THE KING IN FRANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 208, 11 February 1915, Page 3

THE KING IN FRANCE.

WHAT A SHOPKEEPER SAW. Mr. A. Beaumont wrote to the Lor don Daily Telegraph:— A railway accident; nothing serior trilling enough in itself, but quite sufficient to suspend passengei tin Hie. In war everything must be subordinate to the military interest—wliich is quite jr;st. We civilians who were travelling in one of the fast trains from l'aris therefore suddenly see our journey curtailed. We are to'.d to ;,vt lown, "Tout le monde descend" is the short, concise order we receive.

Fortunately for the one journalist 011 board, our halt comes at the very place v here I have many a time been refused permission to alight. "On ne descend ]as ici," was the strict order. Time and ugai.i I hennl it, to ray utv'r disappointment,. and now, to my greatest satisfaction, it was reversed. I was ordered to descend from the train, and, better still, to take up my quarters in tlint town for the night. Only twenty-four hours earlier his Majesty King George V. had passed through that very town. How I should hive wished to have been there twenty-four hours sooner, with the same "fortunate" railway accident. However, we cannot have all good things at onee.

I learned that in a neighboring town "Sa Majestc le Roi Georges" had pas- | sed with the Prince of Wales, to tlio great delight of the inhabitants. Every-1 body had cheered his Majesty and the' Prince. Tears had come to the eyes of matronly Indies, of wives and mothers, whose husbands or sons were in tlic trenches,. and who exclaimed, "It is King George of England and his soldiers who have come to help ns. Vivent lea ( Anglais!" | "What did you see?" I asked a good lady, who had just come from the town ( where the King had reviewed his soldiers, "Monsieur,'' she said, with great . earnestness, "I never tell an untruth. As sure as you are there, I saw the i King with my own eyes, and as near as 1 see you now. I was standing in front of my 'boutique,' I am a, 'merciere,' arid there was King George and his son, the • Prince of Wales, a fair, nice young mail, j coming down the 'trottoir!' I did not know what was happening. Just think, | we were not warned of it at all. But that morning I wondered to see so many troops in khaki—all English soldiers come from the trenches—live kilometres away some of them had come—and stand in line in the middle of the street. I got out to see what was happening, I and then we suddenly heard that King j George and his son, the 'Prince dc Gal-! < les,' were coming and were honoring our j 1 town. !

"We could not believe it at first, but'' I tell you when [ saw hini get out of 1 the motor-car only twenty yards from ' my shop I recognised him at once. It | was so like his picture. I sell his pic- ! ture postcards and those of the Prince of Wales, you see, so that I ought to know. I told all my neighbors that it • was the King and the Prince, and we stood and bowed as lie passed, and wo . were happy. I never thought I should , see the King of England so near my shop. There were several generals with him and other ollieers, !

"The King looked very serious, but very calm, and lie spoke to some of the soldiers in the middle of the square, and he pinned a medal to the breast of two of them. I saw it all, and 1 wmlcl see that he said very kind words to them, for one of the soldiers drew liis hand over his eyes. like one who wipes a tear, and he looked very happy at what the King had said to him."