Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 44, Number 113, 22 March 1919 — Page 16

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THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM, SATURDAY. MARCH 22. 1919

A Letter from the Juniors' Friend in France Nancy, France, February 24, 1019. Dear Juniors:

. I took a recent visit to Nancy, j the ancient capital of the Duchy of J.iOrraine, and will tell you many Interesting things of the history of this old city. Up until a few weeks ago the Yanks could take a tour through many of the historical places of several centuries ago, but at present, this town is closed. . Nancy is a city of 150,000 inhabitants, and dates back into the eleventh, century. At present it i3 one of the most modern cities in France, with street car service, electric lights, large department stores and a manufacturing city of most all kinds of Industry. The iron and salt mines lead the manufacture of fancy glass pottery comes next. The city up until 15S8 was known as Ville-Vieille (old city) and at that time Duke Charles III undertook to build a Ville Neuve (new city). These two cities remained separated by a high wall until after the annexation of Lorraine by the French in the last half of the eighteenth century, when the walls were destroyed by Duke Stanislas to construct a square now known as the Place Stanislas. The large arches or gates remain to the present day. The arches are called Porte St. Georges, Arch de Triumphe, Port de la Craffe and Port de la Citadella. The walls that separated old and new Nancy were attached to these arches, and I could see where old walls were torn apart. The most celebrated dukes of Lorraine were Rene II, Charles III, founder of the new city; Charles IV, an adventurous; warrior Charles V, conqueror of the Turks, and Leopold the Wise, a peace lover. Their successor, Francois II, ceded Lorraine in 1737 to France In exchange for the dukedom of Toscane, whereupon the king of France, Louis XV, granted ! it to Stanislas Leszczynski, his father-in-law, who had just lost the crown to Poland. His death In 1766 brought about the definite an-1 nexation of Lorraine to France. Nancy was captured by the Ger-; mans In 1871, and was evacuated in 1873 by the Germans. At this time the whole of Alsace and part of the Lorraine were torn away from France by Germany. A statue called "Mother and daughter," representing Nancy and Metz, Is to be seen in Place St. John, which t hows the mother bidding her daughter good-bye when Alsace and Lorraine were separated by the Germans. ; The Hotel de Ville. . In English one might think Hotel de Ville meant a place to stay, but Is the city hall in French. It occupies the entire side of Stanislas Place, with a large town clock In the center, with the Polish eagleB encircling it, and the Nancy coat-of-arms above. Under the clock is a statue of Wisdom and Justice. Several torpedoes, shells and implements of warfare are in the lobby and to the right is the mayor's office where at certain times in the day a line of civilians can be seen waiting for bread checks. The Lorraine Cross. The Cross of the Lorraine is the national emblem of the old Duchy of Lorraine, known now as the Lorraine. It has double cross-beams, the upper bar recalling the inscription on the cross of Jesus Christ. The selection of the emblem lappeared in Lorraine as the cross of Anjou and Hungary during the reign of Rene I of Anjou, who became duke of the Lorraine by his marriage to Isabelle, the heiress of the duchy in 1431. It became the national emblem, however, and dates from the time when the duke Rene II, who was heir to Godefroy de Bouillon, . king of Jerusalem, adopted it The Nancy thistle, which was the personal emblem of Rene II, symbolized his victorious resistance against Charles the Bold, in 1477; only a very short ti:3 afterwards it took its proper place on the coat-of-arms of Nancy; a few words of Latin usually accompanies the device, meaning: "Who meddles with me gets scratched." Half Century's Work on Cathedral. The big Cathedral begun In 1703, and completed in 1742, is a mass of beauty. Many valuable paintings and Btatues are to be found inside Its walls. The interior, severely majestic, comprises six chapelg w-

closed by wrought iron prating or gates. If a person visits this church during the holidays, they will see in the Erst enclosure the exact reproduction of the birth of Christ in the manger all modeled by miniature images of the characters. Each chapel contains some valuable or important event in history. The fifth chapel contains the original painting of the "Lord's Last Supper." In the niches of the facade two saints of Lorraine are to be seen, the apostle St. Mansuy and the king, St. Sigisbert; the original plans called for the statues of the Virgin and the archangel Gabriel. The fresco of the cupolo is a wonderful painting which represents the open sky a very delicate and famous piece of work. The pipe organ, that fills one whole end of the building deserves mention for its beauty and depth in tone. On the night of October 30, the Roche dropped several bombs on the city of Nancy, and this cathedral was missed by only two feet, the bomb lighting on the entrance steps, with only slight damage; although nearby buildings were torn full of small shrapnel shell holes. Protestant Church Bombed. The Temple, the only Protestant church in Nancy, was built by the Church of Premonstrants (an order of Monks) in 1759, but later was taken over by the Protestants. The recent air raids of the Huns have practically ruined the whole building almost beyound repairs During numerous air raids throughout the city this was the only church that suffered any great loss. Historical Ducal Palace. The Ducal Palace, the former residence of the dukes of Lorraine, is not quite the same as the original building, owing to the many transformations due to new dukes' ideas for changing plans, and the many revolutions in those days, es

