Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-31
"Somewhere
For America"
Bv Frederic ]. Haskin

7
get out and stretch their legs for few
minutes. I hey crowded out upon the
platform, hopping Terspiring brows,
stretching glsr ces IN the direction Of
umote a da fountain Most of them
lookej hot and Il isty ard cross.
Later IL YVES definite that they were all
OF three things hey had come "A long
dist anee on hot, sultry day. a1d some
thing had happened 10 the trans diner
II was 10 have been switched on at
tain point but il hadn't kept it's appoint
mcnt. SO the men were ravenously hungry.
They couldn't understand why this should
have happened particularly TO them, they
said, when the government was noted
for its punctalIty IN serving meals;
ooh, boy" suddenly exclaimed tall
private, slapping his nearest comrade on
the back and pointing towards the upper
end of the platform. A murmur OF deep
satisfaction rippcd throughout the troops
Approaching them, pushing baggage
truck decorated with American haRs.
were several young women IN blue and
white aprons, blue wells and American
Red Cross insignia, and on the truck
were baskets Of sandwiches, plates OF
fruit and doughnuts, and huge enameled
buckets filled with iced lemonade.
THE IOCUEfS 60 AWEf.
| That was half an hour ago The
train has gone now, carrying much
more cheerful lot Of men Some Of them
ate ne many AS FIVE ham sandwiches and
sir doughnuts. a. we'll as fruit and lemon
ade. and everybody took new supply
! of cigarettes. matches and chewing gum
along with him also gifts OF the Rcd
Cross women They are rolling the
ernntv baggage truck back 10 the cantrcn
hut. which Is situated IN one corner OF
the train shed, wearing that RratIhed
look characteristic of women whose cuiin-
ary arts have been praised by men. some
of them are very pretty.
One of them, stout. gray haired,
notherly person Of about fifty, seems 70
he in charge Of the hut She says that
half an hour before this troop train arrived
| she received a telegram stating that,
| owing To unusual circumstances, II was
| travelling without food That gave them
| inst one half nour IN which to make hun
| irct.s of sandwiches, huv lemons, collect
patches Of doughnuts from various
committee members, and persuade the
| station tobacco stand TO sell them ITS
entire supply Of cigarettes.
do you supply all the troop trains
| with food2" The writer asked
M" she said. THE governmcn
usually supplies food for its men int
| liberal and efficient way, but sornetIcsa
emergencies occur as they arc bound 70
| occur in the transportation of thousands
of troops. when A train must r'In without
| restaurant facilities. In these eTncrgencie
| the government depends upon the can
teens of the American Red Cross To neip
1t ont lust as a local FIRE department Is
| called in case of fire, she concluded
AnoUr 1000 PLACES LIKE THIS
There are 1000 Red Cross canteens
such as this one at various railroad points
| throughout the country, with volunteer
| force of over 5000 women Some Of
| them are large buildings. vlth shower
| baths and writing rooms for the use Of
TROOPS In transit. while Others are SIMPLY
small kitchens enclosed by narrow
counter over which the ma1 push their
cups TO be reflied. One tanteen In a
southern city Is housed n a rail -oad box
| car. painted white, with a red cross on
! either side Of its wide central door
The object of the canteen Is not, pm
rnarilvto supply troops IN transit with food.
! The object as defined by q canteen com
mittee member Is TO welcome and en-
courage the men. and, by some SINAI
token. show that the nation realizes what
sacrifices they are making and appreciates
I their unselEshness knowing the high
value placed upon food by the male sex,
however. tins token Of appreciation Is
! most often made IN that form. but current
4 magazine. tobacco. chewing gum and
/ postal cards are also offered
In the small towns the women ENJOY
| making doughnuts, pie. cake, fred
i chicken and preserves as gifts 20 the
/ troops. and the experienced soldier Is
always eager 70 pass through rIrsI
/ section for this reason. Many munlc-
| ipalltics have endeared themselves TO
! American troops by the hospitality
! extended 10 them Of their railway stations
| Lynchburg. Va. for example. IS always
/ tcnderlv referred 20 by soldiers as Lunch
burg And. when the war IS over,
! declared Young lieutenant the other
/ tlav Il am going TO hunt all over the
country for A"-he mentioned town
/ somewhere in the northern AlieghenleS
and when | have found It | am going
j to stay there and eat apple PIE Ior a
whole week.
on. DEM wArERMEL0Ns"
During the recent heat wave many
| canteen committees devoted all their
energy to obtaining large JUICY water
melons and packing them IN ice, and when
the troop trains arrived ~ q railroad
station they would ind q row OF star
/ spangled baggage trucks awaiting them,
| supporting inrumerabe shces of lce-cold
/ watermelon In one town cslntccn IS
| fortunate enough TO possess the services
of a Young woman who Is an expert
| candy maker. who manufactures depcious,
! frothy candies as easily as most Young
women make tea, and who has never had
failure 50 great is the faith inspired
t hy this record that the other canteen
| committee members donate small por-
| tions of their sugar ratlons 70 her, and
she turns out weekly patches Of candy for
the canteen Every soldier who stops
long enough to enjoy the hospitality Of
this town is handed paper napkin hlled
with candy IS he eli nbs back on the
tram
During the summer months there Is
one thing which American men would
sometimes rather have than food. and
that is bath With the thermometer
soaring IN the ninetIeS travelling becomes
a strain. the cars are hot and stufty,
and the conversation of the troop consists
almost entirely Of "reminiscences concern
ing baths it has had Doubtless many
mothers have been informed of this for
several of the canteens now have bathing
facilities for troops in transit
In one town where there happened q
be particularly fine ''swimmin hole
near the railroad, a bathing house was