The Cordova daily times., 1918-02-13

the place Is a mOuel or cleanliness.
"All the men take off their wet and
dirty boots, and we have good felt
slippers for them. There are two big
stoves in the room, two woollen blan-
kets for each, an orderly who wakes
the men for their trains, good shower
baths and wash rooms Altogether,
when the big room is finished, | hon
estly think it will be a model of what
ii should be.
Last year the men slept in the
road"
However, the speedy transformation
was not effected without the expendi-
ture of great effort. Mrs. Tiffany
summed it up by saying:
Everything is going awfully we'll,
and the whole unit has been fine. No
one should come for this work who is
not as strong as a horse and indiffer-
ent to cold and fatigue. 1t is terribly
hard. The good it does is enormous,
however, and more than repays one
You never saw anything like the ap-
probation and gratitude for the food
we give the men and the price we
charge. We give them a whole meal
for Is cents-soup, meat and vege-
tables, or meat and salad, bread and
compete. 1t is really good, too. +
thought l had a good many occupa-
tions, as l wrote you before, but since
then have been particularly proud Of
being a good cook"
Mrs. Tiffany in another letter de-
seribes in interesting detail the routine
Of the canteen's might shift" which
she regards as more strenuous than
the day relief.
THE station is always empty when
we arrive, but Is minutes later it fills
up as if by magic" Mrs. Tiffany says. |
This crowd keeps on pretty ceptin-
uously. 1t is never an overpoweffng
rush, but a steady stream until about
2:30 and sometimes until 4:30. The
men buy their tickets at the first win
dow and then pass on to the counter
where the food is served. Of course
they are always in a tearing hurry
and push and shove each other as if
they were going to get left If they
didn't. But there is no reason for it,
because they don't come in for meals
unless they have at least an hour and
usually they have a wait of three
hours. But that makes no difference.
They act as if they had one minute in
which to get and eat their food, But
all are gOod-natured, and If the regular
food gives out, they will cheerfully &C
3ept any substitute
Eat 11;55 comes the big PLATFORM
service which lasts about an nours It
was the one thing l dreadeas .lore1
coming, but far from minding II Isow
enjoy it. 1t certainly is amusingl
and though on cold or wlncy night
t is rather trying, you feel that you
ire so. much more use, just because it
s SO cold and disagreeahle.
We'll, this crowd keeps on till after {
wo, when we have our second plat
orm service, but if she first train III
his case is late the canteen is full
Until 4:30 as the men wont trust
themselves to. sleep in the dOFmitory
Vnen they have only an hoar or two !
O wait.
Then we get the dishes washed, the I
able wiped, off. and. the marmites
secured and at three OR four our
french volunteers leave US. The cook
stays until six when. the day cook !
comes on duty. At that time the day .
comes and also one or
wo French volunteers, who stay until
eight and help with the breakfast rush
and cleaning up. We have to have
the soup and the ragout started and
fresh coffee and cocoa ready to serve
at six-thirty or seven but the scrub
bing of floors comes in the day shift
the one that works fron seven to s
three. And for u.s., at seven the night
IS over.
st has been very nara up to now;
but we are all very fit and wen Four
teen or sixteen hours at a shift have
not been at all unusual, and twelve
hours are habituar to me, but it has
been so very we'll worth while. Can
you imagine feeding an average of
geo men day, a shifting population, y
cavalry, artillery, marines,
chasseurs Alpins, engineers, Turcos,
Egyptians, Senegalese, and today
about 500 Annamites."
Mrs. Tiffany writing one letter is
interrupted by the arrival O. a train
load of wounded. At the conclusion
of her duties she resumed her letter:
after four hours 1 just come back