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diff --git a/7811-0.txt b/7811-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..28e89dd --- /dev/null +++ b/7811-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11838 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The War Romance of the Salvation Army, by Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The War Romance of the Salvation Army + +Author: Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill + +Release Date: May 19, 2003 [EBook #7811] +[Most recently updated: March 21, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR ROMANCE OF SALVATION ARMY *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + +[Illustration] + + + + +The War Romance of the Salvation Army + +by + +Evangeline Booth + +Commander-in-Chief, +The Salvation Army in America + +and + +Grace Livingston Hill + +Author of “The Enchanted Barn”; “The Best Man”; +“Lo Michael”; “The Red Signal,” _etc_. + +Copyright 1919, by J.B. Lippincott Company + +Contents + + Foreword + From the Commander’s Own Pen + Preface by the Writer + + Chapter I. The Story + Chapter II. The Gondrecourt Area + Chapter III. The Toul Sector + Chapter IV. The Montdidier SectorThe Montdidier Sector + Chapter V. The Toul Sector Again + Chapter VI. The Baccarat Sector + Chapter VII. The Chateau-Thierry-Soissons Drive + Chapter VIII. The Saint Mihiel Drive + Chapter IX. The Argonne Drive + Chapter X. The Armistice + Chapter XI. Homecoming + Chapter XII. Letters of Appreciation + +Illustrations + + General Bramwell Booth. + Commander Evangeline Booth. + Lieutenant Colonel William S. Barker. + “Introduced to French Rain and French Mud.” + She Called the Little Company of Workers Together and Gave Them a Charge. + The Lassie Who Fried the First Doughnut in France. + “Tin Hat for a Halo! Ah! She Wears It Well!”. + The Patient Officers Who Were Seeing to All These Details Worked Almost Day and Night. + Here During the Day They Worked in Dugouts Far Below the Shell-tortured Earth. + They Came To Get Their Coats Mended and Their Buttons Sewed On. + The Entrance to the Old Wine Cellar in Mandres. + The Salvation Army Was Told that Ansauville Was Too Far Front for Any Women To Be Allowed To Go. + L’Hermitage, Nestled in the Heart of a Deep Woods. + L’Hermitage, Inside the Tent. + “Ma”. + They Had a Pie-baking Contest in Gondrecourt One Day. + A Letter of Inspiration from the Commander. + The Salvation Army Boy Truck Driver. + The Centuries-old Gray Cemetery in Treveray. + Colonel Barker Placing the Commander’s Flowers on Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt’s Grave. + The Salvation Army Boy Who Drove the Famous Doughnut Truck. + Bullionville, Promptly Dubbed by the American Boy “Souptown”. + Here They Found a Whole Little Village of German Dugouts. + The Girls Who Came Down to Help in the St. Mihiel Drive. + The Wrecked House in Neuvilly Where the Lassies Went to Sleep in the Cellar. + The Wrecked Church in Neuvilly Where the Memorable Meeting Was Held. + Right in the Midst of the Busy Hurrying Throng of Union Square. + “Smiling Billy”. + Thomas Estill. + The Hut at Camp Lewis. + + +[Illustration: William Bramwell Booth, General of the Salvation Army] + +[Illustration: Evangeline Booth, Commander-in-Chief of the Salvation +Army in America] + + + + +Foreword + + +In presenting the narrative of some of the doings of the Salvation Army +during the world’s great conflict for liberty, I am but answering the +insistent call of a most generous and appreciative public. + +When moved to activity by the apparent need, there was never a thought +that our humble services would awaken the widespread admiration that +has developed. In fact, we did not expect anything further than +appreciative recognition from those immediately benefited, and the +knowledge that our people have proved so useful is an abundant +compensation for all toil and sacrifice, for _service_ is our +watchword, and there is no reward equal to that of doing the most good +to the most people in the most need. When our National Armies were +being gathered for overseas work, the likelihood of a great need was +self-evident, and the most logical and most natural thing for the +Salvation Army to do was to hold itself in readiness for action. That +we were straitened in our circumstances is well understood, more so by +us than by anybody else. The story as told in these pages is +necessarily incomplete, for the obvious reason that the work is yet in +progress. We entered France ahead of our Expeditionary Forces, and it +is my purpose to continue my people’s ministries until the last of our +troops return. At the present moment the number of our workers overseas +equals that of any day yet experienced. + +Because of the pressure that this service brings, together with the +unmentioned executive cares incident to the vast work of the Salvation +Army in these United States, I felt compelled to requisition some +competent person to aid me in the literary work associated with the +production of a concrete story. In this I was most fortunate, for a +writer of established worth and national fame in the person of Mrs. +Grace Livingston Hill came to my assistance; and having for many days +had the privilege of working with her in the sifting process, gathering +from the mass of matter that had accumulated and which was being daily +added to, with every confidence I am able to commend her patience and +toil. How well she has done her work the book will bear its own +testimony. + +This foreword would be incomplete were I to fail in acknowledging in a +very definite way the lavish expressions of gratitude that have +abounded on the part of “The Boys” themselves. This is our reward, and +is a very great encouragement to us to continue a growing and more +permanent effort for their welfare, which is comprehended in our plans +for the future. The official support given has been of the highest and +most generous character. Marshal Foch himself most kindly cabled me, +and General Pershing has upon several occasions inspired us with +commendatory words of the greatest worth. + +Our beloved President has been pleased to reflect the people’s pleasure +and his own personal gratification upon what the Salvation Army has +accomplished with the troops, which good-will we shall ever regard as +one of our greatest honors. + +The lavish eulogy and sincere affection bestowed by the nation upon the +organization I can only account for by the simple fact that our +ministering members have been in spirit and reality with the men. + +True to our first light, first teaching, and first practices, we have +always put ourselves close beside the man irrespective of whether his +condition is fair or foul; whether his surroundings are peaceful or +perilous; whether his prospects are promising or threatening. As a +people we have felt that to be of true service to others we must be +close enough to them to lift part of their load and thus carry out that +grand injunction of the Apostle Paul, “Bear ye one another’s burdens +and so fulfill the law of Christ.” + +The Salvation Army upon the battlefields of France has but worked along +the same lines as in the great cities of the nations. We are, with our +every gift to serve, close up to those in need; and so, as +Lieut.-Colonel Roosevelt put it, “Whatever the lot of the men, the +Salvation Army is found with them.” + +We never permit any superiority of position, or breeding, or even grace +to make a gap between us and any who may be less fortunate. To help +another, you must be near enough to catch the heart-beat. And so a +large measure of our success in the war is accounted for by the fact +that we have been with them. With a hundred thousand Salvationists on +all fronts, and tens and tens of thousands of Salvationists at their +ministering posts in the homelands as well as overseas, from the time +that each of the Allied countries entered the war the Salvation Army +has been with the fighting- men. + +With them in the thatched cottage on the hillside, and in the humble +dwelling in the great towns of the homelands, when they faced the great +ordeal of wishing good-bye to mothers and fathers and wives and +children. + +With them in the blood-soaked furrows of old fields; with them in the +desolation of No Man’s Land; and with them amid the indescribable +miseries and gory horrors of the battlefield. With them with the +sweetest ministry, trained in the art of service, white-souled, brave, +tender-hearted men and women could render. + +[Evangeline Booth] +National Headquarters Salvation Army, New York City. +April, 1919. + + + + +From the Commander’s Own Pen + + +The war is over. The world’s greatest tragedy is arrested. The awful +pull at men’s heart-strings relaxed. The inhuman monster that leapt out +of the darkness and laid blood-hands upon every home of a peace-blest +earth has been overthrown. Autocracy and diabolical tyranny lie +defeated and crushed behind the long rows of white crosses that stand +like sign-posts pointing heavenward, all the way from the English +Channel to the Adriatic, linking the two by an inseverable chain. + +While the nations were in the throes of the conflict, I was constrained +to speak and write of the Salvation Army’s activities in the frightful +struggle. Now that all is over and I reflect upon the price the nations +have paid I realize much hesitancy in so doing. + +When I think of England-where almost every man you meet is but a piece +of a man! France—one great graveyard! Its towns and cities a wilderness +of waste! The allied countries—Italy, and deathless little Belgium, and +Serbia—well-nigh exterminated in the desperate, gory struggle! When I +think upon it—the price America has paid! The price her heroic sons +have paid! They that come down the gangways of the returning boats on +crutches! They that are carried down on stretchers! They that sail into +New York Harbor, young and fair, but never again to see the Statue of +Liberty! The price that dear mothers and fathers have paid! The price +that the tens of thousands of little children have paid! The price they +that sleep in the lands they made free have paid! When I think upon all +this, it is with no little reluctance that I now write of the small +part taken by the Salvation Army in the world’s titanic sacrifice for +liberty, but which part we shall ever regard as our life’s crowning +honor. + +Expressions of surprise from officers of all ranks as well as the +private soldier have vied with those of gratitude concerning the +efficiency of this service, but no thought of having accomplished any +achievement higher than their simplest duty is entertained by the +Salvationists themselves; for uniformly they feel that they have but +striven to measure up to the high standards of service maintained by +the Salvation Army, which standards ask of its officers all over the +world that no effort shall be left unprosecuted, no sacrifice +unrendered, which will help to meet the _need at their door_. + +And it is such high standards of devoted service to our fellow, linked +with the practical nature of the movement’s operations, the deeply +religious character of its members, its intelligent system of +government, uniting, and thus augmenting, all its activities; with the +immense advantage of the military training provided by the +organization, that give to its officers a potency and adaptability that +have for the greater period of our brief lifetime made us an +influential factor in seasons of civic and national disaster. + +When that beautiful city of the Golden Gate, San Francisco, was laid +low by earthquake and fire, the Salvationists were the first upon the +ground with blankets, and clothes, and food, gathering frightened +little children, looking after old age, and rescuing many from the +burning and falling buildings. + +At the time of the wild rush to the Klondike, the Salvation Army was, +with its sweet, pure women—the only women amidst tens of thousands of +men— upon the mountain-side of the Chilcoot Pass saving the lives of +the gold- seekers, and telling those shattered by disappointment of +treasure that “doth not perish.” + +At the time of the Jamestown, the Galveston, and the Dayton floods the +Salvation Army officer, with his boat laden with sandwiches and warm +wraps, was the first upon the rising waters, ministering to marooned +and starving families gathered upon the housetops. + +In the direful disaster that swept over the beautiful city of Halifax, +the Mayor of that city stated: “I do not know what I should have done +the first two or three days following the explosion, when everyone was +panic- stricken without the ready, intelligent, and unbroken +day-and-night efforts of the Salvation Army.” + +On numerous other similar occasions we have relieved distress and +sorrow by our almost instantaneous service. Hence when our honored +President decided that our National Emblem, heralder of the inalienable +rights of man, should cross the seas and wave for the freedom of the +peoples of the earth, automatically the Salvation Army moved with it, +and our officers passed to the varying posts of helpfulness which the +emergency demanded. + +Now on all sides I am confronted with the question: _What is the secret +of the Salvation Army’s success in the war?_ + +Permit me to suggests three reasons which, in my judgment, account for +it: + +First, when the war-bolt fell, when the clarion call sounded, it found +_the Salvation Army ready!_ + +Ready not only with our material machinery, but with that precious +piece of human mechanism which is indispensable to all great and high +achievement—the right calibre of man, and the right calibre of woman. +Men and women equipped by a careful training for the work they would +have to do. + +We were not many in number, I admit. In France our numbers have been +regrettably few. But this is because I have felt it was better to fall +short in quantity than to run the risk in falling short in quality. +Quality is its own multiplication table. Quality without quantity will +spread, whereas quantity without quality will shrink. Therefore, I +would not send any officers to France except such as had been fully +equipped in our training schools. + +Few have even a remote idea of the extensive training given to all +Salvation Army officers by our military system of education, covering +all the tactics of that particular warfare to which they have +consecrated their lives—_the service of humanity_. + +We have in the Salvation Army thirty-nine Training Schools in which our +own men and women, both for our missionary and home fields, receive an +intelligent tuition and practical training in the minutest details of +their service. They are trained in the finest and most intricate of all +the arts, the art of dealing ably with human life. + +It is a wonderful art which transfigures a sheet of cold grey canvas +into a throbbing vitality, and on its inanimate spread visualizes a +living picture from which one feels they can never turn their eyes +away. + +It is a wonderful art which takes a rugged, knotted block of marble, +standing upon a coarse wooden bench, and cuts out of its uncomely +crudeness—as I saw it done—the face of my father, with its every +feature illumined with prophetic light, so true to life that I felt +that to my touch it surely must respond. + +But even such arts as these crumble; they are as dust under our feet +compared with that much greater art, _the art of dealing ably with +human life in all its varying conditions and phases_. + +It is in this art that we seek by a most careful culture and training +to perfect our officers. + +They are trained in those expert measures which enable them to handle +satisfactorily those that cannot handle themselves, those that have +lost their grip on things, and that if unaided go down under the high, +rough tides. Trained to meet emergencies of every character—to leap +into the breach, to span the gulf, and to do it without waiting to be +told _how_. + +Trained to press at every cost for the desired and decided-upon end. + +Trained to obey orders willingly, and gladly, and wholly—not in part. + +Trained to give no quarter to the enemy, no matter what the character, +nor in what form he may present himself, and to never consider what +personal advantage may be derived. + +Trained in the art of the winsome, attractive coquetries of the round, +brown doughnut and all its kindred. + +Trained, if needs be, to seal their services with their life’s blood. + +One of our women officers, on being told by the colonel of the regiment +she would be killed if she persisted in serving her doughnuts and cocoa +to the men while under heavy fire, and that she must get back to +safety, replied: “Colonel, we can die with the men, but we cannot leave +them.” + +When, therefore, I gathered the little companies together for their +last charge before they sailed for France, I would tell them that while +I was unable to arm them with many of the advantages of the more +wealthy denominations; that while I could give them only a very few +assistants owing to the great demand upon our forces; and that while I +could promise them nothing beyond their bare expenses, yet I knew that +without fear I could rely upon them for an unsurpassed devotion to the +God-inspired standards of the emblem of this, the world’s greatest +Republic, the Stars and Stripes, now in the van for the freedom of the +peoples of the earth. That I could rely upon them for unsurpassed +devotion to the brave men who laid their lives upon the altar of their +country’s protection, and that I could rely upon them for an +unsurpassed devotion to that other banner, the Banner of Calvary, the +significance of which has not changed in nineteen centuries, and by the +standards of which, alone, all the world’s wrongs can be redressed, and +by the standards of which alone men can be liberated from all their +bondage. And they have not failed. + +A further reason for the success of the Salvation Army in the war is, +_it found us accustomed to hardship_. + +We are a people who have thrived on adversity. Opposition, persecution, +privation, abuse, hunger, cold and want were with us at the +starting-post, and have journeyed with us all along the course. + +We went to the battlefields _no strangers to suffering_. The biting +cold winds that swept the fields of Flanders were not the first to lash +our faces. The sunless cellars, with their mouldy walls and +water-seeped floors, where our women sought refuge from shell-fire +through the hours of the night, contributed no new or untried +experience. In such cellars as these, in their home cities, under the +flicker of a tallow candle, they have ministered to the sick and +comforted the dying. + +Wet feet, lack of deep, being often without food, finding things +different from what we had planned, hoped and expected, were frequent +experiences with us. All such things we Salvationists encounter in our +daily toils for others amid the indescribable miseries and inestimable +sorrows, the sins and the tragedies of the underworlds of our great +cities—the _underneath_ of those great cities which upon the surface +thunder with enterprise and glitter with brilliance. + +We are not easily affrighted by frowns of fortune. We do not change our +course because of contrary currents, nor put into harbor because of +head- winds. Almost all our progress has been made in the teeth of the +storm. We have always had to “tack,” but as it is “the set of the +sails, and not the gales” that decides the ports we reach, the +competency of our seamanship is determined by the fact that we “get +there.” + +Our service in France was not, therefore, an experiment, but an +organized, tested, and proved system. We were enacting no new rôle. We +were all through the Boer War. Our officers were with the besieged +troops in Mafeking and Ladysmith. They were with Lord Kitchener in his +victorious march through Africa. It was this grand soldier who +afterwards wrote to my father, General William Booth, the Founder of +our movement, saying: “Your men have given us an example both of how to +live as good soldiers and how to die as heroes.” And so it was quite +natural that our men and women, with that fearlessness which +characterizes our members, should take up positions under fire in +France. + +In fact, our officers would have considered themselves unfaithful to +Salvation Army traditions and history, and untrue to those who had gone +before, if they had deserted any post, or shirked any duty, because +cloaked with the shadows of death. + +This explains why their dear forms loomed up in the fog and the rain, +in the hours of the night, on the roads, under shell fire, serving +coffee and doughnuts. + +This is how it was they were with them on the long dreary marches, with +a smile and a song and a word of cheer. + +This is how it is the Salvation Army has no “closing hours.” “Taps” +sound for us _when the need is relieved_. + +Three of our women officers in the Toul Sector had slept for three +weeks in a hay-stack, in an open field, to be near the men of an +ammunition train taking supplies to the front under cover of darkness. +The boys had watched their continued, devoted service for them—the many +nights without sleep—and noticing the shabby uniform of the little +officer in charge, collected among themselves 1600 francs, and offered +it to her for a new one, and some other comforts, the spokesman saying: +“This is just to show you how grateful we are to you.” The officer was +deeply touched, but told them she could not think of accepting it for +herself. “I am quite accustomed to hard toils,” she said. “I have only +done what all my comrades are doing—my duty,” and offered to compromise +by putting the money into a general fund for the benefit of all—to buy +more doughnuts and more coffee for the boys. + +Salvation Army teaching and practice is: Choose your purpose, then set +your face as flint toward that purpose, permitting no enemy that can +oppose, and no sacrifice that can be asked, to turn you from it. + +Again, a reason for our success in the war is, _our practical +religion_. + +That is, our religion is _practicable_. Or, I would rather say, our +Christianity is practicable. Few realize this as the secret of our +success, and some who do realize it will not admit it, but this is what +it really is. + +We _do_ worship; both in spirit and form, in public and in private. We +rely upon prayer as the only line of communication between the creature +and his Creator, the only wing upon which the soul’s requirements and +hungerings can be wafted to the Fount of all spiritual supply. Through +our street, as well as our indoor meetings, perhaps oftener than any +other people, we come to the masses with the divine benediction of +prayer; and it would be difficult to find the Salvationist’s home that +does not regard the family altar as its most precious and priceless +treasure. + +We do preach. We preach God the Creator of earth and heaven, unerring +in His wisdom, infinite in His love and omnipotent in His power. We +preach Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, dying on Calvary for a +world’s transgressions, able to save to the uttermost “all those who +come unto God by Him.” We preach God the Holy Ghost, sanctifier and +comforter of the souls of men, making white the life, and kindling +lights in every dark landing-place. We preach the Bible, authentic in +its statements, immaculate in its teaching, and glorious in its +promises. We preach grace, limitless grace, grace enough for all men, +and grace enough for each. We preach Hell, the irrevocable doom of the +soul that rejects the Saviour. We preach Heaven, the home of the +righteous, the reward of the good, the crowning of them that endure to +the end. + +Even as we preach, so we practice Christianity. We reduce theory to +action. We apply faith to deeds. We confess and present Jesus Christ in +things that can be done. It is this that has carried our flag into +sixty- three countries and colonies, and despite the bitterest +opposition has given us the financial support of twenty-one national +governments. It is this that has brought us up from a little handful of +humble workers to an organization with 21,000 officers and workers, +preaching the gospel in thirty-nine tongues. It is this that has +multiplied the one bandsman and a despised big drum to an army of +27,000 musicians, and it is this-our practice of religion-that has +placed _Christ in deeds_. + +Arthur E. Copping gives as the reason for the movement’s success-“the +simple, thorough-going, uncompromising, seven-days-a-week character of +its Christianity.” It is this every-day-use religion which has made us +of infinite service in the places of toil, breakage, and suffering; +this every-day-use religion which has made us the only resource for +thousands in misery and vice; this every-day-use religion which has +insured our success to an extent that has induced civic authorities, +Judges, Mayors, Governors, and even National Governments-such as India +with its Criminal Tribes-to turn to us with the problems of the poor +and the wicked. + +While the Salvationist is not of the generally understood ascetic or +monastic type, yet his spirit and deeds are of the very essence of +saintliness. + +As man has arrested the lazy cloud sleeping on the brow of the hill, +and has brought it down to enlighten our darkness, to carry our +mail-bags, to haul our luggage, and to flash our messages, so, I would +say with all reverence, that the Salvation Army in a very particular +way has again brought down Jesus Christ from the high, high thrones, +golden pathways, and wing-spread angels of Glory, to the common mud +walks of earth, and has presented Him again in the flesh to a +storm-torn world, touching and healing the wounds, the bruises, and the +bleeding sores of humanity. + +That was a wonderful sermon Christ preached on the Mount, but was it +more wonderful than the ministry of the wounded man fallen by the +roadside, or the drying of the tears from the pale, worn face of the +widow of Nain? Or more wonderful than when He said, Let them come—let +them come—mothers and the little children—and blessed them? + +It has only been this same Christ, _this Christ in deeds_, when our +women have washed the blood from the faces of the wounded, and taken +the caked mud from their feet; when under fire, through the hours of +the night, they have made the doughnuts; when instead of sleeping they +have written the letters home to soldiers’ loved ones, when they have +lifted the