Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-02-06
RECONSTRUCTION WORK
BY COLLEGE UNIT
Miss Elizabeth Bliss Back from
10 Months Active Service on
French Battlefields, Talks In
terestingly to Members of
Klifa Club and Friends

units in France IN perhaps one oI the
most interesting periods of the war was
described to members of the klifa club
and their friends Tuesday evening by
Miss Elizabeth Bliss, who has just re-
turned from IL months active service un-
comfortably near the front.
Miss Bliss told, with true sympathy
for the French people, of the efforts of
the unit at Grecourt to restore all of
the habits OF life possible to their normal
course in. that town and 16 surrounding
towns. She described the little school
where the children were taught games in
order that they might learn to laugh
once more, saying that perhaps the sad
dest part OF IL all was that many
of the younger children had never known
any life except that of the hideous ex
pcriences of the war. To them. that was
normal life. She told of how the unit
tried to re-establsh the normal indus
tries of the towns by giving out cloth
TO he made into garments. and by bring
ing bacl, rug industry in one town,
but. more important than that, by help
ing the people to restock and re- estab-
fish their farms. She told of how they
bought cows, goats chickens and rabbits
10 give to people who would really start
up the work on their farms and of the
from eating the chickens instead of rails
ing them because food was so scarce.
She told of one town where wheat
could be raised to advantage, and where.
because they could get no labor, soldier
volunteers, billeted in the town, did the
work. But as these soldiers were con-
tinually changing, it was difficult to get
the work done we'll
After the work had been well estab-
lshed and everything seemed to be going
nicely on March 81, Miss Bliss said, the
great German drive began and in three
days every town was in the hands of the
Germans. and everything they had done
was undone. This was unexpected for
they were ten miles behind the lines
and up to that time advances and re-
treats had been measured in yards. The
offensive began at 43O in the morning
and lasted continuously for IA hours and
when it finally stopped the girls found
they were screaming at each other when
they did not know they had raised their
voices. Then they were advised to leave,
but felt that they could not as long as
there were any people left in the VII
lagos. so they Immediately started to
evacuate with the very sickest, the very
oldest and the very youngest before tho
Germans should come.
Miss Bliss described very wildly the
retreat of the English with the none too
good roads filled with soldiers going back,
others coming up to relieve them and
refugees. trying to take everything they
could with them, crowding each other
along the road, and everywhere under
foot, little children hurrying along with
their parents. Then, too, there were the
ambuances bringing back the wounded
men. Miss Bliss told little stories of the
fight of the refugees, some of them very
pathetic and others almost funny, if one
could forget they were leaving their
homes to be burned and pillaged by the
Germans One incident she mentioned
was of picking up an old man in their
machine who was 10 years old and had
wheeled his paralyzed wife Is miles in a
wheelbarrow.
But through all this disorder, discourage
ing as it was Miss Bliss said everyone
seemed to feel that this would only
make the war longer, but no one thought
for n moment that there was. POSSIBLE
ity of the Germans ever winning.
Finally, the unit heard the sound Of
machine guns and they had been told
that that showed that the Germans were
only three miles away and there was no
time to lose, so they left, taking every
thing with them they possibly ra-'1 and
soon after the British sold IS burned
the house they had occupied. From there
they went to Montdidier and when they
landed there felt very untidy as they
had not undressed for six days OF six
nights and had washed only a very few
times.
From there they went to Beauvs:s and
had to go back no farther, for soon after
that an American division came through
and the tide was turned. The thing
those boys wanted to do most when they
got to their canteen. said Miss Bliss.
was to talk to an honest God"
American girl. for then an American girl
represented to them all that was best
that they had left at home.
Shortly after this a call came to help
nurse PA Americans who were wounded
at a hospital which had only two nurses
and two doctors. Miss Bliss and another
girl were assigned to the top floor and
there experienced two air raids. She
told Of the difficulties they had as they
were not experienced nurses and had to
work entirely in the dark, but said she
thought the most terrible thing any
people could do was to subject these
men, who were powerless to move, to
such a thing as an air raid. The lights
had gone out in the operating room with
the first bombardment, but the doctors
went on all night long. operating by flash :
light.
Early in August came than long-coveted
order to move to Chateau Thierry. This
was a happy move. for the news of this
battle on July IS was the first good news
that had come for nearly year, and the
best part of II was that this counter
offensive had been totally unexpected. II
speaking of the battlefield there, Mist
Bliss said that she had rather live
through three winters than one war sum
mer there, for the heat and odor were ter
rible. But to avoid disease this unit pu
up tents and made a solemn vow to ca
nothing but cooked food. There they hat
one part OF the group busily changing
bandages over the eyes of the gasset
men, feeding others and trying to max,
others comfortable. She said from tina
experience she could not say too mucl
for the little comfort pillows made b.
the Red Cross. for they certainly wer
God-send.
Another work of the unit there was t,
go down the Marine to Paris with wound
ed soldiers as the trip could be mad
without jolts There they did the cook
ing on a little charcoal stove which wen
out every time 1t rained or the win'
blew or they went around curve 81
they had great difficulty In cooking a
all. The trip was delightful for thos
patients who could sit up, but rathe
warm for those who had to lie in be-
,,ador tho canvas cnverinp For q Waek