in Paris besieging the American Express Company's office for
funds for their daily bread

French Negro troops from Africa entraining in Paris

Flag of the 132nd German Infantry Regiment, captured at Saint-Blaise by
the 1st Battalion of Chasseurs a Pied

Robert Woods Bliss, First Secretary of the United States Embassy in
Paris, September, 1914

A party of American volunteers crossing the Place de l'Opera in Paris on
their way to enlist

General Joseph Simon Gallieni, appointed Military Governor and Commander
of the Army of Paris, August 26, 1914

Etienne Alexandre Millerand, Minister of War, August 27, 1914

Parisians watching the German air craft that drop bombs on the city

Eiffel Tower's searchlight to reveal bomb-throwing air craft and air
scouts of the Germans

Wounded French soldiers returning to Paris with trophies from the
battlefields

29th Infantry Reserves, Army of the Defence of Paris

General Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies in France

M. Emile Laurent, appointed Prefect of Police of Paris, September 3,
1914

Workmen erecting a barricade in Paris

"Sauf-Conduit" issued by the Prefecture of Police to persons wishing to
travel

One of the wards in the American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly

PARIS WAR DAYS

_Saturday, August 1, 1914_

This war comes like the traditional "Bolt from the Blue!" I had made
arrangements to retire from active journalism and relinquish the duties
of Paris correspondent of the _New York Tribune_, which I had
fulfilled for sixteen consecutive years. In reply to a request from Mr.
Ogden Reid, I had expressed willingness to remain at my post in Paris
until the early autumn, inasmuch as "a quiet summer was expected."
Spring was a busy time for newspaper men. There had been the sensational
assassination of Gaston Calmette, editor of the _Figaro_, by Mme.
Caillaux, wife of the cabinet minister. Then there was the "caving-in"
of the streets of Paris, owing to the effect of storms on the thin
surface left by the underground tunnelling for the electric tramways,
and for the new metropolitan "tubes." The big prize fight between Jack
Johnson and Frank Moran for the heavy-weight championship of the world
followed. Next came the trial of Mme. Caillaux and her acquittal. Then
followed the newspaper campaign of the brothers, MM. Paul and Guy de
Cassagnac, against German newspaper correspondents in Paris. The
Cassagnacs demanded that certain German correspondents should quit
French territory within twenty-four hours. As several German
correspondents were members of the "Association of the Foreign Press,"
of which I happen to be president, I was able to smooth matters over a
little. Although my personal sympathies were strongly with the
Cassagnacs, who are editors of _L'Autorite_, especially in their
condemnation of the severity of the German Government in regard to
"Hansi," the Alsatian caricaturist and author of _Mon Village_, I
managed with the help of some of my Russian, Italian, English, and
Spanish colleagues to avoid needless duels and quarrels between French
and German journalists. Finally, the day of the "Grand Prix de Paris"
brought the news of the murder at Sarajevo of the heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. My friend, Mr. Edward Schuler, was despatched
by the Associated Press to Vienna, and when he returned, I readily saw,
from the state of feeling that he described as existing in Vienna, that
war between Austria and Servia was inevitable, and that unless some
supreme effort should be made for peace by Emperor William, a general
European war must follow.

Wednesday, July 29, the day after Austria's declaration of war against
Servia, I lunched at the Hotel Ritz with Mrs. Marshall Field and her
nephew, Mr. Spencer Eddy. Mrs. Field was about to leave Paris for
Aix-les-Bains. We talked about the probability of Russia being forced to
make war with Germany. I warned Mrs. Field of the risk she would run in
going to Aix-les-Bains, and in the event of mobilization, of being
deprived of her motor-car and of all means of getting away. At that time
no one seemed to think that war really would break out. Mrs. Field
finally gave up her plan of going to Aix-les-Bains and went to London.
The following evening Maitre Charles Philippe of the Paris Bar and M.
Max-Lyon, a French railroad engineer who had built many of the Turkish
and Servian railroads, dined with me. They both felt that nothing could
now avert war between France and Germany.

Yesterday (July 31) a sort of war fever permeated the air. A cabinet
minister assured me that at whatever capital there was the slightest
hope of engaging in negotiations and compromise, at that very point the
"mailed fist" diplomacy of the Kaiser William dealt an unexpected blow.
There seems no longer any hope for peace, because it is evident that the
Military Pretorian Guard, advisers to the German and Austrian emperors,
are in the ascendency, and they want war. "Very well, they will have
it!" remarked the veteran French statesman, M. Georges Clemenceau.