heavy pails of water and struggled with them over the +shell-wrecked roads that the dying soldiers might drink; when they have +sewn the torn uniforms; when they have strewn with the first spring +flowers the graves of those who died for liberty. Only _Christ in +deeds_ when our men went unarmed into the horrors of the Argonne Forest +to gather the dying boys in their arms and to comfort them with love, +human and divine. + +That valiant champion of justice and truth; that faithful, able and +brilliant defender of American standards, the late Honorable Theodore +Roosevelt, told me personally a few days before he went into the +hospital that his son wrote him of how our officer, fifty-three years +of age, despite his orders, went unarmed over the top, in the +whirl-wind of the charge, amidst the shriek of shell and tear of +shrapnel, and picked up the American boy left for dead in No Man’s +Land, carrying him on hie back over the shell-torn fields to safety. + +It is this _Christ in deeds_ that has made the doughnut to take the +place of the “cup of cold water” given in His name. It is this _Christ +in deeds_ that has brought from our humble ranks the modern Florence +Nightingales and taken to the gory horrors of the battlefields the +white, uplifting influences of pure womanhood. It is this _Christ in +deeds_ that made Sir Arthur Stanley say, when thanking our General for +$10,000 donated for more ambulances: “I thank you for the money, but +much more for the men; they are quite the best in our service.” + +It is this Christ who has given to our humblest service a +sheen-something of a glory-which the troops have caught, and which will +make these simple deeds to hold tenaciously to history, and to outlive +the effacing fingers of time-even to defy the very dissolution of +death. + +As Premier Clemenceau said: “We must love. We must believe. This is the +secret of life. If we fail to learn this lesson, we exist without +living: we die in ignorance of the reality of life.” + +A senator, after several months spent in France, stated: “It is my +opinion that the secret of the success of this organization is their +complete abandonment to their cause, _the service of the man_.” + +Of the many beautiful tributes paid to us by a most gracious public, +and by the noblest-hearted and most kindly and gallant army that ever +stood up in uniform, perhaps the most correct is this: _Complete +abandonment to the service of the man_. + +This, in large measure, is the cause of our success all over the world. + +When you come to think of it, the Salvation Army is a remarkable +arrangement. It is remarkable in its construction. It is a great +empire. An empire geographically unlike any other. It is an empire +without a frontier. It is an empire made up of geographical fragments, +parted from each other by vast stretches of railroad and immense sweeps +of sea. It is an empire composed of a tangle of races, tongues, and +colors, of types of civilization and enlightened barbarism such as +never before in all human history gathered together under one flag. + +It is an army, with its titles rambling into all languages, a soldiery +spreading over all lands, a banner upon which the sun never goes +down-with its head in the heart of a cluster of islands set in the +grey, wind-blown Northern seas, while its territories are scattered +over every sea and under every sky. + +The world has wondered what has been the controlling force holding this +strange empire together. What is the electro-magnetism governing its +furthest atom as though it were at your elbow? What is the magic +sceptre that compels this diversity of peoples to act as one man? What +is the master passion uniting these multifarious pulsations into one +heart-beat? + +Has it been a sworn-to signature attached to bond or paper? No; these +can all too readily be designated “scraps” and be rent in twain. Has it +been self-interest and worldly fame? No, for all selfish gain has had +to be sacrificed upon the threshold of the contract. Has it been the +bond of kinship, or blood, or speech? No, for under this banner the +British master has become the servant of the Hindoo, and the American +has gone to lay down his life upon the veldts of Africa. Has it been +the bond of that almost supernatural force, glorious patriotism? No, +not even this, for while we “know no man after the flesh,” we recognize +our brother in all the families of the earth, and our General infused +into the breasts of his followers the sacred conviction that the +Salvationist’s country is the world. + +What was it? What is it? Those ties created by a spiritual ideal. Our +love for God demonstrated by our sacrifice for man. + +My father, in a private audience with the late King Edward, said: “Your +Majesty, some men’s passion is gold; some men’s passion is art; some +men’s passion is fame; my passion is man!” + +This was in our Founder’s breast the white flame which ignited like +sparks in the hearts of all his followers. + +_Man is our life’s passion._ + +It is for man we have laid our lives upon the altar. It is for man we +have entered into a contract with our God which signs away our claim to +any and all selfish ends. It is for man we have sworn to our own hurt, +and—my God thou knowest-when the hurt came, hard and hot and fast, it +was for man we held tenaciously to the bargain. + +After the torpedoing of the _Aboukir_ two sailors found themselves +clinging to a spar which was not sufficiently buoyant to keep them both +afloat. Harry, a Salvationist, grasped the situation and said to his +mate: “Tom, for me to die will mean to go home to mother. I don’t think +it’s quite the same for you, so you hold to the spar and I will go +down; but promise me if you are picked up you will make my God your God +and my people your people.” Tom was rescued and told to a weeping +audience in a Salvation Army hall the act of self-sacrifice which had +saved his life, and testified to keeping his promise to the boy who had +died for him. + +When the _Empress of Ireland_ went down with a hundred and thirty +Salvation Army officers on board, one hundred and nine officers were +drowned, and not one body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The +few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough +life- preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them +upon even strong men, saying, “I can die better than you can;” and from +the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the +world— _Others!_ + +_Man!_ Sometimes I think God has given us special eyesight with which +to look upon him, We look through the exterior, look through the shell, +look through the coat, and find the man. We look through the ofttimes +repulsive wrappings, through the dark, objectionable coating collected +upon the downward travel of misspent years, through the artificial +veneer of empty seeming-through to the _man_. + +He that was made after God’s image. + +He that is greater than firmaments, greater than suns, greater than +worlds. + +Man, for whom worlds were created, for whom Heavens were canopied, for +whom suns were set ablaze. He in whose being there gleams that immortal +spark we call the soul. And when this war came, it was natural for us +to look to the man-the man under the shabby clothes, enlisting in the +great armies of freedom; the man going down the street under the spick +and span uniform; the man behind the gun, standing in the jaws of death +hurling back world autocracy; the man, the son of liberty, discharging +his obligations to them that are bound; the man, each one of them, +although so young, who when the fates of the world swung in the +balances proved to be _the man of the hour;_ the man, each one of them, +fighting not only for today but for tomorrow, and deciding the world’s +future; the man who gladly died that freedom might not be dead; the man +dear to a hundred million throbbing hearts; the man God loved so much +that to save him He gave His only Son to the unparalleled sacrifice of +Calvary, with its measureless ocean of torment heaving up against His +Heart in one foaming, wrathful, omnipotent surge. + +Wherein is price? What constitutes cost, when the question is _The +Man_? + + + + +Preface by the Writer + + +I wish I could give you a picture of Commander Evangeline Booth as I +saw her first, who has been the Source, the Inspiration, the Guide of +this story. + +I went to the first conference about this book in curiosity and some +doubt, not knowing whether it was my work; not altogether sure whether +I cared to attempt it. She took my hand and spoke to me. I looked in +her face and saw the shining glory of her great spirit through those +wonderful, beautiful, wise, keen eyes, and all doubts vanished. I +studied the sincerity and beauty of her vivid face as we talked +together, and heard the thrilling tale she was giving me to tell +because she could not take the time from living it to write it, and I +trembled lest she would not find me worthy for so great a task. I knew +that I was being honored beyond women to have been selected as an +instrument through whom the great story of the Salvation Army in the +War might go forth to the world. That I wanted to do it more than any +work that had ever come to my hand, I was certain at once; and that my +whole soul was enmeshed in the wonder of it. It gripped me from the +start. I was over-joyed to find that we were in absolute sympathy from +the first. + +One sentence from that earliest talk we had together stands clear in my +memory, and it has perhaps unconsciously shaped the theme which I hope +will be found running through all the book: + +“Our people,” said she, flinging out her hands in a lovely embracing +movement, as if she saw before her at that moment those devoted workers +of hers who follow where she leads unquestioningly, and stay not for +fire or foe, or weariness, or peril of any sort: + +“Our people know that Christ is a living presence, that they can reach +out and feel He is near: that is why they can live so splendidly and +die so heroically!” + +As she spoke a light shone in her face that reminded me of the light +that we read was on Moses’ face after he had spent those days in the +mountain with God; and somewhere back in my soul something was +repeating the words: “And they took knowledge of them that they had +been with Jesus.” + +That seems to me to be the whole secret of the wonderful lives and +wonderful work of the Salvation Army. They have become acquainted with +Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal; they feel His presence +constantly with them and they live their lives “as seeing Him who is +invisible.” They are a living miracle for the confounding of all who +doubt that there is a God whom mortals may know face to face while they +are yet upon the earth. + +The one thing that these people seem to feel is really worth while is +bringing other people to know their Christ. All other things in life +are merely subservient to this, or tributary to it. All their +education, culture and refinement, their amazing organization, their +rare business ability, are just so many tools that they use for the +uplift of others. In fact, the word “others” appears here and there, +printed on small white cards and tacked up over a desk, or in a hallway +near the elevator, anywhere, everywhere all over the great building of +the New York Headquarters, a quiet, unobtrusive, yet startling reminder +of a world of real things in the midst of the busy rush of life. + +Yet they do not obtrude their religion. Rather it is a secret joy that +shines unaware through their eyes, and seems to flood their whole being +with happiness so that others can but see. It is there, ready, when the +time comes to give comfort, or advice, or to tell the message of the +gospel in clear ringing sentences in one of their meetings; but it +speaks as well through a smile, or a ripple of song, or a bright funny +story, or something good to eat when one is hungry, as it does through +actual preaching. It is the living Christ, as if He were on earth again +living in them. And when one comes to know them well one knows that He +is! + +“Go straight for the salvation of souls: never rest satisfied unless +this end is achieved!” is part of the commission that the Commander +gives to her envoys. It is worth while stopping to think what would be +the effect on the world if every one who has named the name of Christ +should accept that commission and go forth to fulfill it. + +And you who have been accustomed to drop your pennies in the tambourine +of the Salvation Army lassies at the street corners, and look upon her +as a representative of a lower class who are doing good “in their way,” +prepare to realize that you have made a mistake. The Salvation Army is +not an organization composed of a lot of ignorant, illiterate, reformed +criminals picked out of the slums. There may be among them many of that +class who by the army’s efforts have been saved from a life of sin and +shame, and lifted up to be useful citizens; but great numbers of them, +the leaders and officers, are refined, educated men and women who have +put Christ and His Kingdom first in their hearts and lives. Their young +people will compare in every way with the best of the young people of +any of our religious denominations. + +After the privilege of close association with them for some time I have +come to feel that the most noticeable and lovely thing about the girls +is the way they wear their womanhood, as if it were a flower, or a rare +jewel. One of these girls, who, by the way, had been nine months in +France, all of it under shell fire, said to me: + +“I used to wish I had been born a boy, they are not hampered so much as +women are; but after I went to France and saw what a good woman meant +to those boys in the trenches I changed my mind, and I’m glad I was +born a woman. It means a great deal to be a woman.” + +And so there is no coquetry about these girls, no little personal +vanity such as girls who are thinking of themselves often have. They +take great care to be neat and sweet and serviceable, but as they are +not thinking of themselves, but only how they may serve, they are blest +with that loveliest of all adorning, a meek and quiet spirit and a joy +of living and content that only forgetfulness of self and communion +with Jesus Christ can bring. + +I feel as if I would like to thank every one of them, men and women and +young girls, who have so kindly and generously and wholeheartedly given +me of their time and experiences and put at my disposal their +correspondence to enrich this story, and have helped me to go over the +ground of the great American drives in the war and see what they saw, +hear what they heard, and feel as they felt. It has been one of the +greatest experiences of my life. + +And she, their God-given leader, that wonderful woman whose wise hand +guides every detail of this marvellous organization in America, and +whose well furnished mind is ever thinking out new ways to serve her +Master, Christ; what shall I say of her whom I have come to know and +love so well? + +Her exceptional ability as a public speaker is of the widest fame, +while comparatively few, beyond those of her most trusted Officers, are +brought into admiring touch with her brilliant executive powers. All +these, however, unite in most unstinted praise and declare that +functioning in this sphere, the Commander even excels her platform +triumphs. But one must know her well and watch her every day to +understand her depth of insight into character, her wideness of vision, +her skill of making adverse circumstances serve her ends. Born with an +innate genius for leadership, swallowed up in her work, wholly +consecrated to God and His service, she looks upon men, as it were, +with the eyes of the God she loves, and sees the best in everybody. She +sees their faults also, but she sees the good, and is able to take that +good and put it to account, while helping them out of their faults. +Those whom she has so helped would kiss the hem of her garment as she +passes. It is easy to see why she is a leader of men. It is easy to see +who has made the Army here in America. It is easy to see who has +inspired the brave men and wonderful women who went to France and +labored. + +She would not have me say these things of her, for she is humble, as +such a great leader should be, knowing all her gifts and attainments to +be but the glory of her Lord; and this is her book. Only in this +chapter can I speak and say what I will, for it is not my book. But +here, too, I waive my privilege and bow to my Commander. + +[Grace Livingston Hill] + + + + +The War Romance of the Salvation Army + +I. + + +Into the heavy shadows that swathe the feet of the tall buildings in +West Fourteenth Street, New York, late in the evening there slipped a +dark form. It was so carefully wrapped in a black cloak that it was +difficult to tell among the other shadows whether it was man or woman, +and immediately it became a part of the darkness that hovered close to +the entrances along the way. It slid almost imperceptibly from shadow +to shadow until it crouched flatly against the wall by the steps of an +open door out of which streamed a wide band of light that flung itself +across the pavement. + +Down the street came two girls in poke bonnets and hurried in at the +open door. The figure drew back and was motionless as they passed, then +with a swift furtive glance in either direction a head came cautiously +out from the shadow and darted a look after the two lassies, watched +till they were out of sight, and a form slid into the doorway, winding +about the turning like a serpent, as if the way were well planned, and +slipped out of sight in a dark corner under the stairway. + +Half an hour or perhaps an hour passed, and one or two hurrying forms +came in at the door and sped up the stairs from some errand of mercy; +then the night watchman came and fastened the door and went away again, +out somewhere through a back room. + +The interloper was instantly on the alert, darting out of its hiding +place, and slipping noiselessly up the stairs as quietly as the shadow +it imitated; pausing to listen with anxious mien, stepping as a cloud +might have stepped with no creak of stairway or sound of going at all. + +Up, up, up and up again, it darted, till it came to the very top, +pausing to look sharply at a gleam of light under a door of some +student not yet asleep. + +From under the dark cloak slid a hand with something in it. Silently it +worked, swiftly, pouring a few drops here, a few drops there, of some +colorless, odorless matter, smearing a spot on the stair railing, +another across from it on the wall, a little on the floor beyond, a +touch on the window seat at the end of the hall, some more on down the +stairs. + +On rubbered feet the fiend crept down; halting, listening, ever working +rapidly, from floor to floor and back to the entrance way again. At +last with a cautious glance around, a pause to rub a match skilfully +over the woolen cloak, and to light a fuse in a hidden corner, he +vanished out upon the street like the passing of a wraith, and was gone +in the darkness. + +Down in the dark corner the little spark brooded and smouldered. The +watchman passed that way but it gave no sign. All was still in the +great building, as the smouldering spark crept on and on over its +little thread of existence to the climax. + +But suddenly, it sprang to life! A flame leaped up like a great tongue +licking its lips before the feast it was about to devour; and then it +sprang as if it were human, to another spot not far away; and then to +another, and on, and on up the stair rail, across to the wall, leaping, +roaring, almost shouting as if in fiendish glee. It flew to the top of +the house and down again in a leap and the whole building was enveloped +in a sheet of flame! + +Some one gave the cry of Fire! The night watchman darted to his box and +sent in the alarm. Frightened girls in night attire crowded to their +doors and gasping fell back for an instant in horror; then bravely +obedient to their training dashed forth into the flame. Young men on +other floors without a thought for themselves dropped into order +automatically and worked like madmen to save everyone. The fire engines +throbbed up almost immediately, but the building was doomed from the +start and went like tinder. Only the fire drill in which they had +constant almost daily practice saved those brave girls and boys from an +awful death. Out upon the fire escapes in the bitter winter wind the +girls crept down to safety, and one by one the young men followed. The +young man who was fire sergeant counted his men and found them all +present but one cadet. He darted back to find him, and that moment with +a last roar of triumph the flames gave a final leap and the building +collapsed, burying in a fiery grave two fine young heroes. Afterward +they said the building had been “smeared” or it never could have gone +in a breath as it did. The miracle was that no more lives were lost. + +So that was how the burning of the Salvation Army Training School +occurred. + +The significant fact in the affair was that there had been sleeping in +that building directly over the place where the fire started several of +the lassies who were to sail for France in a day or two with the +largest party of war workers that had yet been sent out. Their trunks +were packed, and they were all ready to go. The object was all too +evident. + +There was also proof that the intention had been to destroy as well the +great fireproof Salvation Army National Headquarters building adjoining +the Training School. + +A few days later a detective taking lunch in a small German restaurant +on a side street overheard a conversation: + +“Well, if we can’t burn them out we’ll blow up the building, and get +that damn Commander, anyhow!” + +Yet when this was told her the Commander declined the bodyguard offered +her by the Civic Authorities, to go with her even to her country home +and protect her while the war lasted! She is naturally a soldier. + +The Commander had stayed late at the Headquarters one evening to finish +some important bit of work, and had given orders that she should not be +interrupted. The great building was almost empty save for the night +watchman, the elevator man, and one or two others. + +She was hard at work when her secretary appeared with an air of +reluctance to tell her that the elevator man said there were three +ladies waiting downstairs to see her on some very important business. +He had told them that she could not be disturbed but they insisted that +they must see her, that she would wish it if she knew their business. +He had come up to find out what he should answer them. + +The Commander said she knew nothing about them and could not be +interrupted now. They must be told to come again the next day. + +The elevator man returned in a few minutes to say that the ladies +insisted, and said they had a great gift for the Salvation Army, but +must see the Commander at once and alone or the gift would be lost. + +Quickly interested the Commander gave orders that they should be +brought up to her office, but just as they were about to enter, the +secretary came in again with great excitement, begging that she would +not see the visitors, as one of the men from downstairs had ’phoned up +to her that he did not like the appearance of the strangers; they +seemed to be trying to talk in high strained voices, and they had very +large feet. Maybe they were not women at all. + +The Commander laughed at the idea, but finally yielded when another of +her staff entered and begged her not to see strangers alone so late at +night; and the callers were informed that they would have to return in +the morning if they wished an interview. + +Immediately they became anything but ladylike in their manner, +declaring that the Salvation Army did not deserve a gift and should +have nothing from them. The elevator man’s suspicions were aroused. The +ladies were attired in long automobile cloaks, and close caps with +large veils, and he studied them carefully as he carried them down to +the street floor once more, following them to the outer door. He was +surprised to find that no automobile awaited them outside. As they +turned to walk down the street, he was sure he caught a glimpse of a +trouser leg from beneath one of the long cloaks, and with a stride he +covered the space between the door and his elevator where was a +telephone, and called up the police station. In a few moments more the +three “ladies” found themselves in custody, and proved to be three men +well armed. + +But when the Commander was told the truth about them she surprisingly +said: “I’m sorry I didn’t see them. I’m sure they would have done me no +harm and I might have done them some good.” + +But if she is courageous, she is also wise as a serpent, and knows when +to keep her own counsel. + +During the early days of the war when there were many important matters +to be decided and the Commander was needed everywhere, she came +straight from a conference in Washington to a large hotel in one of the +great western cities where she had an appointment to speak that night. +At the revolving door of the hotel stood a portly servitor in house +uniform who was most kind and noticeably attentive to her whenever she +entered or went out, and was constantly giving her some pointed little +attention to draw her notice. Finally, she stopped for a moment to +thank him, and he immediately became most flattering, telling her he +knew all about the Salvation Army, that he had a brother in its ranks, +was deeply interested in their work in France, and most proud of what +they were doing. He told her he had lived in Washington and said he +supposed she often went there. She replied pleasantly that she had but +just come from there, but some keen intuition began to warn this +wise-hearted woman and when the next question, though spoken most +casually, was: “Where are the Salvation Army workers now in France?” +she replied evasively: + +“Oh, wherever they are most needed,” and passed on with a friend. + +“I believe that man is a spy!” she said to her friend with conviction +in her voice. + +“Nonsense!” the friend replied; “you are growing nervous. That man has +been in this hotel for several years.” + +But that very night the man, with five others, was arrested, and proved +to be a spy hunting information about the location of the American +troops in France. + +Now these incidents do not belong in