Evening journal., 1916-10-20

to living with death as their near
neighbor that they grew as indiffer-
ent to il as the men in the trenches.
The French authorities welcomed
the dental ambulance with open arms
and located ii at Barbecue, in the
rear Of Verdun. No sooner was II
i'm commission than the work began.
This work might have been consider
ed distasteful to some. but DR.. Speak
man. with his great love for France.
and his outspOken championship of the
Allies cause, never made COM
plant. Many times he has dismissed
his last patient at IL or - o'clock at
night, after having stood over his
chair for a period Of fifteen or sixteen
hours. ~snatched a few hours sleep
and been on duty again the next day
ready to undergo another period Of
grinding toll And this he has kept
up for four months and is still doing
it,
The list Of cases handled by DR..
Speakman and his two assistants in
cluded all facial aches and pains and
all teeth troubles. Until the arrival
of the Wilmington ambulance the
soldiers had had very little dental
work done for them and many of
them suffered acutely. The damp
trenches in which they we're obliged
to live day after day were produc-
tive of neuralgia and face ache Den
tistry in France is far behind the
professional attainments in this coun-
try said Mrs. Speakman, and added
to that fact is the woeful lack of den
lists able to devote their time and
skill to the soldiers. Unlike the ply
sicians, the French dentists enlisted
in the armies and so their profess
sional services are not available.
More than one-half of the soldiers
in the trenches at Verdun had facial
trouble of some kind, said Mrs. Speak
man, and when the Wilmington party
reached the scene of its four months
stay it found the men with ears stuff
ed with cotton and other precautions
being taken to avoid tooth ache. Tn.
til the arriva lOf the American party
the soldiers had had to obtain such
relief for their tooth aches as they
could find, and this was given by ply.
sicians whose only remedy was to ex
tract the troublesome molars. AS a
consequence. DR.. Speakman found
only four or five teeth in his mouth
that would strike together. and with
such a pitiable array of teeth trying
to masticate the hard, dry food.
A decided change in the situation
came when the Wilmington ambulance
party reached the spot, however. In
one month DR.. Speakman sent back
sixty men to the fighting line who
would not suffer further from aching
teeth. This was in addition to the
other work he did in between. The
gratitude and appreciation Of the sol
diers thus relieved took every con-
ceivable form of expression, Mrs.
Speakman said and because of this
relief work and also because Of his
well-known pro-Ally sympathies. Dr.
Speakman was permitted TO penetrate
far into the French lines and to wit
ness sights that are permitted the
French soldiers only.
In this connection Mrs. Warren said
that the French government is draw
ing very close line about its war
zone for they fear that many of the
foreigners in the country-Japanese
English, Americans-may be spies
masquering as such. Through DR..
Speakman's influence. his wife and
Mrs. Warren also saw more of the
French war preparations than even
French women.
Speaking of the constant danger in
which the Wilmington party lived,
Mrs. Warren said that the situation
was so acute that a password was
agreed upon, the uttering of which by
the proper authority meant that the
inhabitants of Barbecue were in i'm
minent danger and must seize their
belongings and fee Such a warning
did not come during all the time
the Wilmington party were together
at Barbecue. however But there was
the ever constant menace of death
through illness, through inhaling the
poisonous gases that sometimes we're
waited as far back of the lines as
their situation, and infection from
disease The three escaped these
dangers, though
hunting lodge belonging to the
Due de Penthievre and which had been
given over to the use of the French
Government, was the home Of DR..
Speakman and party. While the
building might be referred to as a
castle. it was a bare. barren place,
said Mrs. Speakman, with stone floors
and few furnishings. But they had
shelter and managed to live fairly
well, especially as to their larder
which was supplied with wild boar
meat, speckled trout and other deli
cacies such as would not be expected
in war scourged France.
But there was a reason why the
Americans we're able to live so sump-
tuously. Barbecue is situated Ia the
wild boar hunting district and for Two
years no wild boar hunting has been
done in France. AS a result the ami
mails have multiplied in number at an
amazing. rate. It was easy to trap
and kill them and so the Americans
lunched and dined on wild boar
steaks or roasts. In addition to this
a trout stream ran through the place
and trout were another staple for the
table. Mushrooms also grew near
and these varied the daily menu.
POSTPONE LABOR CONFERENCE.
A special meeting Of the Labor
Commission of Delaware to consider