The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-07-08
KEOkuK LASS|ES
UNDER HUN FIRE
Miss ysoIs. Williams, Formerly OF
keo<uk Salvation Army, Returns
Here for Visit with Old
Frisnca
HER BRAVERY PRAISED
Says She Had TO See the Funny sioe
0. Everything 10 Keep Her sP'r-
it's Up and Her Energies
Working Well.
HER BRAVERY PRAISED

thing. We 1ao 70. .,
That is the way Miss Nio!et WIZ
hams. q former officer in the heoAuA
Salvation army, describes the sen
sationg Of a Salvation lassie IN the
troot line trenches. And that is AFTER
her name was emblaZoned in many
IA pers for heroic deeds under ire
year ago
With Miss Gertrude Simmons, VINO
was also an officer al the local Sai-
ration army, Miss Williams served
fifteen months with the American ex-
peditionary forces
These two Salvation Army lassies
are the very same onss whose por-
traits were in many metropolitan
papers a year ago on account OF tneir
heroism under fire
The story OF how these two girls
stood right up with the doughboys
/ during q Hun attack and dlsuiouteo
coffee and doughnuts in the midst o!
exploding shells and flying shrapnel
was cabled 10 America and puDnsheo
in The Gate City at that time.
Although Miss Williams was one
of the first OF any of the welfare
workers TO come under the fire OF
the German guns, she can't De per-
suaded 10 recite any Of the atrocities.
| She tells OF her experiences reluc-
family. and even after she has con-
scented 10 talk, her recital OF the
I events sounds very much like the
story of a pleasure trip. She spent
| the week end with Mrs. q. Il. Luxe,
| Of 1912 Concert street
| Started in a Hurry.
Il have two brothers who enlisted.
| but | was drafted" is the way she
puts il We were in Lincoln, NeD.,
at the time we got telegram from
/ New York asking US If we would go.
1 We had never even go much as
| thought of France up TO that time.
That was at 1870 in the afternoon.
and we had to give our answer by .
o'clock. Well, the next month we
| were on our way over"
After they reached France no time
was wasted In preliminaries- Thir.
| teen days after they left New YORK
they were sent up to the front. where,
as the colonel expressed IT, the Ger.
mans could wipe them out in five
minutes. If they should choose. But
| because that sector had been quiet
| for a year and half, although the
German lines were very close, the
| colonel thought that there would be
! little danger TO the girls.
| But the colonel was mistaken, for
soon after they reached the trenches
the Smelling began They were under
fire for nine days before they were
ordered 10 leave.
I'VE were too busy TO be very
much scared the first time we were
under fire" Miss Williams said.
Everything was ready when we
] reached there, and we went 70 work
making doughnuts and biscuits and
| cakes and whatever we could get ma
terial for. When the shells started
to come over, the boys would say, Is
that coming IN or going out? II il
! was coming In, we would duck q
| little and go about our work.
Could Not Keep Them Back.
"On the ninth day, the Smelling be
came so heavy that the colonel or
dered MS 10 leave. He asked Miss
! Simmons how long it would take us
70 get our things together.
Ts # absolutely necessary she
asked
Yes: I can De responsible for the
| lives of hundreds OF American men
/ but ] can't be responsible for the
/ lives Of four American girls he re
Piled"
/ That night, under the cover O,
| darkness, they went back out of ths
danger zone.
At another time when they were
In one of the German air raids the!
had left their dugouts because they
were so damp, and were sleeping il
one O. the billets. But it happened
that the particular night was chosen
by the Germans for raid. Miss
Williams said:
Being Target For Bombs.
1T is q narrowing experience, bu
even then we couldn't help but SEE
the funny side of It ! remember
that we were lying there waiting fo
the bombs TO fall. OF course we were
ali under nervous tension. One o
the girls spoke up and said: @Turr
over on your faces, girls, and If on
Of them should strike here 1t wou1dn'
hit us IN the face, anyway II sound
ed Just as funny 70 US then as
does now as / tell IT, too.
about o'clock that morning the.
} sent over some gag. We were unde
the gas for four hours. The sam
giri was having hard time to keeI
her gas mask on. I'll take my mas
off. and II IL doesn't kill me the res
! Of You can take yours off she re
marked"
The doughnut record up 10 tina
: time was made by Miss Williams an
! three other girls,
1 We were with the Third division
! az the time. That was Just befor
: the St MihieI drive. The chaplai
from the regiment next TO ours cam