Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-04
LONG, S9!!R! FACES
ARE NOT WANTED
Red Blooded Y. M. G. A. Secre-
taries Aiding Our Men Who
Are Waiting lover There" ;"
SpS1ai Correspondents OF bvcfy rVch"s
Ry Burr Mcintosh.


d Arc Cathedral on hill five kilometers
out of Nancy.
From the beginning of the war 1T has
always been guide for German artillery
men, who with the aid of observation
balloons and aeroplanes could send their
engines Of destruction to the exact desired
spot. There may be few buildings when
have ESCAPED the thousands Of shells
which have been rained upon the city, but
didn't see them.
The adjoining room to the one which
three of us originally occupied, and by the
third day eight mad both the roof and
one side torn away. | gathered scVerai
pieces of the exploded shell and shrapnci,
which were still there.
The Jeanne d Arc Cathedral referred
to proved to be a small church, the top OF
which only was visible from the city.
One of the dozen dilapldated tonbstones
bore the date 1912 1t was tight squeezing
for me to climb up tn the beifry, but
wonderful photograph OF the two Font
a-Moussons with the historic winding
Mosclle river flowing between was made
from there. The inside of the church was
veritIblc garrison Of electricity.
From there, evidently, word was flash
cd for miles IN cvery direction The
trenches and barhcd-wire cntanglcments
on the plateau and hillsides told their
story ! picked up several rifle shells.
loaded and empty, as we'll as a counlc OF
hand grenadcs Last Monday the first
train which ran from Nancy 10 Metz since
the beginning of the war passed through
Pont-a- MoIsson. made photograph OF
the gavlv deckcd station. "a well as OF the
rear OF the train when IT left the station ON
the way to Metz.
ENTERTAINING THF BOYS
But the big, outstanding thought in
those da,s and nights WAS for our
bows. Such Cf the hundreds of buildings
~ were Mt all habitablc were occupied as
sleeping quarters by thousands Of troops
both white and colorcd They We're all up
before sunrise, breakfast beng At go
The evening meal was served IT $50 and
il was dark BY $50 nearly everybody
had sought quarters.
| saw several interesting groups intent
upon observing whether the number -
or II would appear FIRST. In I'LL of the
places t.,erc wasn't single hall or room
which would accommodatc 2no.
But last Wednesday Col. Reeves,
formerly president Of Norwich Military
Academy n Vermont, ard now on the
staff ot General Malycrv Hill Barrum
commanding NJ Po;nt-a-M Mnusson, took
tho bull by the horrs and cleared out the
ancicnt barracks recently devoted to
thousands Of refugee cN-pr.soners. Soon
there will be covered place where fully
/ 2,e10 will be rested.
Here, hcnceforth, will be the shows.
| Gan YOU. back home. realize what it
means to have practically - 600 boys and
men Ill champing the bit to get back home
s1ys IN Gfycb ~, q o sir
| of light Of any kind except the few de
I sultory candles with an occasional pocket
/ lamp or vonr own individual fire?
/ II was impossible Tor me 20 show my
! pictures, but that situation will soon bc
/ remedied. But feel that a great deal Of
/ better understanding and entertainment
was instilled in thousands Of minds.
REAL SECRETARIES IN.
/ When | left Pont-a-Mousson within
/ four DAYS, there were four huts establish
/ cd. cleaned out and doing business Dur
{ ing the time four more real live human
/ secretaries came in Rev. George NJ.
| Miller. oi II. Paul. Aiinn.. DR. Clvde
] Napier Oakland. Cal; 4 K Reeves
| Tacoma, Wash. and Herbert J.. Hatch.
! There Is no desire TO attempt 10 ad-
vance the interests Of any organization at
+ the expense Of another, bur those who are
giving 70 the cause will, know, bc glad 10
! have . better understanding of the am
| bilious plans being formulated
! Within very brief perloC the \ VI G.
/ A will offer educational opportunities
| which viii 90 a long way toward solving
the i,ig problem of What shall be done
I! for the boys?" Already | have talked to
| thousands. telling them what | honestly
! belleve-that they should consider them
selves unusually fortunate in having sur
vived and that, when they return home,
every welcome and opportunity will be
| gwen them
! ! am happy to say that hundreds have
! told me they arc going willingly and glad
! " to embrace the opportunity TO better
/ themselves, morally mentally and physic-
/ ally. so that when they return chey Will be
/ able to occupy the better position in life
| which will surely be presented.
| It is self-evident that broad-minded.
t red-blooded human beings, both men and
! women. will be needed here during the
/ coming two years. But If anybody comes
with faces similar to some sour ones have
! seen over here, or with narrow, self
! centercd religious views for Heaven s
/ sake 81 ay at home But there IS work for
I t-lOI odAA'Ao VI AtAlA t'sCtflts
ONE BIG LESSON
, And now | am back IN Nancy Hun
| drcdS Of automobiles are In the hospital,
| each needing spare part 10 do work
/ worth hundreds Of times the missing link
! But tomorrow / shall surely be on my way
10 be there 10 make historic photographs.
| Then the battle fronts, to penetrate them
then 10 tour France, to do my best 10
cheer up many
| The big lesson | am learning is that,
more than ever. We must all forget our
own small, selfish selves, and all with the
/ eyes Of others Each passing day after
! arriving, resented overcharging, and
1 felt the nation WIS against me Then for
! days because no French soldier looked my
/ way felt that they didn't appreciate all
/ that 1--WE" have done for them
Then | began TO get the other vew-
/ point. To be truthful, where would the
! United States be if Germany had pre-
| vailed?
! Within the last five days, since seeing
| thousands Of French soldiers out on the
cold roads, many driving stoically, their
| horse Transports wearing no gloves,
others tramping with heavy loads, others
amlessly looking in shop windows or pas
sing along the streets in apparent daze,
! after the awful strain of those horrible
months. or years. il is possible to under
stand that something has gone dead in
them.
Frequently when | could stir up II smile
myself in the midst Of my real and inn
y, 4