pecially in the year 1871, when the j palace was most damaged by in-' vaders. The only original wing remaining was erected in 1503 by Duke Antonie. The Porterie, the main entrance way, built 1511, has the mounted statue of Duke Antonie, the original being destroyed in 1792, but replaced in 1851. The entire Dukes' Palace, except the duke's sleeping rooms, is used for a museum, by a Lorraine historical society, where treasures are stored dating back previous to 1000. All during the war. the Palace has been closed to civilians, but soldiers with a guide are permitted to enter. As one goes through the long hallway, on each side are hundreds of iron plates, which have been collected from various cities in the Lorraine of Fiance. Each plate represents some adopted emblem of the city rule the custom in ancient days. They also bring forth the fact of the large production of Iron, In and around Nancy. At the end of the long hallway, a door leads Into a small room at the foot of the watchman's tower, and here are many old relics of all ages. The French tapestries that decorated the tent of Charles the Bold, in front of Nancy in 1477; the sword of Emperor Napoleon I, (1769-1821) conqueror of Prussia and Austria, a lock of his hair and a cross of the Legion of Honour; the duke's dishes; bed room, kitchen and sitting room furniture; bed heating pans; an old loom, the surgical instruments and other articles used by the Napoleon In his household. On entering the watchman's tower, a winding stairway leads to the top and at each bend of the stairway is a stone seat for four or more sentinels or watchmen, to keep invaders from entering the duke's private rooms. At the extrenvy'top of the tower, many old relics of torture such as balls and chains, various kinds of hand and foot cuffs, branding irons; an old guillotine knife, chopping block and knife, where from 1000 to 1500 were beheaded a day, and other articles' of torture beyond the thoughts of humanity The main room of the museum contains all the old coins, ancient razor blades made from clay; fine glass works, hundreds of statues from churches throughout France; skeletons, an Egyptian mummy, tombs of dukes, a complete group statue of the "Lord's Last Supper," a wonderful piece of sculpture work in stone. Ring a bell and enter the Eglise des Cordeliers, known as the Duke's Church. It was built by Duke Reno II in 14S2-1487, as a thankoffering for the victory he

Roumania's Queen Will Visit U. S. To Thank Americans For Timely Aid

eg. y .T . '.: & . . ! x. Latest picture of Queen Marie and her youngest daughter. LONDON Queen Marie of Roumanla, who recently arrived in London from Paris, expects to visit the United States soon to thank Americans for the aid they have given her people. The date of her departure has not yet been announced. Of English birth, the daughter of Alfred, uke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Marie bitterly re sented the invasion of her little country by the German forces and was accordingly forced to fly from Bucharest to take shelter in allied countries. Her youngest son, Prince Mircea, died in 1917 at the aga of five after eating poisoned candy believed to have been sent by a German agent. She is noted for her beauty and beloved by her people. After escaping from the Germans she devoted had just won over Charles the Bold. Among the remarkable monuments it contains is the Tomb of Duke Rene II, died in 1508, also the tomb of his wife, Phillippe de Gueldre, died in 1547. An ancient custom of burying members of the country's rulers, was to have an image of the deceased on top of the tomb, just as they appeared lying a corpse, which can be seen on every tomb of prominence. The Round Chapel. The Chapelle Ronde (Round Chapel) is the Westminster of the Ducal Lorraine. The chapel is not built round, but is exactly octagonal. Seventy-eight members of the house of Lorraine are buried there, and in 1793 their graves were disturbed during a revolution and bones scattered about the place. Shortly afterwards the king of Austria came over and straightened out the bones of the members of Lorraine and re-entered them in the chajjel. Each year, on November 9, a funeral service is held by the Ambassador of Austria in the Eglise des Cordeliers, commemorating their reburial This has not been done since the world war, the Austrian government is not now permitted to come to France. The Chapelle Ronde was built by Charles III in 1632, on the model of the celebrated Chapel of the Medics at Florence, Italy. Its cupalo is remarkably decorated with sculpture work, which It took twenty-four years of one man's time to make. The extreme top built lanternshape throws a deep purple light upon the tombs; the huge black marble pillars and white marble altars add much beauty to this historical place. This church was also the victim of the air raids, which broke all the large windows in the chapel, by flying pieces of shrapnel, but brought no damage to the interior, except a large oil painting that was slightly slit by a piece of shell. For this same picture John P. Morgan offered one million dollars, but the

