The Washington herald., 1917-11-25

I r WAs7'"o T0"7
e. G. DRUM HUNT.

g. Sal E. G. DRUM HUNT.
-g.GTI SCEPT for the entertaining In |
- l. compliment to the distinguished
,TIk visitors from overseas. the In
49, perial Japanese Mission, all of
..,s,,the efforts Of society during the past
week have been spent on raising funds
- for relief work Of various sorts. The
.1ban last evening, when the debutantes
.4sof this season and next got together
usfor the first time, was the last or
~, series of benefit functions which
/. = marked the week. There were melting
J. tF1 pots, poster exhibits, lectures, teas,
yaeard parties, sales, a drill and tea
iance at Fort Myer and even a foot
Eall game, in addition to the ball at
p ,he Willard, when the District Am
- asIlance Corps were the beneficiary.
= 4 Dr. -DeYereuN, who Is in command
.izoF the corps, received royal welcome
not only because he has an endless
- Imber of friends in this city, but be-
y. eruse he has done such splendid work
sanizing and training the corps. He
eEuSal expected to be 'Over there Ions
= = 20. as, his men completed their train
,,oalg several months past now and they
are all getting impatient and rest
"a s. Most of the men under DR..
.-vereux claim that they deserve
- medal of honor for staying in Allen
,Iwn all these months; that it re-
4, Than to go to the front line trenches.
Ir seems that there is nothing to do
~ lhsre except work and go to the mo-
= tinn pictures. They AL go on long
) GaIly hikes just for the want of some
81 ming better to do.
Or. Devereux's son. Joseph Dever-
-, 3 TX. who went to France some time
'ezs 90 with another ambulance unit, has
aosf been very ill at the American Ambu-
i lance at Neuilly. France. but is bet
: ter now and about again. In connec-
y 2 Ion with the American Ambulance,
Washington should truly be proud Of
Mrs. Laurence Benet, for she did such
~ suiendid work in that hospital before
esai3t was taken over by the French gov
- trUment. which bestowed upon her the
god medal of honor Of the Foreign
- tEairs-une medaille d Honour
~ot9 9les Affaires Etrangeres. This deco
= '-%,tion which was given her some time
--4Fa October, is the highest medal given
= bsgy The French government and ranks
y--@'eEt to the Legion of Honor. The
t>-7--e,!al IS recommended by the minister
~ foreign affairs to the President of
france and is accompanied by a diplO-
-@itnlIa which bears his signature and also
ssafhe signature of the chief of the
lse protocol, so Mrs. Benet will be the
sorOud poSsessor of the autographs of
aysPoincaire, Ribot and Monsieur Martin.
~ This decoration and the Legion of
-aEd5nor are among the few that have
40 be passed on by the president, as
s.,z-Jhe nnedailles epidemics are given dl-
- rect by the chief of the health de-
- par1ment-the service de Sante-in
80. charge Of all hospitals. Mrs. Benet
-. Ear now wear the blue. white and red
q" "aisoon, with the rosette in the center,
Ike a small bar, on her left side. This
- ..f~aor has only been bestowed on
Io0ut ten other women, all Of whom
a Ey,svs given special service Of real
- -.ue to the cause. Mrs. George Mum
-.-L- o.. who also worked in the old Am
- -'a-ce. received the same distinc-
with Mrs. Benet; likewise Mrs.
..1 bert Bacon. Others who have been
<-Ts7elgSu it are: Mrs. w. K. Vanderbilt,
Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney. Lady
Alan Johnstone. Mrs. Trenor-Park
and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss. of the
american Embassy in Paris. Most of
these women are multi-millionaireS
Who have given hospitals. equipped
and run them, though work. as in the
case of Mrs. Benet has counted as
wen as money. Mrs. Bacon, wife of
THe former Ambassador. has been the
F@7d of the New York committee that
has secured most of the contributions
-2r the support of the Ambulance.
and vermeil medals given for services
OF people who worked with the old
ambulance for over one year or for
two years service and are presented
through the service de sante.
All of these rewards, though, are
- only given to Americans or foreigners,
rs no Frenchman will receive anything
until after the war except in cases of
contagiOn in line of duty or some spe-
cal service at the front in danger, as
il IS claimed that it has only been
natural that the French should do
thfr duty for their own.
Mrs. Benet was formerly Margaret
Cox. of this city. She has lived in
Paris for so many years that that is
now her home. but she usually re
turns for visit every year. She has
crossed nee since the war began. Her
work at the ambulance has prevented
her from coming more often As soon
as the hospital was organized Mrs
Benet and a number Of others took
months course in first-aid work that
qualified them to be auxiliary
nurses" The ambulance was founded
under the direction of Mrs. Myron
Herrick, wife of our Ambassador, who
was chairman of the board OF direc-
tors. The women knew what they
wanted to do. yet didn't have a penny
TO start with. They got busy, inter
e5IeO Inelr 1rfendS IN this country,
and soon raised $4,000 largely through
their generosity. Meanwhile the pre-
feet Of Paris gave them a perfect barn
OF building that had been started
for boys school and had not even
been completed. That meant they had
no light or heat and only the toughest
fO0ring.
Hut nowhere has such wonderful
vo~'- been done during the war as in
IEs.L same hospital. They have re-
we'd there patients of a queer mix
~-s Of nationalities, ranging all the
Y from English and French to
l.E5ky Senegalese and Arabs. When we
entered the war these women who had
done such marvellous work and gotten
into such splendid running order the
finest hospital perhaps in Europe were
al dismissed and the ambulance
placed in the hands OF the Red Cross
and the army. But their splendid ef-
forts have now been recognized by