The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-29
ENGLISH GIRL WINS FIRST LINE TRENCH
 PLACE AT VERDUN
Kathleen Burke, Known as Thousand Dollar -A-Day- Girl Is Honored by
 Generals.

London, Aug. 29.-The first girl the French army, is Kathleen Burke, the same English girl who on her tour early this year in behalf of the Scot tish Women's Hospitals in the Eastern States and Canada, collected so much money that on returning she was hail. ed in the newspapers as the "thous- and-dollars-a-day girl"
 A mere slip of girl of the type that might be afraid of the report of a rifle, Miss Burke stood calmly by thes ide of the officers in Verdun, and while big shells were dropping about watched the direction of a counter attack that repulsed the enemy.
 As a special mark of appreciation of the splendid devotion of the body of workers she represents and of her own zeal in raising more than a mill lion francs in support of hospitals treating wounded French soldiers. she was entertained by three great Gen. erals. Her hosts were General Pe- tain, the original defender of verdun. General Nivelle. now in command of the Army of Verdun and General Du- bois, in command in Verdun itself. Miss Burke was also received by Gen. eral Joffre. At dinner in the vaults of the Citadel of verdun toasts to the success of the Allies and to the visitors health were proposed to the accompaniment of the boom of big guns.
 Under the care of the Commandant Jean de Pulligny, of the Ministry of Munitions, and recently Chief of the French Engineering Commission to the United States. in an automobile placed at her disposition by the French Government. Miss Burke visited prac- tically the entire front, paying parti- cular attention to the work of the hospitals. She remained in France about a month. '"ren days after my arrival I assisted at the opening of
 new ward of 100 beds in the hospital of the Scottish Women at Royau- mont" she said. "The ward is called Canada because 1t was paid for by the Canadian money. The money was given to me by five Canadian cities during by hurried visit-Ottawa, Mon- treal, Toronto, Hamilton, and Lon don, Ontario. The Canadian Red
 Cross made me splendid gift of s1o,-
 o00
 eEverywhere was tremendously l impressed by the work of the hospi-
 tals, their remarkable systems where
 by the wounded are so promptly given the best attention. and was glad ac- tually to witHess the wonderful work of the American Ambulance sections.
 I saw several and they were much closer to the firing line than anyone
 would imagine, the young men being
 constantly in the, greatest peril, but
 seeming to forget in their zeal all
 about their personal safety"
 l Although she knew 1t in a vague
 way, Miss Burke says that she did not
 realize the great danger she was in at verdun as she stood out near the top of the Citadel and watched the battle. Men were falling within a few hundred yards of her. "It was
 a bit thrilling" she said. especially to see the big shells rough words from Krupps. as the officers referred to them, falling on various sides. do not retain impressions' of any of them individually, but one burst some 200 yards away from where we stood. It was a big one. We did indeed feel much safer when we were in the com fortable and protected vaults under the citadel. I think it must have been the perfect ease and lack of the
 slightest trace of anxiety among the l officers that set me so much at my own ease during the terrific cannon ade of the big guns"
 For her efforts in behalf of the serbians, Miss Burke has been made a Knight of St. sava in Serbia the youngest on the roll. Her organisa- tion had four hospitals in Serbia and transferred their work after the Ger man occupation to Saloniki and Cor sica, where they have the medical care of 5000 Serbian refugees. An-
 other unit is leaving shortly for Rus sian and . unit which left last month for Saloniki to join the Serbian army
 is called the "Aemrican Unit" as fl
 was paid for with funds subscribed in America.