IN THE SHOPS IN PARIS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2800, 19 June 1916, Page 3

IN THE SHOPS IN PARIS

If by any chance a German could creep into Paris and walk /ound the shops on a line afternoon, or even a wet one, he or-she would go away with something to > think, about (states the Paris correspondent of "The Queeu"), The German boast- that France was maimed in any way but in her' brave-, men would soon be exploded, and truth would be forced on their minds,, no matter how obstinate. It is impossible to .move in some of the departments, so dense is. the crowd'of buyers. Sis and seven people stand waiting, their turn to be served, and' at the caisses where you go to jay your bill the waiting line is still louder. Blouses, hats, lingerie, fronts, silks, muslins, and ready-made costumes of all kinds are being sold as rapidly as they cari be made. Up in the tea-room [and every big shop -has its tea-room in these days—one, indeed, has been opened since the war began), the crowd is just as intense. Each little table has its vase of (lowers, and the tarts and ices are consumed healthy appetites. The buyers aro drawn from all classes, and the great majority are, of course, French; for the foreigner is rather rare than' otherwise in theso days, nnless he be a soldier, a business man, or, if a woman, a voluntary' worker in. some ambulance or canteen, or a resident in the country. Such a scene should, inspire confidence'in the hearts of neutrals and Allies for the financial future of France, as it is certain that practical, economical Frenchwomen would not be spending money unless they iiad'-.it to sjjend. If heavy taxes come later, they will be able to meet them, and although many industries are seriously, sumo. say mortally, attacked, the economies of past years, of future years, evfti of the present time, will be sufficient to restore the balance. The only loss that France will find it hard to make up, whioh, indeed,, she cannot make up because Nature is stronger even than her material intelligence, is the loss of young manhood, and such a splendid manhood, as the war is proving / every (lay. The France of to-day, however, is not mournful.' It is steady and determined with a characteristic realisation of its material duties and difficulties. In remembering its trials we must not forget its Spartan qualities, and to paint its people as stricken and depressed is quite unjust. Its men are maimed physically but not intellectually, nrid its women, from highest to lowest, are well fitted to face the future economically and otherwise. The strength of the Frenchwoman is wonderful, fend every day she reveals to'.lis. something. ncw;_in her power to recuperate from the most terrible and devastating blows.' The light of reason keeps her. from folly., and a. subjective sense of comedy, in the French sense of the'wprd, saves her from neurasthenia..