The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1918-06-19
7. M. C. A. Workers Are Almost
Constantly Under Fire
......s in France. 4 T.
MANY HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES
, Moments Delay Saves Red Triangle
Man From Death by Shell-Ex-
perIences That Are Test
/ for Real Man.

everyday, eVeryuOuf SApcIleuCeS III
the lives Of all soldiers and Y. M. @.
A. workers anywhere within rs miles
Of the Boche guns. DR.. George Louis
Meylan, who has just returned from
France where he was engaged in rec
reation work for the Y. M. O. A.,
threw some strong light on the con-
ditions under which all persons back
of the trenches uve-and die. He had
been asked to tell some specific in
stances Of ~" workers under fire In
f1rst-line trenches.
''Those over here who have not been
In the war zone must forget their old
time ideas Of warfare and its dan
GERS" said Doctor Meylan. ''Forget
this old idea Of open fighting, with
troops battling across plain the size
of a large athletic field. Modern ar
tillery shoots for miles and is always
shooting. Every person within 20
miles Of the trenches is under fire
practically all Of the time, yet the re-
ports do not call this battle. The
reports announce THE artillery was
active and that means shells any
where five to twenty-five miles back
of the trenches.
&c.. Dodge Shells Constantly.
''Early in April the Germans made
night raids and their airplanes were
active in bombing. Two Of my Or
ganizers were visiting camps eight or
ten miles back Of the front-line
trenches. The Germans kept up the
bombardment for three days during
which time those ~ men were dodg-
ing shells constantly.
ION the second day they we're in
Foyer de Soldat-one Of the soldiers
recreation huts provided by the French
with ~ men in charge-when, within
five minutes two shells struck, one a
few yards away, the other hitting the
hut. The ~ men were thrown down
by the conclusion. 1t seemed a
miracle they were not hit, for soldiers
were killed and, wounded all around
them.
"" ut Is strange that although we have
only about one woman worker to every
hundred men workers, not single
~ man had been killed up to the
time left France, whereas Hun shells
had killed two Of our women workers,
Miss Crandell and Miss Winona Mar
tin.
Elm a certain woods the shells were
dropping so thickly that the French
commander ordered our men to aban-
don their huts. AS the order was not
received until evening, a ~ man Of
my acquaintance decided not to leave
until next morning as he wished to
take his stuff. Next morning he was
approaching the hut when a French
officer stopped him to exchange fare
wells. This took little more than a
minute, and the Red Triangle worker
started on his way when shell ex-
ploded on the path near the hut at the
point where he would have been had
he not been detained.
Close Calls Every Day.
"Some ~ workers are having hair
breadth escapes every day, not every
man every day, but each in his time
with a regularity to Justify saying
some men every day. Eight Of our
men with the Canadians have been
killed, and we cannot expect to escape
unscathed. They work from six
o'clock in the morning until eleven
o'clock at night, seven days a week,
with week off every three months
and many never take their week off.
On one occasion Of which I know the
workers were up at three o'clock in
the morning with hot coffee to warm
the French soldiers coming in after
rain. ThoseRPoilus appreciated that.
MANY Of our workers slept on the
ground In zero weather this winter,
with nothing but q blanket between
them and the frozen earth, and with
no shelter but hut made often Of
green lumber which warped, letting
in icy blasts. A test for real man.
~ went forward toward the
trenches to meet the American SOL
diers coming back after their baptism
Of fire at Chemin des Danes and they
were all eagerness for more. The
Germans had sent picked troops
against them, their strongest men in
brand new equipment, to impress the
Americans that Germany had an
abundance Of everything, material
and robust men. Quite a contrast to
the ill-equipped emaciated men the
French had taken prisoners. The
Americans gave such good account of
themselves in this fight that the
French could not praise them enough"
Old Landmark Falls.
Memphis, Tenn.-One Of the best
known landmarks on the Mississinni