Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-07-25
Salvation Nell
in the Trenches


Over n hundred Salvation Army girls
| from this country have discarded the blue
poke bonnet, full skirt and tambOufine
for Ehaki-colornd uniform, tin hat and
bingham apron In THE costume, with
pns mask convenient, they are ready 10
meet shrapnol, mud, and roaring hot
kitchen fire while they prepare doughnuts
and coffee for our men Mt the front
The Salvation Army works unobtrusivo-
lv hut effectively Since Arerira entered
the war. I60 of It's men and women have
quietly gone 90 France 20 supply soIne ot
the soldiers needs, such as homemade
pic. buttons sewed on 10 stay, q place to
spend time off-duty. and, not least i'm
portant, disintcrested advice
Close 10 the front lines. in dugonts, cot
tapes. or rnadc-to-orier huts they set up
shop and hang out their sign. kitchen
stove il the most important item of equip
ment A Salvation Army unit may strug
gle along with n well behaved stove md
no roof 10 cover it.. but lacking 3 means Of
cooking, the most elaborate hut y iaIl-
urc.
MUCH APPRECIATED SPECIALITY.
For The Salvation Army specially IS
cooking Doughnuts, apple PIE, cookies,
coffee and cocoa these the capable Young
cooks turn out in quantity every day Tor
the edifcation Of the American soldier To
whom life without PIE is n calamity One
girls record for doughnuts rests at 2, 500 ~
a morning. Even 2 500 doughnuis do not
last long # line Of hungry soldiers *
tending far down the road is waiting ITS
turn nj tho morning 3 baking,
At night, about the tIrne when the sol
Iiers arc shifted. Salvation Army lassies,
escorted by officers If the organization
90 on expeditions TO tho trenches, armed
with coffee and baskets Of pastry. As
the men relieved from duty come ont from
the trenches the girls distribute their
gifts As one soldier says, A cup of steam
ing coffee may not look like luxury 70
the CIVILIAN, but 10 the tired muddy
soldier Just ont Of the trenches, i - the
last word IN material comfort
Onc fact about these girls which the
soldiers note and appreciate - that they
arc real workers with no iiss ana
feathers, going calmly about their work
under fire and infusinq the elusive horne
atmosphere into the huts where they cook
and sew
There arc now % Of these h,i's b'nlt by
officers of the American Salvation Army,
and more are being erected. The unit as
agr ed to each hut consists Of salvation
Army officer, his wife and two young
women assistants The young women as
we'll MS tho men arc usually commissioned,
for the Salvation Army was among the
first to give women equal rights with
men
THEIR OFFICERS WORK
A commission docs not mean that the
ofhcers main duty u to give orders. 2
lieutenant or captain may be seen any
morning removing last nights mud from
the hut floor or choppIng wOod Tor the
kitchen fire The girls have few comforts
and no Injuries II their hut u near q
village they may rent room IN cottage
n they are stationed near the front they
sleep in tiny unheatcd cIbby-hole built
off the man room Of the hut.
In either case they are cheerful and
make the best of inconvenience and
dangers If n cook Is interrupted by
shell falling through the roof and demoiish-
ing the kitchen table, she gets the man
Of the unit to FIX strip Of canvas over the
gap In the ceiling mixes a new batch q
dough. takes q bottle for a rolling pm, and
goes on with the days work.
One OF the main difficulties IN turning
out pies in France has been the pe-tn
problem The American PIE Is an unknown
species IN France, French pies being made
IN deep dishes Therefore ple-tlns, SUCH
rs the Salvation ARMY needed by hundreds,
were not to be had even IN small quanti-
ties. This trouble il now being removed by
shipments Of tins from America. The %
tons of -four and other supplies shipped
over to the Salvation Army workers last
week included 900 pIe-tlns which, Il -
believed will greatly relieve the ple sit'Ia-
ton. The French Government has shown
It's approval Of the work Of the Salvation
Army. not only in words but by recon-
mending special consideration n trans
porting its supplies, 50 that delay Is
minimlZed.
LIKE HOME FOR Our SOLDIERS.
Besides cheering up the soldier with
home made apple PIE, the workers keep
open house for men of duty. From seven
a m, to nine .. ~ the nuts are full OF
soldiers, writing playing checkers, read
ing. playing the graphophone Or piano
if the hut Is 80 fortunate as TO possess
one and making themselves comfortably
at home At one end of the structure be
hind a counter where chewing gum
and other necessities are sold, sits the wlte
of the officer in charge. She furnishes IN
formation, advice if asked, and help IN
any difficulty She is a mlddle-aged wo-
man, probably with sons on the firing
line, and her motherly solicitude for the
boy with cold or the blues" has made
her an important element in keeping up
the morale of the army, according to more
than one army officer.
Her husband, responsible for the hut;
may be called upon TO cook draw water,
conduct meetings, or visit hospitals II
his hut IS near hospital, he makes ire
qucut visits to write letters and send mes
sages If he is stationed some distance
from an army post office, he undertakes
10 send money TO relatives for the sol
diers 4 receipt is given each man and the
money is cabled 70 this country, to-
gether with list Of addresses TO which
the stated amounts arc to be forwarded
On Sunday, undenominational religious
services are held to which the soldiers
come in such crowds that other meetings
have 70 be held in the middle Of the week
These meetings say the reports, are popu-
lar with the soldiers, especially with those
about to 90 into the trenches Soldiers
returning from trench duty prefer dough
nuts TO sermons, particularly at first, and
the Salvation Army. understanding this,
supplies the immediate need
Soldiers near a hat soon learn that
they can call upon the Young women to
eliminate hole in coat sleeve or sock