The Washington herald., 1917-04-21
AMERICAN VOLUNTEER
WRITES FROM VERDUN
Philip o. Mills Tells Tale Of Heroism
IN Letter Home.
sDseial 70 ne wasAingi . Herald.

Special to ne washingt q Herald.
New York. April 10.-From old verdun.
against which the German crown prince
threw tae flower Of his army In the
spring Of 1916. comes a vivid tale of
hero,sn IN the Underground emergency
hospital there. written by Philip o.
Mills. son Of the late Maj. Gen Albert
L Mills. Q. S. A. who is now driving
a motor ambulance In France.
His letter Is written to Eliot Norton.
director IN America Of the American Vol
unteer Ambulance Corps:
Tonight I am sitting In small un-
derground cellar OF one OF the public
buildings OF the town, acting as sort
OF time-keeper or starter for the cars
going up to our most dangerous post
and handling the reserve cars for wound
ed IN the town itself
"A long, heavily arched corridor. with
stone steps leading down to IT.; two c7m-
partments on to one side lined with wine
bins. where our reserve men and few
French brancardiers (stretcher-bearers)
are lying on their stained stretchers,
some snoring; beyond. a door that gives
into small operating room. and to the
left another door that leads to little
sick ward, the most pathetic little room
Il nave ever be1n-NlLl IOuI DGQo Ol
ferent sizes and kinds on one side and
six on the other, taken evidently from
the ruined houses nearby-and one tired
inirmfer Chospital attendant) to tend and
soothe the wounded and dying" The let
ter continues.
German Among Wounded.
In the bed nearest the door French
priest, shot through the lungs nth
pneumonia setting in-his black b ard
pointed straight up. and whispering for
water. Next to him a little German
lad, hardly 10. and small. with aoout
six hours TO live, calling. sometimes
screaming. for his mother, and then for
water. Next to him a French captain
OF infantry. with his arm on at the
shoulder and his head wounded. weak,
dying. but smiling; and next to him a
tirailleur in delirium calling on his
colonel to charge the Germans.
brancardier comes in with a teIe-
phone message-"a biesse Cwounded
mani. at Belleville-very serious" This
Is a reserve. car call. so one slides out
and is gone like gray ghost down the
ruined street. making all the speed its
driver can-no easy matter-with no
lights. In twenty minutes he is back.
again bearing the wounded man on a
side the little stove.
The surgeon comes out of his little
operating room. Weary with the nights
tragic work-after so many. many other
tragic nights, he douses his head in a
bucket OF water. Then he turned to the
wounded man. He looked long at him,
gently felt his nose, and lifted up his
closed eyelid. Then, at his nod. the
stretcher Is again lifted and the wounded
mar carried into the operating room and
soon after INTO the little room Of sorrows.
In answer to E,y eager question the
surgeon shook his head Not chance.
Death of n Blesse.
A brancardier and 1 gathered the SOL
diers belongings from his clothes to be
sent to his wife, but even we had to stop
for a few minutes after we saw the pho
tograph Of his wife and their two little
children
An hour later. as our nights work was
laeking down and several cars had driv-
en- up and been unloaded, the infrmier
came in from the little room an. said
something to the brancardiers. Two of
them got a stretcher and I'm a moment
the blesse from Belleville" came past
US with sheet over him They laid him
down at the other end Of the room and
another brancardieT commenced rolling
and tying him in a burlap for burial. As
you looked he changed to a shapeless log.
Then out to the dead wagon with II.