After dinner last evening I happened to be near the Cafe du Croissant
near the Bourse and in the heart of the newspaper quarter of Paris.
Suddenly an excited crowd collected. "Jaures has been assassinated!"
shouted a waiter. The French deputy and anti-war agitator was sitting
with his friends at a table near an open window in the cafe. A young
Frenchman named Raoul Villain, son of a clerk of the Civil Court of
Rheims, pushed a revolver through the window and shot Jaures through the
head. He died a few moments later. The murder of the socialist leader
would in ordinary times have so aroused party hatred that almost civil
war would have broken out in Paris. But to-night, under the tremendous
patriotic pressure of the German emperor's impending onslaught upon
France, the whole nation is united as one man. As M. Arthur Meyer,
editor of the _Gaulois_, remarked: "France is now herself again!
Not since a hundred years has the world seen '_France Debout!_'"

At four o'clock this afternoon I was standing on the Place de la Bourse
when the mobilization notices were posted. Paris seemed electrified. All
cabs were immediately taken. I walked to the Place de l'Opera and Rue de
la Paix to note the effect of the mobilization call upon the people.
Crowds of young men, with French flags, promenaded the streets, shouting
"Vive La France!" Bevies of young sewing-girls, _midinettes_,
collected at the open windows and on the balconies of the Rue de la
Paix, cheering, waving their handkerchiefs at the youthful patriots, and
throwing down upon them handfuls of flowers and garlands that had decked
the fronts of the shops. The crowd was not particularly noisy or
boisterous. No cries of "On to Berlin!" or "Down with the Germans!" were
heard. The shouts that predominated were simply: "Vive La France!" "Vive
l'Armee!" and "Vive l'Angleterre!" One or two British flags were also
borne along beside the French tricolor.

I cabled the following message to Mr. Ogden Reid, editor of the _New
York Tribune_:

Tribune, New York, Private for Mr. Reid. Suggest
supreme importance event hostilities of Brussels as center
of all war news. Also that Harry Lawson, _Daily Telegraph_,
London, is open any propositions coming from you
concerning _Tribune_ sharing war news service with his
paper. According best military information be useless
expense sending special men to front with French owing
absolute rigid censorship.

BARNARD.

I based this suggestion about the supreme importance of Brussels because
it has for years been an open secret among military men that the only
hope of the famous _attaque brusquee_ of the German armies being
successful would be by violating Belgian neutrality and swarming in like
wasps near Liege and Namur, and surprising the French mobilization by
sweeping by the lines of forts constructed by the foremost military
engineer in Europe, the late Belgian general, De Brialmont.

I subsequently received a cable message from the editor of the
_Tribune_ expressing the wish to count upon my services during the
present crisis. To this I promptly agreed.

_Sunday, August 2._

This is the first day of mobilization. I looked out of the dining-room
window of my apartment at Number 8 Rue Theodule-Ribot at four this
morning. Already the streets resounded with the buzz, whirl, and horns
of motor-cars speeding along the Boulevard de Courcelles, and the
excited conversation of men and women gathered in groups on the
sidewalks. It was warm, rather cloudy weather. Thermometer, 20 degrees
centigrade, with light, southwesterly breezes. My servant, Felicien,
summoned by the mobilization notices calling out the reservists, was
getting ready to join his regiment, the Thirty-second Dragoons. His
young wife and child had arrived the day before from Brittany. My
housekeeper, Sophie, who was born in Baden-Baden and came to Paris with
her mother when a girl of eight, is in great anxiety lest she be
expelled, owing to her German nationality.

I walked to the chancellery of the American Embassy, Number 5 Rue de
Chaillot, where fifty stranded Americans were vainly asking the clerks
how they could get away from Paris and how they could have their letters
of credit cashed. Three stray Americans drove up in a one-horse cab. I
took the cab, after it had been discharged, and went to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, where I expected to find our Ambassador, Mr. Myron T.
Herrick. M. Viviani, the President of the Council of Ministers and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, was there awaiting the arrival of Baron de
Schoen, the German Ambassador, who had made an appointment for eleven
o'clock. It was now half-past eleven, and his German excellency had not
yet come.

I watched the arrival of the St. Cyr cadets at the Gare d'Orsay station
on their way to the Gare de l'Est. These young French "West Pointers"
are sturdy, active, wiry little chaps, brimful of pluck, intelligence,
and determination. They carried their bags and boxes in their hands, and
their overcoats were neatly folded _bandeliere_ fashion from the
right shoulder to the left hip. Then came a couple of hundred
requisitioned horses led by cavalrymen. Driving by the Invalides, I
noticed about five hundred requisitioned automobiles. I was very much
impressed by the earnest, grave determination of the reservists, who
were silently rejoining their posts. Some of them were accompanied by
wives, sisters, or sweethearts, who concealed their tears with forced
smiles. Now and then groups of young men escorted the reservists,
singing the "Marseillaise" and waving French, British, and Russian
flags. At the Place de la Concorde, near the statue of "Strasbourg," was
a procession of Italians, who had offered their military services to the
Minister of War in spite of Italy's obligation to the Triple Alliance.

