The ram came on this afternoon at four, while a large crowd of Parisians
stood in the square in front of the church of Saint-Etienne du Mont,
beside the Pantheon, but it failed to disperse the faithful, who were
taking part in the outdoor service of homage to Sainte-Genevieve, the
protectress of Paris, whose remains are buried in this small church of
the Gothic-Renaissance period (1517-1620), one of the most beautiful of
all the sacred edifices of France.

Those who recently hastened away from Paris in search of a place of
refuge, quiet, and safety, have met with many disappointments. The roads
to Tours are blocked with vehicles of every description, many of them
filled with refugees who have turned them into temporary dwellings.
Automobiles are brought to a standstill for lack of benzol. Everything
on the way from Paris to Bordeaux is requisitioned. At Orleans, people
wander about vainly seeking a place in which to sleep. The town is
filled. People buy ham and sausages, which they eat in cafes or in the
streets. At Blois, the citizens offer to lodge refugees and travelers at
the rate of five francs a day. The Blois people are very hospitable and
do not seek to unduly profit by the situation. The Grand Hotel is of
course overflowing, but the prices remain the same as in ordinary times.
At Tours, the inhabitants are less hospitable and more avaricious. One
of the biggest hotels in the town asks fifty francs (ten dollars) for a
simple armchair in which to pass the night. Three special trains
yesterday carried away to Provence the inmates of the insane asylums of
Bicetre and Charenton. It was a weird sight to see these men and women,
utterly unconscious of the war, gazing with nervous uncertainty upon the
strange scenes through which they were conducted to the Orleans Station,
somewhat like helpless flocks of sheep.

Shortly after leaving the large room at Number 31 Boulevard des