A single modern shell can put a modern stone-and-steel fort, garrison and guns, entirely out of commission.
A year ago Paris looked dirty and decadent.

Her building fronts were grimy, her streets were dirty, and there was a general carelessness where before had been art, precision, and cleanliness.

To-day Paris streets are clean.

There is even more evidence of rebuilding and of modern conveniences.

Motor street-sweepers whirl through the squares, not singly but in pairs and more extended series, and they move with automobile rapidity, quickly cleansing the pavement.
I was reminded thereby of a personal experience at the breaking out of the Spanish-American War.