Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-04
HOME LIBERALITY
BIG AID ABROAD
Every Dollar Given Helped
Boys in France, Says
Reed A. Morgan
PRAISE FOR RED CROSS
Philadelphia Banker Returns
From Paris After Months of
Relief Service

every dollar given by the people
hero at home has helped our boys in
F'rahce."
Reed A. Morgan Philadelphia hanker'
brings this message from Paris, whence
Z he recently returned after several
months of Red Cross work. MIR. Nor
gan came home convalescent from innu'
enza. He expects soon to return 10 his
banking business.
Though illness kept Mr.. Morgan Al
I Paris during the big st. Mihiel drive, he
saw thousands of Americans wounded
and heard at first hand the narratives Of
Americans who had been in the thick
OF the fighting. During his stay in
Paris he went through an average Of
five air raids week.
THE American fighting men fully lp-
preciate the Red Cross" said Mr.. Nor
gan. Folks here at home can scarcely
realize how necessary it was to our
armies.
Red Cross in Front-line Trenches
The Red Cross workers went riGn'
UP TO the front-line trenches. TheI
lived under almost impossible conditions
Of cold. wet. long hours and hardship
generally.
I'VE were told to prepare for the st.
Mfhiel drive more than a week before il
began. The Red Cross workers were
ready and waiting for 1t, Up in the ad-
vanced lines, when the word TO attack
was given. They established canteens,
Ii N@F
quantities of dressings for the wounded
They were always IN the van.
The night before the drive they could
< see the big German guns trained on our
lines The next night they slept in
elaborate huts, fitted up luxuriously with
pianos and expensive furnishings and
abandoned by the German officers who
had occupied them.
our mon, following the retreuting
Germans. came across horses which had
given out and had been shot, their bodies
still warm. Our troops foung huge ttsr-
man notortrucks. bigger than anything
our boys had seen before, left By the
( roadside. The Germans had not even
taken time to disable them, and the
Americans cranked UP the engines and
followed the enemy in his own camtons'
Praises Welfare Work
Mr., Morgan spoke with enthusiasm of
the work done by all the organizations
which were active in working for the
mems welfare both during the stress Of
hard fighting and in the intervals Of
quiet. This work made itself felt every
where, In the front lines, in tho rest bill
let's in the big cities, in the hospital
wards
every organization was iudispensa-
hIe. Our people at home ought to know
n that the net results of their generosity
we're worth every cent that the work
cost in money and time.
Ard want toRraIse, ~ grit Of the
Z American soldierY - saw toHstant exam
pies of it. His bravery was wonderful
and his unselfshness an inspiration.
( There was never a complaint. never a
scream of pain. have seen boys in hos
pitfalls who were hCmesick, but 1 never
saw them fiIeh or lose heart.
Tremendous Work Ahead
@It is important that our people do not
get the idea that the work of the Red
Cross Is over now that the armistiCe has
been signed. There is a tremendous
amount of work yet to be done. AS long
a. our boys are in France the Red Cross
will have to be there. And besides this
there is the reconstruction work in
France itself TO which the Red Cross
must lend hand
During Mr.. Morgan's stay in Paris
there were constant air raids, four or
Ave every week.
'aThe feeling Is indescribaple,' said
Mr. Morgan in telling of the biggest one
he went through. "Elffel Tower would
get the first news Of tho coming Of the
Germans All over the city, on the
housetops, were huge sirens. These
would be sounded about twenty minutes
before the raiders arrived and every one
would dress and run for the abris, shell
ters marked by red lights at night After
the raid the fire apparatus would dash
through the streets sounding the all
clear signal.
Describes Air Attacks on Paris
con September Is three German IS
cadrfiles attacked at IA in the morn
ing, coming from different points They
bombarded until S:45, using bombs four
feet high that would tear up about an
acre. Then they flew away, but re-
turned again fifteen minutes later and
continued the bombardment for another
three-quarters of an hour. Thousands
K Of anti-aircraft guns were firing shrap-
4 mel at them. From our hotel we could
hear It falling through the trees and
striking the pavement.
I'VE went out on the balcony to watch
II was wonderful sight, shrapnel burst
! ing two or three miles high. great
searchlights cutting the heavens, The
: moon had disappeared, and. the stars
shone clearly. but 1t was impossible to
see the German raiders. Ono few low
over our neighborhood, and we caught
u glimpse of IT, An anti-aircraft gun
was crashing from a squares distance
from our hotel. ~
we risked the falling shrapnei and
the German bombs TO see the sight
bnt / would never do 1t again. Most
5pf tho afr raid casualties were from
the shrapnel of our own barrage. A
bomb was dropped near the hospital at
Ateuiliy, where there were many Amer
ican wounded. Another set fire to an
American warehouse. where there were
ausntities of rubber tires stored, a ter
: rific blaze which lii up all the heavens.
When the raiders came back one ma
chine was smashed by the barrage and
fell. killing its crew Of four. We got
a. = -. 4. .s.-l.N