DOUGHNUTS AND BAYONETS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 284, 20 August 1918, Page 9

DOUGHNUTS AND BAYONETS

AMERICAN SALVATIONISTS IN FRANCE

AN INTERESTING LETTER

In our work in the war zone (writes Adjutant Raymond Starboard, an anvbuiianee driver for the United States Snlvaion Army in Franco) we have received lie greatest encouragement from mili- • ary otiicej's from General Pershing >iowii. Wo have several lorries and motor trucks and some powerful touring •■ars for taking the supplies from tho -mitral distributing point to the distant ■iuta. The farthest distance between the aits at the extreme end of the lines is approximately iifty-fivA miles. Then .4>mo of the huts are up in the front ines and tho others far kick of the iines, so that the flevoral ohaufl'eurs and myself have been kept pretty busy hauling things. I hope while I am in the United States to got about 300 recruits, ■ome of them chauffeurs or motor mochinics, and we. also need many more cars f wo are to enlarge our work as we should.

Wo do our carrying to the firing-lines inly at night', because in the daytime all he roads are tindor continual scrutiny >y tho enemy observation posts and aero»lan(\s. Tho moment a nobjoct is seen noving along the road firing i 9 concen:rnted on it at once.

Travelling at night is very dangorons, or no lights are allowed and the motors ■arry no horns. It is impossible, therefore, to movo at any great speed, and wrecked automobiles of all sorts aro .'ound in the ditches every morning, I iiavo had fionio very narrow escapes my■alf, and only the greatest caution has '■aved me from disaster. We have driven 'hrough territory that was undor to and .ve have been held up by sentries, Thou 1 have had to use such wit ns I possess to get me out of the hnnds of the sentry so that I could proceed. Our people are certainly not having an easy life over there, but then they do not expect that nor would they want \o \>e_a.t case in tho midst of so uracil sufferinp. Koine of the younger men, those up in tho front, lino huts, carry coffee to tl\e men 111 the trenches, alio, of course, in these cases they are in as much danger as Hie soldiers. We are in danger from gus attacks, but iro hare all teen provided with pas masks and have become most proficient in adjusting them. Wo have also developed an ear for tho gus bombs. These burst with a heavy thud, quite, different from tho explosion of the shrapnel, which is sharp and energetic. The gas masks are always hanging in front of our workers, and as soon as tho thud or explosion is heard they must have their masks perfectly adjusted before they breathe again. These respirators draw the air through a certain combination of chemical by which the gas is neutralised.

I havo spent a great doal of time in and near tho front trenches, and have had somo very narrow escapes. One night tho warning bell, tho bell which always sounds on the approach of the gas wave, aroused us from our clumbers, fivo times between 2 and G o'clock in tho morning. It is tho duty of tho men on watch, at the approach of a gas wave, to awaken the boys in tho dug-outs who might be sleeping. If tho warning bell does not awaicen them he must at once use other means foosides dropping the gas curtain over tho mouth of tho dug-out. Our boys have been in the trenches many times, escaping without a scratch. Thero is really no very great danger if they are moderately cautious and properly use the appliances provided by the mililary authorities. Pies and the Doughnuts. You probably have seen frequent doughnut and pio stories which have circulated through tho American Press—stories of the popularity of those articles of food which are made by the women of the Salvation Army and distributed to the soi■dierts. No one could overstate the popularity of theso American pasties. I havo seen lines of firom two hundred to four hundred men wailing in the pouring rain whiie the doughnuts wero being cooked. Tho cable has already reported tho enemy attack oh one of our lorries which was carrying Easter delicacies for tho boys. The enemy used up a great deal of ammunition on this convoy, and although they succeeded' in demolishing those particular pies and doughnuts, reinforcements were 6peedily at hand from pie and doughnut reserves which tho Salvation Army women are ceasolessly turning out in tho huts a little way back.

Wo havo to take living conditions pretty much as wo hnd them. Usually the camps havo tan made either in or very near a village and most of the girls have been able to find billets with a family where things are made fairly comfortable for them. This arrangement may necessitate a considerable walk every night and morning to their stations, but no woman is accepted for service abroad with the Salvation Army who is not strong and healthy and able to play her part under adverse conditions and to endure a great many hardships. I believe that the Germans on the Westorn front are gradually beginning to havo a wholesome respect for Americans as fighteri. On March 7 a certain section of the Amorican line was subjected to unusual pressure from the German forces, and in the heat of it all one German, evidently more excited than his fellows, leaped to an exposed position and in very excellent English shouted, "Come on out, you American dogs, aud fight!" Before ho could leap back to safety ono of our moil had thrown a hand grenade which took off both his legs. Then followed a fierce encounter in which the Americans accounted for 180 of the 200 Germans in the original raiding group. One man later discovered that the mail who had leaped out to challenge tho Americans and had lost first his legs and then his life as a consequence was formerly a New York merchant, This ofliceV carried a rifle, which was grabbed out of his hands by ono of our men, and I have brought it back to America with me. German prisoners who havo been taken say that they havo expected all along to terrify the Americans, believing that they were not real soldiers, and have no disposition to fight, but they admit that they now have reason to know that in this they made a mistake. They know it to their sorrow.

that in this they made a mistake. They know it to their sorrow. It is quite impossible to describe the inferno over there. Just before I left a giant shell from the German lines plumped itself down into the dirt within 40ft. of a Salvation Army hut in which wero Captain Arthur Andrews and some assistants. Had tho shell exploded tho hut nnd its occupantg would havo been blown to utoms, but although it ploughed 12ft. into the ground, it did not ?o oIF. One particular contingent of German troops opposite our men ia referred io a.-, t l.t- '•Hoteliers" by tho Americans because of their wanton cruelty and brutality. German prisoners say that iln*<3 men are instructed to terrify tho American!;, but they are, really obtaining an opposite result. Ready for the "Butchers" For example, the "Butchers" sharpen their bayonets to the keenness of a razor and they do not impale by simply thrusting forward as of old. They aim to sideswipe and to rip up und down, often killing three men with one sweep. Tho Americans were quick to find out about this, nnd they havo not only become enthusiastic adepts at side-swip-ing and scythe fighting, but many of them are actually idinving themselves with their bayonets, so keenly have they sharpened them with grind-stones and. upon leather. " The line of defence in France will bend as good strategy n> quires, but. it will not broak, and you cannot find a soldier under tho flags of the Allies who has the slightest doubt hut that right and justice will prevail in the end and that Germany will be defeated.

It is quite impossible to describe the inferno over there. Just before I left a giant shell from the German lines plumped itself down into the dirt within 40ft. of a Salvation Army hut in which wero Captain Arthur Andrews and some assistants. Had tho shell exploded tho hut nnd its occupantg would havo been blown to utoms, but although it ploughed 12ft. into the ground, it did not ?o off.

One particular contingent of German troops opposite our men ia referred to a.-, t l.t- '•Hoteliers" by tho Americans because of their wanton cruelty and brutality. German prisoners say that iln*<3 men are instructed to terrify tho American!;, but they are, really obtaining an opposite result.