Honolulu star-bulletin., 1917-12-29
Harry Frantz of French Ambu-
lance Corps Having Busy
Time in Balkans


Somewhere in Albania" is the title
of an interesting article in the latest
number Of the Typographical Journal
written by Harry W. Frantz, former
linotype operator with the Star-Bulle'
tin, After a considerable time in Ha'
wall; the land of Holo Pau as he calls
II, Frantz went to japan and China,
thence returning by way OF Hawaii TO
the mainland.
"If remember rightly, my last let
ter TO the Journal was written from
the land of Holo Pau, some time last
fall. When ! returned TO the Pacific
coast In December after - months III
Hawaii and the Orient felt convinced
that my travels were at an end for a
while. recboned enormously, how
ever. In May my college days we're
terminated when l Joined a volunteer
ambulance unit of Stanford University
for service with the American aambu-
lance corps in France. Arriving at
Paris in June We were offered an op-
portunity to drive cars for the Armee
d'0rient in the Balkans. We left the
French capital in July, travelling over
land by rail through France and Italy
9 to Tarento, thence by transport to Sa'
loniki in Greece, and from there by
rail and auto camion to our present
field Of operations somewhere in Al
bania.
ITO avoid reference to an atlas,
may explain that Albania is the Bal
kan country which lies on the eastern
coast OF the Adriatic, south of Monte
negro and north of Greece. The battle
front runs across the country from
the sea into southern Serbia. The
western part of the line is held by
Italian troops and the eastern part by
the French troops, including colonials,
and Russians in the employ OF the
French government. The French Sec
tion of the front continues on into
Serbia. The English are further to
the east. While the war on the Al
banian front is far less intense than
that in France, Il certainly is not dull,
Trench systems are less extensive and
operations generally are more open.
All movements are attended by great
difficulties in transportation, owing to
the complete absence Of railroads. The
country Is very mountainous; IL is in.
habited by some of the strangest peo.
pies on the globe. In addition, pic.
turesqueness Is lent TO the activity on
the front by the presence of great
variety Of races and nationalities.
Many Nationaiities
"0n the allied side of the entire Bal
kan front there are at least 26 differ
ent nationalities. In Albania the num-
Der is much less, yet in many places.
one may see men from four contin-
ents. In the Armee d'orient, for ex-
ample. are not only Frenchmen, but
Senegalese, Arabs, Indo-C Chinese, Mo-
roccans--the famous Spahi cavalry
man-and Americans. The latter are
not numerous, being entirely confined
to two sections of ambulance drivers
representing the American field ser.
vice. In one Of these sections your
correspondent has the honor to serve.
There are 25 men in the group, with
two exceptions former students or
Stanford University IN California.
Driving an ambulance in the Bal
kans is perhaps less exciting than one
might imagine. In the main, the work
consists Of transporting malades, or
sick men, from ambulance camps near
the front to hospitals some 80 miles
to the rear Dysentery and malaria.
are very common In this part of the
world, and probably kill more men
than the bullets of the enemy. Oc-
! casionally there Is q spell Of activity
on the front, during which wounded
men win be numerous Last month
the blesses included numbers OF Aus.
TRANS who had been taken prisoners
during French offensive. The roads
are bad, the grades steep, and the
hauls long. so the work Is hard. Per-.
haps the chief danger Is derived from
driving at night through. the noun
tains.
AeropIane Attacks.
At times aeroplane bombing parties
enliven things somewhat Last week
q hostile ayion acknowledged my ex.'
istence by dropping three bombs near
the road about 200 yards ahead of my
car. The presence OF numerous bands
OF komatajes, or brigands, In the re-
gion adds something to the interest
Of the work. Four cars upset during
our first six weeks of service here, the
total damage TO the drivers being one
cracked rib. Broken springs and axles
are frequent, and the staff of mecha.
mics is kept pretty busy.
The Albanian people are agficultur.
lists. primarily They have no manu-
factures 10 speak of, and the poor
means of transportation forbid any
considerable commercial development.
Many of the men have been to the.
United States at some time or other.
and these constitute the most progress
siye element of the community. In
addition to the native Albanians, many
Roumanians and Turks live in the
country. and I3ulgarians were numer