Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-09-17
DIR. FAIRBANKS HOME
Pays High Tribute to the
Spirit of the French Thru
the War

"I've had an awfully good year
with lots of rich experiences" said
DR.. Charlotte Fairbanks enthusiasts
tically when the Caledonian repre-
sentative greeted her on her return
home and then she told of the awful
devastation of the Huns and the sac
ritices of the French people through
four long years.
DR.. Fairbanks left st. Johnsbury a
year ago and for II months was the
surgeon in the American Women's
Hospital Unit. There were AZ in the
unit, including doctors, nurses, chauf-
feurs and machinists, all women, and
their work was almost entirely
among the civilian population of
France. On her eastward trip she
had the usual experiences of all the
transatlantic travellers, making the
voyage with all lights out on the ship
and every precaution taken for sub
marine attacks. The voyage over
was a very rough one, but there were
no Incidents to mar the safety of the
trip and after the boat landed on
French shores the unit went to Lu-
fancy. Here they were qualtered
in 10th century chateau which had
IS beds, and the unit remained
there five months until the French
doctors came back from the service
with the troops and took up the work
they had left when they enlisted in
the war. In one corner of the prop
erty there was small cemetery
which contained the graves of 12
American soldiers that fell in the
battle of Chateau Thierry and which
the French people kept decorated as
a testimonial of their friendship for
the American troops.
After five months of service in the
beautiful valley of the Marne the
unit>was transferred to a village near
Noyons where they lived in big tents
and barracks. The latter were util-
lied for the operating rooms.
"We were then," said Dr. Fair
banks, "in the devastated regions of
France, and the thoroughness of the
Germans in their destructive work
was simply awful. They were Won
dcrfully thorough and not a village,
was left after they had finished their
job. The houses which were built of
white limestone were now mere
mass of powder. The gardens were
completely destroyed and the Ger
mans took particular pains to cut
down all the fruit trees. In one in
stance they destroyed 1000 fruit
trees in four days. The people came
back to live in military dug-outs and
in makeshift huts. In 1914 they had
fled from their peaceful and happy.
homes that were soon destroyed by
the onrush of the Germans and again
in 1918 they had to repeat their sad
flight after the second sweep of the
Germans towards Paris and after the
peasants were pretty we'll establish
ed in their homes and started all their
agricultural pursuits. When they
came back again they did not try to
reconstruct their villages, but gave
their entire attention to raising crops
and vegetables and the season this
year has been a very favorable one
for their agricultural pursuits"
"The French people are wonderful
ly courageous. Many of them lived
for weeks at time. on soup made of
nettles, and there was no milk, for
all the cows had either been killed
or driven away by the Germans.
Really what the French have been
through in the past four years is al
most what the Armenians have been
through. But they rarely talk
about it, carrying all their troubles
in the background. They are a Won
derfully brave people"
DR.. Fairbanks did not see any of
the American soldiers from this sec
ton as her work was almost entirely
among the French people, but she
did meet some of her friends, includ-
ing Chaplain Chauncey A. Adams,
Miss Grace McLam and Mrs. Bernice
Chandler. She was at Paris when
the armistice was signed and said the
French capital was one mass of peo-
pie shrieking and shouting for three
days. Later she had the rare privil-
ege with others of her unit, to see
the great Victory parade-that pro-
cession of all the Allied troops which
took over four hours to pass a given
point and which was led by American
soldiers and ended with thousands
upon thousands of French poilus
in the rear. The whole unit is now
returning because the French doc
tors are coming back to their homes
to take up their regular work among
their own people. Besides the hospi-
tai work the unit had numerous dis
pensaries within a radius of 20 miles
from where they had headquarters
and everyone was busy from morning
until night, as many of the populace
had received no medical treatment
since the war started some four years
ago.
"The French people," said DR..
Fairbanks in conclusion, "are taking
up their work again with everything
wiped out. The male population is
badly decimated and the French wo-
men are now doing all the work in
the fields. Their whole efforts now
are to reestablishing their gardens
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