This rumor, however, was
prevalent only among foreigners. No French people that I saw seemed to
have any such feeling. Apart from the excitement which prevailed in the
vicinity of the steamship offices and banks the city had a deserted
look. The Paris that you knew exists no longer. Compared with it this
Paris is a dead city. Almost every shop is closed, and must be until the
great number of men gone to the front can be replaced in some way.
There are streets in which every closed front bears, under a paper flag
pasted on shutter or door, a sign saying, "Closed on account of the
mobilization"; or, "All the men with the colors."
There are almost no men in the streets. There are no busses or
tramways, and cabs and automobiles are rare. Some branches of the
underground are running at certain hours, and the irregular service must
continue until women, and men unfit for military service, replace the
men so suddenly called to the flag, and that will take time, especially
as so many of the organizers as well as conductors and engineers have
gone. It is the same with the big shops. However, that is not
important. No one is in the humor to buy anything except food.
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