A Journey Through France in War Time Part 8

Our invitation to this banquet read as follows:

The President of the Ma.r.s.eilles Chamber of Commerce begs you to honor him by your presence at the luncheon which will be given to the members of your Commission on

Monday, September 25th 12:30 P. M. at the Restaurant de la Re'serve.

(31 F Promenade de la Corniche)

At this banquet, on my right sat Maurice Damour, French deputy in charge of the Commission, and on my left Hubert Giraud, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. He made a fine address and I asked him for a copy, which he gave me. It is reproduced herewith:

Mr. President-- Gentlemen:

I am desired by my President to give you in your own language the welcome of the Chamber of Commerce of Ma.r.s.eilles. You will certainly lose more than gain in hearing me instead of President Artaud, and I must apologize, as my knowledge of English is far from being adequate to my task. Anyhow, it is possible my words may be by a few of our guests more easily translated than if delivered in French.

Gentlemen, the oldest Chamber of Commerce in France, and maybe in the world, is exceedingly proud of entertaining tonight the highly qualified representatives of the American Commerce and Industry. We are most thankful to your party to have agreed to spend some of your valuable time in our city. We are sorry to say that we have not this good fortune as often as we would like, and that your fellow-citizens generally pay very little care to our old harbour and town. They are rather exclusively attracted by our great capital, Paris, and when coming to enjoy the splendid winters of the French Riviera, they reach it direct by rail or by sea, and seem to be quite ignorant of Ma.r.s.eilles, where they could find at least what is our city's glory: LIGHT, LIFE and LABOUR.

I think that Ma.r.s.eilles deserves more attention, and that the old ties between America and Ma.r.s.eilles should be better known. I would recall that our history, especially the history of our Chamber of Commerce, records the old sympathy of Ma.r.s.eilles for America. It is as old as your nation herself. At the end of the eighteenth century, when the stars of young America just appeared on the Atlantic horizon, French warships fought for your fathers'

independence. Some ships of Admiral d'Estaing's French squadron bore names such as "LE Ma.r.s.eILLAIS", "LA PROVENCE". In the year 1782 the French fleet was increased by a new warship of 118 guns, built and armed at the expense of the Chamber of Commerce of Ma.r.s.eilles. Her cost was 1,200,000 francs, a very small sum of money in our days, but rather a large one in those remote times.

She was offered to King Louis XVI for the very purpose of helping in the American war, and she was named by the King "Le Commerce de Ma.r.s.eille."

Gentlemen, it is for the successors of the "echevins" of the year 1782 a great joy to meet in Ma.r.s.eilles the sons of the glorious soldiers of the Independence War, sustained so many years ago with the a.s.sistance of the warship bearing their own name.

Gentlemen, Ma.r.s.eilles may be somewhat ignored, but France was not forgotten by America. I need not mention the numerous proofs our country has received of your country's sympathy. But I only fulfill a duty in emphasizing the very great help we have found in America in the course of this terrible war, the greatest human cataclysm which ever stormed the human world. All of us are aware that France found in America another kind of help than material, steel and grain. France found amongst you any sort of goods, but also--and over all--kindness and pity. American ambulances, splendidly organized, afforded invaluable relief to our wounded on the front.

May I mention not that American airmen rendered to our army the most useful services, and that American lives were lost for France.

America helps us by sea, on land and in the air. Your country knows that France is not fighting for power or profit, but that she is pouring the best of her children's blood for Freedom and Humanity.

Gentlemen, we used to say in France that good accounts, that is good settlements of business, make good friends. I believe that the words may be reversed and that good friendship may lead to good business. I trust that after this war, trade between America and Ma.r.s.eilles will be largely extended. We have shown you that, notwithstanding the present worries and difficulties, we are pushing on our harbor improvements and preparing large accommodation for shipping and industry. We strongly believe that, in the near future, Ma.r.s.eilles must become the most important harbor and center of commerce for the whole Mediterranean Sea.

We think that the American trade will find in our city the best center of distribution for your large exports of commodities such as petroleum, harvesting machinery, tobacco, and that they should be forwarded through Ma.r.s.eilles to all the Mediterranean sh.o.r.es. I have no doubt your visit in our city will allow you to observe that you can find here produce of our land or of our industry, most convenient for American requirements, and that in the mutual interest of your and our cities the trade between Ma.r.s.eilles and American ports will be proportionate to the friendship of the Nations.

Mr. President, Gentlemen, I propose your good health and the good health of your friends, and the prosperity of our sister Republic, The United States of America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sh.o.r.e of Mediterranean near Ma.r.s.eilles. In the Distance Chateau D'If, Made Famous by Dumas.]

There was greeting by M. Artaud, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and a response by Mr. Nichols. We were given an ovation by the most representative people of Ma.r.s.eilles. We met at this dinner, A. Gaulin, American Consul General, and he was most cordial.

