day of August, has been amazing. The broad avenues of the sleepy old
town have been packed from side to side with men in uniform, men only
partly in uniform, or men carrying their uniforms under their arm. At
the first glance there seemed nothing but confusion, but the appearance
was misleading, for at the Chantiers Station trainload after trainload
of troops--men, guns, horses, material--have been despatched, taking the
route of the Grande Ceinture Railway around Paris to Noisy-le-Sec, and
on to the Est system.

At Versailles one realizes very fully that France is at war. For there
are lines and lines of guns awaiting teams and drivers, hundreds upon
hundreds of provision wagons, rows and rows of light draught-horses,
many being shod in the street, while out along the road to Saint-Cyr, in
a broad pasturage stretching perhaps half a mile, are thousands of
magnificent cattle tightly packed together. They are to feed some of
France's fighting force.

And at Saint-Cyr there is unheard-of activity. The second army flying
corps is being organized. It consists of nearly eighty certificated
volunteer pilots, including Garros, Chevillard, Verrier, Champel,
Audemars, and many more well-known names. There are others than French
airmen in the corps. Audemars is Swiss, while there are also an
Englishman, a Peruvian, and a Dane. These men are all waiting eagerly
the order to move.

Those at the American Embassy who are in charge of advancing funds to
Americans in need of them had their busiest day since the work began, on
Monday. Forty-six persons received a total of 3,514 francs.

The total amount of money distributed for the three days has been 8,869