French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1918-06-13
THE RED TRIANGLE IS
KEEPING ITS PROMISES
y. vi. C.. A. Secretaries Follow The
Soldiers Out Into No
Mans Land
No Job Too Small For The Biggest
Of Men

~ W
The American Y. NJ. c. A. is keep
ing its promises American secretaries
are now, and have been for many
, weeks, at work in the forward areas
along the battle front in France. To
an indeterminate number Of Red Tri-
angle men 'over there gas and shell
fire and mud and actual battle are a
grim reality-a part Of the days
work.
A personal letter Of absorbing inter
est was lately received from Mr.. Ralph
HARRISON, president Of the Pittsburgh
: Y. M. c. A. and a we'll known business
mar Of that city, who has been in
France on a special Y. M. G. A. Mis-
sion.
The Letter
Casualties had occurred among our
soldiers just before we arrived at u
village" the letter reads, and we were
ordered to get under v of our de
suite. After a supper of chocolate, wal
bread, and canned beef, the six OF us Sec
retaries were ordered to the cellar of
the ~ together with fifty soldiers who
happened to be in the old shell-torn
building, as the boche were beginning
again to shell the town. We took cam
dies, a big basketfuI of canteen sup
plies, to last us in case we should have
to be dug out later, o~vercoats and blan.
kets. We fitted our gas masks on to
be sure they were working well, and
then settled down-or tried TON the
dungeon. We expected to have to stay
all night, but in an hour a sentry call
ed, All OUT and up WI gladly went.
The rest of the evening we spent up
~%@s-- - IL
rooms, with piano and songs and sto-
ries and the ever-present and wonder
full canteen, at which / took my turn.
Needless to say, 1 slept none that
night, with all the bang and noise out
side, but nobody does, I'm told, the
first night. The night before 1 got
about two hours of doing with a stiff
neck, sitting up in a crowded night
train, but, strange to say, l never felt
the lack of it for a minute.
I'VE we're up the next morning at
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 Jul helmet,
gas masks, carried at all times at
'alerte,' etc. - h--""' r~-
For two hours we pursued a tor
tuous way among the various lines Of
trenches and connecting trenches,
stopping frequently to dispense our
popular wares among the boys, some
repairing the trenches, some building
new ones, some on sentry duty, some
sleeping in the dugouts, some man
ming guns and watching for German
heads. ~f"'- ~ ~
"As We entered the front-line
trenches, we suddenly ran into Secre-
tary Baker and accompanying officers.
1 stepped aside as we'll as 1 could, sa-
luted and said, Good morning, Mr..
Secretary AS they passed l heard
one of the officers say to the Score
tary, 'You see, Mr.. Secretary, the "Y"
men are right up in the frOnt-line
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 +!ench, a land which we had
seen from the cal lines in the dis
;ance all Eour earlier, all uproOted AMI
! torn AMI desOlate, and after some min
utes we crawled, hot and winded, into
a shell hOle-the furthermost listening
post in our lines and found six sol
O10TS Oh EudEuS Oil very muCu diSEI.
They gave us a warm welcome, and
, we conducted our communications in
low whispers, for there were three
German snipers in three different di-
rections only seventy-fve feet away.
Needless to say, u gunnysacks
we're empty when we came out. We
hurried back to the sign of the Red
Triangle in the village, drank a cup
of hot chocolate, and started in again
in another direction.
N"We watched the explosions getting
closer and closer, each one preceded
by the Weirdest kind of a wall and
whine through the air, and then dur
ing a let-up we rushed across the open
and into the dugouts in an embank-
I! ment, where our second pack of sup
| plies disappeared.
1.-TWO of the secretaries had been
gassed the day before we arrived at
this place, and one slightly wounded
by shrapnel, while others we're break
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 1 don't ask the
question any more is it worth
while?' Never vas such an %oppoEtun-
ity given to man to serve his fellow
men as this.
"Pass the word on, and pass Il
quickly, that five hundred of 1.-THE most
Capable, earnest, and ~big-souIed Chris
tian men are needed here today in ad-
dition to the weekly stream that Is
coming. We are cabling New York
frequently, but they don't come. 1t is
critical, and we must o fail, but we
will unless more and better men come
immedistely. AS / see it, there is no
Y. M. e.. A. ioh over here tao annau