The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-06-10
least know why they fight and die.
TrainIoads of Fighting Men.


TrainIoads of Fighting Men.
Trainloads Of men, so many thai
within in hour had ceased to count
them, rolled through that junction
Men from England, Frenchmen hur-
riedly recalled from leave in Their
southern homes. All ages. I saw
French boys who must have been
eighteen, but who looked younger
by two years, and I saw men who
might have ben grandfathers. These
older men do not often fight. They
serve meals in the trenches and per-
form other noncombatant services
All France-all-is modified for
some kind Of service.
Sometimes these troop trains made
brief stops at our station. OF course
there was Red Cross canteen there
and worked with fine French wom-
en- who were in charge Of 1t, ladling
hot coffee into mugs, and handing
thick Sandwiches to the crowding
hungry poilus. Some Of the trains
had their own kitchens, portable af-
fairs on fiat cars, and when the train
stopped the men fairly boiled out to
the carriages, pals and bowls in
hand. to get the delicious soup pre-
pared by the cooks. The Red Gross
women supplemented the meal with
sandwiches and coffee, at least when
time permitted, which was not ofben
Those troop trains were on their
way north with no Unnecessary stops
More often than not the trains did
not stop. One as a train was rolling
through the station a soldier called
held in my hand. OF course / gave
~ - him TlYsiT along +hn TNlaT
form at a lively rate. The next time
saw the train coming ran to the
newsstand and bought three francs
worth of papers, about as many as
could carry and had them ready
for apid distribution to the ELUSIVE
and laughing soldiers. I seemed to
amuse them to see me run but they
did welcome the papers.
u. s. A. On These cara.
But right in the middle Of that
exciting procession Of trains came
something that brought my heart to
my throat. It was an immensely long
train Of all new cars painted battle
gray, with u. s. A. in white letters
on the side. And the cars, dozens
and dozens of them, were loaded
with railroad building material. Por-
table. tracks, switches, signals, ex-
actly like the expensive and fascin-
at ng toy railroads which children
delight in. Steel rails, wooden ties,
machinery for laying them, flat cars,
wheels, tools and nails, and last OF
all tiny locomotives, two oft hem to a
flat car, all American, going up 70
the front with the French and the
English soldiers.
r ght behind that train Of cars
came another a. shorter one, and this
was full Of brown clad American en-
gineers, going up to the front with
the allied soldiers, to lay those tracks
and operate that little narrow uage
railroad under gunflre. Our own
sons.
That was not all. In the middle
of the afternoon another train went
northward, battle gray, with U. s.
A. in white letters. This was a hos
pital train of entirely new cars, the
finest and most complete I had ever
seen. It was a palace on wheels,
with every conceivable appliance for
the comfort Of wounded soldiers.
There were kitchen cars, operating
cars, X-ray compartments, cars with
beds, cars with touches for the sit
ting cases. Cars for doctors and
nurses as well as patients. Nothing
I had seen, not even men going into
the trenches, brought home to me so
sharply the fact that we were in the
war and were determined to hold our
end up.
Great Railroad Builders.
We could not have done it so well
had we not, in the last fifty years,
such extraordinary railroad
builders and operators. The French
had a railroad system adequate for
peace time uses, but when war came
and especially after the tide Of Am
orleans began to pour into the coun-
try, the system had to be enormous
ly enlarged. It had to be planned
and organized also, in order not to
disturb unduly the life Of the coun-
try. And it had to be done quick
ly.
It is not going beyond the permits
sibIe line to say that our railroad
experts have worked out a. wonder"
full system for the transportation
of men and supplies. Several big
seaports in the northwest now re-
ceive most Of the men who in larger
and larger units are being transport
ed to France. One very large port
in the southwest Is the receiving sta
ton of most OF the supplies sent
over. Al network of railroads, some
of which we have double tracked,
convey these men and the supplies
eastward and northward to their des-
tinations. There is never any con-
fusion Of freight and passenger trains
because they do not start from the
same ports and most of the time
they are not even on the same lines.
All through central Frsnch along
this railroad system the Americans
have taken over old towns and cities
as bases for war work. Outside OF
the towns are great camps with ar
my bakeries quarternaasters de-