Later, at the American Embassy, Number 5 Rue Francois Premier, I found
Ambassador Herrick arranging for a sort of relief committee of Americans
to aid and regulate the situation of our stranded countrymen and women
here. There are about three thousand who want to get home, but who are
unable to obtain money on their letters of credit; if they have money,
they are unable to find trains, or passenger space on westward bound
liners. Mr. Herrick showed me a cablegram from the State Department at
Washington instructing him to remain at his post until his successor,
Mr. Sharp, can reach Paris; also to inform Mr. Thomas Nelson Page,
American Ambassador at Rome, to cancel his leave of absence and stop in
Rome, even if "Italy had decided to remain neutral." As soon as the
German and Austro-Hungarian ambassadors quit the capital, Mr. Herrick
will be placed in charge of all the German and Austro-Hungarian subjects
left behind here. I met also M. J. J. Jusserand, French Ambassador at
Washington, who intends sailing Tuesday for New York. M. Jusserand
informed me that official news had reached the Paris Ministry of the
Interior of Germany's violation of the territory of Luxemburg, the
independence of which had been guaranteed by the Powers, including of
course Prussia, by the Treaty of London in 1867. M. Jusserand was very
indignant at this reckless breach of international law.

At the suggestion of Mr. Herrick, a committee of Americans was chosen to
co-operate with him in giving such information and advice to Americans
in Paris as the efforts of the committee to ascertain facts and
conditions may justify. The committee think there is no cause for alarm
on the part of those who remain in the city for the present; and that
Americans will be able to leave at some later date, if any desire to do
so.

The committee will endeavor to learn what can be done in securing money
on letters of credit or travelers' cheques, or in getting means of
transportation to such places as they may desire to go.

The committee includes Messrs. Laurence B. Benet, W.S. Dalliba, Charles
Carroll, Frederick Coudert, James Deering, Chauncey M. Depew, E.H. Gary,
H. Herman Harjes, William Jay, F.B. Kellog, Percy Peixotto, and Henry S.
Priest. The chairman is Judge E.H. Gary.

Mr. Herrick asked me to convey a private message to one of his friends,
but as the telephone service was interrupted, Mr. Laurence Norton, the
Ambassador's secretary, loaned me his motor-car for the purpose. On the
Cour La Reine a procession of young men escorting reservists and bearing
a French flag appeared. I naturally raised my hat to salute the colors.
The crowd, noticing the red, white, and blue cockades on the hats of the
chauffeur and the footman, mistook me for the American Ambassador or for
a cabinet minister, and burst into frantic cheers.

In the German quarter, near the Rue d'Hauteville, a couple of German
socialists who were so imprudent as to shout "_A bas l'armee!_"
were surrounded by angry Frenchmen, and despite an attempt of the police
to protect them, were very roughly handled. A German shoemaker who
attempted to charge exaggerated prices for boots had his windows smashed
and his stock looted by an infuriated crowd.

The news that the German shops were being attacked soon spread, and
youths gathered in bands, going from one shop to the other and wrecking
them in the course of a few moments. Further riots occurred near the
Gare de l'Est, a district which is inhabited by a large number of
Germans. A great deal of damage was done.

Measures were taken at once by the authorities, and several cavalry
detachments were called to the aid of the police. The youths were quite
docile on the whole, a word from a policeman being sufficient to turn
them away.

The cavalry, too, only made a few charges at a sharp trot and were
received with hearty cheers. Policemen and municipal guards were,
however, stationed before shops known to be owned by Germans.

[Illustration: Shop of a German merchant in Paris, wrecked by French
mobs.]

In spite of this rioting, responsible Parisians may be said to have
remained as calm as they have been all through this critical time. Among
those taking part in wrecking shops were few people older than seventeen
or eighteen.

Already the familiar aspect of the Parisian street crowd has changed. It
is now composed almost exclusively of men either too young or too old
for military service and of women and children. Most of the younger
generation have already left to join corps on the front or elsewhere in
France. It is impossible to spend more than a few minutes in the streets
without witnessing scenes which speak of war.

There are long processions of vehicles of all sorts, market carts,
two-wheeled lorries, furniture vans, all of them stocked with rifles for
the reserves and all of them led or driven by soldiers.

Not a motor-omnibus is to be seen. The taxi-cabs and cabs are scarce.
Tramway-cars are running, although on some lines the service is reduced
considerably. In spite of the disorganization of traffic, the majority
of Parisians go about their business quietly.

There is deep confidence in the national cause. "We did not want this
war, but as Germany has begun we will fight, and Germany will find that
the heart of France is in a war for freedom," is an expression heard on
all sides.

