The Washington times., 1920-06-08
(Ce.ti..s1 fre. Yesterday,


Often . telephone message would
come from the Red Cross Head
quarters or railroad officials that q
trainload OF wounded would be In
and need a full meal II the men
could not leave the train and were
going farther South, the girls would
put the food on trucks and serve
scrambled eggs coffee. ice-cresm,
and the ever-present pie. AZ the in
fluenxA sRread. the workers who
wished to do SO put on masks while
going through the trains. The corps
happened upon one whole train
load OF soldiers who had been 80
equipped themselves. and gro
: tesque sight they made. for some
had pulled the masks down below
the chins. and others had pushed
them up above the eyes. When they
learned that had been working at
the front. the boys were much In
terested and told me what battles
they had been In and where they
had been wounded. and what hos
/pitals they had stayed at. and
showed me their medals. Some
spoke q little French. nearly all
toked. and considering they were
Ill. they proved a pretty jolly crowd.
II the wounded were able TO
leave the cars we would have sever
al hundred In the canteen at once.
In that case. tables were pulled out,
chairs set up, extra workers sum
moned, and a hearty meal of/soup.
meat, and potatoes ordered from the
station restaurant. The men would
hobble into the room or be brought
In m stratchAra nr In uh ha al. n a ira
Often they were utterly helpless and
had to be fed. Then they would go
cheerfully of to the hospital In the
waiting ambulsnces. smiling and
thanking the Red Cross ladies.
The same high spirits were also
in evidence on their postcard cor
respondence. which in the early
days we were required to read and
censor before sending on. and occa-
sionally to hold up for twenty--four
hours lest the date Of a transport
sailing be revealed. Talking with
SO many of the men as / gave out
cards and writing materials. ]
could but notice the innumerable
varieties Of broken English. Nor
was all the qaintness in their
spoken words: written, they pro-
vided even further novelties in me
way OF spelling and grammar.
There is much left for the cause Of
education to accomplish In this
country. as the following show:
Hello Girl
Just had the feed bag tied on
sure did enjoy it-all well and hav-
ing some time-f am still riding
but enjoying my ride-going north
on my way to Burlin."
And here is another: This Is the
1ife-we are having a great trip
learning a great many things and
seeing some wonderful sites on our
way through Washington" Still
another rookie rejoices in his trav-
els: "The r. c. ladies are real nice
to us-gave us these cards. Thought
would let you no were / was, old
sport. II you don't here from me
don't worry, The country around
here il much nicer than Georgia
never want to go back there" The
food, too, came in for approving
comment: was sorrow to hear al
unkle Joe was ded. will rite again
tell Daisy am o X I ate Breakfast
in one place and Dinner in another
yesterdays swell trip-the r c
ladies gave us all kinds Of Good
things" IT am all rite never nc
better having a good time all want
to eat"
Nor was the publicity of post
card any bar to endearments
Hello Lottie Mae, / received your
letter and believe me it was as II Z
breez from heaven blew 1t I'm long
ing to see you-I wish these were
real XXXxX Be a good girl till we
meet again." Another lover hat
the consoling thought. The father
from yo Ill get the nearer to Bur
lin" And this last is surely all that
any girl could desire: MY dear
sweetheart hope this will find you
and all in good health I will close
with love to you my sweetheart
from Your sweetheart"
And so the canteen carried on
until November, 1919, and / cannot
say enough in praise of Mrs. Gulick
Miss Sheridan, Mrs. Duncan, and al
the plucky hard-working womer
who made 1t such success. II
gave us a chance to do our bit, q
pleasant experience and valuable