just this spot in the book, but +they are placed here of intention that the reader may have a certain +viewpoint from which to take the story. For well does the world of evil +realize what a strong force of opponents to their dark deeds is found +in this great Christian organization. Sometimes one is able the better +to judge a man, his character and strength, when one knows who are his +enemies. + + +It was the beginning of the dark days of 1917. + +The Commander sat in her quiet office, that office through which, +except on occasions like this when she locked the doors for a few +minutes’ special work, there marched an unbroken procession of men and +affairs, affecting both souls and nations. + +Before her on the broad desk lay the notes of a new address which she +was preparing to deliver that evening, but her eyes were looking out of +the wide window, across the clustering roofs of the great city to the +white horizon line, and afar over the great water to the terrible scene +of the Strife of Nations. + +For a long time her thoughts had been turning that way, for she had +many beloved comrades in that fight, both warring and ministering to +the fighters, and she had often longed to go herself, had not her work +held her here. But now at last the call had come! America had entered +the great war, and in a few days her sons would be marching from all +over the land and embarking for over the seas to fling their young +lives into that inferno; and behind them would stalk, as always in the +wake of War, Pain and Sorrow and Sin! Especially Sin. She shuddered as +she thought of it all. The many subtle temptations to one who is lonely +and in a foreign land. + +Her eyes left the far horizon and hovered over the huddling roofs that +represented so many hundreds of thousands of homes. So many mothers to +give up their sons; so many wives to be bereft; so many men and boys to +be sent forth to suffer and be tried; so many hearts already +overburdened to be bowed beneath a heavier load! Oh, her people! Her +beloved people, whose sorrows and burdens and sins she bore in her +heart and carried to the feet of the Master every day! And now this +war! + +And those young men, hardly more than children, some of them! With her +quick insight and deep knowledge of the world, she visualized the way +of fire down which they must walk, and her soul was stricken with the +thought of it! It was her work and the work of her chosen Army to help +and save, but what could she do in such a momentous crisis as this? She +had no money for new work. Opportunities had opened up so fast. The +Treasury was already overtaxed with the needs on this side of the +water. There were enterprises started that could not be given up +without losing precious souls who were on the way toward becoming +redeemed men and women, fit citizens of this world and the next. There +was no surplus, ever! The multifarious efforts to meet the needs of the +poorest of the cities’ poor, alone, kept everyone on the strain. There +seemed no possibility of doing more. Besides, how could they spare the +workers to meet the new demand without taking them from places where +they were greatly needed at home? And other perplexities darkened the +way. There were those sitting in high places of authority who had +strongly advised the Salvation Army to remain at home and go on with +their street meetings, telling them that the battlefield was no place +for them, they would only be in the way. They were not adapted to a +thing like war. But well she knew the capacity of the Salvation Army to +adapt itself to whatever need or circumstance presented. The same +standard they had borne into the most wretched places of earth in times +of peace would do in times of war. + +Out there across the waters the Salvation Brothers and Sisters were +ministering to the British armies at the front, and now that the +American army was going, too, duty seemed very clear; the call was most +imperative! + +The written pages on her desk loudly demanded attention and the +Commander tried to bring her thoughts back to them once more, but again +and again the call sounded in her heart. + +She lifted her eyes to the wall across the room from her desk where +hung the life-like portrait of her Christian-Warrior father, the grand +old keen-eyed, wise-hearted General, founder of the movement. Like her +father she knew they must go. There was no question about it. No +hindrance should stop them. They must go! The warrior blood ran in her +veins. In this the world’s greatest calamity they must fulfill the +mission for which he lived and died. + +“Go!” Those pictured eyes seemed to speak to her, just as they used to +command her when he was here: “You must go and bear the standard of the +Cross to the front. Those boys are going over there, many of them to +die, and some are telling them that if they make the supreme sacrifice +in this their country’s hour of need it will be all right with them +when they go into the world beyond. But when they get over there under +shell fire they will know that it is not so, and they will need Christ, +the only atonement for sin. You must go and take the Christ to them.” + +Then the Commander bowed her head, accepting the commission; and there +in the quiet room perhaps the Master Himself stood beside her and gave +her his charge—just as she would later charge those whom she would send +across the water—telling her that He was depending upon the Salvation +Army to bear His standard to the war. + +Perhaps it was at this same high conference with her Lord that she +settled it in her heart that Lieutenant-Colonel William S. Barker was +to be the pioneer to blaze the way for the work in France. + +However that may be he was an out-and-out Salvationist, of long and +varied experience. He was chosen equally for his proved consecration to +service, for his unselfishness, for his exceptional and remarkable +natural courage by which he was afraid of nothing, and for his +unwavering persistence in plans once made in spite of all difficulties. +The Commander once said of him: “If you want to see him at his best you +must put him face to face with a stone wall and tell him he must get on +the other side of it. No matter what the cost or toil, whether hated or +loved, he would get there!” + +Thus carefully, prayerfully, were each one of the other workers +selected; each new selection born from the struggle of her soul in +prayer to God that there might be no mistakes, no unwise choices, no +messengers sent forth who went for their own ends and not for the glory +of God. Here lies the secret which makes the world wonder to-day why +the Salvation Army workers are called “the real thing” by the soldiers. +They were hand-picked by their leader on the mount, face to face with +God. + +She took no casual comer, even with offers of money to back them, and +there were some of immense wealth who pleaded to be of the little band. +She sent only those whom she knew and had tried. Many of them had been +born and reared in the Salvation Army, with Christlike fathers and +mothers who had made their homes a little piece of heaven below. All of +them were consecrated, and none went without the urgent answering call +in their own hearts. + +It was early in June, 1917, when Colonel Barker sailed to France with +his commission to look the field over and report upon any and every +opportunity for the Salvation Army to serve the American troops. + +In order to pave his way before reaching France, Colonel Barker secured +a letter of introduction from Secretary-to-the-President Tumulty, to +the American Ambassador in France, Honorable William G. Sharp. + +In connection with this letter a curious and interesting incident +occurred. When Colonel Barker entered the Secretary’s office, he +noticed him sitting at the other end of the room talking with a +gentleman. He was about to take a seat near the door when Mr. Tumulty +beckoned to him to come to the desk. When he was seated, without +looking directly at the other gentleman, the Colonel began to state his +mission to Mr. Tumulty. Before he had finished the stranger spoke up to +Mr. Tumulty: “Give the Colonel what he wants and make it a good one!” +And lo! he was not a stranger, but a man whose reform had made no small +sensation in New York circles several years before, a former attorney +who through his wicked life had been despaired of and forsaken by his +wealthy relatives, who had sunk to the lowest depths of sin and poverty +and been rescued by the Salvation Army. + +Continuing to Mr. Tumulty, he said: “You know what the Salvation Army +has done for me; now do what you can for the Salvation Army.” + +Mr. Tumulty gave him a most kind letter of introduction to the American +Ambassador. + +On his arrival in Liverpool Colonel Barker availed himself of the +opportunity to see the very splendid work being done by the Salvation +Army with the British troops, both in France and in England, visiting +many Salvation Army huts and hostels. He also put the Commander’s plans +for France before General Bramwell Booth in London. + +As early as possible Colonel Barker presented his letter of +introduction to the American Ambassador, who in turn provided him with +a letter of introduction to General Pershing which insured a cordial +reception by him. Mr. Sharp informed Colonel Barker that he understood +the policy of the American army was to grant a monopoly of all welfare +work to the Y.M.C.A. He feared the Salvation Army would not be welcome, +but assured him that anything he could properly do to assist the +Salvation Army would be most gladly done. In this connection he stated +that he had known of and been interested in the work of the Salvation +Army for many years, that several men of his acquaintance had been +converted through their activities and been reformed from dissolute, +worthless characters to kind husbands and fathers and good business +men; and that he believed in the Salvation Army work as a consequence. + +On many occasions during the subsequent months, Mr. Sharp was never too +busy to see the Salvation Army representatives, and has rendered +valuable assistance in facilitating the forwarding of additional +workers by his influence with the State Department. + +It appeared that among military officers a kind feeling existed toward +the Salvation Army, though it was generally thought that there was no +opening for their service. Their conception of the Salvation Army was +that of street corner meetings and public charity. The officers at that +time could not see that the soldiers needed charity or that they would +be interested in religion. They could see how a reading-room, game-room +and entertainments might be helpful, but anything further than that +they did not consider necessary. + +Colonel Barker presented his letter of introduction to General +Pershing, and on behalf of Commander Booth offered the services of the +Salvation Army in any form which might be desired. + +General Pershing, who received the Colonel with exceptional cordiality, +suggested that he go out to the camps, look the field over, and report +to him. Calling in his chief of staff he gave instructions that a side +car should be placed at Colonel Barker’s disposal to go out to the +camps; and also that a letter of introduction to the General commanding +the First Division should be given to him, asking that everything +should be done to help him. + +The first destination was Gondrecourt, where the First Division +Headquarters was established. + + + + +II. +The Gondrecourt Area + + +The advance guard of the American Expeditionary Forces had landed in +France, and other detachments were arriving almost daily. They were +received by the French with open arms and a big parade as soon as they +landed. Flowers were tossed in their path and garlands were flung about +them. They were lauded and praised on every hand. On the crest of this +wave of enthusiasm they could have swept joyously into battle and never +lost their smiles. + +But instead of going to the front at once they were billeted in little +French villages and introduced to French rain and French mud. + +When one discovers that the houses are built of stone, stuck together +mainly by this mud of the country, and remembers how many years they +have stood, one gets a passing idea of the nature of this mud about +which the soldiers have written home so often. It is more like Portland +cement than anything else, and it is most penetrative and hard to get +rid of; it gets in the hair, down the neck, into the shoes and it +sticks. If the soldier wears hip-boots in the trenches he must take +them off every little while and empty the mud out of them which somehow +manages to get into even hip-boots. It is said that one reason the +soldiers were obliged to wear the wrapped leggings was, not that they +would keep the water out, but that they would strain the mud and at +least keep the feet comparatively clean. + + +[Illustration: Lieutenant-Colonel William S. Barker +Director of War Work in France] + +[Illustration: “Introduced to French Rain and French Mud”] + +There were sixteen of these camps at this time and probably twelve or +thirteen thousand soldiers were already established in them. + +There was no great cantonment as at the camps on this side of the +water, nor yet a city of tents, as one might have expected. The forming +of a camp meant the taking over of all available buildings in the +little French peasant villages. The space was measured up by the town +mayor and the battalion leader and the proper number of men assigned to +each building. In this way a single division covered a territory of +about thirty kilometers. This system made a camp of any size available +in very short order and also fooled the Huns, who were on the lookout +for American camps. + +These villages were the usual farming villages, typical of eastern +France. They are not like American villages, but a collection of farm +yards, the houses huddled together years ago for protection against +roving bands of marauders. The farmer, instead of living upon his land, +lives in the village, and there he has his barn for his cattle, his +manure pile is at his front door, the drainage from it seeps back under +the house at will, his chickens and pigs running around the streets. + +These houses were built some five or eight hundred years ago, some a +thousand or twelve hundred years. One house in the town aroused much +curiosity because it was called the “new” house. It looked just like +all the others. One who was curious asked why it should have received +this appellative and was told because it was the last one that was +built—only two hundred and fifty years ago. + +There is a narrow hall or court running through these houses which is +all that separates the family from the horses and pigs and cows which +abide under the same roof. + +The whole place smells alike. There is no heat anywhere, save from a +fireplace in the kitchen. There is a community bakehouse. + +The soldiers were quartered in the barns and outhouses, the officers +were quartered in the homes of these French peasants. There were no +comforts for either soldier or officer. It rained almost continuously +and at night it was cold. No dining-rooms could be provided where the +men could eat and they lined up on the street, got their chow and ate +it standing in the rain or under whatever cover they could find. Few of +them could understand any French, and all the conditions surrounding +their presence in France were most trying to them. They were drilled +from morning to night. They were covered with mud. The great fight in +which they had come to participate was still afar off. No wonder their +hearts grew heavy with a great longing for home. Gloom sat upon their +faces and depression grew with every passing hour. + +Into these villages one after another came the little military side-car +with its pioneer Salvationists, investigating conditions and inquiring +the greatest immediate need of the men. + +All the soldiers were homesick, and wherever the little car stopped the +Salvation Army uniform attracted immediate and friendly attention. The +boys expressed the liveliest interest in the possibility of the +Salvation Army being with them in France. These troops composed the +regular army and were old-timers. They showed at once their respect for +and their belief in the Salvation Army. One poor fellow, when he saw +the uniform, exclaimed: “The Salvation Army! I believe they’ll be +waiting for us when we get to hell to try and save us!” + +It appeared that the pay of the American soldier was so much greater +than that of the French soldier that he had too much money at his +disposal; and this money was a menace both to him and to the French +population. If some means could be provided for transferring the +soldier’s money home, it would help out in the one direction which was +most important at that time. + +It will be remembered that the French habit of drinking wine was ever +before the American soldier, and with 165 francs a month in his pocket, +he became an object of interest to the French tradespeople, who +encouraged him to spend his money in drink, and who also raised the +price on other commodities to a point where the French population found +it made living for them most difficult. + +The Salvation Army authorities in New York were all prepared to meet +this need. The Organization has one thousand posts throughout the +United States commanded by officers who would become responsible to get +the soldier’s money to his family or relatives in the United States. A +simple money-order blank issued in France could be sent to the National +Headquarters of the Salvation Army in New York and from there to the +officer commanding the corps in any part of the United States, who +would deliver the money in person. + +In this way the friends and relatives of the soldier in France would be +comforted in the knowledge that the Salvation Army was in touch with +their boy; and if need existed in the family at home it would be +discovered through the visit of the Salvation Army officer in the +homeland and immediate steps taken to alleviate it. + +Perhaps this has done more than anything else to bring the blessing of +parents and relatives upon the organization, for tens of thousands of +dollars that would have been spent in gambling and drink have been sent +home to widowed mothers and young wives. + +This suggestion appealed very strongly to the military general, who +said that if the Salvation Army got into operation it could count upon +any assistance which he could give it, and if they conducted meetings +he would see that his regimental band was instructed to attend these +meetings and furnish the music. + +Several chaplains, both Protestant and Catholic, expressed themselves +as being glad to welcome the Salvation Army among them. + +Among the Regular Army officers there was rather a pessimistic +attitude. It was in nowise hostile, but rather doubtful. + +One general said that he did not see that the Salvation Army could do +any good. His idea of the Salvation Army being associated altogether +with the slums and men who were down and out. But on the other hand, he +said that he did not see that the Salvation Army could do any harm, +even if they did not do any good, and as far as he was concerned he was +agreeable to their coming in to work in the First Division; and he +would so report to General Pershing. + +St. Nazaire, the base, was being used for the reception of the troops +as they reached the shores of France. Here was a new situation. The men +had been cooped up on transports for several days and on their landing +at St. Nazaire they were placed in a rest camp with the opportunity to +visit the city. Here they were a prey to immoral women and the officer +commanding the base was greatly concerned about the matter and eagerly +welcomed the idea of having the Salvation Army establish good women in +St. Nazaire who would cope with the problem. + +The report given to General Pershing resulted in an official +authorization permitting the Salvation Army to open their work with the +American Expeditionary Forces, and a suggestion that they go at once to +the American Training Area and see what they could do to alleviate the +terrible epidemic of homesickness that had broken out among the +soldiers. + +In the meantime, back in New York, the Commander had not been idle. +Daily before the throne she had laid the great concerns of her Army, +and daily she had been preparing her first little company of workers to +go when the need should call. + +There was no money as yet, but the Commander was not to be daunted, and +so when the report came from over the water, she borrowed from the +banks twenty-five thousand dollars. + +She called the little company of pioneer workers together in a quiet +place before they left and gave them such a charge as would make an +angel search his heart. Before the Most High God she called upon them +to tell her if any of them had in his or her heart any motive or +ambition in going other than to serve the Lord Christ. She looked down +into the eyes of the young maidens and bade them put utterly away from +them the arts and coquetries of youth, and remember that they were sent +forth to help and save and love the souls of men as God loved them; and +that self must be forgotten, or their work would be in vain. She +commanded them if even at this last hour any faltered or felt himself +unfit for the God-given task, that he would tell her even then before +it was too late. She begged them to remember that they held in their +hands the honor of the Salvation Army, and the glory of Jesus Christ +their Saviour as they went out to serve the troops. They were to be +living examples of Christ’s love, and they were to be willing to lay +down their lives if need be for His sake. + +There were tears in the eyes of some of those strong men that day as +they listened, and the look of exaltation on the faces of the women was +like a reflection from above. So must have looked the disciples of old +when Jesus gave them the commission to go into all the world and preach +the gospel. They were filled with His Spirit, and there was a look of +utter joy and self-forgetfulness as they knelt with their leader to +pray, in words which carried them all to the very feet of God and laid +their lives a willing sacrifice to Him who had done so much for them. +Still kneeling, with bowed heads, they sang, and their words were but a +prayer. It is a way these wonderful people have of bursting into song +upon their knees with their eyes closed and faces illumined by a light +of another world, their whole souls in the words they are +singing—“singing as unto the Lord!” It reminds one of the days of old +when the children of Israel did everything with songs and prayers and +rejoicing, and the whole of life was carried on as if in the visible +presence of God, instead of utterly ignoring Him as most of us do now. + +The song this time was just a few lines of consecration: + +“Oh, for a heart whiter than snow! + Saviour Divine, to whom else can I go? + Thou who hast died, loving me so, + Give me a heart that is whiter than snow!” + +The dramatic beauty of the scene, the sweet, holy abandonment of that +prayer-song with its tender, appealing melody, would have held a throng +of thousands in awed wonder. But there was no audience, unless, +perchance, the angels gathered around the little company, rejoicing +that in this world of sin and war there were these who had so given +themselves to God; but from that glory-touched room there presently +went forth men and women with the spirit in their hearts that was to +thrill like an electric wire every life with which it came in contact, +and show the whole world what God can do with lives that are wholly +surrendered to Him. + +[Illustration: She called the little company of workers together and +gave them such a charge as would make an angel search his heart] + +[Illustration: The lassie who fried the first doughnut in France] + +It was a bright, sunny afternoon, August 12th, when this first party of +American Salvation Army workers set sail for France. + +No doubt there was many a smile of contempt from the bystanders as they +saw the little group of blue uniforms with the gold-lettered scarlet +hatbands, and noticed the four poke bonnets among the number. What did +the tambourine lassies know of real warfare? To those who reckoned the +Salvation Army in terms of bands on the street corner, and shivering +forms guarding Christmas kettles, it must have seemed the utmost +audacity for this “play army” to go to the front. + +When they arrived at Bordeaux on August 21st they went at once to Paris +to be fitted out with French uniforms, as General Pershing had given +them all the rank of military privates, and ordered that they should +wear the regulation khaki uniforms with the addition of the red +Salvation Army shield on the hats, red epaulets, and with skirts for +the women. + +A cabled message had reached France from the Commander saying that +funds to the extent of twenty-five thousand dollars had been arranged +for, and would be supplied as needed, and that a party of eleven +officers were being dispatched at once. After that matters began to +move rapidly. + +A portable tent, 25 feet by 100 feet, was purchased and shipped to +Demange;—and a touring car was bought with part of the money advanced. + +Purchasing an automobile in France is not a matter merely of money. It +is a matter for Governmental sanction, long delay, red tape—amazing +good luck. + +At the start the whole Salvation Army transportation system consisted +of this one first huge limousine, heartlessly overdriven and +overworked. For many weeks it was Colonel Barker’s office and bedroom. +It carried all of the Salvation Army workers to and from their +stations, hauled all of the supplies on its roof, inside, on its +fenders, and later also on a trailer. It ran day and night almost +without end, two drivers alternating. It was a sort of super-car, still +in the service, to which Salvationists still refer with an affectionate +amazement when they consider its terrific accomplishments. It hauled +all of the lumber for the first huts and a not uncommon sight was to +see it tearing along the road at forty miles an hour, loaded inside and +on top with supplies, several passengers clinging to its fenders, and a +load of lumber or trunks trailing behind. For a long time Colonel +Barker had no home aside from this car. He slept wherever it happened +to be for the night—often in it, while