The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1918-06-05
SHARE DANGERS
WITH SOLDIERS
Y. M. c. A. Workers Are Almost
N Constantly Under Fire
NJ in France.
MANY HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES
Moments Delay Saves Red Triangle
Man From Death by SheIl-Ex-
periences That Are Test
for Real Man.


misunderstanding shells are
everyday, everyhour experiences in
the lives of all soldiers and Y. NJ. G.
A. workers anywhere within % miles
of the Boche guns. DIR. George Louis
Meylan, who has just returned from
France where he was engaged in rec.
reation work for the Y. Nj. g. A.,
threw some strong light on the con.
ditions under which all persons back
of the trenches live-and die. He had
been asked to tell some specific in.
stances of "Y" workers under fire in
first-llne trenches.
"Those over here who have not been
in the war zone must forget their old
time ideas of warfare and its dan
gers" said Doctor Meylan. "Forget
this old idea of open fighting, with
troops battling across plain the size
of a large athletic field. Modern ar
tillery shoots for miles and is always
shooting. Every person within 20
miles of the trenches is under fire
practically all of the time, yet the re-
ports do not call this a battle. The
reports announce The artillery was
active and that means shells any
where five TO twenty-five miles back
of the trenches.
Dodge Shells Constantly.
early in April the Germans made
night kraids and their airpanes were
actiD in bombing. Two of my Or
g1fzers were visiting camps eight or
miles 6ck of the front-line
AchteS. The Germans kept up the
= bombardment for three days during
h which time those ~ men were dodg-
Ming shells constantly.
ION the second day they were in
Foyer de Soldat-one of the soldiers
recreation huts provided by the French
with 'Y' men in cbarge-when, within
five minutes two shells struck, one q
few yards away, the other hitting the
hut. The 'Y' men were thrown down
by the conclusion. 1t seemed
miracle they were not hit, for soldiers
were killed and wounded all around
them.
at is strange that although we have
only about one woman worker to every
hundred men workers. not single
~ man had been killed up to the
time left France, whereas Hun shells
had killed two of our women workers,
Miss Crandel and Miss Winona Mar
tin.
I'm certain woods the shells were
: dropping so thickly that the French
Acommander ordered our men to aban-
~ their huts. As the order was not
Efvaa until evening, W man of
Nv acGnahrtans1~teeided not to leave
Yuntil next morning as >heNwished TO
take his stuff. Next morning ne was
approaching the hUt when Il French
officer stopped him 10 exchange fare
wells. This took little more than a
minute, and the Red Triangle worker
started on his way when n shell ex-
ploded on the path near the hut at the
point where he would have been had
he not been detained.
Close Calls Every Day
"Some ~ workers are having hair
breadth escapes every day, not every
man every day, but each in his time
with regularity to justify saying
some men every day. Eight of our
men with the Canadians have been
killed. and we cannot expect to escape
unscathed. They work from sii
o'clock in the morning until eleven
o'clock at night, seven days week,
with a week off every three months
and many never take their week on
On one occasion of which | know the
workers were up at three o'clock IN
the morning with hot coffee to warm
the French soldiers coming In atter
n three-mile wade through mud ana
rain. Those Poilus appreciated that.
'Many of our workers slept on the
ground in zero weather this WINTER
with nothing but a blanket between
them and the frozen earth, ana win
no shelter but hut made OFTEN OF
green lumber which warped, letting
in icy blasts. A test for real man.
81 went forward toward the
trenches 70 meet the American sol
diers coming back after their Daptism
of fire at Chemin DIES Danes and they
were all eagerness for more. Ihe
Germans had sent picked troops
against them, their strongest men IN
: brand new equipment to impress tie
.Ameylcans that Germany had an
abundance of everything, materiai
and robust men. Quite contrast "
the ill-equlpped emaeiated men .ne
French had taken prisoners me
Americans gave such good account OF
themselves in this fight thar ,he
French could not praise them enough