GIVESGRAPHIC
DESCRIPTION
OF HISTRA VELS
Mrs. W. L. Fursman is in receipt of
a letter from her brother, Lieutenant
Alfred Dunn, who gives an interesting
description of historic places visited
in France. Lieutenant Dunn is a mem
*ber of the American expeditionary
force and writes from Menton, France,
under date of February 29 as follows:
“I sent you some post cards from
Monte Carlo and Nice yesterday ,and
can best describe what I am doing
by going back to the 19th of this
month. Up to this time, for the past
six months, I have been working in
the office as company clerk in an old
French fort built on the Marne. Our
office was an underground room with
stone walls, stone roof and stone floor,
and an iron door. It was small and
damp, but was bomb-proof, and for
about three months that was what
counted, as it was in the advance zone,
and when we moved there was about
forty miles from the front line. We
could watch the shells going over at
night, and could plainly see the big
guns all the time. However, the Huns
Iron! rnnvino' haul/ and wo atsiVPrl fit
the fort, and in two or three weeks it
was all we could do to see the flashes
at night. The German planes used to
fly over, and one fell two miles from
the office, with no Yank casualties.
Some of our organization were taken
for replacements, and those of us left
at the fort had' charge of the candi
date school for training officers. Over
one thousand lieutenants were turned
out from this school.
‘‘I did not kill any Germans, and
never saw the front lines until the
fighting was all over. However, I
worked pretty hard in the office, and
while leaves have been granted to cer
tain enlisted men since November, I
had never asked for one. On the 19th
the captain came in and told me I had
one hour to get ready for a vacation.
He did not have to insist much, and
I caught the 4:15 Pacific express for
Southern France. My pass called for
Menton, near Monte Carlo, but gave
me the privilege of visiting a number
of important places and historic
ground. I was taken to the Hotel
Villa Laurenti, a big stone and marble
structure with palms, orange and
lemon trees in the yard and the Med
iterranean sea about one hundred feet
distant. I arrived on the 21st. i
passed through Cannes. Marseilles,
Nice and Monte Carlo, all very beau
tiful cities, resembling California very
much, and all very popular with the
gambling fraternity of the world.
"I have always been under the im
pression that Monaco was the only
place in Europe where gambling was
the main business, but have discov
ered that France7 is a close second.
All the main cities have big casinos,
and from the first-class hotels, now al
most unused except by the soldiers
on leave, there must have been a big
tourist trade. This, of course, has
fallen off during the war, and the only
place where gambling is carried on
extensively is at Monte Carlo.
“I visited Italy on the 23d, and sent
you a card from there, but as I did
not get as far as Rome, I have not
much of interest to say about it ex
cept it is a great place for macaroni
and spaghetti. I went to Monte Carlo
on the 24th. I went through the big
gambling casino with a guide. There
are two buildings, both magnificent
stone and marble work, and the in
teriors are the most elaborately fur
nished and finished of any building oi
place I have ever seen. There are
fine paintings on the walls, marble pil
lars and all kinds of carving, brass
bronze and gold trimmings. The fur
niture is grand. I sat down in one
of the big plush chairs and went cleai
out of sight. They were getting readj
to open the games, hut soldiers are
not allowed inside while the games
are going on.' Those in charge were
polishing up the big wheels and brush
ing off the tables. I had my picture
taken with some other Yanks in fronl
of the Casino, and will send you one
if they are good.
“I next visited a little stone chapel
in the rocky canyon, built 1n the
year 200, and near the entrance to the
tomb of the patron saint of Monaco
There is quite a legend connected with
this saint. It seems that about the
year 200 a young girl was executed
by the Romans for being a Christian
The ruler who caused her death had
a elream in which he was told to take
the corpse in an open boat on the sea
and ride around in the boat until a
dove flew from the lips of the dead
girl to the shore of some rocky coast
and where the dove alighted they were
to bury the body. At this place the
dove flew ashore from the body and
alighted where the tomb containing
her body now stands, near the old
chapel. And now once every year, on
me z<m oi January, me ciuuuuca vi
was told they were not Roman Cath
olics) gather here for a two or three
days’ celebration at the chapel, and a
Monaco monk furnishes the celebra
tion by burning something on the
rocks and throwing the ashes into the
sea. It is said that in the year 70(1
quite an army from Corsica came in
ships to make war on this small coun
try, but just before they landed the
patron saint appeared before them in
a cloud and they fled in terror. And
again about three hundred years age
the French decided that this little
country was a nuisance, and they
might as well take it, and they sen!
an army by land to invade Monaco
But again the patron saint got in hei
work, and appearing in another cloud
drove them away before a shot was
fired. So the people of the principal
ity of Monaco have an idea that they
owe their very existence to thiB pa
tron saint.
