Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-09-17
MRS. CHANDLER BACK
FROM "Y" SERVICE
Served For Nearly A Year
In France With the
A. E. F.

81 had perfectly wonderful time,
said Mrs. Bernice Chandler to a Cal
edonian representative Tuesday eve
ming in referring to her years ex
periencc in the Y. M. c. A. worl
overseas and then she proceeded t.
tell in her modest way some of tn,
interesting experiences of the ser
vice.
Mrs. Chandler left here Just 6
year ago and while the trip across
had to be made with the usual pre-.
cautions there We're no incidents to
alarm the passengers. 81 was so GLAD
| landed at Liverpool for never re-
allied until then the sacrifices of the
English people. They all lived on
short rations and wonder that they
lived at all. The bread tickets which
| had only allowed the smallest por-
tons of bread and meat and the rich
est could get no more than the poor
est. But no one complained, yet all
the English had resigned air and
were awful sober. 1t seemed differ
cnt over in France. The French
people did not seem to feel the war
as much. And then we had more to
eat in France, but there was no but
ter or sugar with our food"
Mrs. Chandler was assigned to
duty at AK -lcs-Bains where one Of
Europe's most famous gaming palac-
cs was taken over by the "Y". Her
duties here continued for five months
and a good portion of the time she
was cashier at the canteen and sev-
ed at the information booth. Some
idea of the size of the building may
be gained from the fact that it con-
tanned a theatre seating 1000, a
movie theatre with capacity of 500
and another auditorium used for en-
tertainments where 300 could be
seated. 1t was quite customary to
have 5000 soldiers there at a time
and the building was used for all
kinds of entertainments for which
the "Y" is famous. The soldiers
were sent there from the trenches,
700 at a time, and given week of
rest and recreation.
The boys were delighted, of course
with their entertainment and once
when one of them was surprised to
get such hospitality in Europe's IA
nous gaming center, Mrs. Chandler
said to him, "When you hear that ].
Pierpont Morgan has been to AK
lcs-Bains you can say, That's moth
ing, I've had chocolates over the bar
there handed me by an American
girl" That the boys thoroughly APP
preciatcd the kindness and helpful
ness of Mrs. Chandler is evidenced
not only by what they told her, but
by hundreds of letters she treasures
from many who have written her af-
ter they left. :
Mrs. Chambers next assignment
was in camp at Nevers. Here she
was doing cantcen work in the base
hospital and was there three months.
On May 30 she participated in
memorial service which no one who
was there will ever forget. "Our
government she said chad bought
land for a national cemetery and on
Memorial day 327 soldiers were
buried there. l helped make 237
wreaths for the graves and we had
four truck loads of flowers. We ask
ed the boys to help us make the
wreaths, but very few volunteered.
They were generally very willing to
help US, but this time they held back
and l think it was because they were
afraid they could not do the work.
1t was a wonderfully impressive ser
vice and there were addresses by
both the American and French gen
erals. And one of the most pathetic
sights was to see an aged French
peasant and his wife weeping for the
American dead while the officers
were speaking"
Mrs. Chandler said the American
government was purchasing land for
national cemeteries in various parts
of France and eventually the bodies
of all the American soldiers would
have final resting places in these
cemeteries. The base hospital at
Movers was afterwards changed over
to machine shop and it became the
largest machine shop in the world.
All this work was done by the Am
orleans and this was only small
part of that kind of work that they
did all over France. Il
Mrs. Chambers last station was at
Gcivres, another camp for the Am
orleans and where one of her duties
was to make 1900 doughnuts day.
The Queen of Roumania called on
the Americans there one day and all
were charmed by her manners. Mrs.
Chandler was in Paris when the arm
istice was signed and allowed there
was some rejoicing on that occasion
in the French capital and memorable
doings. She saw several Company ID
boys during her year of service, but
the only St. Johnsbury person she
met was DIR. Charlotte Fairbanks,
whom she saw in Paris. She came
home through Brest and crossed on
The Mobile. She had a very smooth
trip homeward bound and is very
glad to be home again.
Ancient AdmonltIon.
Thoughtless persons who insist on
talking during a musical performance,