The Washington times., 1918-07-18
OPENHOUSE KEPT
BY RED CROSS IN
.SHELLED REGION

oughfares for the front leave the
SIuare, made a record, seldom II ever
eIualed, during the last seven days Of
March. By actual count, for a day
that was not more busy than the rest.
$4,000 drinks of coffee and pairs" of
cigarettes were served. 1t is fair es-
innate that the Red Cross gave hot
drink and a smoke a meal or a lodg-
ing to 10000 men during the last week
in March, in the one town OF Com
piegne.
An English general sat silent In his
machine for some minutes watching
the lines at the kitchens, then eNclaim
ed, wonderful effect, little thing
like that! The men come in droopy,
and they go off with their tails in the
air"
But the little kitchen was not only
concerned with the military. 1t stood
alongside the platform where the
trains of refugees were loaded, COM
partments packed with poultry,
feather beds and patient dogs. children
and grandparents. The Red Cross
nurses and their half-dozen aides
hardly had a chance to catch breath.
The friendly commissions were inf
mite. There were lost children to find
and sick ones to dose, gaping boxes
to re-pack. cripples to carry and daZeo
old peopIe-torn between fear OF the
Hun and sorrow in leaving their
homes-to comfort The pitiful and
the comic made a giddy panorama. or
the memories, none will be more joy
full than the scene of a moving train
a weeping plump lady pulling the
front end of a goat through the door,
and a plump Red Cross person. trot-
ting alongside, pushing on the rear
end Of the goat
International Hotel staff.
The personnel installed in the Red
Cross hotel, was unique. II consisted
Of several executives and handymen,
a storekeeper. doctors and 80
nurses, 4 men and 10 women cam
teen workers, lG men and 4 women
chauffeurs. Catholics, Quakers, and
Freethinkers. English, French,
Scotch, Irish and Americans, thrown
together by the emergency, settled
into going organization with
amazing speed. All lived together
like a family. each doing what was
asked of him without question. There
was the spirit of a good-humored'
affectionate family. Probably fsuch
another group has not been in actual
gan. Under the direction of the
Red Cross, were a unit of English
friends war victims relief committee,
a unit OF the distribution service Of
Pennsylvania, the daily unit Of
nurses, and the woman's emergency
canteen unit. Representatives Of at
least three of the entente powers
lived, worked and thought in actual
community OF action. Incidentally,
they learned to respect and like one
another immensely. The American
Red Cross never can express ade-
quately its gratitude for the spirit
in which Miss Rennie and her as
sociates, OF the women's emergency
canteens, Joined forces with the
Americans.
And this unity OF effort and SYM
pathy among representatives. Of
many creeds. organizations and ma
tions, under the pressure of the mo-
ment at Compiegne is another SYM
bol-of the good feeling and mutual
aid that is constantly increasing
among noncombatants of the allies.
No time was wasted in formulat-
ing plans. The needs were distinct
and clamoring to be met
Kitchen in the Street.
Food and shelter were required.
In addition to those fed at the Red
Cross hotel and at the street kitchen.
store was opened in the garage Of
the hotel. A can of milk, a tin OF
beef, a chunk OF bread and cheese
were given all civilians who asked it
Also there was sweet chocolate for
the little things who looked around
their mothers skirts 1t was possible
to meet the requests OF the sous
projects of the neighborhood for food
for their charges For instance. the
military head of the village tele-
phoned that 500 women and children
had come by train to his town and he
had nothing for them to eat II was
a satisfaction to hear his surprise
when a truck load of food stuffs that
could be eaten without cooking ar
rived within two hours after the
message was received by the Red
Cross.
Another useful line of work was
the transport of the infirm and the
sick, together with their most pre-
cious belongings, from in front OF the
advancing Germans. The truck driv-
ers worked without regard to hours
or fatigue. They crossed bridges
while aerial torpedoes were falling
in the water beside them. Several
times they got a rheumatic old body
out of her cottage just as the Hun