still driven. One night he and a +Salvation Army officer were lost in a strange woods in the car until +four in the morning. They were without lights and there were no real +roads. + +Later, of course, after long waiting, other trucks were bought and +to-day there are about fifty automobiles in this service. Chauffeurs +had to be developed out of men who had never driven before. They were +even taken from huts and detailed to this work. + +In this first touring car Colonel Barker with one of the newly arrived +adjutants for driver, started to Demange. + +Twenty kilometers outside of Paris the car had a breakdown. The two +clambered out and reconnoitered for help. There was nothing for it but +to take the car back to Paris. A man was found on the road who was +willing to take it in tow, but they had no rope for a tow line. Over in +the field by the roadside the sharp eyes of the adjutant discovered +some old rusty wire. He pulled it out from the tangle of long grass, +and behold it was a part of old barbed-wire entanglements! + +In great surprise they followed it up behind the camouflage and found +themselves in the old trenches of 1914. They walked in the trenches and +entered some of the dugouts where the soldiers had lived in the +memorable days of the Marne fight. As they looked a little farther up +the hillside they were startled to see great pieces of heavy field +artillery, their long barrels sticking out from pits and pointing at +them. They went closer to examine, and found the guns were made of wood +painted black. The barrels were perfectly made, even to the breech +blocks mounted on wheels, the tires of which were made of tin. They +were a perfect imitation of a heavy ordnance piece in every detail. +Curious, wondering what it could mean, the two explorers looked about +them and saw an old Frenchman coming toward them. He proved to be the +keeper of the place, and he told them the story. These were the guns +that saved Paris in 1914. + +The Boche had been coming on twenty kilometers one day, nineteen the +next, fourteen the next, and were daily drawing nearer to the great +city. They were so confident that they had even announced the day they +would sweep through the gates of Paris. The French had no guns heavy +enough to stop that mad rush, and so they mounted these guns of wood, +cut away the woods all about them and for three hundred meters in +front, and waited with their pitifully thin, ill-equipped line to +defend the trenches. + +Then the German airplanes came and took pictures of them, and returned +to their lines to make plans for the next day; but when the pictures +were developed and enlarged they saw to their horror that the French +had brought heavy guns to their front and were preparing to blow them +out of France. They decided to delay their advance and wait until they +could bring up artillery heavier than the French had, and while they +waited the Germans broke into the French wine cellars and stole the +“vin blanche” and “vin rouge.” The French call this “light” wine and +say it takes the place of water, which is only fit for washing; but it +proved to be too heavy for the Germans that day. They drank freely, not +even waiting to unseal the bottles of rare old vintage, but knocked the +necks off the bottles against the stone walls and drank. They were all +drunk and in no condition to conquer France when their artillery came +up, and so the wooden French guns and the French wine saved Paris. + +When the two men finally arrived in Demange the Military General +greeted them gladly and invited them to dine with him. + +He had for a cook a famous French chef who provided delicious meals, +but for dessert the chef had attempted to make an American apple pie, +which was a dismal failure. The colonel said to the general: “Just wait +till our Salvation Army women get here and I will see that they make +you a pie that is a pie.” + +The General and the members of his staff said they would remember that +promise and hold him to it. + +The pleasure which the thought of that pie aroused furnished a +suggestion for work later on. + +Within two or three days the hut had arrived. The question of a lot +upon which to place it was most important. The billeting officers +stated that none could be had within the town and insisted that the hut +would have to be placed in an inaccessible spot on the outskirts of the +town, but Colonel Barker asked the General if he would mind his looking +about himself and he readily assented. The indomitable Barker, true to +the “never-say-die” slogan of the Salvation Army, went out and found a +splendid lot on the main street in the heart of the town, which was +being partly used by its owner as a vegetable garden. He quickly +secured the services of a French interpreter and struck a bargain with +the owner to rent the lot for the sum of sixteen dollars a year, and on +his return with the information that this lot had been secured the +General was greatly impressed. + +A wire had been sent to Paris instructing the men of the party to come +down immediately. A couple of tents were secured to provide temporary +sleeping accommodation and the men lined up in the chow line with the +doughboys at meal-time. + +The six Salvationists pulled off their coats at once and went to work, +much to the amusement of a few curious soldiers who stood idly watching +them. + +They discovered right at the start that the building materials which +had been sent ahead of them had been dumped on the wrong lot, and the +first thing they had to do was to move them all to the proper site. +This was no easy task for men who had but recently left office chairs +and clerical work. Unaccustomed muscles cried out in protest and weary +backs ached and complained, but the men stubbornly marched back and +forth carrying big timbers, and attracting not a little attention from +soldiers who wondered what in the world the Salvation Army could be up +to over in France. Some of them were suspicious. Had they come to try +and stuff religion down their throats? If so, they would soon find out +their mistake. So, half in belligerence, half in amusement, the +soldiers watched their progress. It was a big joke to them, who had +come here for _serious_ business and longed to be at it. + +Steadily, quietly, the work went on. They laid the timbers and erected +the framework of their hut, keeping at it when the rain fell and soaked +them to the skin. They were a bit awkward at it at first, perhaps, for +it was new work to them, and they had but few tools. The hut was +twenty-five feet wide and a hundred feet long. The walls went up +presently, and the roof went on. One or two soldiers were getting +interested and offered to help a bit; but for the most part they stood +apart suspiciously, while the Salvation Army worked cheerily on and +finished the building with their own hands. + +Colonel Barker meanwhile had gone back to Paris for supplies and to +bring the women overland in the automobile, because he was somewhat +fearful lest they might be held up if they attempted to go out by +train. The idea of women in the camps was so new to our American +soldiers, and so distasteful to the French, that they presented quite a +problem until their work fully justified their presence. + +It got about that some real American girls were coming. The boys began +to grow curious. When the big French limousine carrying them arrived in +the camp it was greeted by some of the soldiers with the greatest +enthusiasm while others looked on in critical silence. But very soon +their influence was felt, for a commanding officer stated that his men +were more contented and more easily handled since the unprecedented +innovation of women in the camp than they had been within the +experience of the old Regular Army officers. Profanity practically +ceased in the vicinity of the hut and was never indulged in in the +presence of the Salvationists. + +While the hut was being erected meetings were conducted in the open air +which were attended by great throngs, and after every meeting from one +to four or five boys asked for the privilege of going into the tent at +the back and being prayed with, and many conversions resulted from +these first open-air meetings. Boys walked in from other camps from a +distance as far away as five miles to attend these meetings and many +were converted. The hut was finally completed and equipped and was to +be formally opened on Sunday evening. + +In the meantime the Y.M.C.A. was getting busy also establishing its +work in the camps; therefore, the Salvation Army tried to place their +huts in towns where the Y. was not operating, so that they might be +able to reach those who had the greatest need of them. + +Officers had been appointed to take charge of the Demange hut and +immediately further operations in other towns were being arranged. + +A Y.M.C.A. hut, however, followed quickly on the heels of the Salvation +Army at Demange and the night of the opening of the Salvation Army hut +someone came to ask if they would come over to the Y. and help in a +meeting. Sure, they would help! So the Staff-Captain took a cornetist +and two of the lassies and went over to the Y.M.C.A. hut. + +It was early dusk and a crowd was gathered about where a rope ring +fenced off the place in which a boxing match had been held the day +before, across the road from the hut. The band had been stationed there +giving a concert which was just finished, and the men were sitting in a +circle on the ground about the ring. + +The Salvationists stood at the door of the hut and looked across to the +crowd. + +“How about holding our meeting over there?” asked the Staff-Captain of +the man in charge. + +“All right. Hold it wherever you like.” + +So a few willing hands brought out the piano, and the four +Salvationists made their way across to the ring. The soldiers raised a +loud cheer and hurrah to see the women stoop and slip under the rope, +and a spirit of sympathy seemed to be established at once. + +There were a thousand men gathered about and the cornet began where the +band had left off, thrilling out between the roar of guns. + +Up above were the airplanes throbbing back and forth, and signal lights +were flashing. It was a strange place for a meeting. The men gathered +closer to see what was going on. + +The sound of an old familiar hymn floated out on the evening, bringing +a sudden memory of home and days when one was a little boy and went to +Sunday school; when there was no war, and no one dreamed that the sons +would have to go forth from their own land to fight. A sudden hush +stole over the men and they sat enthralled watching the little band of +singers in the changing flicker of light and darkness. Women’s voices! +Young and fresh, too, not old ones. How they thrilled with the +sweetness of it: + +“Nearer, my God, to Thee, + Nearer to Thee, +E’en though it be a cross + That raiseth me.” + +A cross! Was it possible that God was leading them to Him through all +this awfulness? But the thought only hovered above them and hushed +their hearts into attention as they gruffly joined their young voices +in the melody. Another song followed, and a prayer that seemed to bring +the great God right down in their midst and make Him a beloved comrade. +They had not got over the wonder of it when a new note sounded on piano +and cornet and every voice broke forth in the words: + +“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound + And time shall be no more—” + +How soon would that trumpet sound for many of them! Time should be no +more! What a startling thought! + +Following close upon the song came the sweet voice of a young girl +speaking. They looked up in wonder, listening with all their souls. It +was like having an angel drop down among them to see her there, and +hear her clear, unafraid voice. The first thing that struck them was +her intense earnestness, as if she had a message of great moment to +bring to them. + +Her words searched their hearts and found out the weak places; those +fears and misgivings that they had known were there from the beginning, +and had been trying hard to hide from themselves because they saw no +cure for them. With one clear-cut sentence she tore away all camouflage +and set them face to face with the facts. They were in a desperate +strait and they knew it. Back there in the States they had known it. +Down in the camps they had felt it, and had made various attempts to +find something strong and true to help them, but no one had seemed to +understand. Even when they went to church there had been so much talk +about the “supreme sacrifice” and the glory of dying for one’s country, +that they had a vague feeling that even the minister did not believe in +his religion any more. And so they had whistled and tried to be jolly +and forget. They were all in the same boat, and this was a job that had +to be done, they couldn’t get out of it; best not think about the +future! So they had lulled their consciences to sleep. But it was +there, back in their minds all the time, a looming big awful question +about the hereafter; and when the great guns boomed afar as a few were +doing tonight and they thought how soon they might be called to go over +the top, they would have been fools not to have recognized it. + +But here at last was someone else who understood! + +She was telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love, and every man +of them as he listened felt it was true. It had been like a vague tale +of childhood before; something that one outgrows and smiles at; but now +it suddenly seemed so simple, so perfect, so fitted to their desperate +need. Just the old story that everybody has sinned, and broken God’s +law: that God in His love provided a way of escape in the death of His +Son Jesus on the Cross, from penalty for sin for all who would accept +it; that He gave every one of us free wills; and it was up to us +whether we would accept it or not. + +There were men in that company who had come from college classes where +they had been taught the foolishness of blood atonement, and who had +often smiled disdainfully at the Bible; there were boys from cultured, +refined homes where Jesus Christ had always been ignored; there were +boys who had repudiated the God their mothers trusted in; and there +were boys of lower degree whose lips were foul with blasphemy and whose +hearts were scarred with sin; but all listened, now, in a new way. It +was somehow different over here, with the thunder of artillery in the +near distance, the hovering presence of death not far away, the +flashing of signal lights, the hum of the airplanes, the whole +background of war. The message of the gospel took on a reality it had +never worn before. When this simple girl asked if they would not take +Jesus tonight as their Saviour, there were many who raised their hands +in the darkness and many more hearts were bowed whose owners could not +quite bring themselves to raise their hands. + +Then a lassie’s voice began to sing, all alone: + +“I grieved my Lord from day to day, +I scorned His love, so full and free, +And though I wandered far away, +My Mother’s prayers have followed me. +I’m coming home, I’m coming home, +To live my wasted life anew, +For Mother’s prayers have followed me, +Have followed me, the whole world through. + +“O’er desert wild, o’er mountain high, +A wanderer I chose to be—- +A wretched soul condemned to die; +Still Mother’s prayers have followed me. + +“He turned my darkness into light, +This blessed Christ of Calvary; +I’ll praise His name both day and night, +That Mother’s prayers have followed me! +I’m coming home, I’m coming home—-” + +Only the last great day will reveal how many hearts echoed those words; +but the voices were all husky with emotion as they tried to join in the +closing hymn that followed. + +There were those who lingered about the speakers and wanted to inquire +the way of salvation, and some knelt in a quiet corner and gave +themselves to Christ. Over all of them there was a hushed +thoughtfulness. When the workers started back to their own hut the +crowd went with them, talking eagerly as they went, hovering about +wistfully as if here were the first real thing they had found since +coming away from home. + +Over at the Salvation Army hut another service had been going forward +with equal interest, the dedication of the new building. The place was +crowded to its utmost capacity, and crowds were standing outside and +peering in at the windows. Some of the French people of the +neighborhood, women and children and old men, had drifted over, and +were listening to the singing in open-eyed wonderment. Among them one +of the Salvation Army workers had distributed copies of the French “War +Cry” with stories of Christ in their own language, and it began to dawn +upon them that these people believed in the same Jesus that was +worshipped in their French churches; yet they never had seen services +like these. The joyous music thrilled them. + +Before they slept that night the majority of the soldiers in that +vicinity had lost most of their prejudice against the little band of +unselfish workers that had dropped so quietly down into their midst. +Word was beginning to filter out from camp to camp that they were a +good sort, that they sold their goods at cost and a fellow could even +“jawbone” when he was “broke.” + +Salvation Army huts gave the soldiers “jawbone,” this being the +soldier’s name for credit. No accounts were kept of the amount allowed +to each soldier. When a soldier came to the canteen and asked for +“jawbone,” he was asked how much he had already been allowed. If the +amount owed by him already was large, he was cautioned not to go too +deeply into his next pay check; but never was a man refused anything +within reason. Frequently one hut would have many thousands of francs +outstanding by the end of a month. But, although there was no check +against them, soldiers always squared their accounts at pay-day and +very little indeed was lost. + +One man came in and threw 300 francs on the counter, saying: “I owe you +285 francs. Put the change in the coffee fund.” + +One Salvation Army Ensign frequently loaned sums of money out of his +own pocket to soldiers, asking that, when they were in a position to +return it, they hand it in to any Salvation Army hut, saying that it +was for him. He says that he has never lost by doing this. + +One day as he was driving from Havre to Paris he met six American +soldiers whose big truck had broken down. They asked him where there +was a Salvation Army hut; but there was none in that particular +section. They had no food, no money, and no place to sleep. He handed +them seventy francs and told them to leave it at any Salvation Army hut +for him when they were able. Five months passed and then the money was +turned in to a Salvation Army hut and forwarded to him. With it was a +note stating that the men had been with the French troops and had not +been able to reach a Salvation Army establishment. They were very +grateful for the trust reposed in them by the Salvationist. Undoubtedly +there are many such instances. + +The Salvation Army officer who with his wife was put in charge of the +hut at Demange, soon became one of the most popular men in camp. His +generous spirit, no less than his rough-and-ready good nature, manful, +soldier-like disposition, coupled with a sturdy self-respect and a +ready humor, made him blood brother to those hard-bitten old regulars +and National Guardsmen of the first American Expeditionary Force. + +The Salvation Army quickly became popular. Meetings were held almost +every night at that time with an average attendance of not less than +five hundred. Meetings as a rule were confined to wonderful song +services and brief, snappy talks. At first there were very few +conversions, but there have been more since the great drives in which +the Americans have taken so large a share. The Masons, the Moose and a +Jewish fraternity used the hut for fraternal gatherings. Catholic +priests held mass in it upon various occasions. The school for officers +and the school for “non-coms” met in it. The band practiced in it every +morning. Because of its popularity among the men it was known among the +officers as “the soldiers’ hut.” General Duncan once addressed his +staff officers in it upon some important matters. + +It rained every day for three months. The hut was on rather low ground +and in back of it ran the river, considerably swollen by the rains. One +night the river rose suddenly, carried away one tent and flooded the +other two and the hut. The Salvation Army men spent a wild, wet, +sleepless night trying to salvage their scanty personal belongings and +their stock of supplies. When the river retreated it left the hut floor +covered with slimy black mud which the two men had to shovel out. This +was a back-breaking task occupying the better part of two days. + +The first snow fell on the bitterest night of the year. It was preceded +by the rain and was damp and heavy. The soldiers suffered terribly, +especially the men on guard duty who had perforce to endure the full +blast of the storm. During the earlier hours of the night the girls +served all comers with steaming coffee and filled the canteens of the +men on guard (free). When they saw how severe the night would be they +remained up to keep a supply of coffee ready for the Salvation Army men +who went the rounds through the storm every half hour, serving the +sentries with the warming fluid. + +That first Expeditionary Force wanted for many things, and endured +hardships unthought of by troops arriving later, after the war +industries at home had swung into full production. It was almost +impossible to secure stoves, and firewood was scarce. For every load +that went to the Salvation Army Hut, men of the American Expeditionary +Force had to do without, and yet wood was always supplied to the +Salvationists (it could not be bought). + +At St. Joire, the wood pile had entirely given out and it looked as if +there was to be no heat at the Salvation Army hut that night. The +sergeant promised them half a load, but the wood wagon lost a wheel +about a hundred yards out of town. + +“Never mind,” said the sergeant to the girls, “the boys will see that +you get some to-night.” + +So he requested every man going up to the Salvation Army hut that +evening to carry a stick of wood with him (“a stick” may weigh anywhere +from 10 to 100 pounds). By eight o’clock there was over a wagon load +and a half stacked in back of the hut. + +Two small stoves cast circles of heat in the big hut at Demange. Around +them the men crowded with their wet garments steaming so profusely that +the hut often took on the appearance of a steam-room in a Turkish bath. +The rest of the hut was cold; but compared to the weather outside, it +was heaven-like. For all of its size, the hut was frail, and the winter +wind blew coldly through its many cracks; but compared with the +soldier’s billets, it was a cozy palace. The Salvationists spent hours +each week sitting on the roof in the driving rain patching leaks with +tar-paper and tacks. + +The life was a hard one for the girls. They nearly froze during the +days, and at nights they usually shivered themselves to sleep, only +sleeping when sheer exhaustion overcame them. There were no baths at +all. The experience was most trying for women and only the spirit of +the great enterprise in which they were engaged carried them through +the winter. Even soldiers were at times seen weeping with cold and +misery. + +One night the gasoline tank which supplied light to the hut exploded +and set the place on fire. A whole regiment turned out of their +blankets to put out the blaze. This meant more hours for those in +charge repairing the roof in the snow. They also had to cut all of the +wood for the hut. Later details were supplied to every hut by the +military authorities to cut wood, sweep and clean up, carry water, +_etc_. Soldiers used the hut for a mess hall. There was no other place +where they could eat with any degree of comfort. + +By this time the fact that the Salvation Army was established at +Demange was becoming known throughout the division. + +One of the towns where there had been no arrangements made for welfare +workers at all was Montiers-sur-Saulx, where the First Ammunition Train +was established, and here the officer temporarily commanding the +ammunition train gave a most hearty welcome to the Salvation Army. + +Two large circus tents had been sent on from New York and one of these +was to be erected until a wooden building could be secured. + +The touring car went back to Demange, picked up a Staff-Captain, a +Captain, five white tents, the largest one thirty by sixty feet, the +others smaller, carried them across the country and dropped them down +at the roadside of the public square in Montiers. + +There stood the Salvationists in the road wondering what to do next. + +Then a hearty voice called out: “Are you locating with us?” and the +military officer of the day advanced to meet them with a hand-shake and +many expressions of his appreciation of the Salvation Army. + +“We are going to stay here if you will have us,” said the +Staff-Captain. + +“Have you! Well, I should say we would have you! Wait a minute and I’ll +have a detail put your baggage under cover for the night. Then we’ll +see about dinner and a billet.” + +Thus auspiciously did the work open in Montiers. + +In a few minutes they were taken to a French café and a comfortable +place found for them to spend the night. + +Soon after the rising of the sun the next morning they were up and +about hunting a place for the tents which were to serve for a +recreation centre for the boys. The American Major in charge of the +town personally assisted them to find a good location, and offered his +aid in any way needed. + +Before nightfall the five white tents were up, standing straight and +true with military precision, and the two officers with just pride in +their hard day’s work, and a secret assurance that it would stand the +hearty approval of the commanding officer whom they had not as yet met, +went off to their suppers, for which they had a more than usually +hearty appetite. + +Suddenly the door of the dining-room swung open and a gruff voice +demanded: “Who put up those tents?” The Salvation Army Staff-Captain +stood forth saluting respectfully and responded: “I, sir.” “Well,” said +the Colonel, “they look mighty fine up on that hill—mighty fine! +Splendid location for them—splendid! But the enemy can spot them for a +hundred