Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-11

.~SPUA NA0 l0A0- VI SAIkSg "AASAAAS
and mention by name. Recall. il you
will, the bold signatures that, in the
school histories stand below III Dec
laration of Independence, and among
them. so that there might be no mis-
taking who was putting his head In
the halter, Charles Carroll of Carroll
ton. That same name. SO signed, is
the n appended to Red Cross field
reports from the Piave front in mid
November. No lean. cantankerous
rebel is it's ~present-day bearer, but a
well-known member Of the American
colony in Paris. no longer young, the
owner of a stud farm. None of the
three figures in the familiar picture of
the Spirit Of rs suggests him, but
'Nervesa and San Donna di Piave.
through mud and under shell fire. he
skirted the trenches and the parapet
river bank.
He accompanied the lad Of the
Opera Federale d'Assistenze e Pro-
pagande Nazionale. who spoke with
every man they passed and addressed
chocolate and a scattered fire of Gig
arettes and mufflers could nave routed
the enemy. he would have long since
been back at the 1sonzo; but these
things at least put in a wartime YER
nacular. understandable across bar
riers of language and distance. the
| fact that Americans were come to
Italy to help.
Many Blankets Needed.
Those physical needs of h Italian
troops, which mean the difference be-
course, much deeper. When the line
was solid the soldiers had built winter
quarters and had gathered wood to
heat them. Now they have lost these
shelters. and have little wood to warm
their improvised dugouts. 1t. is esti-
mated that three times as many
! blankets will be needed to prevent
suffering this winter, blankets are all
but unpurchaseable in Italy, and the
Italian Red Cross has started a house
toulouse collection throughout all
Italy to get together a million blank
cts. Back in August an investigator OF
the American relief clearing house.
who made a tour of inspection in ad-
vance of the coming of the first Red
Cross commission, wrote as follows:
1.-The material aid which we might
! render to the Italian soldiers at the
front is covered pretty fully in the
word wool The Italian government
! does not provide the greater part Of
the wooden garments which are need
and on the high mountain positions
the year round. 1t provides wooden
u~ndershirts, but has ceased to pro-
vide underwear, n 1t provides WOOL
en- socks but not in numbers adequate
to the need, seeing that they are SO
soon worn out. To the bounty of the
civil population is left the provision
of supplementary socks and all of the
footless long stockings, mittens, neck
I scarfs, helmets and sweaters have
been adequately supplied"
There is a dearth of wool in Italy,
and this condition has been accentu-
ated by the events of the past three
of some of the hospitals which has
come to the knowledge of the Red
Cross. where wounded soldiers and
con~valescents have been quite without
wooden underwear. If wool can be
brought from America-yarn and
cloth-and made up in workrooms,
giving employment to soldiers wives
ton along the Piave of experience
bordering on those at Valley Forge,
and at the same time give occupation
and earnings to thousands of needy
families.
Need for Recreation.
Equally real was the need pointed
out in the report referred to for the
development of recreation and re-
freshment activities, both at the front
! ara along INS INES OIL COWnuNlCd.
ton. Several commanders were quot
ed as regretting that "the soldiers are
given only fifteen days leave in the
course of the year, which is made al
most abhorrent to them by the long
rides in the cattle cars Of a conveyed
train, which may take them as many
as four days to bring them from the
front to Rome, and that little rest and
almost no recreation Is given them
when they return after a month of
duty in the front line positions. 3
Several commanders had built Case
del soldate recreation barracks) but,
even before the retreat. these were in
adequate in numbers, in equipment
and supervision. and the suggestion
was made that the American knights
of Columbus might be enlisted to de-
velop a work similar to that of the
American Y. NJ. c. A. in the French
army Poste di comforto have been
maintained by the Italian Red Cross