El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-27
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|. s. SOLDIERS
Ella Wheeler Wilcox Tells
Of Hospitals in France;
SolilOquizes a Little.
BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

BY ELLA W HELLER hlLDuA-
Paris. France, Nay 2T.-Thanks &c
j the wonderful lfberality and the amaz-
i ing dispatch Of our great country, the
food Of our soldiers in France is Of
1.-THE best, and the supply is constantly
! Increasing. it must increase. and no
bone fin America should begrudge any
I deprivation Of Injuries or even COM
\ forts to effect a continuation Of the
nourishing necessities for the army.
1t is gratifying TO hear the sick
and wounded men in the American
/ hospitals talk Of the delight they find
( in their meals. Lying for weeks in
hospital ward waiting for wounds
20 heal. or bones TO set there is lit
lie 10 think about or anticipate from
hour 20 hour save the satisfying Of
] a cOnValescenrs appetite
Good Food Wei Cooked.
A visit TO the hospital kitchen
makes one feel that America is not
far away. The things that mother
cooked" are being prepared in enor-
nous quantities and of the very best
materials. and by the best cooks
America can enlist in her service
And there are the most skilled physi-
clans in attendance.
Never in any history Of world wars
were such preparations made and
such achievements carried out in a
years time for the care and comfort
Of an army as our America has been
able to accomplish From Detroit
came some months ago q unit of so
physicians and So nurses and several
hundred enlisted workers Of all kinds
College men were prominent. and lit
erary men and all had been accus-
toned 10 toll with their brains rather
than their hands.
Yet when they faced the situation
which they encountered somewhere
congenial tasks or work which they
deemed worthy Of their social and in
tellectual status.
Making a Hospital.
There was an old building In a
hopeless state Of uusanitatiou. II
had TO be turned into a modern hos
pital in a short time and equipped
with everything needed for the care
and comfort Of sick and wounded sol
diers arriving both from troop trains
and the front
College men who had never known
anything more Of house painting than
its smell grasped brushes and went
10 work making the oetaced and
sOiled walls bright and clean 9th
ers learned the use of saw and ham
mer and astOuished the native work
men who had said II would require a
month 70 erect a needed barracks by
putting one up in three days.
Meantime the kitchen had TO be
run with system AID economy. pro
vide Tor 1Ood Tor the unit and the IN
creasing number OF soldiers in the
wares. The man who made a ire
mendous success Of this task was a
college man Of literary gifts haillng
from Detroit Yet he went into his
commissary work with as much inter 1
est and zeal as IL he had no other ca I
liabilities Another college man took I
the very mental task OF looking after /
the hospital refuse This is an i'm I
porlant post: There must be con- ]
slant Surveillance 10 see that not a I
particle Of waste occurs in the dis /
position Of food
The Real American Spirit.
The spirit IN which every one Of Z
our American soldiers meets these uu-
dreamed OF situations make an OBJ
servers heart leap with pride and
admiration Such splendid optimism,
such gayety. such a sense Of humor. I
rs they all seem TO possess. If they I
chafe under the work they are com
PEELED 20 do instead OF being in the D
front Of the battle line as they all I
dreamed they would be when they en-
listed. no one is the wiser
The percentage Of men in good /
health. under difficult climatic con \
diuons. and in the midst Of hard. tax
Ing work, seems 20 speak wonders for
the American constitution
When I visited the cemetery. a half I
hours walk from the hospital, and \
saw the row Of graves on a gentle 4
hll, UP beyond old tOmDs. centuries
old. and knew American soldiers were
lying there. It was like a hand clutch
ing al my heart There were some 80 I
Of these graves all made within q
half year All were graves Of young
men who had fallen il Of various
lnaladies. or met with accidents. while
In training for the big battles they
anticipated with the ardor Of youth
ful imagination.
Deaths Remarkably Low.
But sad as their untimely fate
seemed. one realized how few the /
number OF graves was when compared
with the many thousand soldiers who
had been trained in this locality dur
Ing Americas year fin the war
The knowledge and proof Of knOwl-
edge grows constantly that life is
eternal. and that every soldier who
went to death with ideals Of self sac
Vice and duty in his mind viii be
IN the high place I'm worlds be-
(which such ideals win
- mothers Of these sons dry
and know that their boys
~ owing them, and that
1em is as certain as
universal friend
wlAns Lii to come TO eacn
rsl5tus ~ tine, and lead us to those
Who have gone ahead
Care Is Tender.
Let every mother too, whose son
has died in these hospitals know what
'plendid care they have received and
low the good nurses have mothered
hem. and what tenderness, has en-
-eloped them during their last weeks
lr days OF lie 7 saw a nurse who I
.ould not speak without tears OF
10Y who had died from mastoiditis az
er an heroic battle CT two weeks.
One dying boy asked the nurse to
write his mother She sent the let
er telling OF the day and hour the boy
vent on. In due time letter came to
Ter from a relative. saying the mother
lad died the very day the boy was Z
iuried here on the little hill in !
France
What a joyful meeting that must