Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-25

American Ambulance Hospital
of Paris.
Nevilly-Sur- Seine. France,
49,. August 7. 1917.
Mother Dearest
A friend of mine who is one of the
five fellows in our room is leaving
Saturday for the U. S. A. We will
indeed be sorry to have him go. for
we have spent many happy though
sad moments together in our work.
l must tell you of the air raid and
how the Paris aviators drove the Ger
man raiders away. 1t was a great
experience. 1t was a fine evening
and in the warm air Parsilns walked
quietly home from the theater, etc
In the clear summer Sky the stars
were brilliant and bright. 1t was
restful peace-time night Suddenly
in the streets rose the well-known
sound of the firemen's alarm call"
accompanied by the "strident voice
of sirens 1t was the signal of IAN
air raid menace on the capital" and
the speedy cars running through the
city in less than ten minutes had ad-
Vised the whole population of the pos
sible danger. Little by little the
lights were turned out and the town
was put in darkness. There was no
excitement among the population but
the alarm met with natural inter-
ests." People were running in the
streets towards the open places where
they could see the much expected
''Zeppelins." Parisians, confident in
the strength of the aerial defense of
the city," waited for the baby kill
crs" in the hope of seeing one of them
al least fall in flames and receive the
punishment Of it's crimes
Crowds Gather
Crowds, Notwithstanding the dan
ger, gathered at all points of vantage.
The aeroplanes came out on guard.
looking like moving stars in the sky,
There were many of them and every
body looked at them. confident that
they would victoriously fight any
Zeppelin that ventured over Paris.
Searchlights cut the sky in every di-
rection. seeking for the German air
machines that had been announced.
Quietly sitting on the pavements.
people were discussing how long it
takes a German aircraft to come from
their lines to Paris; how many of
them are there? What speed are they
running at? What do they carry?
And to all these questions If one has
sense of humor at all, even in try
ing times like these, the nonexpert
theorists applied quite unexpected an
swers.
Every body here should be satisfied
with the assurance that the aerial
defense of Paris is so well established,
even during the night, that the mill
tary authorities are warned of the
number of hostile machines within a
few minutes of the time they cross
the lines and the types represented.
Even their most speedy aeroplanes
can not escape our sighted
watchers.
Like New Years Eve
was awakened about IL o'clock
to hear the noises in the streets
like New Years Eve" in Harrisburg.
The men in the building here extin-
guished all the lights and dressed and
we all rushed to the hospital, where
we started our machines and awaited
orders. 1t is our duty to be prepared
to exacuate any hospital In Paris
consequently we were ordered to diff
ferent posts. l was ordered to a
small hospital in the Bois, and stayed
there until the raid was over.
The sky, as ! said before, was full
of machines and it was a wonderful
sight to behold; also exciting, for you
knew the German planes were so high
you would be unable to see them.
OF Paris and dropped a few bombs,
but we fought them, and last nights
alarm proved how perfect is our de-
fensive system.
That was the first real excitement I
have had.
Food Is Restricted
1t is sure now, as you have seen
by the papers, that Germany gets all
the canned foodstuffs we send Swift
zerland, who claims she is neutral, for
Germany supplies all the coal to her
and she in return must give out food.
Until we stop shipping to these So
called neutral countries" Germany
will get this food. You cannot realize
what 1t all means until you get over
here and see, for you see nothing in
the States. I have been very well,
but oh, how damp and cool the cli-