New-York tribune., 1918-06-15
city in the wonderful, old palace Of


M srs at the homes al the most exclusive
florentines. WHM the United States
mas done behind the lines through the
agency OF the Red Cross has unlocked
the bolted doors.
IN Belgium the most touching things
we're the affection and confidence Of the
SS!nlidren in everything American. The
a .,es,e children could not get near
enough to the American Red Cross uni
form. They reached out to us, and
were never so happy as when they
could touch US or cling to us with their
.,ny hands. 1t is a rather singular
thing that some of the Belgian farmers
are doing their farm work within a few
hundred feet of the front line trenches.
IN fact. there is zone between the
hrst and second line trenches that
we found school with 300 pupils, sup
ported by the Belgian Queen, close up
behind the front line trenches in one
part Of Belgium. The German artil-
lerymen try to locate the distant big
guns Of the Allies and train their
guns on them, and they pay little at
tention to the farmers tilling the soil
just IN behind the front line trenches.
Points Out Shell
"At this school to which l have re-
1erred Belgian boy stood alongside
Of me one day, when suddenly of on
the German front there was big puff
OF SMOKE and then the boom of a can
non. The lad pulled my coat and
pointed upward. where shell was de-
scf1ooig an arc in the sky. 'Boche!'
sac re. smilingly, as he watched the
sne'. % drop two or thre miles away, out
Where perhaps his relatives were in
their dugouts
Another thing that sticks in nv
memory is the belated recognition by
the French as nation that their sec
onds'-for want of an exact technical
name. let us call them that: the
frenchmen who for one reason or an
other were passed over when the regu-
lar levles were made-that these sec
onds' were after all the saviors of
france IN very large and honorable
sense. They were lightly held, these
o!oer men, or men with failing eye
slght, or with physical defects that
ing units until the great drain took
nearly all the younger men--and then
dawned the day of the Seconds Regi-
| ment after regiment, division after
division OF them were marshalled and
| sent against the Prussians. Then stood
revealed the true spirit of France
These second men--fighting like true
crusaders, with the sword of the spirit
they took the places of their fallen
sons, and the lines were gloriously
sustained. In France they say that on
a certain March they had used up
their great army-and on April /, by
which time the second men had
| demonstrated their power, France had
another army more unfinching than
tho first.
The New France
II am sure that it will be found that
France Is new France, now that the
American soldiers are pouring in. and
tnat the people understand better what
tne RED Cross means. AS never be-
lore, the people of France and Italy
and Belgium now realize that the
American Red Cross means service.
with big S. In days gone by, per-
haps, our people have been foolishly
ooastful about America and Ameri-
cans. The spirit of the Red Cross is
changing all that. Our overseas neigh
bors now know that the Red Cross is
in Europe, close up behind the battle
lines, for service. They are going to
lean right heavily upon us, and we
| shall not fail them.
In one Of the American hospitals
that | visited l saw a German prisoner
who had been picked up literally shot
to pieces, with both legs. shattered
and other wounds. There he was ban
daged from toe to waist-bandaged so
that he looked like upholstery, with
ms legs suspended in the air, at a
certain angle, to facilitate certain
drainage IN the treatment. There were
pulleys and weights, and extra nurses
and constant attendance. And the day
mr.. Dawson and l were there three
or tour doctors, American and French.
We're much animated about him. Thew
had their heads together in consulta-
ton. l asked them about the case, and
the head surgeon said:
Sure of Recovery
"'That German boy was very badly
shot to bits. We didn't think he pos
islbly, could pull through. 1t looked
like he would die any hour of the dav
But we made the fight for him, and
after looking him over to-day we
agreed that he would recover, and that
ne probably would have the use of his
legs. 1t is very interesting case
And you said he was-'
vate.' WV q N'- 'A'A" pf'-
Until one has seen something of
the effects of the havoc wrought bv an
alrplane dropping bombs or training
g i'iAShiiiS gun oii masses OF men down
below, there is little to help the i'm.
agination in picturing their destructive
possibilities: Men under fire just can
not stand it. The steel hail cuts q
swath in the ranks below. The plane
sweeps along up there out of reach
There is hardly limit to it's destruc.
tlveness. When there is a succession
of them, splitting their fiery death. to
stand fast under their attacks is more
than flesh and blood can do. This
is the testimony from the front AZ T
obtained it from scores of Witnesses
1t seems to me that the lay is fast
approaching when our American air.
plane, fighters will be over here or
the battlefront literally by thou.
sands. When that becomes true there
ought soon be an end of the great war
The supremacy of the Allies in nj,
hghtlng is becoming more markec
every day"
Red Cross Gets $1,000
From Flour Pro6tee,