The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-09-08
MERCY WORKERS
in WAR DOING
GREAT SERVICES
All Countries Striving to Improve
Conditions Surrounding
Wounded.
WORK OF AMERICANS LAUDED
Motor Ambulance Service Does lnVal-
liable Work In Transporting Wound
ed Soldlers-Freneh People
Touched by Volunteer
Work Of Americans.

London.-To no one race in this wal
belongs exclusively the work of aercy
France, Russia, England, Germany
and Austria have each striven hard tC
improve the conditions surrounding
| the wounded In their armies.
In the Ottoman Red Crescent, a Ma
hOmmedan equivalent of the Red
Cross, even the Turks have corps OF
mercy workers, TO render aid to those
injured In battle. But not only the
belligerent nations are occupied in the
field Of mercy toward fallen fighters
America, with all the cheerful optim'
Ism which characterlzes her people,
has worked vigorously to alleviate the
sufferings of the wounded soldiers in
France.
Distant Abyssinia, too, was one OF
the first neutral countries to establish
a place of succor for the injured near
the firing line. Indeed, the Anglo
Ethiopian hospital at Prevent, pro-
vided with funds supplied by the Abys-
sian crown prince, did great service
early In the war. Japan, representing
the far East, also sent a wonderfully
equipped ambulance corps which has
since occupied the Hotel Astoria,
Paris. Dainty women and intellectu-
al men have given their time and their
services eagerly in the cause of hui
ntanlty.
The ladies of the Russian court,
self-sacrlfcing in the extreme, have
been trained for hospital work in the
field. They have performed duties at
which men might shudder and they
have performed them well. So 1t is in
France and England and in the other
countries, both in and out of the war.
That the majority of the workers have
been volunteers is to the credit of civ
illzatiOn. Mercy, so often beaten un-
der in the actual conflict of the belllg-
erents, has survived glOriously among
those whose function has been to re-
lieve, where possible, the victims of
shot and shell.
Automobile Great Help.
Like luG uGIODlullCt llC uulOlhODAiS
Is new departure, a very important
one, in warfare. Since August, 1914,
1t has played many parts. Armored
cars, transport lorries and other vehi-
cles directly and indirectly cOntribut-
ing to the success of the different arm
les I'm the field, have established u
fresh reputation for the motor indus
try. But it is largely owing TO the
motor ambulance that the noble work
of mercy has been possible.
So far as Great Britain is concerned,
the motor ambulance service owes its
existence and its triumph to Lord
Derby's brother, Hon. Arthur Stanley,
NJ. r., chairman of the British Red
Cross society, and also to the Royal
Automobile club. Soon after the out
break of war, in September, 1914, Mr..
Stanley, quick TO see the possibilities
Of the motor ambulance, was given
permit to send one or two out to the
front by the late Lord Kitchener.
"The actual permit" said Mr.. Stan
ley, "was in Lord Kitcheners own
handwriting-on half sheet of note
paper. 1t is now one of the most
treasured possessions If not the most
treasured, in the archives of the Red
Cross society.
zone Of the first things | did on re-
ceiving the necessary permission"
continued Mr.. Stanley, "was to get to-
gether half dozen volunteer motor
lists. all members of the Royal Auto
mobile club, to drive the ambulance
cars which we were sending to France.
Our position was curious. The motor
ambulance was then practically an un-
known quantity so far as actual war
fare went, and the military authori-
ties stipulated that our drivers were
not to wear uniform, nor, under any
circumstances, to go near the firing
line There was to be no Red Cross
on the cars. Truly the mission of the
motor ambulance was to be extremely
limited. They were simply to go about
far behind the firing line and pick up
wounded men who could not be car
rled to the field hospitals; men, for
example, who had crawled for safety
into abandoned cottages and barns.
Proves It's Worth.
with the possible exception of the
American ambulance cars at Neuilly,
ours were the first motor ambulances
used in France But the value of a
rapid service for the transport Of
wounded soldiers was quickly recOg-
nlzed, and now, Of course, wherever
there is fighting there are motor am
balances"
Here is a typical instance, as told
by Mr. Stanley, how the motor ambu-
lance proved its worth in the early
days Of the war:
Late one evening one Of our ambu-
lnnces crept up close to the firing line.
They met an officer, who turned them
back because, as he said, 1T is so
dark, it is no use going further
"They went back to farmhouse and
o bed. In the middle Of the night
they were awakened by the same Off
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