“I went from the chapel to the Roya
cathedral on the big cliltj (Suicidi
cliff), where a great many forme
rulers of Monaco are buried, or rathe:
are lying in their tombs in this ca
thedral. At one place in the floor <
pope is buried, and in a niche in thi
wall in another place is the tomb o
a former prince of Monaco who somi
two or three hundred years ago’ in
vited five hundred Spanish gentlemei
to visit him, and after dining them oi
the best in the land and filling then
up on good old wine, gathered hli
standing army of sixty soldiers to
gether and threw them over Suicide
cliff into the sea.
The chandeliers, candlesticks and
altars in this building were very rich,
much pure gold and jewels being in
evidence.
“From here we went to the prince’s
palace, which, they say, contains the
most expensive and beautiful furni
ture and draperies in the world, and
which is open to American soldiers
during certain hours. However, there
happened to be some four or five hun
dred ahead of me in the line, and it
reminded me so much of the mess iine
at the camp that I decided to pass it
by. I then went to the prince’s mu
seum. It would take too long to at
tempt to describe any one of its many
departments, but brief mention might
be made of skeletons of animals long
extinct, many animals of today mount
ed true to life, all kinds of fish, in
cluding a giant octopus or devilfish,
mounted birds, geographical charts
and comparisons of all kinds, rich
paintings of all sizes and descriptions,
and dating from the year 1200, and the
display of amber, coral, ivory and
pearls would make the window of a
Fifth avenue Jewelry store jealous. I
spent two hours in the museum, and
this completed my afternoon’s work,
and I suddenly realized that I was
hungry. The meals here are very
interesting. It takes at least an hour
to eat, as it is French style to smoke
a cigarette between each course and
drink a few bottles of wine. After
lunch I went on a Y. M. C. A. excur
sion up into the Alps to visit an old
city built by the Romans.
"The trip is made by a cog-wheel
railroad almost straight up the moun
tain. The town is called La Turbie
and is filled with ancient things (in
cluding the inhabitants). One of the
most interesting is a huge stone monu
ment which was built by Caesar Au
gustus to celebrate the conquering of
the Gauls, thirteen years before Christ.
I am sending a picture of it. It is a
mystery how they ever built such a
structure without machinery of any
kind.
“From this place I could see the Cor
...
sican islands, to the south, where Na
poleon was born. I have not been
able to learn where the island of Elba
is located (Napoleon’s place of exile).
This part of the world is historic
ground, and something ancient crops
out every time one turns around.
“The present prince of Monaca, I
am told, is past 70, and spends most
of his time in Paris, where he has a
great deal of trouble trying to spend
his money. The principality covers
316 acres of ground. The people here
do not pay any taxes. The prince
takes care of that.
"This country had a standing army
of about two hundred soldiers, who
fought with the allies in the present
war. There is an Immense monument
standing near the palace, from which
I copied the following:
“ ‘Son Alteese Senerlssime le Prince
Lea Colonies de la Principalite
Monaco
Estranses XIII Avrll AJcMXIV’
“I think I have pretty well described
Monaco to you. I have also visited
Nice, Cannes, Marseilles and several
mountain towns. The town I am stay
ing in is a fine place, but my rambling
career is about finished, as I return
tomorrow night to camp. It took
fifty-two hours to get here on the
train, but the regiment has moved one
hundred miles south since, and I will
reach the new location Sunday morn
ing. Uncle Sam is paying my railroad
transportation and hotel bills. I have
some hopes of going home next month,
but it is all a question of transporta
tion, as the ports are full of men wait
ing to go home.”
-♦
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R. W. Drew
Tacoma’s Expert Furreir
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