The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-23

met requirements.
 THE OFFICIAL HELMET It is a sort of pointed sack, lightish blue in color, and IS inches long, It slips over the head. The skirt of the thing comes down below the shoulders, and when in use is gathered together and buttoned inside the soldiers coat, thus making things gas tight. There are panes of glass to see through and there is rubber tube which is taken in the mouth. The tube is fitted with a valve that permits the wearer to exhale through it, but to draw in no air. The head is entirely covered and the helmet rises to point, looking for all the world like the headgear of a member of the ku KIux Klan.
 The whole smells pretty bad It is soaked in some solution that is an anti dote for the German gas. What the so- lution is is secret-"O. c. Helmets' firm iy refused to tell. A soldiers helmet lasts on an average of two and half months, but 70. c. Helmets sees to it that it's service is not over by then A helmet that has lost it's power of resist ing the gas, through evaporation or de- terioration of the chemicals on it, comes back to 70 e. and she makes it as good as new.
 She has large number of French women in her charge. The helmet comes down to the base from the firing line and
 70. C.' and her assistants set to work The helmets are torn apart and put back together again. All necessary repairs are made-old and worn mouthpieces re- placed, new glasses put in. Then they are soaked in a disinfectant and finally sent to the most important place of all, to be saturated with the stuff that de- fies German gas. This little room is a fearsome place. It is filled with fumes from chemicals of one kind or another; it is magnified version of what the helmet itself smells like. There is a reg ular system. A girl brings a tray of helmets and turns them over to a French washerwoman who presides over a large tub. She soaks them in a cer- tain evil smelling solution and passes them on to another tub. The helmets are put through various solutions and finally they are wrung out. Then they go to drying room. After they have dried out they are taken across the way and packed into canvas cases and from there sent to the front. Thousands are ham, dled each week, just how many is an other thing 70. c. Helmets" will not dis cuss..s
 DOING GREAT WORK
 Women, in this war are doing a great work, at home and abroad. There are the nurses, the munition workers, and at this particular base there are 10 Eng fish girls who are driving motor cars for the army. They wear khaki, short skirts and short sleeves. This particular group have relieved 10 men for active service They do everything for themselves, and it is interesting to watch them at their work. taking apart their engines, making repairs and doing everything as man would, and, according to the officials, quite as we'll
 At this base also there is a French lady, whose husband is off to the war She is doing her bit by taking care of nearly half a hundred Flemish girls, all tiny tots. Some are orphans, others are Waifs of the battlefield, whose parents have been lost in the turmoil. Others have no mothers and their fathers are with the colors. In an old house, sur rounded by a garden of size, this lady, with the assistance of two sisters of the church, has established a home for them The kind of lady who has done all this showed us through her establishment. Into a tiny schoolruom we went. score of black frocked little girls rose to their feet
 Bon jour, M'sieurs," came a treble rip- pie across the room. and they all curtsed. The hooded sister look benig1nly on. The kind lady asked if we would like to hear them sing. and thereupon the sister rapped wand and in these youngsters started. It was "Tipperary.'' in English. Neither the children nor the sister lead ing them had the slightest idea of the meaning of the words of this important song, but they sang it and sang it we'll And they all sang; not one shirked. In cidentally, it was the only time on trip in the war zone which lasted nearly a week that 'Tipperary'' was heard. It is taboo in the war zone, everyone is sick of it.
 One little thing of three years sang a. patriotic song in French and then they all marched in circle through the gar den, still singing.