Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-25

Mrs. Edna Ellison Flenner In
spires and Entiuses Homesick
american Soldiers
Letter to Grandmother Describes
Experiences in France as Can.
teen Worker

Right in the midst of Philadelphia's
soldier sons who have been doing things
in France that count for Uncle Sam.
there Is a Philadelphia daughter who Is
cooking, nursing. writing letters, plan
ming amusements and smiling. while she
| listed men.
Mrs. Edna Ellison Flenner. daughter
Of Mr. and Mrs James V. Ellison.
! Wynnewood, Pa, in her four months at
the front, has been literally pouring en-
thusasm. inspiration and cheeriness into
more or less homesick American boys.
Already she is known throughout n wide
territory as Mother" She is n canteen
worker with the Y. NJ. G. A. and has
been stationed at the front.
Though Mrs. Flenner enlisted only
last June. she has been doing war work
since the very beginning. More than
year ago she asked for list of men
who needed knitted outfits. Twenty
seven names were sent to her first and
later the list was increased to S3. All
last winter she and her mother wrote
TO the men on the list, knitted for them
and 'mcthered' them. She has met
number of "her boys" since she went to
| France.
vivid Pictures of work
In recent letter to her grandmother.
Mrs. S. r. warne. also of Wynnewood.
she has given some vivid pictures of her
work.
81 wrote mother from the last place
where we had been within eight miles
of the trenches for seven weeks,' she
said. I'VE came up through the sec
tion you have been reading about and
were the first train to go through in
-four years. so everyone was out to see
it. There were signs of much camou-
i1aging to be seen and it was most in
| teresting.
I'VE landed at little t-to-pieces
town. where very little was left stand
ing. and four of us secured the parlor
in a chateau left standing because at
| the time of the Hun occupancy German
general was uuartered there. 1t is now
the French major de cantonements quar-
| ters We had a fireplace and lots or
wood. We slept on straw ticks on army
| cots and were comfortable. There was
"A stone terrace and balustrade across
the front, large grounds. two lodges
and an abri in the front part. The how-
ers here are wonderful. ! never saw
more beautiful ones We were only
| there, without " so Mrs. Fitz and
| found an army store on wheels, with
"A tank that held sixty or more gallons.
We got sugar. milk and cocoa from our
supply car and some boxes of LULU 4
| Minervas tBil knows), and in the rain
under a shed near the railroad, with
tho helm of some army cooks we made
and served hot chocolate all day. and
gave If and tho cakes away.
First Field Service
"There were ten of us women, but we
were the only ones who got on the job.
About O'Clock as we were walking the
mile to our quarters we were stopped
by three American ambulances who
wanted the French hospital We took
them back and gave them all chocolate
then | rode out in one of them, for
they could speak no French. The hos
pital was a mile or more out The
French had almost all evacuated and
the Americans had not come in
..r ANNA ,oo,, with on. Ambulance. n
no, :. ,naunnn,o oas. ronortad ar the