Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-10-30
BURLINGTON GIRL
WRITES FROM POlAV
Miss Constance Votey Says J
Is Impossible to Express ill.,
Utter Nothingness of tn
Nothing the People of TIL
War-t0rn Country Have

Following are extracts from the FIR
letter Dean and Mrs. J. w. Votey nav,
received from their daughter, Constance
since she arrived in Poland. Miss Votey
is now with the Red Cross commission
in Poland and is stationed at Warsaw:
I'VE had a delightful trip from Paris
we being four Red Cross secretaries
from California, Texas. Pennsylvania
and Vermont) No one can say that this
commission doesn't represent America!
We left Paris a week ago tonight WED
nesday) on the Parls-Warsaw through
express, known as the Dip omatic
Special We had two adjoining wagon
lit compartments with our own little
Mushroom in between-there was very
good dinner all the way-it surely was
de luxe travelling. But don't think from
that that all Red Cross personnel travels
so expensvey. 1t is because in this case
there Is no other way of getting us up
here.
1--WE reached the Swiss frontier at 5
Thursday morning and l had to crawl /
out in the cod and get my baggage
through the customs. That gave me
good chance to see Swiss sunrise which
I should otherwise have missed But it
was nothing to at that, there being
no mountains there in view. We went
across Northern Switzerland and cor
ner Of Austria through the Tyrol Noun
tains. The Swiss part of the trip looked
enough like Vermont to he 1t but the
Austrian Tyrol is much wilder and
rockier. You can't imagine how good
the mountains looked to me after Six
months of Holland-and the snow in the
wrinkles down the sides. and all white
over the top against the sky-why. had
oI, hat mo a looked
like
I'VE had n couple Of hours in Vienna
which we spent in n droshke trying to
drive about the city but we cou.d n't
impress our driver with the need for
speed and consequently dicn't see much.
1t seemed hard to imagine that It was
gay city. The people didn't look
particularly hungry, as I had epected.
but markedly sulen and rather bored
with life. The horses were pathetic
/, their ribs standing out like the stripes on
a Dutch bathing suit
After Austria. Czecho-Slovakia and
that Is a pictureland. I had my first
sight of peasants in real peasant cos
tunes with gay handlierchiefs over their
heads and striped skirts and bare feet.
1t is very fertile and consequently
cheerful looking little country. We had
, a funny experience at the frontier. We
, four had no Czecho- Slovakian vsas
our passports and were therefore held
up by a round headed official who looked
like nothing but wop laborer in the
New York subway. He took childish
glee In making the Diplomatic Special
wait an hour while he put US through an
elaborate ceremony in the course of
which we signed our names to some half
dozen documents which we couldn't read
Vant6 lK,, HA., frn pnl,
: really hysterially runny we had to be so
meek ABOUT 1t for fear he would arrest
u.s.
POLAND is quite different from any
other country l have been in. 1t Is al
most as fiat as Holland in this section
Of the country but all resemblance ends
there. This is q barren desolate wild sort
of fiatness. Miss S. says 1t looks like the
: Texas plains-except of course for the
barrenness-and it certainly is the sort of
land where there ought to be motor
tractors at work and farming being done
on a big scale but instead they have
nothing. l can't express the utter
'nothingness' Of the nothing that these
peop have. Great stretches of land and
nothing but an old COW, barefooted
woman and ragged little boy to plow
and plant 1t and NOW 1t and do what
ever else Is done to field. don't sup
pose there Is anything to pant after the
old COW has finished pulling the pillow
, around and obviously there Is nothing
but a scythe to NOW with 1t looks
hopeless to me! Poor Poland--it just
doesn't know where It's at or who are
: its friends and who are its enemies. On
the South it is fighting against the
; Ukrainians and on the East it is fighting
with them against the Bolsheviki and al
tta ,x,,; ie ~ tota
: disturbances and now 1t hears that Lwow
T-emberg) and a whole corner of its
country doesn't even belong to It,"
"Our mess here la so wonderful that
blush to look It in the face here in starv-
ing Poland.
my work Is Just what I would have
picked out for myself next to going out
in the field and I may have a chance at
that later. I am stationed at our ware
house which Is big three story affair
out here in the freight yards on the edge
e of the city. There are three of us out
here. two Red Cross lieutenants and my
self. We are at present taking inventory
as the warehouse Is In pretty much of a
h. mess-cases of solid alcoho!. butter, bed
!. shirts. comfort kits and other equally
: irrelevant articles all being stored In to-
: gether. have to keep track of cars and
, acquisitions and various other things
8 that don't sound very exciting. Why ]
. love 1t Is because we are so independent
out here and 1t is rather exciting too in
: way, as our office was equipped with
: an automatic before we had a typewriter.
:. We have our own little Henry to rattle
Q out here in--its a half hour ride through
|. the city and across the Vstuia clear out
h to the edge of nowhere. Our hours are
o eight to six. l have little Corona
machine which l push along with two
fingers and we are to have an adding
r machine and one fi.ing drawer-that pus
the chairs and tables will constitute our
: office equipment. We shall have 20 add
n rug and stove when winter gets here
because our walls are upholstered and
unpapered and II Is going to be a little
chilly.
II am having my first experience In liv-
Ing In palace. Just as the French call
anything bigger than a dog kennel q
chateau, here they call them palaces.
This particular one belongs to a Prince
whose name l can't spell and 1t is a fine
house but We have to sleep five in a
room-which would be uncomfortable In
buckingham Palace itself. However, we
have tub and all the hot water we
want which makes up for a great deal.
Our HEADQUARTERS offices are on Szopena,
which is named for Chopin. though you
would scarcely guess 1t from seeing IT,"