Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-06
ARSS:4&DU POINT
TE[[yMAAT j. s.
IS DOING IN FRANCE
Made Splendid Address at Flag
Raising at Pennsylvania
Railroad Shops.


bcig carried on there was q flag raising
yererday-the Stars and Stripes and
serdcc flag were unturled against the sky.
Whc hundreds OF men and women
woners. sang The Star Spanglcd Ban
ner the two cmblems, one of country
andone OF service, were mounting to their
plac ON the high pole. This took place at
the planning mill OF the Pennsylvania
RAILROAD shops vt Todd Cut, and the ex-
crciscS were in charge of the Pennsvlvan-
ia Railroad Women's War Relief, Depart
inert Ne ;. of which Mrs Gamble
latrobe Is superintendent The speakers
stand was decorated with flags, the
spectators were all given small flags for
boutonnicres. and from every mill on
the grounds hoatcd flags and service
flags. Spectators marched to the stand
with the Pennsylvania Railroad Athletic
Association Band playing Keep the
Home Fires Burning. {. f. Wright,
MACHINE operator, walking with Mrs, t..
Coleman du Pont, the speaker OF the
OCCASION, and Superintendent Latrobe
walking with Mrs I.atrobe When the
workers had assembled, it was very
lceaplc Int many women were among
tfcm. not Iu-t StCNCgraphers and clerks,
but shop workers. thd Mrs du Pont said
m f7T 7T7fT'TF-<--'Hat there will be many
moro as the war goes on.
O. y Watkins. master mechanic,
s. T Sawn. planning mill superintendent,
and G. + Wright were All at hand To
greet the guests MIR Wright presided
and introduced Mrs Latrobc. who made
the first address Of greeting, and stated
ho,, honored she and all the other Penn
svfvania Railroad women were, 10 he IN
vited to such an inspiring occasion. After
Mis- Latrobes brief speech Rev. George
+. Jones of Silverbrook NJ. t. Church
made the invocation, and then the flag
was raised bv Girl Scouts from the
Peoples Settlement, while the band
played the national anthem and every
body applauded The stars on the service
flag are for Joseph Turf and George
Drexler. both Of whom arc n Fort Ogle-
thIope, Ga After the flag had gone up
Mrs. Latrohe spoke of tho care Of soldiers
families. that Is the special work Of De
partment No. ;. and she stated that the
eivilian relief Of the Red Cross is turning
over railroad mems families 10 their
attention. Membership IN the Womens
Relief Is increasing at the rate of 1000
per month. and more and more are vel
come. Gases of distress should be report
ed so that relief can he extended. Mrs.
G. ID. Young. wife OF the superintendent
OF motive power, also made very pleasant
address.
MRS. Do PoNT IN FRANCE.
Our own flag. our own soldiers, our
owl locomotives, our OWL men building
railroads, that Is what | saw the day !
arrived in France Mrs. du Point began
alter being introduced by Mrs. Latrobe
ard today makes me think Of it. All
along the river as We steamed toward a
city IN southern France. hundreds Of orr |
flaes were waving and for hours We were |
chesred by thousands of French and !
Americans Then | saw railroads built /
nv DUP men, and the first man | heard /
spo7en of was Brigader General After
bur-" Then Mrs. du Pont related briefly |
Whit she had seen done by the Red Cross, |
they NJ u A and Y " c. A In France |
Although she had not seen anything OF /
the Salvation Army, she had heard that |
Their work Is magnificent. She was |
PRACTICALLY all over France, and IN every |
vilkge and town she found a Red Cross |
station. She was almost to the trenches, |
for she spent two DAYS in the locality of |
lsleraI Persalng's headquarters She |
described how Nlfficult the work Is In /
Rec Cross HOSPITALS over there. because |
fISet q t,lH9H are old buildings hastily |
concerted. and lacking all the plumbing /
and convenlences. that can be found Id
every hospital here. One OF the worst she /
sawvas IN what formerly was veterinary
hos1ital. They took horses out and put
mel IN, after cleaning with whItewash /
and disInfectants. In one hospital In
Pans. where there were no elevators, the
wounded had to be carried TO the cellar
seven times. during one Of the lombard
meats BY the Huns 70-rnile gun. The
cheering thing about the hospitals is
thai all the men looked comfortable and
cheerful and few seemed to be suffering |
Thev all wanted Mrs du Point to assure
the people al home that they are getting
the best of care.
The American soldiers know an Amer
Ican woman afar off, Mrs. du Pont said
and they always fiocked to see her ana
he friends. Il felt so proud of them,
she said, land / heard it from my French
reatives and friends, that they are behav-
ing so finely They all wanted me TO tell
you at home that they are getting the
btst OF care, and not to sacrifice too much
for them. know they are getting white
bead, and all their food is of the best, be
Cause | several times ate at the mess with
them. A French officer told me that ne
Id a detachment of Americans on a raid,
End they were splendid soldiers.
The Y Nj c. A huts are crowded with
American men all the time and Mrs !
III Pont was able TO see a great deal Of
their canteens and their moving pictures
and other provisions Tor the soldiers
selfare In one \ NJ {. A nut they had
mascot, a Belgian boy whose tongue
1ad been cut bv the Germans
The awful conditions of the refugees
,ook up a part of Mrs. du Point address,
lad she told one or two pitiful stories of
distress Red Cross nurses and Y. ". c.
A. workers take care OF them. and she
paid fine tribute to the workers
As special news for the men and women
me was addressing, Mrs. du Pont told Of
ueat preparations for the landing Of the
American Army in Fr4nce-piers where
he transports 10 land men, supplies for
;hree million men, transported over rail
ftads built by men such as were before
h-r, the greatest ice plant in the world
saod big buildings for housing supplies.
lAcn size asked them if they knew that
Tie women in England are turning out
- -aept more munitions than the
men She Pas IN a factory there, where
- ti'4iig for the making Of motor
Iacks except the blacksmith shop, is
1'i't Pr women The women recover in
"iief days from the shock Of air raids, and
usually takes the men two or three