hardly tell there were coal mines in
the district at all. The writer went over these ruins after the war
closed and it is simply beyond the imagination to picture the actual
conditions at that time. The course of small rivers and streams were
changed so that the water could be run into these mines.

One quite remarkable distinction is noticeable to a stranger going
through France and that is that an occasional factory seems to be
located in the midst of an agricultural district. The land may be farmed
on all sides up to the factory buildings. The men often work in these
factories while the women and children and old men do the work on the
farms.

Portions of southern France are noted for the beautiful vineyards.
Bordeaux and other brands of wine are famous the world around. Some of
our boys are laughing yet about the French methods of making wine. The
grapes are gathered and piled into a great vat. When this receptacle is
filled, men, women and children take off their shoes and most all of
their clothes and climb in. Here they walk and jump and tramp until the
whole thing is a mass of pulp. In the meantime, the wine is continually
draining out and being cared for by others.

After they have tramped out all the juice possible by this method the
remains are put into a great press something like a cider press. After
all the wine has been extracted by these various methods, they use the
pulp in the manufacture of a powerful intoxicant, but this is not
generally used as a beverage. Of course, all understand that in many
places they have modern machinery and make wine along scientific lines,
but in many cases they use these old methods to this day.

The courage of the French people is sublime. Even in the darkest days
their faith never wavered and they firmly believed they would be
victorious. As a monument of this faith there is in Paris today the most
wonderful painting perhaps that was ever put upon canvas. It is called
the "Pantheon de Guerre" and is a marvelous cycloramic painting of the
war. It was opened up to the public soon after the armistice was signed
and the writer saw it while attending the Peace Conference.

Many remember the wonderful representation of the Battle of Gettysburg
which used to be in Chicago. This Paris cyclorama is along the same
line, but ten times more wonderful. It is three hundred and
seventy-four feet in circumference and forty-five high. The actual
preparation of this began in October