Cheyenne record., 1916-08-31
All Countries Striving to improve
= Conditions Surrounding !;
= Wounded.
WORK OF AMERICANS LAuDEl
Motor Ambulance Service Does invai-
liable Work In Transporting Wound
ed soldiers-Freneh People
Touched by Volunteer
Work Of Americans.

London.-To no one race in this war
belongs exclusively the work Of mercy.
France, Russia, England, Germany
and Austria have each striven hard to
improve the conditions surrounding
the wounded In their armies.
In the Ottoman Red Crescent, 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 opttm-
ism which characterizes 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 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 hu-
manity.
The ladies' of the Russian court,
self-sacrificing 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 we'll. 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
ilization. Mercy, SO often beaten un-
der in the actual conflict of the bellig-
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 the aeroplane, the automobile
is new departure, very Important
one, in warfare. Since August, 1914,
it 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 in the field, have established q
fresh reputation for the motor Indus
try. But 1t 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. p, chairman Of the British Red
Cross society. and also to the Royal
Automobile club. Soon after the out
break of war, in September, 1914, MIR.
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 l did on re-
ceiWng the necessary permission"
continued Mr.. Stanley, was to get to-
gether half q 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 authors
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
ried to the field hospitals; men, for
example. who had crawled for safety
into abandoned cottages and barns.
Proves its Worth.
with the possible exception Of the
American ambulance cnrs 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-
nized, 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 nmbu-
innces crept up close to the firing line.
They met IN officer. who turned them
back because as he said. 1t 10 SO
dark, 1t Is no use going further.
They went pack to q farmhouse and
to bed. In the middle Of the night
they vere awakened by the same off,