miles, so I expect you had better get them down or camouflage +them with green boughs and paint by tomorrow night at the latest. Good +evening to you, sir!” + +The Staff-Captain and his helper suddenly lost their fine appetites and +felt very tired. Camouflage! How did they do that at a moment’s notice? +They left their unfinished dinner and hurried out in search of help. + +The first soldier the Staff-Captain questioned reassured him. + +“Aw, that’s dead easy! Go over the hill into the woods and cut some +branches, enough to cover your tents; or easier yet, get some green and +yellow paint and splash over them. The worse they look the better they +are!” + +So the weary workers hunted the town over for paint, and found only +enough for the big tent, upon which they worked hard all the next +morning. Then they had to go to the woods for branches for the rest. +Scratched and bleeding and streaked with perspiration and dirt, they +finished their work at last, and the white tents had disappeared into +the green and the yellow and the brown of the hillside. Their beautiful +military whiteness was gone, but they were hidden safe from the enemy +and the work might now go forward. + +Then the girls arrived and things began to look a bit more cheerful. + +“But where is the cook stove?” asked one of the lassies after they had +set up their two folding cots in one of the smaller tents and made +themselves at home. + +Dismay descended upon the face of the weary Staff-Captain. + +“Why,” he answered apologetically, “we forgot all about that!” and he +hurried out to find a stove. + +A thorough search of the surrounding country, however, disclosed the +fact that there was not a stove nor a field range to be had—no, not +even from the commissary. There was nothing for it but to set to work +and contrive a fireplace out of field stone and clay, with a bit of +sheet iron for a roof, and two or three lengths of old sewer pipe +carefully wired together for a stovepipe. It took days of hard work, +and it smoked woefully except when the wind was exactly west, but the +girls made fudge enough on it for the entire personnel of the +Ammunition train to celebrate when it was finished. + +When the girls first arrived in Montiers the Salvation Army +Staff-Captain was rather at a loss to know what to do with them until +the hut was built. They were invited to chow with the soldiers, and to +eat in an old French barn used as a kitchen, in front of which the men +lined up at the open doorways for mess. It was a very dirty barn +indeed, with heavy cobwebs hanging in weird festoons from the ceiling +and straw and manure all over the floor; quite too barnlike for a +dining-hall for delicately reared women. The Staff-Captain hesitated +about bringing them there, but the Mess-Sergeant offered to clean up a +corner for them and give them a comfortable table. + +“I don’t know about bringing my girls in here with the men,” said the +Staff-Captain still hesitating. “You know the men are pretty rough in +their talk, and they’re always cussing!” + +“Leave that to me!” said the Mess-Sergeant. “It’ll be all right!” + +There was an old dirty French wagon in the barnyard where they kept the +bread. It was not an inviting prospect and the Staff-Captain looked +about him dubiously and went away with many misgivings, but there +seemed to be nothing else to be done. + +The boys did their best to fix things up nicely. When meal time arrived +and the girls appeared they found their table neatly spread with a dish +towel for a tablecloth. It purported to be clean, but there are degrees +of cleanliness in the army and there might have been a difference of +opinion. However, the girls realized that there had been a strenuous +attempt to do honor to them and they sat down on the coffee kegs that +had been provided _en lieu_ of chairs with smiling appreciation. + +The Staff-Captain’s anxiety began to relax as he noticed the quiet +respectful attitude of the men when they passed by the doorway and +looked eagerly over at the corner where the girls were sitting. It was +great to have American women sitting down to dinner with them, as it +were. Not a “cuss word” broke the harmony of the occasion. The best +cuts of meat, the largest pieces of pie, were given to the girls, and +everybody united to make them feel how welcome they were. + +Then into the midst of the pleasant scene there entered one who had +been away for a few hours and had not yet been made acquainted with the +new order of things at chow; and he entered with an oath upon his lips. + +He was a great big fellow, but the strong arm of the Mess-Sergeant +flashed out from the shoulder instantly, the sturdy fist of the +Mess-Sergeant was planted most unexpectedly in the newcomer’s face, and +he found himself sprawling on the other side of the road with all his +comrades glaring at him in silent wrath. That was the beginning of a +new order of things at the mess. + +The Colonel in charge of the regiment had gone away, and the commanding +Major, wishing to make things pleasant for the Salvationists, sent for +the Staff-Captain and invited them all to his mess at the chateau; +telling him that if he needed anything at any time, horses or supplies, +or anything in his power to give, to let him know at once and it should +be supplied. + +The Staff-Captain thanked him, but told him that he thought they would +stay with the boys. + +The boys, of course, heard of this and the Salvation Army people had +another bond between them and the soldiers. The boys felt that the +Salvationists were their very own. Nothing could have more endeared +them to the boys than to share their life and hardships. + +The Salvation Army had not been with the soldiers many hours before +they discovered that the disease of homesickness which they had been +sent to succor was growing more and more malignant and spreading fast. + +The training under French officers was very severe. Trench feet with +all its attendant suffering was added to the other discomforts. Was it +any wonder that homesickness seized hold of every soldier there? + +It had been raining steadily for thirty-six days, making swamps and +pools everywhere. Depression like a great heavy blanket hung over the +whole area. + +The Salvation Army lassies at Montiers were in consultation. Their +supplies were all gone, and the state of the roads on account of the +rain was such that all transportation was held up. They had been +waiting, hoping against hope, that a new load of supplies would arrive, +but there seemed no immediate promise of that. + +“We ought to have something more than just chocolate to sell to the +soldiers, anyway,” declared one lassie, who was a wonderful cook, +looking across the big tent to the drooping shoulders and discouraged +faces of the boys who were hovering about the Victrola, trying to +extract a little comfort from the records. “We ought to be able to give +them some real home cooking!” + +They all agreed to this, but the difficulties in the way were great. +Flour was obtainable only in small quantities. Now and then they could +get a sack of flour or a bag of sugar, but not often. Lard also was a +scarce article. Besides, there were no stoves, and no equipment had as +yet been issued for ovens. All about them were apple orchards and they +might have baked some pies if there had been ovens, but at present that +was out of the question. After a long discussion one of the girls +suggested doughnuts, and even that had its difficulties, although it +really was the only thing possible at the time. For one thing they had +no rolling-pin and no cake-cutter in the outfit. Nevertheless, they +bravely went to work. The little tent intended for such things had +blown down, so the lassie had to stand out in the rain to prepare the +dough. + +The first doughnuts were patted out, until someone found an empty +grape-juice bottle and used that for a rolling-pin. As they had no +cutter they used a knife, and twisted them, making them in shape like a +cruller. They were cooked over a wood fire that had to be continually +stuffed with fuel to keep the fat hot enough to fry. The pan they used +was only large enough to cook seven at once, but that first day they +made one hundred and fifty big fat sugary doughnuts, and when the +luscious fragrance began to float out on the air and word went forth +that they had real “honest-to-goodness” home doughnuts at the Salvation +Army hut, the line formed away out into the road and stood patiently +for hours in the rain waiting for a taste of the dainties. As there +were eight hundred men in the outfit and only a hundred and fifty +doughnuts that first day, naturally a good many were disappointed, but +those who got them were appreciative. One boy as he took the first +sugary bite exclaimed: “Gee! If this is war, let it continue!” + +The next day the girls managed to make three hundred, but one of them +was not satisfied with a doughnut that had no hole in it, and while she +worked she thought, until a bright idea came to her. The top of the +baking-powder can! Of course! Why hadn’t they thought of that before? +But how could they get the hole? There seemed nothing just right to cut +it. Then, the very next morning the inside tube to the coffee +percolator that somebody had brought along came loose, and the lassie +stood in triumph with it in her hand, calling to them all to see what a +wonderful hole it would make in the doughnut. And so the doughnut came +into its own, hole and all. + +That was at Montiers, the home of the doughnut. + +One of the older Salvation Army workers remarked jocularly that the +Salvation Army had to go to France and get linked up with the doughnut +before America recognized it; but it was the same old Salvation Army +and the same old doughnut that it had always been. He averred that it +wasn’t the doughnut at all that made the Salvation Army famous, but the +wonderful girls that the Salvation Army brought over there; the girls +that lay awake at night after a long hard day’s work scheming to make +the way of the doughboy easier; scheming how to take the cold out of +the snow and the wet out of the rain and the stickiness out of the mud. +The girls that prayed over the doughnuts, and then got the maximum of +grace out of the minimum of grease. + +The young Adjutant lassie who fried the first doughnut in France says +that invariably the boys would begin to talk about home and mother +while they were eating the doughnuts. Through the hole in the doughnut +they seemed to see their mother’s face, and as the doughnut disappeared +it grew bigger and clearer. + +The young Ensign lassie who had originated and _made_ the first +doughnut in France contrived to make many pies on a very tiny French +stove with an oven only large enough to hold two pies at a time. +Meanwhile, frying doughnuts on the top of the stove. + +It wasn’t long before the record for the doughnut makers had been +brought up to five thousand a day, and some of the unresting workers +developed “doughnut wrist” from sticking to the job too long at a time. + +It was the original thought that pie would be the greatest attraction, +but it was difficult to secure stoves with ovens adequate for baking +pies, and after the ensign’s experiment with doughnuts it was found +that they could more easily be made and were quite as acceptable to the +American boy. + +Meantime, the pie was coming into its own, back in Demange also. + +It was only a little stove, and only room to bake one pie at a time, +but it was a savory smell that floated out on the air, and it was a +long line of hungry soldiers that hurried for their mess kits and stood +hours waiting for more pies to bake; and the fame of the Salvation Army +began to spread far and wide. Then one day the “Stars and Stripes,” the +organ of the American Army, printed the following poem about the lassie +who labored so far forward that she had to wear a tin hat: + +“Home is where the heart is”— + Thus the poet sang; +But “home is where the pie is” + For the doughboy gang! +Crullers in the craters, + Pastry in abris— +This Salvation Army lass + Sure knows how to please! + + +Tin hat for a halo! + Ah! She wears it well! +Making pies for homesick lads + Sure is “beating hell!” +In a region blasted + By fire and flame and sword, +This Salvation Army lass + Battles for the Lord! + + + Call me sacrilegious + And irreverent, too; +Pies? They link us up with home + As naught else can do! +“Home is, where the heart is”— + True, the poet sang; +But “home is where the pie is”— + To the Yankee gang! + +It was no easy task to open up a chain of huts, for there was an +amazing variety of details to be attended to, any one of which might +delay the work. A hundred and one unexpected situations would develop +during the course of a single day which must be dealt with quickly and +intelligently. The fact that the Salvation Army section of the American +Expeditionary Force is militarized and strictly accountable for all of +its action to the United States military authorities is complicated in +many places by the further fact that the French civil and military +authorities must also be taken into consideration and consulted at +every step. Nevertheless, in spite of all difficulties the work went +steadily forward. The patient officers who were seeing to all these +details worked almost night and day to place the huts and workers where +they would do the most good to the greatest number; and steadily the +Salvation Army grew in favor with the soldiers. + +It was extremely difficult to obtain materials for the erection of +huts— in many cases almost impossible. Once when Colonel Barker found +troops moving, he discovered the village for which they were bound, +rushed ahead in his automobile, and commandeered an old French barracks +which would otherwise have been occupied by the American soldiers. When +the soldiers arrived they were overjoyed to find the Salvation Army +awaiting them with hot food. They were soaked through by the rain, and +never was hot coffee more welcome. There was a little argument about +the commandeered barracks. It was to have been used as headquarters, +but when the commanding officer went out into the rain and saw for +himself what service it was performing for his men, and how overjoyed +they were by the entertainment he said: “We’ll leave it to the men, +whether they will be billeted here or let the Salvation Army have the +place.” The men with one accord voted to give it to the Salvation Army. + +In one town, after an animated discussion with a crowd of enlisted men, +a sergeant came to the Salvation Army Major as he worked away with his +hammer putting up a hut and said: “Captain, would it make you mad if we +offered our services to help?” + + +[Illustration: “Tin hat for a halo! Ah! She wears it well!”] + +[Illustration: The patient officers who were seeing to all these +details worked out almost day and night] + +After that the work went on in record time. In less than a week the hut +was finished and ready for business. Two self-appointed details of +soldiers from the regulars employed all their spare time in a friendly +rivalry to see which could accomplish the most work. When it was +dedicated the popularity of the hut was well assured. Later, in another +location, a hut 125 feet by 27 feet was put up with the assistance of +soldiers in six hours and twenty minutes. + +More men and women had arrived from America, and the work began to +assume business-like proportions. There were huts scattered all through +the American training area. + +As other huts were established the making of pies and doughnuts became +a regular part of the daily routine of the hut. It was found that a +canteen where candy and articles needed by the soldiers could be +obtained at moderate prices would fill a very pressing need and this +was made a part of their regular operation. + +The purchase of an adequate quantity of supplies was a great problem. +It was necessary to make frequent trips to Paris, to establish +connections with supply houses there, and to attend to the shipping of +the supplies out to the camps. At first it was impossible to purchase +any quantity of supplies from any house. The demand for everything was +so great that wholesale dealers were most independent. Three hundred +dollars’ worth of supplies was the most that could be purchased from +any one house, but in course of time, confidence and friendly relations +being established, it became possible to purchase as much as ten +thousand dollars’ worth at one time from one dealer. + +The first twenty-five thousand dollars, of course, was soon gone, but +another fifty thousand dollars arrived from Headquarters in New York, +and after a little while another fifty thousand; which hundred thousand +dollars was loaned by General Bramwell Booth from the International +Treasury. The money was not only borrowed, but the Commander had +promised to pay it back in twelve months (which guarantee it is +pleasant to state was made good long before the promised time), for the +Commander had said: “It is only a question of our getting to work in +France, and the American public will see that we have all the money we +want.” + +So it has proved. + +In the meantime another hut was established at Houdelainecourt. + +The American boys were drilling from early morning until dark; the +weather was wet and cold; the roads were seas of mud and the German +planes came over the valleys almost nightly to seek out the position of +the American troops and occasionally to drop bombs. It was necessary +that all tents should be camouflaged, windows darkened so that lights +would not show at night, and every means used to keep the fact of the +Americans’ presence from the German observers and spies. + +Another party of Salvation Army officers, men and women, arrived from +New York on September 23rd, and these were quickly sent out to Demange +which for the time being was used as the general base of supplies, but +later a house was secured at Ligny-en-Barrios, and this was for many +months the Headquarters. + +One interesting incident occurred here in connection with this house. +One of its greatest attractions had been that it was one of the few +houses containing a bathroom, but when the new tenants arrived they +found that the anticipated bathtub had been taken out with all its +fittings and carefully stowed away in the cellar. It was too precious +for the common use of tenants. + +All Salvation Army graduates from the training school have a Red Cross +diploma, and many are experienced nurses. + +A Salvation Army woman Envoy sailed for France with a party of +Salvationists about the time that the epidemic of influenza broke out +all over the world. Even before the steamer reached the quarantine +station in New York harbor a number of cases of Spanish influenza had +developed among the several companies of soldiers who were aboard, a +number of whom were removed from the ship. So anxious were others of +these American fighting men to reach Prance that they hid away until +the steamer had left port. + +Land was hardly out of sight before more cases of the disease were +reported—so many, in fact, that special hospital accommodations had to +be immediately arranged. The ship’s captain after consulting with the +American military officers, requested the Salvation Army Envoy to take +entire responsibility for the hospital, which responsibility, after +some hesitation, she accepted. Under her were two nurses, three +dieticians (Y.M.C.A. and Red Cross), a medical corps sergeant (U.S.A.), +and twenty-four orderlies. She took charge on the fourth day of a +thirteen day voyage, working in the sick bay from 12 noon to 8 P.M., +and from 12 midnight to 8 A.M. every day. She had with her a mandolin +and a guitar with which, in addition to her sixteen hours of duty in +the sick bay, she every day spent some time (usually an hour or two) on +deck singing and playing for the soldiers who were much depressed by +the epidemic. To them she was a very angel of good cheer and comfort. + +Many amusing incidents occurred on the voyage. + +Stormy weather had added to the discomforts of the trip and most of the +passengers suffered from seasickness during the greater part of the +voyage. + +On board there was also a woman of middle age who could not be +persuaded to keep her cabin porthole closed at night. Again and again a +ray of light was projected through it upon the surface of the water and +the quarter-master, whose duty it was to see that no lights were shown, +was at his wit’s end. His difficulty was the greater because he could +speak no English, and she no French. Finally, a passenger took pity on +the man, and, as the light was really a grave danger to the ship’s +safety, promised to speak to the woman, who insisted that she was not +afraid of submarines and that it was foolish to think they could see +her light. + +“Madam,” he said, “the quartermaster here tells me that the sea in this +locality is infested with flying fish, who, like moths, fly straight +for any light, and he is afraid that if you leave your porthole open +they will dive in upon you during the night.” + +If he had said that the sea was infested with flying mice, his +statement could not have been more effective. Thereafter the porthole +stayed closed. + +When the first man died on board, the Captain commanding the soldiers +and the ship’s Captain requested a Salvation Army Adjutant to conduct +the funeral service. + +At 4.30 P.M. the ship’s propeller ceased to turn and the steamer came +up into the wind. The United States destroyer acting as convoy also +came to a halt. The French flag on the steamer and the American flag on +the destroyer were at half-mast. Thirty-two men from the dead man’s +company lined up on the after-deck. The coffin (a rough pine box), +heavily weighted at one end, lay across the rail over the stern. Here a +chute had been rigged so that the coffin might not foul the ship’s +screws. The flags remained at half-mast for half an hour. The Salvation +Army Adjutant read the burial service and prayed. Passengers on the +promenade deck looked on. Then a bugler played taps. Every soldier +stood facing the stern with hat off and held across the breast. As the +coffin slipped down the chute and splashed into the sea a firing squad +fired a single rattling volley. The ship came about and, with a shudder +of starting engines, continued her voyage, the destroyer doing +likewise. + +During the passage the Adjutant conducted six such funerals, two more +being conducted by a Catholic priest. Four more bodies of men who died +as they neared port were landed and buried ashore. + +In the hospital the Envoy was undoubtedly the means of saving several +lives by her endless toil and by the encouragement of her cheerful face +in that depressing place. The sick men called her “Mother” and no +mother could have been more tender than she. + +“You look so much like mother,” said one boy just before he died. +“Won’t you please kiss me?” + +Another lad, with a great, convulsive effort, drew her hand to his lips +and kissed her just as he passed away. + +All of the American officers and two French officers attended the +funerals in full dress uniform and ten sailors of the French navy were +also present. + +The night before the ship docked at Bordeaux a letter signed by the +Captain of the ship and the American officers was handed to the Envoy +lady. It contained a warm statement of their appreciation of her +service. Officers of the Aviation Corps who were aboard the ship +arranged a banquet to be held in her honor when they should reach port; +but she told them that she was under orders even as they were and that +she must report to Paris Headquarters at once. And so the banquet did +not take place. + +As she left the ship, the soldiers were lined up on the wharf ready to +march. When she came down the gangplank and walked past them to the +street, they cheered her and shouted: “Good-bye, mother! Good luck!” + +As the fame of the doughnuts and pies spread through the camps a new +distress loomed ahead for the Salvation Army. Where were the flour and +the sugar and the lard and the other ingredients to come from wherewith +to concoct these delicacies for the homesick soldiers? + +It was of no use to go to the French for white flour, for they did not +have it. They had been using war bread, dark mixtures with barley flour +and other things, for a long time. Besides, the French had a fixed idea +that everyone who came from America was made of money. Wood was +thirty-five dollars a load (about a cord) and had to be cut and hauled +by the purchaser at that. There was a story current throughout the +camps that some Frenchmen were talking together among themselves, and +one asked the rest where in the world they were going to get the money +to rebuild their towns. “Oh,” replied another; “haven’t we the only +battlefields in the world? All the Americans will want to come over +after the war to see them and we will charge them enough for the sight +to rebuild our villages!” + +But even at any price the French did not have the materials to sell. +There was only one place where things of that sort could be had and +that was from the Americans, and the question was, would the commissary +allow them to buy in large enough quantities to be of any use? The +Salvation Army officers as they went about their work, were puzzling +their brains how to get around the American commissary and get what +they wanted. + +Meantime, the American Army had slipped quietly into Montiers in the +night and been billeted around in barns and houses and outhouses, and +anywhere they could be stowed, and were keeping out of sight. For the +German High Council had declared: “As soon as the American Army goes +into camp we will blow them off the map.” Day after day the Germans lay +low and watched. Their airplanes flew over and kept close guard, but +they could find no sign of a camp anywhere. No tents were in sight, +though they searched the landscape carefully; and day after day, for +want of something better to do they bombarded Bar-lé-Duc. Every day +some new ravishment of the beautiful city was wrought, new victims +buried under ruins, new terror and destruction, until the whole region +was in panic and dismay. + +Now Bar-lé-Duc, as everyone knows, is the home of the famous Bar-lé-Duc +jam that brings such high prices the world over, and there were great +quantities stored up and waiting to be sold at a high price to +Americans after the war. But when the bombardment continued, and it +became evident that the whole would either be destroyed or