The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-26

women. coats on, sleeves up. skirts torn
ana smeared with blood and dirt.
handling scores Of wounded men like
.e,erans. They knew first aid work. and
TWO OF them happened to be trained
nurses. All were trained Salvationists
and they tore into that work with calm
determination. And that day. aiong
.nst roaring line. they made a niche
IN history for the Salvation Army. They
were only there to serve until the Red
cross inevitably overwhelmed for the
moment, could reach the men. But
what work they did. There were simply
nihions of nies-nasty, biting, firhtinS
hes-and they would swarm over the
men as they were brought up on filters
until they were spreckled with them.
lantaizing them beyond the power Of
words to express
The salvation Army women fought
these flies to a merry standstill. From
somewhere came bolts OF mosquito net
ting, which they instantly used to cover
the men. even having to tuck in the
sioes TO prevent the pests from crawling
underneath to bite. The Salvationists
bound wounds temporarily with con-
Siderable experiences and by all means
IN an ideal manner TO await the Red
cross. They showed wonderful skill.
absolute caimness and resolution. and
aug into that muck and dirt and reek
ana confusion like the heroines that
they are
You would see a Salvation ARMY
woman with soldiers head in her Ian
oathing his face, holding cold lemonade
10 ms lips, brushing away the flies and
smiling. talking words OF cheer to him
as his eyes rolled and he seemed but
semi-conscious.
Red Cross Always There.
The Red Cross always got there, and
how grateful they were to find the fir=t
aid work done. And how grateful the
men themselves were and their offcers
Well have these women been dubbed
the little Marthas Of the battlehed
Few hours before they had been serv-
ing coffee. pies and doeehnuts in the
huts not so far away. Now they were
toiling like TroJAps with the wounded
ana with the huts abandoned Five OF
their food supply trucks were impressed
as ambulances. and thus they still fur
thsr aided in getting the men to the Red
Cross. No one organization ever con-
ceived by man can cover that front
alone.
Il cannot even attempt to describe
what ] saw. A scene that will trans
form an orderly citizen of peace like
myself into a wildly screaming and ges-
ticulating person, who dances up and
down. who howls and shouts and races
around like a wild man. is not a scene
that can be told OF in mere words.
Those Pruxians Guards. We now
know. had been especially hand picked
by Hindenburg to show the Americans
how the Germans could override US. !
stood within a city block of one OF the
points OF contact. strangely unmindful
of my own personal danger. and saw
the flower of those Boche fighters rush
forward ! saw the Americans tear into
them. and I don't believe il is profane
TO say that I saw our men from the
United States simply knock hell out
Of them. There isn't enough left of that
picked Prussian Guard to-day to make
a respectable link sausage for a canni-
bal. That particular contingent was
wiped on the map.
Ammunition Damp Fired.
That same day / came alongside a
French ofticer, a Major. in charge Of a
battery For a moment We both watched
the Germans as they blew up little
village near by. Then the French Major
waited for the smoke to clear a bit. got
a report from his range finders and un-
hmbered. He was there to back the
Yanks
BY watching the Germans in Their
preparations TO blow up the village he
had located their ammunition dump-or
at least thought he had. he inquired on
the range carefully, trained his battery
upon a distant clump Of trees. told Us
TO plug up our ears. and he let ny
B,ooeyi Tn went those woods in the
finest piece of fireworks / have ever
seen. And with them UP went the
German ammunition dump that had been
serving that sector. The name must
have shot 500 feet into the ar and the
smoke that belched UP after II simply
blotted out that side OF the landscape
The French Major jumped up into
the air, threw his cap as far as he
could from him. grabbed me, and ~nlie
strumminE a piece OF Jazz music TWO
stepped with me over that broken ground
around the big French cannon. While MS
men howled with giee and performed
similar antics. II was the master
stroke of the day.
Feeling they had earned moment
of respite these Frenchmen, covering the
Yanks' advance and now rid OF the
German resistance for that locality,
spotted my Salvat,on Army Uniform ana
Immediately shouted for the women with
doughnuts and lemonade. Regardless
of all that was transpirtng above US
We had them there and they we're served
in twenty minutes.
The salvationists' Work.
The men at the front are not inter-
ested in any service that is not right
I'D where they need it. and that is not
wholly practical and on all fours with
them in their struggles Theoretical or.
social assistance doesn't go and is su-
perfuous. The Salvation Army huts
never close and. working in relays. the
Salvation Army, which has nov over
1000 relief workers along that line.
never sleeps. ! have often gone into
huts and found nobody but soldiers
there. The Salvatlonists would be out
skirmish ng eggs or bringing up sup
plies or even taking short sleep ana
meantime the soldiers who happened TO
n. ,h.rs handled the merchandise, what