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herself to Red Cros3 work, and in a recent interview expressed her gratitude for the work which American and British women did for the soldiers of the allies and for the destitute sufferers in her own country. French government refused the offer, considering it of no inducement. The Port St. Nicholas. An arch built in 1782-4 in order to commemorate the Treaty of Alliance concluded on the 6th of February between France and United States, and the treaty of Versailles (1783), by which England was forced to acknowledge the independence of the latter. It Is understood that a model of the Port Desilles Is to be erected in New York city, to commemorate the peace treaty of the present war. The Por tSt. Nicholas. St. Nicholas gate, so named because it leads to St. Nicholas du Port, which has been a famous center of pilgrimages since a Lorraine knight, Albert de Vargeuville, brought back a finger of St. Nicholas, as a miraculous relic from Bari, Italy In 1087. St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra (Asia Minor) and the patron saint of the boatmen. From that time St. Nich olas became the patron saint of Lorraine. Each year on the night of the 5th to 6th of December (his name's day) St. Nicholas brings toys and dainties to the good chil dren of Lorraine. It is their Christmas "la St. Nicholas" meaning in English Santa Claus. Many Raids in Nancy. A hundred or more fine buildings were the victims of Boche air raids; some totally destroyed, and harly a block can be treveled In Nancy without noticing the buildings which have been damaged by being directly hit or splattered up by shrapnel or shell holes. Fortnuately many shells and torpedoes that fell were "duds," which is a name for an explosive that falls to do any damage Many of these "duds" arc on exhibition at the City Hall. Charles Mac Leonhardt. 3rd Co. 3rd Air Service Mechanics, A. P. O. 731-A, American Expeditionary Forces, Colombey-les-Belles, France.

Oar Play lor George Washington's Birthday Friday afternoon, February 21, we had a Gearge Washington play. We had it in the chapel. Hubert was George Washington. Ross was Robert Morris. I was Betsy Ross. I had my hair powdered and I had my blue dress on. Hubert wore a Gearge Washington suit. Ross wore a velvet soat. They came to Betsy Ross's house to get her to make a flag for their country. She said that she would. She made it out of her old red petticoat, and George Washington's old army coat, and Robert Morris's o'd white shirt. Then she asked how many points the star should have. They said that they wanted six pointed stars. She said that she thought they ought to have five pointed stars. She showed them a five pointed star and they said they were beautiful. So she made the first flag. Elsie Cloud. 3A, Joseph Moore School.

The Clock Who Forgot to Tell There was once a clock that had kept time for sixty years, and all at once he stopped. The maid came along after awhile to see if it was time for dinner. But when she loked, she didn't notice the clock had stopped, and she said it was only 7 o'clock. "How soon I have done my washing!" Pretty soon the man came home for dinner, and dinner was not ready. "Why isn't my dinner ready?" "It is only seven o'clock," said the cook. "Look at the clock. It is only seven." "We will see what is the matter," said the man. "My gracious, the clock has stopped!" Marion Allison. 4A, Finley School. Spring The alder by the river Shakes out her watery curls, The willow buds in silver. For little boys and girls. The little birds fly over, And oh, how sweet they sing, To tell the happy children, That once again 'tis spring. The gay green grass come creeping , So soft beneath their feet, The frogs begin to ripple, A music clear and sweet. And butter cups are coming, And scarlet columbine. And In the sunny meadows, The dandelions shine. And just as many daisies. As their soft hands can hold, The little ones may gather, All fair in white and gold. Here blows the warm, fed clover, There peeps the violet blue. Oh, happy little children, God made them all for you! Selected by 1 1 Mary Catherine McAppin. Finley School. THE FUNNIEST THING. The funniest thing in the world, I know, Is watching the monkeys at the show, Jumping and running and racing around, Up to the top of the pole, then down; First they're here and then they're there. Just almost any and every where, Screeching and scratching wher- , ever they go, That's the funniest thing in the world I know. Selected by Rosaire Burtt. 4B, Finley School. OUR BABY. No shoes to hide her tiny toes, No stockings on her feet, Her supple ankles white as snow, Or early blossoms sweet. Her simple dress of sprinkled pink, Her double dimpled chin, Her puckered lip and bonny mouth, With not a tooth between. Her eyes so like her mother's eyes, Two gentle, liquid things; Her face is like an angel's face, "We're glad she has no wings. Selected by Marie Lnndrieth.