Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-03-15
TRICK SAVES SOLDIERS
FOR AMERICAN GIRLS
~ Women Break Up Little Az
fairs That Threaten Dearth
Of Husbands
WROTE MEMS LETTERS

How two American women operated
4 matrimonial bureau III France 50
successfully that an the men Ut the
20th engineers who sought their sery
ices we're saved for the girls of the
United States, Ii told bS Miss Edith
Sonther and Miss Mildred NcCluney.
lof st honis, who spent eight months
as III e A workers III i forestry
camp al Eclaron on the main road 20
ISL. Mihiel
I "In every case said Miss McCHur-
1 ney. we we're able To start To avert
tan international marriage Many Oh
our Toys who lecame infatuated with
some pretty French girls while they
were enjoying tile surroundings or the
l.Y' leave areas 10 which they we're
sent for rest. They came To MS for
assistance III carrying on the CORES
pondence that followed They had had
little opportunity 10 study French In
the II NJ. G. A. post schools because
they had the responsibility Of supply
ing lumler for the construction of
great piers al the base ports. for use
at the front In wire entanglements
for railroad ties and trench planks
We supplied the knowledge OF French
required III their correspondence.
Many d time husky forester
would ask us to prepare his letters.
discussion Of what he wanted ID say
Ito lis beloved usually ended Nv all
thority heiHg given TO us to write the
letters in our way And we did
Miss Souther and Miss McCuney
reached Eelaron last April and found
the Goth engineers engaged IN getting
tout lumler from the former hunting
reserve OF Baron Rothschild. AT vari-
GUS clearings throughout lie reserve
we're lodges which were taken over as
headquarters for the units Of engi
neers. For eight mouths the
women lived III q lean-to at one end
Iof The hut near the main road.
We think that our engineers really
won the war. said Miss Mecluney at
II M C Al Headquarters on her re-
turn. and although we had many op-
lportunities 10 accept other assign
ments we stuck to them until their
work was completed, the only women
among the 1000 men who were there
when we arrived and the i.500 ne
groes who came later and were billet
ed some distance away with their own
II MI C A hMt and secretary.
In our camp we served profession-
al baseball players. prize fighters.
cooks, actors, lion tanner. several
college men, hank president, nu-
merous moonshiners railroad engi
neers and firemen. bartender, Il
soda water clerk and gambler, all
for the time Icing engaged In the
same occupation OF razing forest
scientifically Y NJ. G. A. speakers
and entertainers who came along The
front said thai our Toys were the
hardest working outfit they had seen.
We are proud that we had an oppor-
tunity to help those men who were
giving the Lest they had for their
country without any hope of glory
or q share in the spectacular
After they had finished their work
Fat EcIaron the women decided to 90
to Metz, which is French zone where
no Americans are allowed except
about ESQ military police. some engi-
neers and ambulance corps men, not
more than 400 In all. Miss Souther
vent In on truck at nights and Miss
McCluney went BY troop train from
Toul, the only woman on board. III
took her ten hours to make trip that
in peace times required about two
hours
Once IN Metz the ~" women OBJ
tained passes 10 stay. After the boys
had tasted some of their doughnuts
and the fried eggs for which they
had paid So dozen they could have
u pass to stay Tor life Their best
customer vas d huge III. r. who had
six eggs for luncheon and whose ap-
petite was nnsatisIied after he had
eaten eight more at dinner and would
have kept right on If the cooks had not
informed him that they really must
save some or their stock for other
trade.
Both women were emphatic Id their
opinion that highly organized cam
pafgn Of propaganda Ii being directed
against the American troops III Ger
many There Is nothing insidioua
about II. they insisted. its foundation
being the free distribution Of COM
forts which were denied 10 the men
under war conditions From their
oE seryations ia Lorraine and from
stories brought 10 them BIZ Americans
VINO had been across the Rhfnss these
r M q Al workers are convinced
that many of the doughbOys are being {
Influenced By the methods of TIE peO-
pie whOm they helped to defeat
q