The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-01-21
Original Doughnut
Girl Tells About
Her Work

Introducing, if you please, inc oiis
inal Doughnut Girl" the girl WIN
brought home-cooking to the American
soldiers in France at the time they
reeded home cooking, in TACT any
thing savoring of home, more IMAM
anv one of them ever did before.
Helen Purviance, or, rather Ad-
iutant Helen Purviance, is mol all
what YOU might expect after you nave
read of the exploits Of this girl some
how Americans seem to associate the
Amazon type with deeds OF FEMININE
yalor. but not so with Adjutant Jur-
Vance. She came from small III
diana northumberland she stllI
is the kind of girl that one sees III
these towns in the Afternoon When
the soda fountains are having tnelr
busy time in the day.
She is CARRIED now in the flelt kha-
XII, with a perfect dear little over
seas cap and rather stiff-looklng tan
boots. but it is by no stretch Of the
imagination at all that you can pic
ture her in the light summary things,
big hat and a swinging parasol.
She has the softest speech imaginable
and the most pleasing manner, yet she
is the American girl who followed
most closely the American boys into
battle, staying with them through at
lacks and defense operations. and
above almost everything else she beat
two great, big doughboy brothers into
battle. Yes, she has two brothers ov-
err there. One of them came up to her
advanced hut when his outfit moved
up near the front and it was pretty
chagrined young soldier who said:
Miss Purviance-pardon, Adjutant
Purviance, and it is hard to give her
the title for one just unconsciously
wants to call her Miss, was just
II years old when she Joined the
Salvation Army, and she doesn't mind
in the least it being known that she
has been working in the Army for 10
years. She was picked as one of the
members of the first party of eleven
to go over with the first American
division to France.
Adjutant Purviance Joined Captain
Margaret Sheldon soon after she go.
there and they were assigned to the
First Division just Is miles back o.
the front line, and this was where
they got the idea of the doughnuts for
the boys. They had only small
French stove available, but the first
afternoon they turned out 15C
doughnuts. There were more thar
1000 boys in line when the smell Of
the frying doughnuts got around and
this got them going. From then on Il
was steady advance in production
until every girl in the Salvation Arm,
in France was making more than 2,OO(
doughnuts a day. In fact. Adiutan
Purviance ran across Captain She,
don just back of the Argonne wood,
just before she left for home, ani
Capt. Sheldon then was making s oo(
doughnuts day.
Twice was scared" said Adjutan
Purviance, who is in Atlanta attend
ing the Southern Congress of the Sal
vation Army. zone afternoon Their
were four doughboys in our hut whe,
it seemed the heavens Just naturall
started to fall. There was the mos
terrible swishing sound imapinabl
and the next thing we knew a bonn
which had been dropped from a Boch
plane and landed within ten feet
the hut. Luckily it was "dud." an
we lived. Another afternoon wa
standing in front of the hut and III
Germans surely had our range an
general direction. | was watchin
the shells coming when one big on
started right for the single foot
ground was occupying. I stood read
to dodge it when it came near, but
fell short. was not so certain
would have been able to move N
least bit, so thrilling was the sight ,
the she'll coming, which apparent,
had my name on"
Adjutant Purviance was with ~
troops used as shock troono ord :,