Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-02-11
Mrs, Belmont Tiffany of New
York Writes of Work Done
by Red Cross Units in
French Village,
STRENGTH AND PLUCK
REQUIRED OF NURSES.
Men Too III to Lift Hands Are
Ministered to in Trains Co.
ing Back to Hospitals; Face
Wounds Are Worst.
n INnh 1 IInru- A N a ri


New York, Feb. 10 How Ameri-
can women of wealth and refinement
are performing the most menial tasks
and undergoing severe hardships to
make the lot of the French soldier
easier on the way to and from the
front is told graphically in series
of letters received here from Mrs.
Belmont Tiffany, a New York society
woman and leader in Red Cross work,
who organized Red Cross canteen at
a French railway junction. she wrote
with no thought of publication but
the letters-wrtten to relatives and
released for publication today by the
American Red Cross-tell their own
story.
On october 25 last, Mrs. Tiffany ar
rived at the railroad center, some
where" behind the French front.
Four railroads converged there, she
found, and more than 5000 men d
day stopped over at the station for
refreshments, which were procurable
in liquid form only. There were no
Laundry Always Going.
II wish you could see our little viii
lage, so tiny and primitive-one long
street winding up a hill with the big
junction railroad station at the bot
tom and the church at the top; and a
stream, winding under a bridge half
way up, a stream which allows the
IN 20, h lpt ArxF
Tiffany wrote. ut is picturesque as all
French villages go but rather too
poor for beauty and there are no gar
dens at all, which is strange
Less than a month later. Novem-
ber 13, to be exact Mrs. Tiffany told
of the progress achieved in establish
ing the canteen. A rough addition had
been added to the station, and dormi-
tory and a recreation room had been
completed while a reception room to
accommodate 900 men was in course
of construction.
I'VE have red and white oilcloth
on the tables, red glass carafes, and
turkey-red window curtains, and al
ways flowers on the counter of the
recreation room,' Mrs. Tiffany wrote.
"1t is the gayest, brightest room you
ever saw. However, it only holds 1870
men. Our big room is to have a huge
kitchen and seats for over 1000 men.
Model of Cleanliness.
THE dormitories are wonderful I
never was so proud of enything be-
fore, TWO hundred canvas stretchers
for beds! We have splendid fumi-
eating plant and an incinerator and
the place is model of cleanliness.
'"All the men take off their wet and
dirty boots, and we have geed felt
slippers for them. There are two big
stoves in the room, two wooden blan-
kets for each, an orderly who wakes
the men for their trainsy good shower
baths and wash rooms. Altogether,
when the big room is finished, hon
estly think it will be model OF what
II should be.
Last year the men slept in the
road"
However, the speedy transforma-
ton was not effected without the ex-
penditure of great effort, Mrs Tiff
fany summed it up by saying
Everything is going awfully well
and the whole unit has been fine. No
one should come for this work who
Is not as strong as horse and
Indifferent to cold and fatigue It
is terribly hard. The good it does
is enormous, however, and more than
repays one. You never saw anything
like the appreciation and gratitude
for the food we give the men and the
price we charge. We gave them a
whole meal for ! s cents, soup, meat
and vegetables or meat and salad.
bread and compete. 1t is really good,
too. / thought l had a good many
occupations, as wrote you before. but
since then l have been particularly
proud of being a good cook
Men in Hurry.
Mrs. Tiffany in another letter de-
scribes in interesting detail the rou-
tine of the canteen's might shift"
which she regards as more strenuous
than the day relief.
THE station is always empty when
we arrive, but fifteen minutes later it
fills up as If by magic" Mrs. Tiffany
says.
This crowd keeps on pretty con-
tinuously. 1t was never an overpow-
ering rush. but steady stream until
about 2.30 and sometimes until 4;30.
The men buy their tickets at the first
window and then pass on the coun-
ter where the food is served. OF
course they are always in a tearing
hurry and push and shove each as If
they were going to get left If they
didn't. But there is no reason for 1t,
because they don't come in for meals
unless they have at least an hour and
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