The next day was Sunday. In the afternoon we visited the Ma.r.s.eilles Art Museum. We saw a bust, recently found, which dates back to the Second century; it resembles very closely the work of Rodin. In this museum we saw an old bell, labeled 1840, and an old straw hat, labeled 1820. We drove all over the city, visited the old docks and noted the cosmopolitan conglomeration of people in streets.

We were taken to the Chateau D'If, which is a quarter of a mile out at sea, made world-famous by Dumas in the noted novel "The Count of Monte Cristo". We all resolved, right then and there, that when we got home we would re-read "The Count of Monte Cristo". In our drive we saw Longchamp palace, which resembles very much the court of honor in the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial at Niles, Ohio. The entrance to the port of Ma.r.s.eilles resembles the Golden Gate at San Francisco. We gathered considerable information in our talks with the people we met at Ma.r.s.eilles, being told among other things, that all the officials of the French government are to hold over until the war is over, that is to say, elections are suspended for the time being. The efficiency and preparedness of the Germans was enlarged upon, it being stated, as is very well known, that Germany was the only country prepared at the time the war broke out.

We visited at Ma.r.s.eilles the birthplace of Rouget de l'Isle, the author of the Ma.r.s.eilles hymn. This hymn was first sung by a lady at an evening party in Straussburgh, Germany, and it was then called the "Hymn of the Soldier from Ma.r.s.eilles", but afterwards became known as "The Ma.r.s.ellaise Hymn". It is the national anthem of France; the words are inspiring and no one, whether American or French, can listen to the music of this hymn without being stirred to the depths.

We heard much of the vast stores of zinc and iron ores in Tunisia and Algeria, and were given much information about French colonies. France, including its colonies, has nearly one hundred million people. The Trans-Africa Railroad takes in a population of more than two hundred million people along the Mediterranean, including France, Spain and Italy. One of the largest dams in the world, "La Durance Dame," 429 feet across, is in France, not far from Ma.r.s.eilles.

Before the war Germany marketed a large amount of its coal in France, three hundred thousand tons annually.

Bauxite or aluminum ore is mined in France, and 60 per cent. of the output of the world is French product. Algeria contains millions of acres of virgin forests, ready to be explored. The cork oak is one of the important trees. Large exports of iron ore are made to England. At the end of the war the French expect to market ore and coal from the fields of Lorraine.

In our travels through Ma.r.s.eilles, we did not observe anywhere play grounds or amus.e.m.e.nts of any kind for the workmen.

Ma.r.s.eilles has a number of convalescent hospitals. We saw in the streets on Sunday, soldiers wandering about, English, French, Russian, Tunisian, Algerian, Hindu-Chinese, Moroccan, Australian, Canadian, Corsican; natives of Madagascar and Negroes from South Africa--soldiers from eleven different nations.

There is a plan projected to connect Ma.r.s.eilles with a system of French ca.n.a.ls, so as to afford direct water communication between the Mediterranean, the North Sea and thus to the English Channel. Ma.r.s.eilles antedates the Christian era by five hundred years. In 1782 a man-of-war mounting one hundred and eighteen guns, named "La Commerce de Ma.r.s.eilles" was built at the expense of the Ma.r.s.eilles Chamber of Commerce and presented to Louis XVI for the fleet sent by the French Government to fight for American independence. Ma.r.s.eilles, later on, became prominent in the French Revolution and gave its name to the French national hymn.

The largest tunnel in the world is now well under course of construction in France, its object being to give the city of Ma.r.s.eilles connection with Paris and the interior in general by rail and water.

This tunnel will provide an ample waterway for barges. The entire project involves the building of a new harbor and the cutting of a ship ca.n.a.l, actually tunneled through solid rock for five long miles, joining the old harbor and the Mediterranean to the River Rhone. The Rhone's upper stretches are placid and already are used extensively for barge navigation, but near Ma.r.s.eilles the stream is far too turbulent for commerce. A range of hills had prevented the construction of a ca.n.a.l in days gone by. Now, with France energized by the war, and with the necessity for the ca.n.a.l emphasized thereby, the tunnel is being pushed and the ca.n.a.l will soon be opened. It will connect Ma.r.s.eilles with the network of ca.n.a.ls which extends throughout the country. There are longer tunnels in the world, but none so large, for this is seventy-two feet wide and nearly forty-seven feet high. The work was begun in 1911-12 and has been continued through the war. The project is being put through by the Ma.r.s.eilles Chamber of Commerce, which found $8,000,000 of the $18,280,000 required to do the work. The balance will be paid by vessel tolls. The ca.n.a.l runs from Arles to the Mediterranean, a distance of fifty-one miles, making a navigable waterway to the usable portion of the Rhone and the Saone, opening 337 miles of water capable of bearing 600-ton lighters. By this ca.n.a.l and links already available, barges can be sent from the Mediterranean to the English Channel.

