Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-21
MRS. AUGUST BELMONT
THRILLS GREAT AUDIENCE
Remarkable Red Cross Meeting
at The Playhouse Last
Night.

Mrs. August Belmont of New York
thrilled great audience last night at The
Playhouse, nj the Red Cross meeting
Long before the hour set for the opening
there was scarcely q seat to be had. The
:cam workers occupied the first five rows
which had been reserved for them, and
the governors staff filed into a pros
cenium box. On tho platform were the
committee and distinguished citizens and
the Coast Artillery Band from Fort du
Pont
The gathering united in singing
"America," DIR Ii T. Randolph pro
nounced All invocation, and Chairman
II T. Scott introduced Mrs Belmont,
who spoke for IS minutes, with singularly
clear dictum, her voice carrying 10 every
part of the house, without notes and in an
intimate conversational way which appeal
ed to her hearers
She stated that her impressions were
formed during the five months which
she spent on the other side. including
England and the three war zones. in
Flanders, the French front and the
American sector
From one point, in the Ncrdun region,
near the ST. Gobain Forest, three cathc-
dral towers were in view, each of which
had been shelled. She described visit
to Rheims, the approach along miles Of
camouhaged roads, marked AT intervals
by signs of warning against tho danger
of shells, or of gas, and her own sensations
on viewing the wreck of the cathedral
In place OF allowing il 10 stand. as q
monument 10 German "kultur, she
felt the wish that il might be rebuilt as
speedily as possible, as token Of re-
newed France
One fifth Of the most thickly populated
area OF France was st that time "occu-
pied but not conquered the towns and
villages abliterated, rather than devas-
tated The spirit and courage of the
French soldiers seemed unbelievable
a miracle
WORK or THE RED CROSS.
One Of the services of the Red Cross
is IN rendering assistance TO the eylcted
civilians, fleeing back from the war zones,
with scraps of their cherished possessions,
one woman for instance burdened with q
copper kettle which had been her mothers
This work not only assists the people,
but relieves the minds Of the men IN the
ranks who know they are being cared for
Especially interesting IS the work among
the children, who are being built up into
their health also safeguards that of the
American boys, who are billeted among
them. Homes and hospitals for these
children are also provided by Red Cross
agencies.
Dispensaries, In rural districts, have also
proved valuable, suppementing the work
of the few medical men spared from the
army; three quarters of the French
physicians being at the front.
The amazing fortitide of the English
was exempliGed on her visit TO q hospital
during an air raid; while the men were
singing "Snile, Smile" the lights went
out; and after a moments pause and
in the total darkness the voices again rose
in the query "Where do we go from here"
The feeling of those exposed to such
chances was well expressed by a colored
man who was on q patrol that was blown
up on bright night; them torpedoes
certainly has spoiled moonlight for me -
Throughout England Mrs Belmont
found the intensity of devotion to the
religious atmosphere men in the
hospitals made no complaints, one who
wept on losing a foot explained that It
was because be could not 60 shack
20 the front with wooden leg
Instead OF feeling Of havoc at being
In the trench zone rather was an exalta-
tation experienced, at being in touch with
The bravery and endurance OF our modern
men, far transcending any that ever
happened II seemed, in the age Of chivalry.
Tie American boys at first were lone
some, but are developing, both in ply