Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-04
s'as Correspondent rver'ro LEDGER

NEU1LLY. Paris, July Is
A VERY thrilling and dangerous part
"A OF army work is being carried on by
Americans In Paris through the agency Of
the American Ambulance. This work Is
quite distinct from that done in the hos
pital, and is carried on by a particular
section for transportation Of the wounded.
II involves great exposure to shell FIRE and
epeny attack. besides some wonderful ex-
nmpies OF driving motorcars in pre-
cipitous ravines
Or Edmund Gros a Californian. Is the
chief surgeon and head Of this ambulance
and. MS his great racing car swept in at
the hospital gates, he drew up sharply
and apoloRized for his dusty condition.
"oniy 70 minutes ago I was at the
trenches" he said laughing "and there
was plenty OF dust flying there-and
shells, tool II you will come right into
my office ] shall be very glad to tell you
all about our work"
The American Ambulance, under Doc
tor Gros has 100 armored cars working
at the front and $50 young American men
as assistants. They are practically all
college men, very many being from Har-
ward and Yale In their khaki uniforms
they look exceedingly smart. and fear
ish a word entirely unknown to them.
1--WE transfer the wounded from the
trenches and the firing line to the hos
pitals and dressing stations nearby said
surgeon-Captain Gros. "and II Is some
what exciting work. None of my boys
carry rifles or ammunition, but they run
just as much risk Of being shot as any
body else-in fact, more, since they carry
no weapons of defense. Our ambulances,
80 .rsa a. 10 N
TO wait till niEhtfsil before we can make
q journey in safety. At Point Amousson,
for instance, the roads were very bad
and we were under terrific shell fire all
the time. In Alsace the wounded had
60 be brought down from the top OF
hill (iNo 'XC on muleback or on spring
less carriages, and they suffered great
pain in being jolted down this narrow
mountain path. Moreover, II took from
three to four hours to transport them.
Our men, therefore, decided that they
would attempt this with motor ambu-
lances. and although 1t was a dangerous
Undertaking they carried 1t out and are
now able to go up this pass and down
again within an hour, thus saving many
lives. Much pain. too, Is avoided in this
way. The brakes, of course, have to be
changed several times in n night, as the
terrible descent wears them out. and II
is a curious sight to see our men lyingl
little electric torches. often we are with
in 800 yards of the Germans"
II recolect one night when we were
sleeping In an abandoned military bar
rack a huge German shell burst in the
building and shattered the whole of one
side. Luckily none of us were hurt.
I'm the trench work It is my duty to
see that none of my men expose them
selves unduly and that the wounded are
properly transported. One gets perfectly
accustomed to shells flying around. and
a day or two ago we were working in
one trench only 26 feet away from the
Germans. The interchange of notes be-
tween the French and German soldiers
was most amusing. They pitched them
across TO each other. and the contents
were scarcely fiatteringl For instance, n
French soldier would write. The 18th of
July is comingl Look out for yourselves,
for we mean to give you a fitting cele-
brltionP He would then pitch the note
across to the German trench and In re-
turn receive a note: DO not grow ex-
citedl Our zeppelins are preparing raid
on your beloved Paris and the weather
tonight is favorable!
AGREE NOT TO SHOOT.
'I have perused many of these notes."
continued DR.. Gros laughing heartily.
''and some of them are very witty. Many
Of them are quite conclliatory in tone.
will we! would come hurtling on little
piece OF white paper through the inter-
vening space. The enemies would then
enjoy rest for day
I'm one Belgian trench the two oppos-
Ing forces agreed that the mutual pop
ping out of heads would be allowed. for
both French and German soldiers felt so
uncomfortable to think that the raising
OF the head meant that It would probably
be blown off, and sort of truce in the
matter was arranged
Is It true that the French and Ger
man soldiers sometimes meet and chat
quite amicably7" I asked.
Mr. Gross shook his head. VERY sell
dom-and 1t Is a dangerous business" he
answered. Near two enemy trenches
was a pump. and the soldiers did agree
10 fetch water from there without shoot
ing each other. They approached each
other somewhat gingerly. and retreated
with the water still more gingerly. 1t
was an amusing sight to watch. Com
plications arose when the Hesslan regi-
ment removed one night and In its place
came Bavarians. The Frenchman did
not learn OF the interesting change until
they met the newcomers face to face at
the pump-and It was an embarrassing
situation. Neither knew II the other was
going TO fire or not"
please tell me how the armored cars
are eontributed?" I inquired.
Fifteen hundred dollars represents
contribution toward an ambulance and
its upheep for six months" said Doctor
Crns. "and every car has a plate next
the driver with the name OF the donor on