Putnam patriot., 1919-01-31
MISS SUYDAM
MEETS PETAM.

Abbie 'Keith d Pqtnafn. Niss Sdy-
dau was formerly teacher Of history
at the Putnam Htgh 4choqE Shortly
after school closed last June she en-
fjstsR TO jd6 eaptsen work for the y.
NJ G. A. and was sent over seas. She
writes b. bAr al foEoTss Jt
Les Foyers du Soldat
by the heading you will see where
/ am and the kind Of work am do
ing. ( have 50 mheh to tel It is hard
to- know where to begin. As LUCK
would have it, Was In Paris for the
Fete de PArmistice, but / believe
wrote you Of that. Having been ask
ed at Paris to 90 into the French
work, I had to wait nearly, three
weeks for my sRreheh military papers
During that time worked i'm the
largest canteen in Paris, lie Palais de
Glace When my papers arrived, they
sent me to St. Just en- Chaussie,
where | stayed over Sunday had
really started my French career, for
from now on. all conversation was in
French. :
Sunday telegram came from an
officer asking that a Foyer be opened
at Il, so NJ Ritz director of
that regionJ recided to send me Mon
day morning, NJ Cassard took me
and my baggage in truck TO T,
which IL a tiny French village, south
of Amiens 1t is very picturesque
from the hill as you approach-the
once red tile roofs, now slightly gray,
blending with the brown of the fields
and woods, it nestIes in the hollow of
rolling hills. On the brow Of the hill
are trenches made TO protect It; and
the road the Germans took IN 1914 is
on the side Of the hill. Here also you
sea the hastily constructed railroad,
which was used to carry supplies to
the front, and across the fields you
can still see tracks Of the heavy tanks
Eve arrived about eleven o'clock
and the officers invited me IN to sit by
their fire. while VI. Gassard went on a
search for room for me-and
search it wasi He had not succeeded
by lunch time We had been invited
BIZ the officers to .dejeunert There
were eleven officers; can you imagine
me answering their many questions
about the U. s.?
Finally NJ Cassard found me rot
only a room but house, the queerest
little French house Of which | oecu-
py two rooms The. larger | use as
a dining room; it has huge fireplace
over which is cross and the date
1888. The ceiling IS low and beamed
and the floor is RED tile. In the cen
ter is round stove, such as the sol
diers used at the front At the right /
is my tiny bedroom. The bed oceu-
pies most of the room for it is large
and so high one has to give jump TO
get into it. THUS little house il set
back from the street, and huge
wooden porte with a huge iron key
shuts out the world from my habita
ton. Half Of the yard is consigned
to the chickens Perhaps | have Civ
en- you the idea that | inhabit this
house alone. Oh no, big rat scam
pers overhead and even around here.
| am inclined to believe, but my plan
ton or orderly, said very consolingly !
one day, Have no fear, Mile, he will |
do you no harm Many times during
the war. we have slept with rats
And in a room to the left, where the
chickens have nests is a white beast,
the like of which never have seen
before 1t is something between a
white rat and guinea pig 1t is used
to scare rabbits from their holes
The Foyer is near by 1t is not
very large At one end is a counter
whore the games are kept and back of
which | could retreat if the crowd was
great Here also are the phonograph
and library of lao books
There were Italian and French
troops when | arrived. The major
gave ME some 'poifus' and we soon
made It gay with flags and posters,
but the gayest and finest of all was
the poilu himself The major selected
n cantnier or cook for me, who ran
the ean3en just opposite the Foyer,
and also IN orderly who looked after
the Foyer, and brought me my meals
from the officers kitchen, and. they
had very good cook, too. wish
you might have a picture of the can
timer. big, blond, wearing baggy blue
zabots, and lovely red
sash wound round and round his
waist, serving as pockets
The Foyer was open all day long
from Z a. m. to 9 p. M, and fun the
whole time, because the Italians had
NO work at all, and the French were
free certain hours. A small billia ii
table was the source of much JOY.
Those balls rolled from morning t.,
night. And the phonegraph!
think they would have had music ev-
,rv minute. had allowed 1t, but
here were some hours | felt must be
, ijttla nuiat for those who wished to !