New-York tribune., 1918-06-02
By Mary Brush Williams

Dy wary brush Williams
I"ENERAL PERSHING 10
II ceived very important let
ter in his mail the othe1
morning. He receives many impor
tant letters, and whether you regarc
this one as of greater or less con.
sequence depends on your basis Of
comparison and your point of view
This one came from some place il,
Iowa and read:
Dear General Pershing:
am writing to you to see if l
can find out anything about
my dear son, Corporal Albert
Dawes. He was captured on
December fourth, and if you
have found anything about him
want you to let me know. We
are so anxious about the dear
boy. | am writing a few lines
to him for you to send him if
you can possibly find out where
he is. 1t is something awful to
give those dear boys up and
then not hear from them. l
have put in many dreary hour
since he left. am going to ask
one favor of you. If he gets
out all right and they get peace,
! | want you to send him home
among the first. You know he
was only boy. I will close.
Won't you write and tell me all
about him and if you think he
is still alive and in the hands of
the Germans? Please answer
these few lines right away,
from his heart-broken mother"
General Pershing did not answer
them. If you think this letter is
amusing or queer, at least your gov
ernment and the head of your ex-
peditionary forces in France do not.
Not This Letter
Was too Trivial
General Pershing disregarded that
mothers request for him to write
not because it was too trivial, but
too important for such superficial at
tcntion as he could give. A whole
bureau, with floor space, files, type
writer's, telephones and field auxil-
iary forces, is necessary for an ade-
quate reply to a letter like that
Such a bureau has been established
in Paris. 1t is known as the Home
Communication Service and is part
of the Red Cross.
This bureau occupies restricted
area on the fourth floor without
elevator service) of the vast Red
Cross building at No. 4, Place de la
Concorde. Major Henry Allen, Of
Kansas, is its head. He has a small
Office, with double doors across two
sides of it, and single door on hi:
lefthand wall. You have to pass
through two of these to get to any
part of the floor where your activitie:
may lead you. The doors slide oper
easily and everybody about the
place, from the office boy to the ma
jor, opens them whenever he take!
fancy. Thus inaccessible is Major
Allen. His is not the kind OF jot
one can conduct from behind barred
doors.
lie is in contact, not only with
these intimate surroundings, bu,
with the mysterious, remoter regions
of the front. He communicates or
a few hours notice with any of the
American military hospitals in
France and he even pierces the cur.
tain of silence which isolates Ger
many. That is to say, through the
American Central Red Cross Com
Mlttee Tor American Prisoners at
Bcrne he gets accounts of our men
who are prisoners of war. To Major
Allen and his organization General
Pershing therefore turned over the
letter from the mother in Iowa for
reply.
Long Before
The Letter Arrived
Long before the letter arrived
Major Aliens department had begun
search for Corporal Dawes. The
day he vanished his name was CIV
en- in to the bureau as among the
missing. The department immedi-
ately sent his name to all of the