Paris War Days | Page 7

to see the Commissary of Police of the quarter and spoke to
him about Sophie, explaining her case and saying that as she was such
a splendid cook it would be a great pity if Paris should lose her services.
The commissary smiled and said: "It will be all right. Sophie will be
allowed to remain in Paris!" I profited by the occasion to obtain a
permis de séjour, or residence permit, for myself. The commissary,
after noting on paper my personal description and measuring my height,
handed me the precious document authorizing me to reside in the
"entrenched camp of Paris." These papers must be kept on one's person,
ready to be shown whenever called for. Outside of the office about
three hundred foreigners, including Emile Wauters, the Belgian painter,
and several well-known Americans and English, were waiting their turn
to get into the office. I congratulated myself on having a journalist's
coupe-file card that had enabled me to get in before the others, some of
whom stood waiting for six hours before their turn came. This is an
instance of stupid French bureaucracy or red-tapism. It would have
been very easy to have distributed numbers to those waiting, and the
applicants would then have been able, by calculating the time, to go
about their business and return when necessary. Another instance of
this fatal red-tapism of French officialdom came in the shape of a
summons from the fiscal office of Vernon, where I have a little country
place on the Seine, to pay the sum of two francs, which is the annual
tax for a float I had there for boating purposes. This trivial paper,
coming in amidst the whirlpool of mobilization, displays the mentality
of the provincial officials.
After doing some writing, I went on my new bicycle to the chancellery
of the United States Embassy and saw a crowd of about seventy
Americans on the sidewalk awaiting their turn to obtain identification
papers. I met here Mr. Bernard J. Schoninger, former president of the
American Chamber of Commerce in Paris. The news of the outbreak of
war found him at Luchon in the Pyrenées. All train service being
monopolized for the troops, he came in his automobile to Paris, a

distance of about a thousand kilometers. All went smoothly until he
reached Tours, when he was held up at every five kilometers by guards
who demanded his papers. Chains or ropes were often stretched across
the roads. Mr. Schoninger showed the guards his visiting card,
explained who he was, and said that he was going to Paris on purpose
to get his papers. The authorities were very civil, as they usually are to
all Americans who approach them politely, and allowed him to motor
to Neuilly, just outside the fortifications of Paris.
I proceeded on my wheel to the Embassy, where I found our
Ambassador very busy with the American Relief Committee and with
the American Ambulance people.
Several Americans at the Embassy were making impractical requests,
as for instance that the American Ambassador demand that the French
Government accept the passports or identification papers issued by the
American Embassy here in lieu of permis de séjour. If the French
Government accorded this favor to the United States, all the other
neutral nations would require the same privilege, and thus in time of
war, with fighting going on only a little over two hundred kilometers
from Paris, the French Government would lose direct control of
permission for foreigners to remain in the capital.
It is estimated that there are over forty thousand Americans at present
stranded in Europe, seventy-five hundred of them being in Paris. Of
these fifteen hundred are without present means.
The Embassy is literally besieged by hundreds of these unfortunate
travelers. There were so many of them, and their demands were so
urgent, that the Military Attaché, Major Spencer Cosby, had to utilize
the services of eight American army officers on leave to form a sort of
guard to control their compatriots. These officers were Major Morton
John Henry, Captain Frank Parker, Captain Francis H. Pope,
Lieutenants B.B. Summerwell, F.W. Honeycutt, Joseph B. Treat, J.H.
Jouett, and H.F. Loomis. The last four are young graduates of West
Point, the others being on the active list of the United States army.
Ambassador Herrick set his face against any favoritism in receiving the

applicants, and some very prominent citizens had to stand in line for
hours before they could be admitted. Mr. Oscar Underwood, son of
Senator-elect Underwood, is organizing means to alleviate the distress
among his countrymen and countrywomen in Paris. He has also asked
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extend the time allowed for
Americans to obtain formal permission to remain in France, and his
request will no doubt be granted.
Doctor Watson, rector