Everywhere there are touching scenes. In the early hours of the morning
a _chasseur_ covered with dust, who had come to bid farewell to his
family, was seen riding through the city. As he rode down the street, an
old woman stopped him and said: "Do your best! They killed my husband in
'70." The young soldier stooped from his saddle and silently gripped the
old woman's hand.

_Monday, August 3._

This is the second day of mobilization. A warm, cloudy day with
occasional showers. Thermometer, 20 degrees centigrade.

At six this morning Felicien, with a brown paper parcel containing a
day's rations consisting of cold roast beef, sandwiches, hard-boiled
eggs, bread, butter, and potato salad, walked off to the Gare St.
Lazare, which is his point of rendezvous indicated by the mobilization
paper. His young wife wept as if broken-hearted. Felicien, like all the
reservists, restrained his emotions. I shook him warmly by the hand and
said that I would surely see him again here within six months, and that
he would come home a victor. "Don't be afraid of that, sir!" was his
reply, and away he went.

I watched the looting of the Maggi milk shops near the Place des Ternes.
The marauders were youths from fifteen to eighteen years old, and seemed
to have no idea of the crimes they were committing. The Maggi is no
longer a German enterprise, and the stupid acts of these young ruffians
can only have the effect of depriving French mothers and infants of
much-needed milk. I bought a bicycle to-day at Peugeot's in the Avenue
of the Grande Armee, because it is hopeless to get cabs or motor-cabs.
While there, the shop was requisitioned by an officer, who took away
with him three hundred bicycles for the army.

The aspect of the main thoroughfares in the Opera quarter, the center of
English and American tourist traffic, was depressing in the extreme this
afternoon. All the shipping offices in the Rue Scribe closed in the
morning. The Rue de la Paix is never very brilliant in August, but now
it is an abode of desolation. Nine tenths of the shops have their
shutters up and the jewelers who keep open have withdrawn all their
stock from the windows.

Many of the closed shops on the boulevards and elsewhere bear placards
designed to protect them from the possible attentions of the mob. On
these placards are such texts as "Maison Francaise" or even "Maison
ultrafrancaise."

On the Cafe de la Paix is the following announcement, in several places:
"The proprietor, Andre Millon, who is mayor of Evecquemont
(Seine-et-Oise), has been called out for service in the army and left
this morning." Similar messages, written in chalk, are to be seen on
hundreds of shutters.

Steps have been taken at the American Embassy to supply credentials, in
the form of "a paper of nationality," to citizens of the United States,
which will make it possible for them to register as such with the
police, as required by the French Government.

The proposed American Ambulance has been organized under the official
patronage of Ambassador Herrick, and the auspices of the American
Hospital of Paris.

Beginning to-day, all cafes and restaurants will be closed at eight in
the evening. They were left open till nine yesterday as an exceptional
measure, owing to the fact that there was not time to distribute the
order for early closing by eight o'clock.

The aspect of the boulevards last night was the completest possible
contrast to what was seen on Sunday night. The city was under martial
law, and the police showed very plainly that they did not intend to be
trifled with.

Instead of shouting crowds and stone-throwing by excited youths and
women, one saw only a few citizens walking slowly along. One group of
policemen took shelter from the intermittent showers under the marquise
of the Vaudeville Theater, and other detachments were in readiness at
corners all along the line of the boulevards, which were dotted with
isolated policemen.

No one was allowed to loiter. To wait five minutes outside a house was
to court investigation and possibly arrest. There was no sound except
that of footfalls and a low murmur of conversation. It was the first
night of war's stern government.

Germany officially declared war upon France at five forty-five this
evening. The notification was made by Baron von Schoen, the German
Ambassador to France, when he called at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
to ask for his passports.

Baron von Schoen declared that his Government had instructed him to
inform the Government of the Republic that French aviators had flown
over Belgium and that other French aviators had flown over Germany and
dropped bombs as far as Nuremberg. He added that this constituted an act
of aggression and violation of German territory.

M. Viviani listened in silence to Baron von Schoen's statement, and when
the German Ambassador had finished, replied that it was absolutely false
that French aviators had flown over Belgium and Germany and had dropped
bombs.

Immediately after this interview, M. Viviani telegraphed to M. Jules
Cambon, French Ambassador in Berlin, instructing him to immediately ask
for his passports and to make a report on France's protest against the
violation of the neutrality of Luxemburg and the ultimatum sent to
Belgium. M. Cambon will leave Berlin to-morrow.

Since acts of war were committed by German troops two days ago, the
delay in the recall of the German Ambassador had appeared inexplicable
to the great majority of French people, to whom Baron von Schoen
appeared to be decidedly outstopping his welcome.

The Ambassador himself seemed conscious of this feeling, for not only
did he take care to proceed to the Quai d'Orsay in as inconspicuous a
manner as possible, but he also applied to the authorities to detail a
policeman to accompany him in his automobile.

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