Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-06-19

front OF the French battle lines, a lot
ter has been received in Boston from
a. Piatt Andrew that shows clearly the
work now being done in the field by the
American Ambulance Hospital OF Paris
1t summarizes authoritative reports
from each OF the sections where Ameri-
cans are engaged in the work Of rescue,
gives the color and detail of daily life
in the service. and bears telling witness
to the bravery of the American volun-
teers, and TO the efficiency of the Amcri-
can machines and methods. It's text
follows:
Dear -: From one or two letters
that | have recently received IL would
appear that some disSruntled ex-mcm-
Der of our service has disseminated the
notion that outside OF Paris the Ameri-
can Ambulance has not been doing the
most important work. II seems even
TO have been implied that the general
STAFF of the French army was not in
clined 10 intrust 10 our machines serv-
ice actually nj the front. To one who
knows the real situation, this is sur
prisinG and disappointing. because ut
terly contrary TO the facts.
The real facts arc these, that every
one OF our field sections, without cXcep-
ton. is working as far forward as the
most advanced French sections con
Quoted by enlisted soldiers. and that
some Of our sections. because OF the
peculiar ava!la bility OF our cars. and
the unusual devotion and courage Of
our men, are working nearer the actual
hattle-line than even tho French cars
All this is attestcd by numerous letters
from French generals and other off,
Gals, as, for instance. by General Putt
and by the request which has been
made by the general stan that We pro-
vide additional sections OF twenty cars
each as rapidly we can.
II may be of interest to you 10 know
somewhat more specifically the charac-
ter of the work being done by some Of
our field sections. The section in the
north. which. for convenience we have
called the Dunkirk section, is now di-
vided into two parts with ten amhu-
lances in each One part is stationed
at the railway station in Dunkirk
where il serves for the evacuation hos
pital, located in the freight house Our
men carry wounded from this evacua-
ton hospital to more than a score OF
hospitals in Dunkirk. Malo. Berguea
Bourbourg. Gravelines, Zuydccote and
other towns. and they also bring back
the convalescents from these hospitals
TO the trains which carry them 10 hos
pitfalls and resting places in tho interior
OF France. AS you know. Iounkirk has
been bombarded by the heaviest artil-
lery during the last month. Shells as
tall as man and seventeen inches in
diameter have dropped into Dunkirk
from batteries located thirty-eight
kilometers distant. They dropped with
out any preliminary warning and their
explosion utterly annihilates every
thing within range. During these hon.
bardments our men have rendered great
service in picking up the killed and
wounded on the streets. Fortunately
none OF our men or machines have suf-
Tered any injury.
The other part of our northern sec
ton is stationed at PoperinEhc where
the men live and eat in little Flemish
farmhouse just outside the town. Some
Of the mon sleep in the straw in
barn loft and the rest sleep on stretch
ers in small room in which all the
men also eat One man goes back with
machine each day TO Dunkirk, and is
replaced by man from Dunkirk, who
brings out another machine with meat
already cooked and other supplies
Thus the personnel changes every ten
days. and the men who have been work
ing about Poperinghe are able to live
more comfortably for ten days at Malo.
a seaside resort near Dunkirk, where
they are billeted, and while there they
are able to work under more favorable
conditions upon their machines The
men at Poperinghe have very little to
do in the daytime, but at night. with
out phares or oil lamps, they set out
after dark over rough pavement. in
many cases badly torn by shells. and
creep along some seven or eight miles
on the road to Woesten. where is To-
Gated the tent hospital (relai d'ambu-
lance), called the Ambulance Marocaine.
Formerly they went to Elverdinghe,
somewhat nearer Ypres, but during the
last three or four weeks Elverdinghe
has been virtually destroyed by shells
and the chateau which served as q
hospital was hit number OF times
and had to he evacuated. From the
rclai tent hospital in Woesten they get
their orders for the various Postes de
Secours along the User Canal, and so
the ambulances move along in groups
of two or three to Boesinghe. Zuid-
schoote and other villages where in
the dressing stations.
The wounded are brought here d-
rcctly from the trenches or roads on
which they have fallen and are car
ried back from these primitive sta =
tions to the tent hospital in Woeston
Our men often make several trips
during the night. They are all the
time In the midst Of A deafeninE thun-
der Of cannon fire and cracking mus
kerry, and rockets and fusces from the
French and German trenches, one
night an for a holiday celebration.
We have, as you know. two sections
in the east. one In Alsace and one on
the frontier Of Lorraine. The section
working in Alsacc is stationed at St.
Maurice on Moscllc, "a clean little vii
lagc I'm the VosScs, about three or
four miles this aide of the former
frontier and surrounded by lofty noun
tainB. From hcrc. our cars go each
day UP over tho pass and through the
tunnel, which leads into what. a year