The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-01-02
MRS. ASTOR
RETURNS FROM
Y. M. c. A. WORK
Had Charge of so French
Maids Who Cooked for
1000 Soldiers
FRIED EGGS WILL
WIN THE WAR"
That Was Their Motto, but
the Doughboys Ate
Lemon Pies, Too

that women played III the Waf mas
been an indispensable factor toward
victory, and never until historians
have written the last chapter of the
great war story will all that women
have done be fully known and ap-
preciated.
This is the opinion of Mrs. Vim
cent Astor, who after a year and a
half of active service fifth the Y. M.
c. A., has returned to this country.
And she proves her point by telling,
although unwillingly, of her own con-
tribution, story that in spite of her
modest narration, is one of devotion
and unhagging faithfulness to the en-
listed men, story of manuel labor,
of long hours, of drudgery, of organ
izing, planning, of careful executive
work. It is an honorable record, a
record to be proud of, and yet Mrs.
Astor calls herself Stacker for COM
ing back so soon, and insists she
didn't do any more than any other
women in France.
talk about herself personally, for the
sake of the Y. NJ. c "A, she received
reporters at her, New York home
when she csme back and told of her
wrok in France, from the beginning
when, July, 1917, she and Mrs. Henry
Russell (Ethel Borden Hartman Rus
sell handed out cigarctts for an hour
a day, until 1918 when at the Y. M.
C. A., service house at Bordeaux the
two women had full charge of staff
of 60 and full responsibility for the
feeding of 1000 soldiers and sailors
daily. That was how the Y. M. c..
A., grew in France and that was how
Mrs. Astor's own part in the work
developed.
The careSof. the Bordeaux house
was job in itself but in addition to
this, Mrs. Astor had charge of the
wemen's work for tie Y. NJ C. A.
in netAe4Seees4d division, which covered
IL camps in and around Bordeaux
and kept so women workers busy
every minute. She visited Eer camps
every ten days, and reported to Paris
every month. Meanwhile, of course.
those 1000 appetitees were always de-
nlanding attention, and the pies, eggs
and doughnuts had to be kept stacked
high to keep ahead of the game. This
nlenat that Mrs. Astor as well as her
60 neat little French maids, had to
put on the gingham apron of toll and
fry eggs, sweep floors, make change
and hand out jam, frantically and
furiously, in an earnest endeavor to
fill that ever-aching void, the stomach
of the A. e. F.
The great American novel may not
have appeared yet but the great
American victual has, and that is, ac-
cording to Mrs. Astor's canteen ex-
perience, 1.-TWO from then est, sunny
side up
There's nothing so tender to a
doughboy,s heart as a fried egg, "
said Mrs. Astor. He will give up
his last franc and borrow another for
that favorite dish, even when he's
not hungry. Eggs are expensive in
France and we lost heavily on them,
but Fried Eggs Will Win the War
was our motto, and the doughboy saw
to it that we lived up to it, The
canteen did not pretend OF meet ex-
penses and our prices were notorious
ly low We tried hard to meet the
needs of the enlisted men at prices
within private's pay"
Next to the love affair between the
American soldier and the fried egg,
came his passion for lemon meringue
pie, Mrs. Astor said. 1t was hardest
to make and hardest to eat, but the
soldier was boss and so the lemon
meringnes were forthcoming by the
hundreds every day. Crullers too had
to be watched or the doughboy would
probably eat more that his quota OF
six and deprive his brother in arms of
the ldelicacy.
These were the things that Mrs
A5tor learned about the American
army on leave as she waited on them
day after day, and she too got hel
share of condolences from the men
who young and old, regarded an
American woman as an angel from
that particular heaven, home, and
showed their homage by opening
their hearts. But she also saw the
American army at war, when during
the ST. Mihiel fight, she and Mrs
Russell jaunted up to the front in q
tiny automobile, slept. in the village
of Limey9in tent and then went out
ahead of the big American cannon
shooting toward Metz, where in the
foar of the guns she saw the Ameri
car boys trooping back. s'pink ant
smiling, as if they were coming ir
from football ganse." Five day.
she was there in the thick of things
after which she saiG she went bacl
to work at Bordeaux with an increas
ed admiration for the soldier that wa:
q real inspiration.