The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-04
BIRMINGHAM MAN IN PARIS TALKS ABOUT WORK OF HIS HOME CITY IN GREAT WAR Age-Herald Editor Finds Dr. Scale Harris Doing Im-
 portant Part in
 France COST OF LIVING IS SERIOUS MATTER IN BIG FRENCH CAPITAL Col. Harris Tells of Recent Visit to Capt. Courtney
 Henley, Wounded in
 October
By E. W. BARRETT

fly tIs W. DAfHGNI
 Paris, November 6.-I saw
 my good friend Dr. Scale liar
 ris of Birmingham here yes
 terday.
 He came over as a major in
 the medical corps and has re
 gently been promoted to lieu
 tenant colonel.
 He is at the head of the
 bureau of medical publications
 of the American Red Cross. He
 is also secretary of the medical
 research committee, and has
 made quite an enviable record.
 In talking with him yester-
 day about his experiences over
 here he said:
 Tt is wonderful to be in France at
 this time. and. while regret having
 to be away from Birmingham tempora-
 rily, I would never have been ssg.isfied
 had I not had the opportunity of serv- ing over here My work keeps me in Paris about three weeks out of each month, but my official duties have made i. necessary for me to visit various cen-
 ters of France where the American troops are operating, and when see what has
 been accomplished 1 am proud to be an hoe baa ir, which resources have counted as much as the fighting. Indeed the fighting could not have been done had nos our soldiers and the British and French been provided with the proper food and mti-
 nitions of war
 BIRMINGHAM HAS HELPED
 We have heard lot about German | efficiency, but when l see what the l United States has accomplished in this
 war in a little more than a year, I am ] convinced that American efficiency is in a class to itself, and that one good Amer l ican is worth two or three Germans. You may say to the people of Birmingham that they have helped to win the war by buying bonds, conserving food and by | furnishing the iron and steel to make cannon, ships and the projectiles of war. I have been very proud when have seen how Birmingham has gone over tho 1 top In buying bonds, and in subscribing | to the Red Cross and Y M. c. A. It happens that I have seen number of Georgia people, and l take great pleas l ure in telling them of how Birmingham 1 has distanced Atlanta in every way in war work.
 The American people have also done a lot toward winning the war in saw ing food, and sending it to France and England and to our own troops over here may add that we have the best 1 fed army in the world, and the most l moral soldiers that ever participated in any war. The French and the British have suffered lot for the want of proper food, and they could not have kept up the war had not America sup. piled what she has
 LIVING EXPENSES IN PARIS "Of course If food were to be had it would be found in Paris, but l will tell an experience of my own which shows that even in the best places suf- ficient nourishing food has been diff cult to get Hotel living is so expensive ! in Paris that not even major general can afford to live in the best hotels here. Tn fact, in some of them it is not pos sible to get a meal for less than $5 or
 s6, and even then it is not possible to get fats and sugar
 When I first came to Paris I was fortunate in securing room in one of
 the best pensions. where there were eight or 10 American and as many French and Italian officers The French cooks are wonderful, and the food Is delicious and beautifully served About three months after I had been here 1 weighed, and found that had lost 10 pounds. l then inquired of others at the pension. and each of them had lost from 10 to 30 pounds since they had been here. I then realized that the reason for 1t was that we were getting but very little of fats. no butter or cream and the fats of meats that were served to us had been cut off. Since we got no sugar and no desserts. except fruits, our diet was deficient in carbohydrates. On inquiry l found that most of the Americans over here, who were living at hotels and in French places had lost flesh. Realizing that was not being properly noufished. though was pa wing approximately three times what I had paid in a pension in Paris a num- Der, of years ago. I moved to the Y. M. i-C A. Officers club. the Hotel Du Palais, whore we get wonderful meals at reasonS able rates If the food situation is what :, it has been in Paris the people m rrancs generally must have suffered for lack of proper nourishment, and it is fact that 1 tuberculosis has increased considerably i among the French people By the way the Red Cross is doing some wonderfui | work among the civilian population in France in preventing tuberculosis.
 i WORK OF Y. M. C. A.
 l Tn this connection I must say a word I ahout what the Y M. c. A. has done l in France. It has established hotels in every city where Americans are likely to , be situated, where the soldiers and of
 fcers can get good food at reasonable nrices. and where they have the right snvironment The moral atmosphere in ]; the average hotel in France Is not very elevating. and the officers and men sim ply could not afford to pay the prices sthat are charged Americans over here. 1 1t is a fact that the French charge Amert- cans often two or three times as much as they do their own people: and. sinco l living is so expensive over here. the sol- l diers and officers would have suffered l had 1t not been for this feature of Y. M. I C. A. work The Y. M. C. A. also pro- " ..I--.- A--- A-I~ xl-~ ~