On Monday, September the 25th, I called upon the Consul General A.

Gaulin. I found him a very agreeable gentleman and quite devoted to his work, a great deal of which consisted in helping needy Americans stranded in France.

The Commission was invited to luncheon at the Hotel Reserve, overlooking the Mediterranean and the Chateau D'If. On my right sat the president of the Ma.r.s.eilles Chamber of Commerce, Adrien Artaud, and on my left sat Lucien Estrine, former president of the Ma.r.s.eilles Chamber of Commerce.

At this elevated hotel, tradition has it, the Count of Monte Cristo and his bride had their wedding breakfast.

In the afternoon an open meeting was held by the Chamber of Commerce at the Regina Hotel. This meeting was attended by citizens of Ma.r.s.eilles interested in the import and export business. The question of credits was pretty thoroughly discussed. It was stated by a number of Frenchmen present that the coveting of the iron ore and coal deposits of France by the Germans was the real cause of the war.

IX.

TOWNS IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

We left Ma.r.s.eilles on Tuesday, September 26th, at 6 A. M. for Gren.o.ble.

The sunrise was very beautiful; along the way you can see trees, the tops of which have been chopped off. We were told that the annual crop of fire-wood in France is just the same as the annual crop of wheat or any other product. Fast growing trees are planted and the branches and twigs are utilized for fuel.

We were met at the Gren.o.ble station by eight entirely new Dodge automobiles.

At Gren.o.ble, we visited the glove factory of Perrin & Co. This firm is well known in the United States and we were informed that our country is its best customer. In normal times the concern employes twenty thousand men and women, equally divided. The product is twenty million pairs of gloves annually. Much of the work is taken home for execution. The shop is well lighted and the sanitary conditions seem to be all of the very best. We visited the Raymond b.u.t.ton factory and the candy factory of Davin & Company. This was a very interesting experience. At the close, or rather before leaving the factory, we were permitted to witness the decoration of a workman who had been in the employment of the company for thirty-five years. It was really an affecting sight. We were told that in all that time he had not lost a day from sickness and the time had arrived when he was ent.i.tled to a pension. He was decorated by the head of the firm. At the close of the ceremonies he was surrounded by his family, relatives and members of the firm, and greeted in the usual way of the French with their own countrymen, that is to say, by kissing and embracing.

On Wednesday, September 27th, at seven in the morning, we left Gren.o.ble for the French Alps. We had as a guide John Steel, an American who had been in France for fifteen years and had become a French citizen. He gave us much valuable information. He said, among other things, that when the railroads in France take freight they guarantee the time of delivery, if desired, and include an extra charge in the rate. On this trip we pa.s.sed three companies of mounted guns, the technical name being mountain artillery. This was an interesting sight. A portion consisted of donkeys with all the paraphernalia of a soldier strapped to their backs, together with rapid firing mitrailleuses. The soldiers were unusually fine looking men from the Alpine district, a portion of France near the Swiss border.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Types from French Provinces.]

We visited a paper mill where the entire product was cardboard. We pa.s.sed the "Escole de Garcons," otherwise a school for teaching waiters. We were told by Mr. Steel that in the valley adjoining that in which we were driving anthracite coal exists in abundance but has not been worked to any great extent. We pa.s.sed mountain villages and noticed the cultivation of the sides of mountains almost perpendicular. It was a wonderful ride, amid splendid scenery, with numerous waterfalls, snow and glaciers in great abundance; in other words, we were going through the Switzerland of France. We pa.s.sed a flock of sheep, more than five thousand in number, cared for by a head shepherdess, with several a.s.sistants and a number of dogs.

We had luncheon at the Grand Hotel Bourg D'Oison and stopped briefly at the hotel de La Meige.

On our return down the mountain we visited an electric manufacturing plant, the products being aluminum, magnesium, sodium, peroxide, sodium, oxolyte, calcium, and hydrated calcium. In this factory one of the commissioners had a narrow escape from certain injury, if not death, by attempting to taste the chemicals. He was stopped just in time.

We then visited the Chateau Vizille, built in the seventeenth century and at one time occupied by Casimer de Perier, President of France.

Vizille was one of the three great marshalls of France, and the chateau is called the "Cradle of Liberty". The first French Revolutionary meeting was held here. The castle contained old cannon and splendid old furniture, while the surrounding grounds were beautiful.

On Thursday, September 28th, we visited the paper manufacturing plant of Berges at Lancey. There is an immense water-power installation here, the capacity of the plant being one hundred tons daily of all grades of paper. There are two plants, one a very old one, dating back nearly two hundred years, and the other a new one, not quite completed. We saw here one machine which cost one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, a remarkable piece of mechanism, almost human in its workings. The waterfall is six hundred feet in a short distance. Adjoining this paper mill was a small munition plant. Most of the employes were women, dressed in the American bloomer costume.