Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-05
GREAT WORK SHE Is DOING
Wealthy American Woman Devoting
Herself to Comfort of Fighters.


Herself to Comfort of Fighters.
How American women of wealth
and refinement are performing the
most menial tasks and undergoing
the French soldier easier on the way
to and from the front is told graphi-
| cally in series Of letter received from
Mrs. Belmont Tiffany, New York So
ciety woman and leader in Red Cross
work who organized a Red Cross can
teen at a French railway junction.
She wrote with no thought Of publ
cation but the letters-written to rela-
tives and released for publication by
the American Red Cross-tell their
own story.
On October 25 last. Mrs. Tiffany
arrived at the railroad center "some-
where" behind the French front.
Four railroads converged there, she
found. and more than 5000 men q
day stopped over at the station for
refreshments, which were procurable
in liquid form only. There were no
other facilities for their comfort.
Il wish you could see our little
village, so tiny and primitive-one
long street winding up n hill with the
big junction railroad station at the
bottom and the church at the top:
and a stream winding under a bridge
half way up, stream which allows
the inevitable laundry to go on" Mrs.
Tiffany wrote. 1T Is picturesque as
all French villages go but rather too
poor for beauty and there are no
gardens at all, which is strange"
Less than a month later, November
13. to- be exact. Mrs. Tiffany told of
the progress achieved in establishing
the canteen. A rough addition had
been added to the station and dor
mitory and a recreation room had
been completed while reception
room to accommodate 1000 men was
in course Of construction.
we have red and white oilcloth on
the tables, red glass carafes, and tur-
key-red window curtains, and always
flowers on the counter Of the recrea-
ton room." Mrs. Tiffany wrote. 1t
is the gayest, brightest room you ever
saw. However, it only holds 100
men. Our big room is to have huge
kitchen and seats for over a thou
sand men.
"The dormitories are wonderful. 4
never was so proud Of anything be-
fore. Two hundred canvas stretch
ers for beds! We have a splendid
fumigating plant and an incinerator
and the place is a model Of cleanli-
ness
"All the men take of their wet
and dirty boots. and we have good
felt slippers for them. There are two
big stoves in the room, two wooden
blankets for each, an orderly who
wakes the men for their trains, good
shower baths and wash rooms. Alto
gether. when the big room is finished.
honestly think 1t will be a model Of
what it should be.
Last year the men slept in the
road!"
However, the speedy transformation
was not effected without the expendi-
ture Of great effort Mrs. Tiffany
summed 1t up by saying:
Everything Is going awfully we'll
and the whole unit has been fine. No
one should come for this work who is
not as strong as a horse and indiffer-
ent to cold and fatigue. 1t Is terribly
hard. The good 1t does Is enormous,
however, and more than repays one.
You never saw anything like the ap-
probation and gratitude for the good
we give the men and the price we
charge. We give them a whole meal
for is cents soup. meat, and vese-
tables, or meat and salad. bread and
compete. It Ii really good. too. II
thought I had a good many occupa-
tons, as wrote you before, but since
then I have been particularly proud