The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1918-06-14
The RED TRIANGLE IS
KEEPING ITS PROMISES
Z. NJ. G. A. Secretaries Follow Thu
Soldiers Out Into No
Mans Land
No Job Too Small For The BIGGEST
OF Men

No Job Too Small For The Biaaes
The American Y. M. c.. A. is keen
ing its promises. American secretarie.
are now, and have been for man,
weeks, at work in the forward area:
along the battle front in France. tt
IN lndeterminate number Of Red Tri
angle men lover there" gas and shell
fire and mud and actual battle are {
grim reality-a part Of the days
work
| A personal letter of absorbing inter
est was lately received from Mr. Ralpl
HARRISON, president of the Pittsburgh
! 7. M. c. A. and a well known business:
+ man of that city, who has been il
france on special Y. NJ G.. A. Ri
sion.
The Letter
casualties had occurred among G.,
soldiers just before we arrived at on,
village" the letter reads, land we wer.
ordered to get under cover of our dt
suite. After a supper Of chocolate, wa
bread, and canned beef, the six OF us sec
retaries were ordered to the cellar O.
the y together with fifty soldiers VIII
happened to be in the old shell-tor,,
again to shell the town. We took can
dies, a big basketful Of canteen s1up
pies, to last us in case we should hay.
to be dug out later, overcoats and blan
kets. We fitted our gas masks on tt
be sure they were working we'll, an
then settled dOwn-Or tried to-iu tn,
dungeon. We expected to have to sta,
all night, but in an hour a sentry cal
ed, All out and up we gladly went
The rest of the evening we spent u:
stairs in one of the reasonably Who'll
rooms, with piano and songs and sto
rles and the ever-present and wonde:
ful canteen, at which l took my turn
Needless to say, I slept none tn:
night, with all the bang and noise out.
side, but nobody does. I'm told. tho
first night. The night before 60;
about two hours CT DOING with q stir
neck, sitting up in a crowded night
train, but, strange to say, never fel:
the lack of it for a minute.
eve were up the next mor4ins al
une bonnie heure, and after breakfast
at the officers mess Clarke and !
started Off for the trenches, each of
us ladened with about fifty pounds OF
canteen supplies besides our helmet,
gas masks, carried at all times at
'aierte,' etc.
'For two hours we pursued a tor
tuous way among the various lines y.
trenches and connecting trenches.
stopping frequently to dispense our
popular wares among the boys, some
repairing the trenches, some building
new ones, some or sentry duty, some
sleeping in the dugouts, some man
ing guns and watching for German
heads.
As we entered the front-lina
renches, we suddenly ran into Secre-
tary Baker and accompanying officers
stepped aside as we'll as could, sa
luted and said, Good morning, ny
Secretary AS they passed l heard
ne OF the officers say to the Secre
-ary, You see, Mr.. Secretary, the ''Y'
men are right up in the frort-l;oe
trenches with the boyS.'
Time was flying, and we knew
there were still more soldiers further
On who would be glad to see us. Soon
we entered No Mans Land by means
Of a t,ench, a land which we had
seen frtm the rear lines in the dis
',nce all hour earlier, all uprOOted AMI
;orn AMI desolate, and after some min
utes we craw1ed, hot and winded, into
shell hole-the furthermost listening
post in our lines - and found six sol
diers on guard, all very much alert
They gave us warm welcome, and
We conducted our communications IN
low whispers, for there were ,rree
German snipers in three different d.
rections only seventy-five feet away.
Needless to say, our gunnysacks
were empty when we came out. We
hurried back to the sign OF the Red
1%yoy ,cy1o in wi nj
of hot chocolate, and started in again
in another direction.
Eve watched the explosions getting
closer and closer, each one preceded
by the weirdest kind of q wall and
whine through the air, and then dur
ing let-up we rushed across the open
and into the dugOuts in an embank
ment, where our second pack Of sup
plies disappeared.
"Two Of the secretaries had been
gassed the day before we arrived at
this place, and one slightly wounded
by shrapnel, while others were bre2k>
ing under the physical strain and need
ed relief. I'm sure we will hear Of
fatalities soon, but since my expert
ence in the trenches don't ask the
question any more - is it worth
while?' Never was such an emporium
ity given to man to serve his fellow
men az this.
"Pass the word on, and pass Il
quickly, that I'VE hundred Of the most
capable, earnest, and bio-souied Chris
tan men are needed here today n ad.
dttion to the weekly stream that Is
coming. We are cabling New York
frequently, but they don't come. 1t is
critical, and we must not fail, but We
will unless more and better men come
modfetely As I see it there in n,