The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-05-25
Lone, Aged Woman Is Sole lnhas-
liant Left in French VIII
Iage.
NAMED Dame INDOMITABLE
All Who Survived Hun Carnival Of
Rage and Rapine Which Swept
the Place, Left Long, Long
Auo.

France.-In the charred village tGey
bad name for her, either. There is a
great gun in the French army called
Indomitable. The enemy has trained
its heavy weapons on this giant cylin-
der of destruction, but old Indomitable
still belches its deadly hail upon the
Huns, and so the old lady of was
named after this famous gun, writes
Don Martin in the New York Herald.
/ saw her the other day in the recon-
structed ruins of her once comfortable
house. Two artillery offioers-Ameri-
can-have billets with her. She takes
care of their rooms, shines their boots
and leggings and puts on a button now
and then when they know nothing
about it.
Then, when she is not busy at home,
she washes dishes for the Salvation
Army canteen or performs more labori-
Gus service, for all of which she re-
ceiveS ten cents an hour. That Is
enough. She doesn't need much. She
begins her daily routine at five in the
morning and finishes at W. in the
evening. Then she walks two miles
to a shop to get her allowance of
bread, and after ten o'clock, when her
'boys'' are in bed and asleep, she
old clothes, with one blanket for COW
ering, and sleeps.
Villages Only Inhabitant.
La Dame Indomitable is the only in
habitant left in the village. 1t is no
place for women. Children-all who
survive the Hun carnival of rage and
rapine-left long, long ago. The old
folks dragged a weary way from the
humble, aged stone buildings in which
they and their ancestors had lived for
many generations-yes, for hundreds
of years. Soldiers occupied the town.
Then the Germans came. Three times
| the quaint village was taken and re-
taken. The gaunt remnants of the
old dwellings could tell frightful stor-
les of slaughter and magnificent tales
of valor. So can La Dame Indomit-
able. But she says little. She just
works. She wants to help France. Of
ficers told her a long time ago she
could go anywhere she wished. Even
the grandeurs of Paris were pictured
to her in the hope that she might be
lured from the abode of danger in
which she resides.
But why should she go?
mo, I'm not Old" she says. "Tm
on1x- civtv HH-n or n who SoTrantu Tn
a strong woman yet, but when l carry
water this long. long distance and then
walk to the ~boulangerie for bread some
times my heart beats too fast maybe,
but that's ALL"
SO there she stays. She has been
seen away up on the brow of the hill
looking down on the German-held terri
tory. One does not need glasses to see
it. She trudges along shell swept roads
when it is necessary, as it often is.
"a shell may hit me-yes, perhaps,
sometime. But we all have our work
to do,
Waves of deadly gas swept over the
stricken group of ruins from time to
time. La Dame Indomitable has her
mask. An officer gave it to her. 1t is
the best. The officers see that she gets
the best. Her two American artillery
officers hurry to their billets when the
gas drifts into the village. They have
nothing to do there. They just go TO
make sure that their hostess is safe. ]
had a cup of chocolate with her in her
house and learned her story. / do not
think she ever told it before.
Thanked by General.
"When the war was just at the be-
ginning" she said in French, 81 had
three sons. They hurried off to get
their uniforms and rifles. Then l
waited. One day our soldiers came
pouring into the town. They had been
driven back by the Germans. Many
were injured. / took as many as 1
could in my house and made coffee for
them. You see my house was better
before it was struck by shells.
"While I was making coffee a big
shell struck this house and killed
some of the soldiers. Another one had
both legs taken off. 1 helped them all
I could, but they went away and the
Germans came. They are cruel, but l am
old, so l am alive. Then Il boys came
again and I made my house a hospital.
1t was struck twice more and l was
hurt a little, too, but not much. l don't
want to leave. / have lived here all
my life and here is where l shall die"
The eyes of the old lady glowed nm
der the spell of q thought she had not
yet expressed.
"a French general came and thank
ed me for what I did for our soldiers"
she said. 'Then, long after, he wrote
me a letter saying 1 was a brave won-
an and had brave SONS. I have the
letter you may see it,"