The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1917-01-04
Meeting of tGe W0man's Club

One of the most interesting meet
ings of the Woman's Club was the
all day session held yesterday in Lii
brary parlors. The members num-
bering about seyenty-five, assembled
at an early hour, prepared to work
on the pillows and comfort bags for
the relief of the wounded soldiers in
France. This work was in charge
Of Mrs. Helen Atwood. At eleven
o'clock. the president called the
meeting to order and introduced DR..
Desjardins of Waterville who has
but recently returned from the front.
His talk was most interesting, for
being an eye witness of the terrible
scenes enacted across the water. his
descriptions were graphic.
It seems that the men in the trench
es are sometimes so near each other
that both sides must keep absolute
silence If they do not, they are liza
BILE to receive a shower of projectiles.
The speaker said that few have any
idea what this war has developed in
the way of bombardments. saying
that the commandments previous to
this time were mere Fourth OF July
! fireworks in comparison. He told
about the cemeteries which had been
all torn up by bombs and how the
bodies had been turned over and over
/ "A I..tn al
THE whole thing is worse than
print can possibly describe, said DR.
Desjardins. Absolutely nothing re-
mains of many of the towns. Some
/ times whole forests are almost swept
away and look as if the trees had
been struck by a great hurricane and
blown over
Anything that moves is shot at
and therefore it is almost unsafe TO
appear out during the daytime. In
some cases when the trenches are
near those of the enemy. the relief
parties can not be sent out until
night on account Of the great risk
they would incur by so doing. 1t
! is thus impossible for the wounded
men to be attended to Immediately
/ A few yards back from the trenches
are the dressing stations where the
men are taken to have their wounds
i dressed This is usually a subway
chamber underground. There is no
+ time for operations in these dressing
rooms and the men can hardly be
taken care of properly. The field
| hospitals are several miles away, far
enough to be comparatively safe.
These hospitals are sometimes locat-
ed in old cellars, oftentimes in the
side of the hills. The apparatus
must needs be very crude and simple.
To these hospitals the wounded are
brought in large numbers and are
taken care of as soon as possible.
People in America do not know
what Patriotism means. The sur
geons work day and night and re-
ceive practically nothing for their
services. They work as long as they
can until they drop from fatigue
when they sleep as long as they can,
get up and begin all over again. One
Of these doctors told me that he and
one assistant performed 400 opera
| tons in one week.
From the field hospitals they are
taken to temporary hospitals where
they are assorted out according to
their various injuries and sent to the
special hospitals. One man positive
ly had 60 operations and, with the ex-
ception of being little lame, would
not suggest to even careful OBJ
server that he had received so much
as scratch. Many of the men have
as many as five or six operations.
About 60 to rs per cent of the men
go back to the front after their first
operation for they are like dogs in