fall into +the hands of the Germans, the owners were frightened. Houses were blown +up, burying whole families. Victims were being taken hourly from the +ruins, injured or dying. + +A Salvation Army Adjutant ran up there one day with his truck and found +an awful state of things. The whole place was full of refugees, +families bereft of their homes, everybody that could trying to get out +of the city. Just by accident he found out that the merchants were +willing to sell their jam at a very reasonable price, and so he bought +tons and tons of Bar-lé-Duc jam. That would help out a lot and go well +on bread, for of course there was no butter. Also it would make +wonderful pies and tarts if one only had the flour and other +ingredients. + +As he drove into Montiers he was still thinking about it, and there on +the table in the Salvation Army hut stood as pretty a chocolate cake as +one would care to see. A bright idea came to the Adjutant: + +“Let me have that cake,” said he to the lassie who had baked it, “and +I’ll take it to the General and see what I can do.” + +It turned out that the cake was promised, but the lassie said she would +bake another and have it ready for him on his return trip; so in a few +days when he came back there was the cake. + +Ah! That was a wonderful cake! + +The lassie had baked it in the covers of lard tins, fourteen inches +across and five layers high! There was a layer of cake, thickly spread +with rich chocolate frosting, another layer of cake, overlaid with the +translucent Bar-lé-Duc jam, a third layer of cake with chocolate, +another layer spread with Bar-lé-Duc jam, then cake again, the whole +covered smoothly over with thick dark chocolate, top and sides, down to +the very base, without a ripple in it. It was a wonder of a cake! + +With shining eyes and eager look the Adjutant took that beautiful cake, +took also twelve hundred great brown sugary doughnuts, and a dozen +fragrant apple pies just out of the oven, stowed them carefully away in +his truck, and rustled off to the Officers’ Headquarters. Arrived there +he took his cake in hand and asked to see the General. An officer with +his eye on the cake said the General was busy just now but he would +carry the cake to him. But the Adjutant declined this offer firmly, +saying: “The ladies of Montiers-sur-Saulx sent this cake to the +General, and I must put it into his hands” + +He was finally led to the General’s room and, uncovering the great +cake, he said: + +“The Salvation Army ladies of Montiers-sur-Saulx have sent this cake to +you as a sample of what they will do for the soldiers if we can get +flour and sugar and lard.” + +The General, greatly pleased, took the cake and sent for a knife, while +his officers stood about looking on with much interest. It appeared as +if every one were to have a taste of the cake. But when the General had +cut a generous slice, held it up, observing its cunning workmanship, +its translucent, delectable interior, he turned with a gleam in his +eye, looked about the room and said: “Gentlemen, this cake will not be +served till the evening’s mess, and I pity the gentlemen who do not eat +with the officer’s mess, but they will have to go elsewhere for their +cake.” + +The Adjutant went out with his pies and doughnuts and distributed them +here and there where they would do the most good, getting on the right +side of the Top Sergeant, for he had discovered some time ago that even +with the General as an ally one must be on the right side of the “old +Sarge” if one wanted anything. While he was still talking with the +officers he was handed an order from the General that he should be +supplied with all that he needed, and when he finally came out of +Headquarters he found that seven tons of material were being loaded on +his car. After that the Salvation Army never had any trouble in getting +all the material they needed. + +After the tents in Montiers were all settled and the work fully +started, the Staff-Captain and his helpers settled down to a pleasant +little schedule of sixteen hours a day work and called it ease; but +that was not to be enjoyed for long. At the end of a week the Salvation +Army Colonel swooped down upon them again with orders to erect a hut at +once as the tents were only a makeshift and winter was coming on. He +brought materials and selected a site on a desirable corner. + +Now the corner was literally covered with fallen walls of a former +building and wreckage from the last year’s raid, and the patient +workers looked aghast at the task before them. But the Colonel would +listen to no arguments. “Don’t talk about difficulties,” he said, +brushing aside a plea for another lot, not quite so desirable perhaps, +but much easier to clear. “Don’t talk about difficulties; get busy and +have the job over with!” + +One big reason why the Salvation Army is able to carry on the great +machinery of its vast organization is that its people are trained to +obey without murmuring. Cheerfully and laboriously the men set to work. +Winter rains were setting in, with a chill and intensity never to be +forgotten by an American soldier. But wet to the skin day after day all +day long the Salvationists worked against time, trying to finish the +hut before the snow should arrive. And at last the hut was finished and +ready for occupancy. Such tireless devotion, such patient, cheerful +toil for their sake was not to be passed by nor forgotten by the +soldiers who watched and helped when they could. Day after day the +bonds between them and the Salvation Army grew stronger. Here were men +who did not have to, and yet who for the sake of helping them, came and +lived under the same conditions that they did, working even longer +hours than they, eating the same food, enduring the same privations, +and whose only pay was their expenses. At the first the Salvationists +took their places in the chow line with the rest, then little by little +men near the head of the line would give up their places to them, +quietly stepping to the rear of the line themselves. Finally, no matter +how long the line was the men with one consent insisted that their +unselfish friends should take the very head of the line whenever they +came and always be served first. + +One day one of the Salvation Army men swathed in a big raincoat was +sitting in a Ford by the roadside in front of a Salvation Army hut, +waiting for his Colonel, when two soldiers stopped behind him to light +their cigarettes. It was just after sundown, and the man in the car +must have seemed like any soldier to the two as they chatted. + +“Bunch of grafters, these Y.M.C.A. and Salvation Army outfits!” +grumbled one as he struck a match. “What good are the ‘Sallies’ in a +soldier camp?” + +“Well, Buddy,” said the other somewhat excitedly, “there’s a whole lot +of us think the Salvation Army is about it in this man’s outfit. For a +rookie you sure are picking one good way to make yourself unpopular +_tout de suite!_ Better lay off that kind of talk until you kind of +find out what’s what. I didn’t have much use for them myself back in +the States, but here in France they’re real folks, believe me!” + +So the feeling had grown everywhere as the huts multiplied. And the +huts proved altogether too small for the religious meetings, so that as +long as the weather permitted the services had to be held in the open +air. It was no unusual thing to see a thousand men gathered in the +twilight around two or three Salvation Army lassies, singing in sweet +wonderful volume the old, old hymns. The soldiers were no longer amused +spectators, bent on mischief; they were enthusiastic allies of the +organization that was theirs. The meeting was theirs. + +“We never forced a meeting on them,” said one of the girls. “We just +let it grow. Sometimes it would begin with popular songs, but before +long the boys would ask for hymns, the old favorites, first one, then +another, always remembering to call for ‘Tell Mother I’ll Be There.’” + +Almost without exception the boys entered heartily into everything that +went on in the organization. The songs were perhaps at first only a +reminder of home, but soon they came to have a personal significance to +many. The Salvation Army did not hare movies and theatrical singers as +did the other organizations, but they did not seem to need them. The +men liked the Gospel meetings and came to them better than to anything +else. Often they would come to the hut and start the singing +themselves, which would presently grow into a meeting of evident +intention. The Staff-Captain did not long have opportunity to enjoy the +new hut which he had labored so hard to finish at Montiers, for soon +orders arrived for him to move on to Houdelainecourt to help put up the +hut there, and leave Montiers in charge of a Salvation Army Major. The +Salvation Army was with the Eighteenth Infantry at Houdelainecourt. + +It was an old tent that sheltered the canteen, and it had the +reputation of having gone up and down five times. When first they put +it up it blew down. It was located where two roads met and the winds +swept down in every direction. Then they put it up and took it down to +camouflage it. They got it up again and had to take it down to +camouflage it some more. The regular division helped with this, and it +was some camouflage when it was done, for the boys had put their +initials all over it, and then, had painted Christmas trees everywhere, +and on the trees they had put the presents they knew they never would +get, and so in all the richness of its record of homesickness the old +tent went up again. They kept warm here by means of a candle under an +upturned tin pail. The tent blew down again in a big storm soon after +that and had to be put up once more, and then there came a big rain and +flooded everything in the neighborhood. It blew down and drowned out +the Y.M.C.A. and everything else, and only the old tent stood for +awhile. But at last the storm was too much for it, too, and it +succumbed again. + +After that the Salvation Army put up a hut for their work. A number of +soldiers assisted. They put up a stove, brought their piano and +phonograph, and made the place look cheerful. Then they got the +regimental band and had an opening, the first big thing that was +recognized by the military authorities. The Salvation Army +Staff-Captain in charge of that zone took a long board and set candles +on it and put it above the platform like a big chandelier. The Brigade +Commander was there, and a Captain came to represent the Colonel. A +chaplain spoke. The lassies who took part in the entertainment were the +first girls the soldiers had seen for many months. + +Long before the hour announced for the service the soldier boys had +crowded the hutment to its greatest capacity. Game and reading tables +had been moved to the rear and extra benches brought in. The men stood +three deep upon the tables and filled every seat and every inch of +standing room. When there was no more room on the floor, they climbed +to the roof and lined the rafters. There was no air and the Adjutant +came to say there was too much light, but none of these things damped +the enthusiasm. + +With the aid of the regimental chaplain, the Staff-Captain had arranged +a suitable program for the occasion, the regimental band furnishing the +music. + +When the General entered the hutment all of the men stood and uncovered +and the band stopped abruptly in the middle of a strain. “That’s the +worst thing I ever did—stopping the music,” he exclaimed ruefully. He +refused to occupy the chair which had been prepared for him, saying: +“No, I want to stand so that I can look at these men.” + +The records of the work in that hut would be precious reading for the +fathers and mothers of those boys, for the Fighting Eighteenth Infantry +are mostly gone, having laid their young lives on the altar with so +many others. Here is a bit from one lassie’s letter, giving a picture +of one of her days in the hut: + +“Well, I must tell you how the days are spent. We open the hut at 7; it +is cleaned by some of the boys; then at 8 we commence to serve cocoa +and coffee and make pies and doughnuts, cup cakes and fry eggs and make +all kinds of eats until it is all you see. Well, can you think of two +women cooking in one day 2500 doughnuts, 8 dozen cup cakes, 50 pies, +800 pancakes and 225 gallons of cocoa, and one other girl serving it? +That is a day’s work in my last hut. Then meeting at night, and it +lasts two hours.” + +A lieutenant came into the canteen to buy something and said to one of +the girls: “Will you please tell me something? Don’t you ever rest?” +That is how both the men and officers appreciated the work of these +tireless girls. + +Men often walked miles to look at an American woman. Once acquainted +with the Salvation Army lassies they came to them with many and strange +requests. Having picked a quart or so of wild berries and purchased +from a farmer a pint of cream they would come to ask a girl to make a +strawberry shortcake for them. They would buy a whole dozen of eggs +apiece, and having begged a Salvation Army girl to fry them would eat +the whole dozen at a sitting. They would ask the girls to write their +love letters, or to write assuring some mother or sweetheart that they +were behaving themselves. + +Soldiers going into action have left thousands of dollars in cash and +in valuables in the care of Salvation Army officers to be forwarded to +persons designated in case they are killed in action or taken prisoner. +In such cases it is very seldom that a receipt is given for either +money or valuables., so deeply do the soldiers trust the Salvation +Army. + +One of the girl Captains wears a plain silver ring, whose intrinsic +value is about thirty cents, but whose moral value is beyond estimate. +The ring is not the Captain’s. It belongs to a soldier, who, before the +war, had been a hard drinker and had continued his habits after +enlisting. He came under the influence of the Salvation Army and swore +that he would drink no more. But time after time he fell, each time +becoming more desperate and more discouraged. Each time the young +lassie-Captain dealt with him. After the last of his failures, while +she was encouraging him to make another try, he detached the ring from +the cord from which it had dangled around his neck and thrust it at +her. + +“It was my mother’s,” he explained. “If you will wear it for me, I +shall always think of it when the temptation comes to drink, and the +fact that someone really cares enough about my worthless hide to take +all of the trouble you have taken on my behalf, will help me to resist +it.” + +“No one will misunderstand” he cried, seeing that the lassie was about +to decline, “not even me. I shall tell no one. And it would help.” + +“Very well,” agreed the girl, looking steadily at him for a moment, +“but the first time that you take a drink, off will come the ring! And +you must promise that you will tell me if you do take that drink.” + +The soldier promised. The lassie still wears the ring. The soldier is +still sober. Also he has written to his wife for the first time in five +years and she has expressed her delight at the good news. + +On more than one occasion American aviators have flown from their camps +many miles to villages where there were Salvation lassies and have +returned with a load of doughnuts. On one occasion a bird-man dropped a +note down in front of the hut where two sisters were stationed, +circling around at a low elevation until certain that the girls had +picked up the note, which stated that he would return the following +afternoon for a mess of doughnuts for his comrades. When he returned, +the doughnuts were ready for him. + +The Adjutant of the aerial forces attached to the American Fifth Army +around Montfaucon on the edge of the Argonne Forest, before that forest +was finally captured at the point of American bayonets, drove almost +seventy miles to the Salvation Army Headquarters at Ligny for supplies +for his men. He was given an automobile load of chocolate, candies, +cakes, cookies, soap, toilet articles, and other comforts, without +charge. He said that he _knew_ that the Salvation Army would have what +he wanted. + +The two lassies who were in Bure had a desperate time of it. Things +were most primitive. They had no store, just an old travelling field +range, and for a canteen one end of Battery F’s kitchen. They were then +attached to the Sixth Field Artillery. This was the regiment that fired +the first shot into Germany. + +The smoke in that kitchen was awful and continuous from the old field +range. The girls often made doughnuts out-of-doors, and they got +chilblains from standing in the snow. All the company had chilblains, +too, and it was a sorry crowd. Then the girls got the mumps. It was so +cold here, especially at night, they often had to sleep with their +clothes on. There was only one way they could have meetings in that +place and that was while the men were lined up for chow near to the +canteen. They would start to sing in the gloomy, cold room, the men and +girls all with their overcoats on, and fingers so cold that they could +hardly play the concertina, for there was no fire in the big room save +from the range at one end where they cooked. Then the girls would talk +to them while they were eating. Perhaps they did not call these +meetings, but they were a mighty happy time to the men, and they liked +it. + +A minister who had taken six months’ leave of absence from his church +to do Y.M.C.A. work in France asked one of the boys why he liked the +Salvation Army girls and he said: “Because they always take time to +cheer us up. It’s true they do knock us mighty hard about our sins, but +while it hurts they always show us a way out.” The minister told some +one that if he had his work to do over again he would plan it along the +lines of the Salvation Army work. + +You may hear it urged that one reason the boys liked the Salvation Army +people so much was because they did not preach, but it is not so. They +preached early and often, but the boys liked it because it was done so +simply, so consistently and so unselfishly, that they did not recognize +it as preaching. + +In Menaucourt as Christmas was coming on some United States officers +raised money to give the little refugee children a Christmas treat. +There was to be a tree with presents, and good things to eat, and an +entertainment with recitations from the children. The school-teacher +was teaching the children their pieces, and there was a general air of +delightful excitement everywhere. It was expected that the affair was +to be held in the Catholic church at first, but the priest protested +that this was unseemly, so they were at a loss what to do. The +school-house was not large enough. + +The Salvation Army Staff-Captain found this out and suggested to the +officers that the Salvation Army hut was the very place for such a +gathering. So the tree was set up, and the officers went to town and +bought presents and decorations. They covered the old hut with boughs +and flags and transformed it into a wonderland for the children. The +officers were struggling helplessly with the decorations of the tree +when the Salvation Army man happened in and they asked him to help. + +“Why, sure!” he said heartily. “That’s my regular work!” So they +eagerly put it into his hands and departed. The Staff-Captain worked so +hard at it and grew go interested in it that he forgot to go for his +chow at lunch-time, and when supper-time came the hall was so crowded +and there was so much still to be done that he could not get away to +get his supper. But it was a grand and glorious time. The place was +packed. There were two American Colonels, a French Colonel, and several +French officers. The soldiers crowded in and they had to send them out +again, poor fellows, to make room for the children, but they hung +around the doors and windows eager to see it all. + +The regimental band played, there were recitations in French and a good +time generally. + +The seats were facing the canteen where the supplies were all stocked +neatly, boxes of candy and cakes and good things. The Colonel in charge +of the regiment looked over to them wistfully and said to the +Staff-Captain: “Are you going to sell all those things?” The +Staff-Captain, with quick appreciation, said: “No, Colonel, Christmas +comes but once a year and there’s a present up there for you.” And the +Colonel seemed as pleased as the children when the Staff-Captain handed +him a big box of candy all tied up in Christmas ribbons. + +In the huts, phonographs are never silent as long as there is a single +soldier in the place. One night two of the Salvation Army girls, who +slept in the back room of a certain hut, had closed up for the night +and retired. They were awakened by the sound of the phonograph, and +wondered how anyone got into the hut and who it might happen to be. +They were a little bit nervous, but went to investigate. They found +that a soldier on guard had raised a window, and although this did not +allow him room to enter the hut, he was able to reach the table where +the phonograph stood. He had turned the talking machine around so that +it faced the window, and, placing a record in position, had started it +going. He was leaning up against the outer wall of the hut, smoking a +cigarette in the moonlight, and enjoying his concert. The girls +returned to bed without disturbing the audience. + +One of the most popular French confections sold in the huts was a +variety of biscuits known under the trade name of “Boudoir Biscuits” +One day a soldier entered a hut and said: “Say, miss, I want some of +them there-them there—Dang me if I can remember them French names!—them +there (suddenly a great light dawned)—some of them there bedroom +cookies.” And the lassie got what he wanted. + +The Salvation Army men who worked among the soldiers in advanced +positions from which all women are barred are among the heroes of the +war. Here during the day they labored in dugouts far below the +shell-tortured earth, often going out at night to help bring in the +wounded; always in danger from shells and gas; some with the ammunition +trains; others driving supply trucks; still others attached to units +and accompanying the fighting men wherever they went, even to the +active combat of the firing trench and the attack. These are unofficial +chaplains. Such a one was “La Petit Major,” as the soldiers called him, +because of his smallness of stature. + +The Little Major commenced his service in the field with the +Twenty-sixth Infantry, First Division, at Menaucourt. Soon he was +transferred to command the hut at Boviolles. At this place was the +battalion of the Twenty-sixth Infantry, commanded by Major Theodore +Roosevelt. His brother, Captain Archie Roosevelt, commanded a company +in this battalion. He was for the greater part of the time alone in the +work at Boviolles. + +By his consistent life and character and his willingness to serve both +men and officers, he won their esteem. + +When they left the training area for the trenches the Major was +requested to go with them. He turned the key in the canteen door and +went off with them across France and never came back, establishing +himself in the front-line trenches with the men and acting as +unofficial chaplain to the battalion. + +There is an interesting incident in connection with his introduction to +Major Roosevelt’s notice. + +For some reason the Salvation Army had been made to feel that they were +not welcome with that division. But the Little Major did not give up +like that, and he lingered about feeling that somehow there was yet to +be a work for him there. + +A young private from a far Western state, a fellow who, according to +all reports, had never been of any account at home, was convicted of a +most horrible murder and condemned to die by hanging because the +commanding officer said that shooting was too good for him. + +He accepted his fate with sullen ugliness. He would not speak to anyone +and he was so violent that they had to put him in chains. No one could +do anything with him. He had to be watched day and night; and it was +awful to see him die this way with his sin unconfessed. Many attempts +were made to break through his silence, but all to no effect. Several +chaplains visited him, but he would have nothing to do with them. + +On the morning of his execution, to the surprise of everybody he said +that he had heard that there was a Salvation Army man around, and he +would like to see him. The authorities sent and searched everywhere for +the Little Major, and some thought he must have left, but they found +him at last and he came at once to the desperate man. + +The criminal sat crouched on his hard bench, chained hand and foot. He +did not look up. He was a dreadful sight, his brutal face haggard, +unshaven, his eyes bloodshot, his whole appearance almost like some low +animal. Through the shadowy prison darkness the Little Major crept to +those chains, those symbols of the man’s degradation; and still the man +did not look up. + +“You must be in great trouble, brother. Can I help you any?” asked the +Little Major with a wonderful Christ-like compassion in his voice. + +The man lifted his bleared eyes under the shock of unkempt hair, and +spoke, startled: + +“You call me brother! You know what I’m here for and you call me +brother! Why?” + +The Little Major’s voice was steady and sweet as he replied without +hesitation: + +“Because I know a great deal about the suffering of Christ on the +Cross, all because He loved you so! Because I know He said He was +wounded for your transgressions, He was bruised for your iniquities! +Because I know He said, ’Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be +as white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as +wool!’ So why shouldn’t I call you brother?” + +“Oh,” said the man with a groan of agony and big tears rolling down his +face. “Could I be made a better man?” + +Then they went down on their knees together beside the hard bench, the +man in chains and the man of God, and the Little Major prayed such a +wonderful prayer, taking the poor soul right to the foot of the Throne; +and in a few minutes the man was confessing his sin to God. Then he +suddenly looked up and exclaimed: + +“It’s true, what you said! Christ has pardoned me! Now I can die like a +man!” + +With that great pardon written across his heart he actually went to his +death with a smile upon his face. When the Chaplain asked him if he had +anything to say he publicly thanked the military authorities and the +Salvation Army for what they had done for him. + +The Colonel, greatly surprised at the change in the man, sent to find +out how it came about and later sent to thank the Little Major. Two +days later Major Roosevelt came in person to thank him: + +“I knew that someone who knew how to deal with men had got hold of +him,” he said, “but I almost doubted the evidence of my own eyes when I +saw how cheerfully he went to his death, it all seemed too wonderful!” + +The little Major was with this battalion in all of its engagements, and +on several occasions went over the top with the men and devoted himself +to first aid to the wounded and to bringing the men back to the +dressing station on stretchers. Between the times of active +engagements, the Major gave himself to supplying the needs of the men +and made daily trips out of the trenches to obtain newspapers, writing +material, and to perform errands which they could not do for +themselves. + +One of the lieutenants said of him: “He is worth more than all the +chaplains that were ever made in the United States Army. He will walk +miles to get the most trivial article for either man or officer. The +men know that he loves them or he would not go into the trenches with +them, for he does not have to go. You can tell the world for me that he +is a real man!” + +One of the fellows said of him he had seen him take off his shoes and +bring away pieces of flesh from the awful blisters got from much +tramping. + +The men soon learned to love their gray haired Salvation Army comrade. +When an enemy attack was to be met with cold steel he was the first to +follow the company officers “over the top,” to cheer and encourage the +onrushing Americans in the anxious semi-calm which follows the lifting +of a barrage. A non-combatant, unarmed and fifty-three years of age, he +was always in the van of the fierce onslaught with which our men +repulsed the enemy, ready to pray with the dying or help bring in the +wounded, and always fearless no matter what the conditions. By his +unfearing heroism as well as his willingness to share the hardships and +dangers of the men, he so won their confidence that it was frequently +said that they would not go into battle except the Major was with them. +The men would crouch around him with an almost fantastic confidence +that where he was no harm could come. Knowing that many earnest +Christian people were praying for his safety and having seen how safely +he and those with him had come through dangers, they thought his very +presence was a protection. Who shall say that God did not stay on the +battlefield living and speaking through the Little Major? + +When the first division was moved from the Montdidier Sector he +travelled with the men as far as they went by train. When they +detrained and marched he marched with them, carrying his seventy pound +pack as any soldier did. He was by the side of Captain Archie Roosevelt +when he received a very dangerous wound from an exploding shell, and +was in the battle of Cantigny in the Montdidier Sector, where his +company lost only two men killed and four wounded, while other +companies’ losses were much more severe. + +Protestant, Catholic and Jew were all his friends. One Catholic boy +came crawling along in the waist-deep trench one day to tell the Major +about his spiritual worries. After a brief talk the Major asked him if +he had his prayer book. The boy said yes. “Then take it out and read +it,” said the Major. “God is here!” And there in the narrow trench with +lowered heads so that the snipers could not see them, they knelt +together and read from the Catholic prayer book. + +In one American attack the Little Major followed the Lieutenant over +the top just as the barrage was lifted. The Lieutenant looking back saw +him struggling over the crest of the parapet, laughed and shouted: “Go +back, Major, you haven’t even a pistol!” But the Major did not go back. +He went with the boys. “I have no hesitancy in laying down my life,” he +once said, “if it will help or encourage anyone else to live in a +better or cleaner way.” + +He was always striving for the salvation of his boys, and in his +meetings men would push their way to the front and openly kneel before +their comrades registering their determination to live in accordance +with the teachings of Jesus. One tells of seeing him kneel beside an +empty crate with three soldiers praying for their souls. + +It was because of all these things that the men believed in him and in +his God. He used to say to the men in the meetings, “We are not afraid +because we have a sense of the presence of God right here with us!” + +One night the battalion was “in” after a heavy day’s work strengthening +the defenses and trying to drain the trenches, and the men were asleep +in the dugouts. The Major lay in his little chicken-wire bunk, just +drowsing off, while the water seeped and dripped from the earthen roof, +and the rats splashed about on the water covered floor. + +Across from him in a bunk on the other side of the dugout tossed a boy +in his damp blankets who had just come to the front. He was only +eighteen and it was his first night in the line. It had been a hard day +for him. The shells screamed overhead and finally one landed close +somewhere and rocked the dugout with its explosion. The old-timers +slept undisturbed, but the boy started up with a scream and a groan, +his nerves a-quiver, and cried out: “Oh, Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” + +The Little Major was out and over to him in a flash, and gathered the +boy into his arms, soothing him as a mother might have done, until he +was calmed and strengthened; and there amid the roaring of guns, the +screaming of shells, the dripping of water and splashing of rats, the +youngest of the battalion found Christ. + +An old soldier came down from the front and a Salvationist asked him if +he knew the Little Major. + +“Well, you just bet I know the Major—sure thing!” And the Major is +always on hand with a laugh and his fun-making. In the trenches or in +the towns, where the shells are flying, the Little Major is with his +boys. No words of mine could express the admiration the boys have for +him. The boys love him. He calls them “Buddie.” They salute and are +ready to do or die. The last time I saw him he had hiked in from the +trenches with the boys. He carried a heavy “war baby” on his back and a +tin hat on his head. He was tired and footsore, but there was that +laugh, and before he got his pack off he jabbed me in the ribs. “No, +sir, we can’t get along without our Major!” So says “Buddie.” + +A request came from a chaplain to open Salvation Army work near his +division. The Brigade Commander was most favorable to the suggestion +until he learned that the Salvation Army would have women there and +that religious meetings would be conducted. As this was explained the +General’s manner changed and he declared he did not know that the work +was to be carried on in this way; that he did not favor the women in +camps, or any religion, but thought it would make the soldier soft, and +the business of the soldier was to kill, to kill in as brutal a manner +as possible; and to kill as many of the enemy as possible; and he did +not propose to have any work conducted in the camps or any influence on +his soldiers that would tend to soften them. + +He ordered them, therefore, not to extend the work of the Salvation +Army within his brigade. It was explained to him that Demange was now +within the territory named. He appeared to be put out that the +Salvation Army was already established in his district, but said that +if they behaved themselves they could go on, but that they must not +extend. + +He reported the matter to the Divisional Headquarters and an +investigation of the Salvation Army activities was ordered. A major who +was a Jew was appointed to look into the matter. During the next two +weeks he talked with the men and officers and attended Salvation Army +meetings. The leaders, of course, knew nothing about this, but they +could not have planned their meetings better if they had known. It +seemed as though God was in it all. At the end of two weeks there came +a written communication from the General stating that after a thorough +examination of the Salvation Army work he withdrew his objections and +the Salvation Army was free to extend operations anywhere within his +brigade. + +The Salvation Army hut was a scene of constant activity. + +At one place in a single day there was early mass, said by the Catholic +chaplain, later preaching by a Protestant chaplain, then a Jewish +service, followed by a company meeting where the use of gas masks was +explained. All this, besides the regular uses of the hut, which +included a library, piano, phonograph, games, magazines, pies, +doughnuts and coffee; the pie line being followed by a regular +Salvation Army meeting where men raised their hands to be prayed for, +and many found Christ as their Saviour. + +It was in an old French barracks that they located the Salvation Army +canteen in Treveray. One corner was boarded off for a bedroom for the +girls. There were windows but not of glass, for they would have soon +been shattered, and, too, they would have let too much light through. +They were canvas well camouflaged with paint so that the enemy shells +would not be attracted at night, and, of course, one could not see +through them. + +Inside the improvised bedroom were three little folding army cots, a +board table, a barrack bag and some boxes. This was the only place +where the girls could be by themselves. On rainy days the furniture was +supplemented by a dishpan on one cot, a frying-pan on another, and a +lard tin on the third, to catch the drops from the holes in the roof. +The opposite corner of the barracks was boarded off for a living-room. +In this was a field range and one or two tables and benches. + +The rest of the hut was laid out with square bare board tables. The +canteen was at one end. The piano was at one side and the graphophone +at the other. Sometimes in places like this, the hut would be too near +the front for it to be thought advisable to have a piano. It was too +liable to be shattered by a chance shell and the management thought it +unwise to put so much money into what might in a moment be reduced to +worthless splinters. Then the boys would come into the hut, look around +disappointedly and say: “No piano?” + +The cheerful woman behind the counter would say sympathetically: “No, +boys, no piano. Too many shells around here for a piano.” + +The boys would droop around silently for a minute or two and then go +off. In a little while back they would come with grim satisfaction on +their faces bearing a piano. + +“Don’t ask us where we got it,” they would answer with a twinkle in +reply to the pleased inquiry. “This is war! We salvaged it!” + +Around the room on the tables were plenty of magazines, books and +games. Checkers was a favorite game. No card playing, no shooting crap. +The canteen contained chocolate, candy, writing materials, postage +stamps, towels, shaving materials, talcum powder, soap, shoestrings, +handkerchiefs in little sealed packets, buttons, cootie medicine and +other like articles. The Salvation Army did not sell nor give away +either tobacco or cigarettes. In a few cases where such were sent to +them for distribution they were handed over to the doctors for the +badly wounded in the hospitals or the very sick men accustomed to their +use, who were almost insane with their nerves. They also procured them +from the Red Cross for wounded men, sometimes, who were fretting for +them, but they never were a part of their supplies and far from the +policy of the Salvation Army. Furthermore, the Salvation Army sent no +men to France to work for them who smoked or used tobacco in any form, +or drank intoxicating liquors. No man can hold a commission in the +Salvation Army and use tobacco! It is a remarkable fact that the boys +themselves did not want the Salvation Army lassies to deal in +cigarettes because they knew it would be going against their principles +to do so. + +Occasionally a stranger would come into the canteen and ask for a +package of cigarettes. Then some soldier would remark witheringly: +“Say, where do you come from? Don’t you know the Salvation Army don’t +handle tobacco?” + +The men were always deeply grateful to get talcum powder for use after +shaving. It seemed somehow to help to keep up the morale of the army, +that talcum powder, a little bit of the soothing refinement of the home +that seemed so far away. + +To this hut whenever they were at liberty came Jew and Gentile, +Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor. War is a great leveler and had +swept away all differences. They were a great brotherhood of Americans +now, ready, if necessary, to die for the right. + +To one of the huts came a request from the chaplain of a regiment which +was about to move from its temporary billet in the next village. The +men had not been so fortunate as to be stationed at a town where there +was a Salvation Army hut and it had been over four months since they +had tasted anything like cake or pie. Would the Salvation Army lassies +be so good as to let them have a few doughnuts before they moved that +night? If so the chaplain would call for them at five o’clock. + +The lassies worked with all their might and fried thirty-five hundred +doughnuts. But something happened to the ambulance that was to take +them to the boys, and over an hour was lost in repairs. Back at the +camp the boys had given up all hope. They were to march at eight +o’clock and nothing had been heard of the doughnuts. Suddenly the truck +dashed into view, but the boys eyed it glumly, thinking it was likely +empty after all this time. However, the chaplain held up both hands +full of golden brown beauties, and with a wild shout of joy the men +sprang to “attention” as the ambulance drew up, and more soldiers +crowded around. The villagers rushed to their doors to see what could +be happening now to those crazy American soldiers. + +When the chaplain stood up in the car flinging doughnuts to them and +shouting that there were thousands, enough for everybody, the +enthusiasm of the soldiers knew no bounds. The girls had come along and +now they began to hand out the doughnuts, and the crowd cheered and +shouted as they filed up to receive them. And when it came time for the +girls to return to their own village the soldiers crowded up once more +to say good-bye, and give them three cheers and a “tiger.” + +These same girls a few days before had fed seven hundred weary +doughboys on their march to the front with coffee, hot biscuits and +jam. + +In one of the Salvation Army huts one night the usual noisy +cheerfulness was in the air, but apart from the rest sat a boy with a +letter open on the table before him and a dreamy smile of tender +memories upon his face. Nobody noticed that far-away look in his eyes +until the lassie in charge of the hut, standing in the doorway +surveying her noisy family, searched him out with her discerning eyes, +and presently happened down his way and inquired if he had a letter. +The boy looked up with a wonderful smile such as she had never seen on +his face before, and answered: + +“Yes, it’s from mother!” Then impulsively, “She’s the nearest thing to +God I know!” + +Mother seemed to be the nearest thought to the heart of the boys over +there. They loved the songs best that spoke about mother. One boy +bought a can of beans at the canteen, and when remonstrated with by the +lassie who sold them, on the ground that he was always complaining of +having to eat so many beans, he replied: “Aw, well, this is different. +These beans are the kind that mother used to buy.” + +In the dark hours of the early morning a boy who belonged to the +ammunition train sat by one of the little wooden tables in the hut, +just after he had returned from his first barrage, and pencilled on its +top the following words: + +Mother o’ mine, what the words mean to me + Is more than tongue can say; +For one view to-night of your loving face, + What a price I would gladly pay! +The wonderful face . . . +. . . smiling still despite loads of care, + Tis crowned by a silvering sheen. +Your picture I carry next to my heart; + With it no harm can befall. +It has helped me to smile through many a care, + Since I heeded my country’s call. +O mother who nursed me as a babe + And prayed for me as a boy, +Can I not show, now at man’s estate, + That you are my pride and joy? +Good night! God guard you, way over the ocean blue, +Your boy loves you and his dreams are bright, + For he’s dreaming of home and you. + +One of the letters that was written home for “Mother’s Day” in response +to a suggestion on the walls of the Salvation Army hut was as follows: + +Dearest Little Mother of Mine: + +They started a campaign to write to mother on this day, and, believe +me, I didn’t have to be urged very hard. If I wrote you every time I +think of you this war would go hang as far as I am concerned, for I +think of you always and there are hundreds of things that serve as an +eternal reminder. + +Near our billet is one lone, scrubby little lilac bush that has a dozen +blossoms, and it doesn’t take much mental work to connect lilacs with +mother. Then, too, the distant whistle of a train ’way down the valley +reminds me of how you would listen for the whistle of the Montreal +train on Saturday morning and then fix up a big feed for your boy to +offset a week of boarding-house grub. Those and many other things +remind me many times a day of the one who bid me good-by with a smile +and saved her tears ’till she was home alone; who knit helmets, +wristlets and sweaters to keep out the cold when she should have been +sleeping; who (I’ll bet a hat) didn’t sleep one of the thirteen nights +I was on the ocean, and who writes me cheerful, newsy letters when all +others fail. + +And I appreciate all those things too, although I’m not much on showing +affection. I haven’t always been as good to you as I ought, but I’m +going to make up by being the soldier and the man “me mudder” thinks I +am. + +And when I come back home, all full of prunes and glory, we’re going to +have the grandest time you ever dreamed of. We’ll go joy riding, eat +strawberry shortcake and pumpkin pie, and have all the lilacs in the +U.S.A. Wait till I walk down Main Street with you on my arm all fixed +up in a swell dress and a new bonnet and me with a span new uniform, +with sergeant-major’s chevrons, about steen service stripes, a Mex. +campaign badge and a Croix de Guerre (maybe), then you’ll be glad your +boy went to be a soldier. + +I was on the road all of night before last and on guard last night and +I’m a wee bit tired so I’m making this kinder short; but it’s a little +reminder that the boy who is 5,000 miles away is thinking, “I love you +my ma,” same as I always did. + +And, by gosh, don’t forget about that pumpkin pie! + +Good-night, mother of mine; your soldier boy loves you a whole dollar’s +worth. + + +[Illustration: “Here during the day they worked in dugouts far below +the shell-tortured earth”] + +[Illustration: They came to get their coats mended and their buttons +sewed on] + +[Illustration: The Entrance to the Old Wine Cellar in Mandres.] + +[Illustration: The Salvation Army Was Told that Ansauville Was Too Far +Front for Any Women To Be Allowed To Go.] + +[Illustration: “L’Hermitage, nestled in the heart of a deep woods, was +no quiet refuge”] + +[Illustration: L’Hermitage, inside the tent. Several of these boys were +killed a few days after the picture was taken] + +The Salvation Army hut was home to the boys over there. They came to it +in sorrow or joy. They came to ask to scrape out the bowl where the +cake batter had been stirred because mother used to let them do it; +they came to get their coats mended and have their buttons sewed on. +Sometimes it seemed to the long-suffering, smiling woman who sewed them +on, as if they just ripped them off so she could sew them on again; if +so, she did not mind. They came to mourn when they received no word +from home; and when the mail came in and they were fortunate they came +first to the hut waving their letter to tell of their good luck before +they even opened it to read it. It is remarkable how they pinned their +whole life on what these consecrated American women said to them over +there. It is wonderful how they opened their hearts to them on +religious subjects, and how they flocked to the religious meetings, +seeming to really be hungry for them. + +Word about these wonderful meetings that the soldiers were attending in +such numbers got to the ears of another commanding officer, and one day +there came a summons for the Salvation Army Major in charge at +Gondrecourt to appear before him. An officer on a motor cycle with a +side car brought the summons, and the Major felt that it practically +amounted to an arrest. There was nothing to do but obey, so he climbed +into the side car and was whirled away to Headquarters. + +The Major-General received him at once and in brusque tones informed +him most emphatically: + +“We want you to get out! We don’t want you nor your meetings! We are +here to teach men to fight and your religion says you must not kill. +Look out there!” pointing through the doorway, “we have set up dummies +and teach our men to run their bayonets through them. You teach them +the opposite of that. You will unfit my men for warfare!” + +The Salvationist looked through the door at the line of straw dummies +hanging in a row, and then he looked back and faced the Major-General +for a full minute before he said anything. + +Tall and strong, with soldierly bearing, with ruddy health in the glow +of his cheeks, and fire in his keen blue eyes, the Salvationist looked +steadily at the Major-General and his indignation grew. Then the good +old Scotch burr on his tongue rolled broadly out in protest: + +“On my way up here in your automobile”—every word was slow and calm and +deliberate, tinged with a fine righteous sarcasm—“I saw three men +entering your Guard House who were not capable of directing their own +steps. They had been off on leave down to the town and had come home +drunk. They were going into the Guard House to sleep it off. When they +come out to-morrow or the next day with their limbs trembling, and +their eyes bloodshot and their heads aching, do you think they will be +fit for warfare? + +“You have men down there in your Guard House who are loathsome with +vile diseases, who are shaken with self-indulgence, and weakened with +all kinds of excesses. Are they fit for warfare? + +“Now, look at me!” + +He drew himself up in all the strength of his six feet, broad +shoulders, expanded chest, complexion like a baby, muscles like iron, +and compelled the gaze of the officer. + +“Can you find any man—” The Salvationist said “mon” and the soft Scotch +sound of it sent a thrill down the Major-General’s back in spite of his +opposition. “Can you find any mon at fifty-five years who can follow +these in your regiment, who can beat me at any game whatever?” + +The officer looked, and listened, and was ashamed. + +The Major rose in his righteous wrath and spoke mighty truths clothed +in simple words, and as he talked the tears unbidden rolled down the +Major-General’s face and dropped upon his table. + +“And do you know,” said the Salvationist, afterward telling a friend in +earnest confidence, “do you _know_, before I left we _had prayer +together!