New Britain herald., 1918-04-03

soclatlon hut there was in an Adrian barracks. It was built of thin boards, and there were only two charcoal braziers to keep it warm. which might as well have been burning in the Grand Central station, so incapable were they of heating the big place properly. There was no light except for few candles.
 Women Lack the Simplest Comforts.
 At one end of the hut we saw a woman in the " uniform. over this she had a sweater, and there were heavy goloShes on her feet. but if was plain that she was cold. Now and then she would stamp her feet to warm them, but she kept right on at work as she did il.
 One of the men with me recog- rized her as Mrs. Bessie Swift Fer Eald, of Chicago. We learned that she walked a mile twice each day through the mud in order to get from the village to the canteens. and back again. She was quarterGN in a bare room in a peasants hut. and lacked the simplest comforts of life, such as a fire and hot water. But she wasn't complaining about that. She had hecn loaned by the Red Cross to the
 
 and her only regrets about the bare little village and the chilly canteen were that she would have to leave thom so soon
 T wish you would ask them to let me stay she said. I don't want to leave the work here. [ love it!'
 At home Mrs. Fernald lives in the lap of luxury. Here she worked as hard as if she had been accustomed tC hard labor all her life. And I venture to say that nothing had ever given her greater satisfaction than the service she was doing in that French canteen, hard and uncom- fortable though her life was there.'
 The Best Kalsominer in France.
 It was Mrs. Thomas Ely, of 73 West SSth street, Now York. who won a reputation as one of the best kalsominers in France.
 We were invited to the opening of a new hut" said Mr Ellman. Tt was a huge place, with one of the most attractive interiors possible, 1 freshly kalsomined, and hung with l chintzes. There was an auditorium, l and a dining room and a writing room for enlisted men.
 IA nice hut, we said to one of | the soldiers.
 "A week ago it was the dirtiest place in the village he assured us. It used to be an old barn, you know. | The "Y' bought it on Tuesday. Mrs. | Ely took off her coat and went right 1 to work, and as far as we could see l she did most of the work herself. You can imagine how she must have | pitched in to have it all done by Sat urday.' Later, Mrs. Ely, at her own l suggestion, kalsomined the hut where l pr. James Freeman, of Pasadena, 1 California, was stationed. 'In Bordeaux, American women l made over an old German wine shop l into a real home for the soldiers, for the Y. M. C. A.
 Waits on 400 Soldiers a Day.
 "One of the best women workers we met in the canteens in France l was the mother of twelve children, 1 two of whom are now in Flanders 1 fiehting. Waiting on 400 soldiers a day was a real vacation, she said.
 The influence of the women in the camps and canteens can not be over lated. The boys feel that 1t is ar honor to have a woman there, anc respond to it. Very likely they haven't seen an American woman since they came to France, or hat the opportunity to hear one speal their own tongue. They make ex. cuses to stand around, just to lister to her. They show her snapshots o' their SweetheartS back home. and asl her advice about presents for theil mothers.
 "There arc women who don't make ] successes of it, of course. We saw enc of them. d girl who had come from New York, in a canteen little way from Paris. She had proba bl, thought that waiting on soldier would be all thrills and glamour. Sh' found that it meant long days o prCsaic hard work, uncomfOrta blt quarters, no sentiment of the kint } that she had supposed, no thrills q all, just endless, unselfsh service Sh didn't last long at 1t, and no Wom an who goes over looking for gla ) mour can last at the work. But the other type of AmeriCal
 woman who has gone to France t do whatever sne can in just the wa, that it will 1sbe of most help. the good sensible American woman who take } her own standards into the camp
 with her. whA has, no thought of her } self. who wants nothing more tha to be of aid in any way that offers her service in F.ance can not b