The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-04-03
AMERICAN WOMEN TAKE
HOLD" in FRANCE
Gas Masks And Courage Protect
Them as They Serve Soldiers in
"l" HutS Near The Lines.

New York, April 3.-"America
women in France are taking thei
place in war as unhesitatingly as tn
! soldiers in the trenches are"
This is the W ord that has jus
been brought back to America fror
France by Mrs. Luther H. Gulick. o
South Casco, Me-, director of tn
| Camp Fire Girls of America, VIII
recently spent ten days in a Y. M
! c.. a. hut at Toul, as near the Ameri
can front lines as women are permit
ted to go. At the point where sh
worked, each woman in the canteel
is provided with a gas mask, in cas-,
of sudden need of it. So far from
being scared, they would be glad t,
be nearer the actual fighting, Mrs
Gulick declared
American women would be hant
ing out hot chocolate to the soldi
ers at thefront lines if the authori
ties permitted it, she said.
Besides her days in the eY NJ. c
a. hut, working as hard as l eve
did in all my life," Mrs. Gulick spen
some time motoring through France
to visit the other Association nuts
and week in Paris. She say many
of the American women who bav,
gone over there to do whatever the!
can in time of need. And there
isn't a Stacker among them.
She saw Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt
Jr., of New York, hard at it, a
AK. She saw Miss Gertrude Ely, O
Bryn Mawr, Pa, head of the wo
mems Y. M. c. A. work in Paris, an(
Miss Martha McCook, of New York
who organized the work, 80 tired a
night that they just couldn't look an!
one in the face" She saw Mrs. Ar
thur Gleason, of New York, the
dauntless young American woman
who was under fire in Belgium, anC
who was decorated by the Belgian
king for her bravery
She saw Miss Margaret Cockett
who had cut her hair short, because
the work left her no time to care fol
it properly. She saw Miss Francis
of Staten Island, and Mrs. Walker
carrying on their work in an old ha.
loft, which they have made over int,
Y. NJ. c. A. headquarters. She say
her own daughter, Miss Francis
Gulick, of South Casco, Maine. wh'
is stationed near Toul, so keel
about the work that she didn't asl
d question about the folks back hom
the first night got there; just toll
me about the canteen. For owe
there it is another world"
All France does honor to thes
American women, Mrs. Gulick said
Even the little children aloni
the streets smile and call out Y. M
C. A, Y. NJ. C. A." she said. THE,
have learned TO know what tn
words mean. The gray uniform o
the woman canteen worker is a pass
port to kindness and respect. Whel
you put the uniform on you become
part of the war, and every one from
the babies to the officers seems t.
recognize this, and to want to d.
what they can for you.
The French women treat tn
American workers as members o
the family who, through some acct
dent, haven't happened to learn tn
same language. As l went back t,
Paris l got in six-seat compart
| ment in the train, in which the 9th
er five passengers were French.
had arrived too late to get a mea
ticket for the dinner. They saw NJ,
60 forward and inquire about it, ant
return without getting the ticket
Pretty soon the woman opposit,
leaned forward, and spread a napkin
over my lap. On it she laid larg,
part of the lnnch she had brough
with her. We couldn't talk, but WI
smiled at each other, and understood
perfectly"
It's hard work, shorn of all 70
nance, except the joy of service, ov
er there in the canteens.
ITO get to the canteen, you wade
through frightful mud, of the con
sistency of fudge just before it sets
Mrs. Gulick said. Then you stant
at the counter for hours, serving no
chocolate to crowd so dense tina
there isn't any time for conversation
By and by, as the crowd begins tt
thni out, the men come up and lin
ger at the counter. They want to b,
talked to, and are obviously waitin,
for you to say something to them
A good many of them have been VI
to the front, and they want to tel
about it. 1t isn't so much what the.
they don't say"
~
understood how the mothers at HON,
would feel about these boys. Sh
brought back with her list of owe
a hundred of them, their home ad
dresses, and their mothers names
Within a few days each of thos'
hundred mothers will receive a not,
telling her that Mrs. Gulick receutl.
saw John or Jim or Fred, as the cas-
may be, near the front, and hoV
we'll he was looking and how b.
sends his love.
Women who have been accuStome,
to every comfort at home endure in
| convenience and actual discomfort
uncomplainingly in order to be nea
their work
I'VE were billeted in the ston
houses of the village" she said
They were old land so damp tina
the moisture stood out on the walls
| There would be ice on the stove a
noon. The moisture made the coll
| more penetrating than l have eve
felt it anywhere else. There wa
| only a little green wood for the fire
and almost no kindling. We woul,
usually succeed in having enough
| fire at night to heat water for tn
hot water bottles. They kept u
warm the first part of the night,an,
the rest of the enight we kept then
| warm. In the morning we used tn
water for washing"
I've never heard such unanimou
approval of anything in my life as
heard of the Y. M. c. A. work owe
there" Mrs. Gulick declared. ''kn,
I've never seen anything that pleas
ed me more than the way American
women in France are taking hold