_ And he became one of the best friends we have!” + +Before he left, also, the Major-General signed the authority which gave +him charge of the Guard Houses, so that he might talk to the men or +hold meetings with them whenever he liked. This was the means of +opening up a new avenue of work among the men. + +The Scotch Major had a string of hospitals that he visited in addition +to his other regular duties. He knew that the men who are gassed lose +all their possessions when their clothes are ripped off from them. So +this Salvationist made a delightful all-the-year-round Santa Claus out +of himself: dressing up in old clothes, because of the mud and dirt +through which he must pass, he would sling a pack on his back that +would put to shame the one Old Santa used to carry. Shaving things and +soap and toothbrushes, handkerchiefs and chocolate and writing +materials. How they welcomed him wherever he came! Sick men, +Protestants, Jews, Catholics. He talked and prayed with them all, and +no one turned away from his kindly messages. + +Six miles from Neufchauteul is Bazoilles, a mighty city of hospital +tents and buildings, acres and acres of them, lying in the valley. +Whenever this man heard the rumbling of guns and knew that something +was doing, he took his pack and started down to go the rounds, for +there were always men there needing him. + +Then he would hold meetings in the wards, blessed meetings that the +wounded men enjoyed and begged for. They all joined in the singing, +even those who could not sing very well. And once it was a blind boy +who asked them to sing “Lead Kindly Light Amid the Encircling Gloom, +Lead Thou Me On.” + +One Sunday afternoon two Salvation Army lassies had come with their +Major to hold their usual service in the hospital, but there were so +many wounded coming in and the place was so busy that it seemed as if +perhaps they ought to give up the service. The nurses were heavy-eyed +with fatigue and the doctors were almost worked to death. But when this +was suggested with one accord both doctors and nurses were against it. +“The boys would miss it so,” they said, “and we would miss it, too. It +rests us to hear you sing.” + +After the Bible reading and prayer a lassie sang: “There Is Sunshine in +My Heart To-day,” and then came a talk that spoke of a spiritual +sunshine that would last all the year. The song and talk drifted out to +another little ward where a doctor sat beside a boy, and both listened. +As the physician rose to go the wounded boy asked if he might write a +letter. + +The next day the doctor happened to meet the lassie who sang and told +her he had a letter that had been handed to him for censorship that he +thought she would like to see. He said the writer had asked him to show +it to her. This was the letter: + +Dear Mother: You will be surprised to hear that I am in the hospital, +but I am getting well quickly and am having a good time. But best of +all, some Salvation Army people came and sang and talked about +sunshine, and while they were talking the sunshine came in through my +window—not into my room alone, but into my heart and life as well, +where it is going to stay. I know how happy this will make you. + +The hospital work was a large feature of the service performed by the +Salvation Army. In every area this testimony comes from both doctors, +nurses and wounded men. Yet it was nothing less than a pleasure for the +workers to serve those patient, cheerful sufferers. + +A lassie entered a ward one day and found the men with combs and tissue +paper performing an orchestra selection. They apologized for the noise, +declaring that they were all crazy about music and that was the only +way they could get it. + +“How would you like a phonograph?” she asked. + +“Oh, Boy! If we only had one! I’ll tell the world we’d like it,” one +declared wistfully. + +The phonograph was soon forthcoming and brought much pleasure. + +A lassie offered to write a letter for a boy whose foot had just been +amputated and whose right arm was bound in splints. He accepted her +offer eagerly, but said: + +“But when you write promise me you won’t tell mother about my foot. She +worries! She wouldn’t understand how well off I really am. Maybe you +had better let me try to write a bit myself for you to enclose. I guess +I could manage that.” So, with his left hand, he wrote the following: + +Dearest Mother:—I am laid up in the hospital here with a very badly +sprained ankle and some bruises, and will be here two or three weeks. +Do not worry, I am getting along fine. Your loving Son. + +Two automobiles, an open car and a limousine, were maintained in Paris +for the sole purpose of providing outings for wounded men who were able +to take a little drive. It was said by the doctors and nurses that +nothing helped a rapid recovery like these little excursions out into +an every-day beautiful world. + +A boy on one of the hospital cots called to a passing lassie: + +“I am going to die, I know I am, and I’m a Catholic. Can you pray for +me, Salvation Army girl, like you prayed for that fellow over there?” + +The young lassie assured him that he was not going to die yet, but she +knelt by his cot and prayed for him, and soothed him into a sleep from +which he awoke refreshed to find that she was right, he was not going +to die yet, but live, perhaps, to be a different lad. + +A sixteen-year-old boy who at the first declaration of war had run away +from home and enlisted was wounded so badly that he was ordered to go +back to the evacuation hospital. He was determined that he could yet +fight, and was almost crying because he had to leave his comrades, but +on the way back he discovered the entrance to a German dugout and +thought he heard someone down in there moving. + +“Come out,” he shouted, “or I’ll throw in a hand grenade!” + +A few minutes later he reached the evacuation hospital with thirty +prisoners of war, his useless arm hanging by his side. That is the kind +of stuff our American boys are made of, and those are the boys who are +praising the Salvation Army! + +It was sunset at the Gondrecourt Officers’ Training Camp. On the big +parade ground in back of the Salvation Army huts three companies were +lined up for “Colors.” The sun was sinking into a black mass of storm +clouds, painting the Western sky a dull blood red with here and there a +thread of gleaming gold etched on the rim of a cloud. Three French +children trudged sturdily, wearily, back from the distant fields where +they had toiled all day. The elder girl pushed a wheelbarrow heavily +laden with plunder from the fields. All bore farming implements, the +size of which dwarfed them by comparison. They had almost reached the +end of the drill ground when the military band blared out the opening +notes of the “Star Spangled Banner,” and the flag slipped slowly from +its high staff. Instantly the farming tools were dropped and the three +childish figures swung swiftly to “attention,” hands raised rigidly to +the stiff French salute. So they stood until the last note had died. +Then on they tramped, their backs all bent and weary, over the hill and +down into the grey, evening-shadowed village of the valley. + +In a shell-marred little village at the American front, the Salvation +Army once brought the United States Army to a standstill. Several +hundred artillerymen had gathered for the regular Wednesday night +religious service, held in the hutment, conducted by that organization +at this point, and, in closing, sang vigorously three verses of “The +Star Spangled Banner.” A Major who was passing came immediately to +attention, his example being followed by all of the men and officers +within hearing, and also by a scattering of French soldiers who were +just emerging from the Catholic church. By the time the second verse +was well under way three companies of infantry, marching from a rest +camp toward the front, had also come to a rigid salute, blocking the +road to a quartermaster’s supply train, who had, perforce, to follow +suit. The “Star Spangled Banner” has a deeper meaning to the man who +has done a few turns in the trenches. + +They had a pie-baking contest in Gondrecourt one day, where the +renowned “Aunt Mary” was located, with her sweet face and sweeter +heart. + +One of the other huts had baked two hundred and thirty-five pies in a +day. The people in Gondrecourt believed they could do better than that, +so they made their preparations and set to work. + +The soldiers were all interested, of course. Who was to eat those pies? +The more pies the merrier! The engineers had constructed a rack to hold +them, so that they might be easily counted without confusion. The +soldiers had appointed a committee to do the counting with a +representative from the cooks to be sure that everything went right. +Even the officers and chaplain took an interest in it. + +This hut was in one of the largest American sectors. It was so well +patronized that they used on an average fifty gallons of coffee every +evening and seventy-five or more gallons of lemonade every afternoon. +You can imagine the pies and doughnuts that would find a welcome here. +One day they made twenty-seven hundred sugar cookies, and another day +they fried eighteen hundred and thirty-six doughnuts, at the same time +baking cake and pies; but this time they were going to try to bake +three hundred pies between the rising and setting of the sun. + +An army field oven only holds nine pies at a time, so every minute of +the day had to be utilized. The fires were started very early in the +morning and everything was ready for the girls to begin when the sun +peeped over the edge of the great battlefield. They sprang at their +task as though it were a delightful game of tennis, and not as though +they had worked hard and late on the day before, and the many days +before that. + +It was very hot in the little kitchen as the sun waxed high. An army +range never tries to conserve its heat for the benefit of the cooks. In +fact that kitchen was often used for a Turkish bath by some poor wet +soldiers who were chilled to the bone. + +But the heat did not delay the workers. They flew at their task with +fingers that seemed to have somehow borrowed an extra nimbleness. All +day long they worked, and the pies were marshalled out of the oven by +nines, flaky and fragrant and baked just right. The rack grew fuller +and fuller, and the soldiers watched with eager eyes and watering +mouths. Now and then one of the soldiers’ cooks would put his head in +at the door, ask how the score stood, and shake his head in wonder. On +and on they worked, mixing, rolling, filling, putting the little twists +and cuts on the upper crust, and slipping in the oven and out again! +Mixing, rolling, filling and baking without any let-up, until the sun +with a twinkle of glowing appreciation slipped regretfully down behind +the hills of France again as if he were sorry to leave the fun, and the +time was up. The committee gave a last careful glance over the filled +racks and announced the final score, three hundred and sixteen pies, in +shining, delectable rows! + +By seven o’clock that evening the pie line was several hundred yards +long. It was eleven o’clock when the last quarter of a pie went over +the counter, with its accompanying mug of coffee. Think what it was +just to have to cut and serve that pie, and make that coffee, after a +long day’s work of baking! + +One of the officers receiving his change after having paid for his pie +looked at it surprisedly: + +“And you mean to tell me that you girls work so hard for such a small +return? I don’t see where you make any profit at all.” + +“We don’t work for profit, Captain,” answered the lassie. “I don’t +think any amount of money would persuade us to keep going as we have to +here at times.” + +“You mean you sort of work for the joy of working?” he asked, puzzled. + +“I don’t know what you mean,” responded the lassie pleasantly, “but +when we are tired we look at the boys drilling in the sun and working +early and late. They are splendid and we feel we must do our part as +unreservedly as they do theirs.” + +“No wonder my men have so many good things to say about the Salvation +Army!” said the Captain, turning to his companions. But as he went out +into the night his voice floated back in a puzzled sort of +half-conviction, as if he were thinking out something more than had +been spoken: + +“It takes more than patriotism to keep refined women working like +that!” + +These same girls were commissioned also to make frequent visits to the +hospitals and talk with the sick soldiers. Often they read the Bible to +them, and many a man through these little talks has found the way of +eternal life. This in addition to their other work. + +One night after a meeting in the hut a lad wanted to come into the room +at the back and speak to one of the women about his soul. They knelt +and prayed together, and the boy when he rose had a light of real +happiness on his face. But suddenly the happiness faded and he +exclaimed: + +“But I can’t read!” + +“Read? What do you mean?” asked the lassie. + +“My Bible. Nobody never learned me to read, and I can’t read my Bible +like you said in the meeting I should.” + +The lassie thought for a minute, and then suggested that he come to the +hut every morning just before first call and she would teach him a +verse of scripture and read him a chapter. This meant that the lassie +must rise that much earlier, but what of that for a servant of the +King? + +Just a month this program was carried out, and then came marching +orders for the boy, but by this time he had a rich store of God’s word +safe in his heart from the verses he had memorized. The last night when +he came to say good-bye he said to his teacher: + +“Your kindness has meant a lot of trouble for you, miss, but for me it +has meant life! Before, I was afraid to fight; but now I don’t even +fear death. I know now that it can only mean a new life. Thank God for +your goodness to me!” + +There was one soldier who went by the name of Scoop. He had been a +reporter back in the States and learned to love drink. When he joined +the army he did not give up his old habits. Whenever anybody +remonstrated with him he invariably replied gaily, “I’m out to enjoy +life.” On pay-days Scoop celebrated by drinking more than ever. + +One day he happened into the Salvation Army hut. Whether the pie or the +doughnuts or the homeyness of the place first attracted him no one +knows. He said it was the pie. Something held him there. He came every +night. The spirit of the Lord that lived and breathed in those +consecrated men and girls began to work in his heart and conscience, +and speak to him of better things that might even be for him. + +When he felt the desire for drink or gambling coming on he gave his +money to the girls to keep for him. + +On the last pay-day before he was sent to another location he took a +paint-brush and some paint and made a little sign which he set up in a +prominent place in the hut, his silent testimony to what they had done +for him: “For the first time on pay-day Scoop is sober!” + +One morning a lassie was frying some doughnuts in the Gondrecourt hut, +another was rolling and cutting, and both were very busy when a soldier +came in with the mail. The girls went on with their work, though one +could easily see that they were eager for letters. One was handed to +the lassie who was frying the doughnuts. When she opened it she found +it was an official dispatch. The others saw the change of her +expression and asked what was the matter, but she made no reply while +tears started down her cheeks. She, however, went on frying doughnuts. +The others asked again what was the trouble and for answer the girl +handed them the open dispatch, which stated briefly that one of her +three brothers, who were all in the service, had been killed in action +on the previous day. The others sympathetically tried to draw her away +from her work, but she said: “No, nothing will help me to bear my +sorrow like doing something for others.” This is the spirit of the +Salvation Army workers. Personal sorrows, personal feelings, personal +difficulties, hardships, dangers, are not allowed to interrupt their +labors of love. Fortunately, it was later discovered that this message +about her brother was unfounded. + +A boy told this lassie one day that the next day was his birthday, and +she saw the homesickness and yearning in his eyes as he spoke. +Immediately she told him she would have a birthday party for him and +bake a cake for it. + +She found some tiny candles in the village and placed nineteen upon the +pretty frosted cake. They had to use a white bed-quilt for a +tablecloth, and none of the cups and saucers matched, but the table +looked very pretty when it was set, with little white paper baskets of +almonds which the girls had made at each place, and all the candles lit +on the white cake in the middle. The boy brought three of his comrades, +and there were the Salvation Army Major in charge and the lassies. They +had a beautiful time. Of course it was quite a little extra work for +the lassie, but when someone asked her why she took so much trouble she +had a faraway look in her eyes, and said she guessed it was for the +sake of the boy’s mother, and those who heard remembered that her own +three brothers were in United States uniform somewhere facing the +enemy. + +There are several instances in which American soldiers coming from +British and French Sectors, where they had been brigaded with armies of +those nations, have upon entering a Salvation Army hut for the first +time without noticing the sign over the door started to talk to the +girls in French—very fragmentary French at that. When they found the +girls to be Americans they were almost beside themselves with mingled +feelings of bashfulness and delight. Most of the soldiers exhibit the +former trait. + +One boy approached one of our men officers. + +“Can them girls speak American?” he asked, pointing at the girls. + +On being assured that they could, he said: “Will they mind if I go up +and speak to them? I ain’t talked to an American woman in seven +months.” + +Two soldiers were walking along the dusty roadway. + +First soldier: “Let’s go to the Salvation Army hut.” + +Second soldier: “No, I don’t want to.” + +First soldier: “They’ve got a piano and a phonograph and lots of +records.” + +Second soldier: “No, I don’t want to.” + +First soldier: “They’ve got books and _beaucoup_ games.” + +Second soldier: “No, I don’t want to.” + +First soldier: “Two American ladies there!” + +Second soldier: “No, I don’t want to.” + +First soldier: “They’ve got swell coffee and doughnuts!” + +Second soldier (angrily): “No! I said No!” + +First soldier: “Aw, come on. They got real homemade pie!” + +Second soldier: “I don’t care!” + +First soldier: “They cut their own wood and do their own work!” + +Second soldier: “Well, that’s different! Why didn’t you say that right +off, you bonehead? Come on. Where is it?” + +And they entered the Salvation Army hut smiling. + +One dear Salvation Army lady had a little hand sewing machine which she +took about with her and wherever she landed she would sit down on an +orange crate, put her machine on another and set up a tailor shop: +sewing up rips; refitting coats that were too large; letting out a seam +that was too tight; and helping the boys to be tidy and comfortable +again. A good many of our boys lost their coats in the Soissons fight, +and when they got new ones they didn’t always fit, so this little +sewing machine that went to war came in very handy. Sometimes the owner +would rip off the collar or rip out the sleeves, or almost rip up the +whole coat and with her mouthful of pins skillfully put it together +again until it looked as if it belonged to the laddie who owned it. +Then with some clever chalk marks replacing the pins she would run it +through her little machine, and off went another boy well-clothed. One +week she altered more than thirty-three coats in this way. The soldiers +called her “mother” and loved to sit about and talk with her while she +worked. + +The men went in battalions to the Lunéville Sector for Trench Training +facing the enemy. Of course, the Salvation Army sent a detachment also. + +Over here they had to give up huts. No huts at all were allowed so near +the front. No light of fire or even stove, no lights of any kind or +everything would be destroyed by shell fire at once. An order went out +that all huts near the front must be under ground. Yet neither did this +daunt the faithful men and women whom God Himself had sent to help +those boys at the front. + +The work was extended to other camps in the Gondrecourt area and +finally the time came for the troops to move up to the front to occupy +part of a sector. + + + + +III. +The Toul Sector + + +Headquarters of the First Division were established at Menil-la-Tour +and that of the First Brigade at Ansauville. Information came on +leaving the Gondrecourt Area, that the district would be abandoned to +the French, so the wooden hut at Montiers was moved and set up again at +Sanzey, which then became the Headquarters of the First Ammunition +Train. Huts were established at Menil-la-Tour and other points in the +Toul Sector. + +It took three days to erect the hut at Sanzey, but within an hour the +field range was set up, and a piece of tarpaulin stretched over it to +keep the rain off the girls and the doughnuts. + +Hour after hour the girls stood there making doughnuts, and hour after +hour the line moved slowly along waiting patiently for doughnuts. The +Adjutant went away a little while and returned to find some of the same +boys standing in line as when he left. Some had been standing five +hours! It was the only pastime they had, just as soon as they were off +duty, to line up again for doughnuts. + +The hut at Sanzey was used mostly by men of an Ammunition Train. As in +other places where the Salvation Army huts catered to the American +troops, an all-night service of hot coffee or chocolate and doughnuts +or cookies was provided for the men as they returned from their +dangerous nightly trips to the front. When men were killed their +comrades usually brought them back and laid them in this hut until they +could be buried. One night a man was killed and brought back in this +fashion. The chaplain was holding a service over his body in the hut. +The Salvation Army man was talking to the man who had been the dead +lad’s “buddie.” “I wish it was me instead of him, Cap,” said this +soldier, “he was his mother’s oldest son and she will take it hard.” + +The Salvation Army was told that Ansauville was too far front for any +women to be allowed to go. They felt, however, that it was advisable +for women to be there and determined to bring it about if possible. On +scouting the town there was found no suitable place in any of the +buildings except one that was occupied as the General’s garage. The +Salvation Army was not permitted to erect any additional buildings as +it was feared they would attract the fire of the Germans, for +Ansauville was well within the range of the German guns. + +After deciding that the General’s garage was the only logical place for +them the Salvation Army representative called upon the General, who +asked him where he would propose establishing a hut. The Salvationist +told him the only suitable place in the town was that used by him as a +garage. He immediately gave most gracious and courteous consent and +ordered his aide to find another garage. + +The place in question was an old frame barn with a lofty roof which had +already been partly shot away and was open to the sky. They were not +permitted to repair the roof because the German airplane observers +would notice it and know that some activity was going on there which +would call for renewed shell fire. However, the top of one of the +circus tents was easily run up in the barn so as to form a ceiling. + +Ansauville was between Mandres and Menil-la-Tour, not far from advanced +positions in the Toul Sector. Five hundred French soldiers had been +severely gassed there the night before the Staff-Captain and his helper +arrived, and every day people were killed on the streets by falling +shells. There was not a house in the village that had not suffered in +some way from shell fire; very few had a door or a window left, and +many were utterly demolished. + +Approaching the town the roads were camouflaged with burlap curtains +hanging on wires every little way, so that it was impossible to see +down the streets very far in either direction. There were signs here +and there: “Attention! The enemy sees you!” + +About midnight the Staff-Captain and his officer arrived and after some +difficulty found the old barn that the Colonel had told them was to be +their hut, but to their dismay there were half a dozen cars parked +inside, including the Commanding General’s, and it looked as if it were +being used for the Staff Garage. Looking up they could see the stars +peeping through the shell holes in the tiled roof. It was the first +time either of them had been in a shelled town and the experience was +somewhat awe-inspiring. Moreover they were both hungry and sleepy and +the situation was by no means a cheerful one. They had a large tent and +a load of supplies with them and were at a loss where to bestow them. + +In the midst of their perturbation a courier arrived with a side car +and dismounted. He stumbled in on them and peered at them through the +darkness. + +“As I live, it’s the Salvation Army!” he cried joyfully, shaking hands +with both of them at once. “All of the boys have been asking when you +were coming. Are you looking for a place to chow and sleep? There’s no +place in town for a billet, but we have a kitchen down the street. We +can give you some chow, and it’s warm there. You can roll up in your +blankets and sleep by the stove till morning. Come with me.” + +The cook awakened them in the morning with his clatter of pots and pans +in preparation for breakfast. They arose and began to roll up their +blanket packs. + +“Don’t worry about getting up yet,” said the chief cook kindly. “Sleep +a little longer. You are not in my way.” But the two men thanked him +and declined to rest longer. + +“Where are you going to chow?” asked the chief cook. + +The Salvationists allowed that they didn’t know. + +“Well, you boys line up with this outfit, see?” insisted the chief +cook. “We eat three times a day and you’re welcome to everything we +have!” + +This settled the question of board, and after a good breakfast the two +started out to report to the General in command. + +He greeted them most kindly and made them feel welcome at once. + +When they asked about the barn he smiled pleasantly: + +“That Colonel of yours is a fine fellow,” he said. “He told me that +there was only one place in this town that would do for your hut and +that was my garage. He said he was afraid he would have to ask me to +move my car. Just as though my car were of more importance than the +souls of my men! Gentlemen, you can have anything you want that is mine +to give. The barn is yours! And if there’s anything I can do, command +me!” + +It was a very dirty stable and needed a deal of cleaning, but the +strong workers bent to their task with willing hands, and soon had it +in fine order. There was no possibility of mending the roof, but they +camouflaged the old tent top and ran it up inside, and it kept the rain +and snow off beautifully. Of course, it was no protection against +shells, but when they commenced to arrive everybody departed in a hurry +to the nearby dugouts, returning quietly when the firing had ceased. +The nights were so cold that they had to sleep with all their clothes +on, even their overcoats. Often in the mornings their shoes were frozen +too stiff to put on until they were thawed over a candle. One soldier +broke his shoe in two trying to bend it one morning. Sometimes the men +would sleep with their shoes inside their shirts to keep the damp +leather from freezing. Two yards from the stove the milk froze! + +A field range had been secured and the chimney extended up from the +roof for a distance of forty or fifty feet. It smoked terribly, but on +this range was cooked many a savory meal and tens of thousands of +doughnuts. + +Among the doughboys who loved to help around the Salvation Army hut was +a quiet fellow who never talked much about himself, yet everybody liked +him and trusted him. No one knew much about him, or where he came from, +and he never told about his folks at home as some did. But he used to +come in from the trenches during the day and do anything he could to be +useful around the hut, which was run by two sisters. Even when he had +to stand watch at night he would come back in the daytime and help. +They could not persuade him to sleep when he ought. Other fellows came +and went, talked about their troubles and their joys, got their bit of +sympathy or cheer and went their way, but this fellow came every day +and worked silently, always on the job. They made him their chief +doughnut dipper and he seemed to love the work and did it well. + +Then one day his company moved, and he came no more. The girls often +asked if anyone knew anything about him, but no one did. Once in a +while a brief note would come from him up at the front in the trenches +a few miles to the north, but never more than a word of greeting. + +One morning the girls were making doughnuts, hard at work, and suddenly +the former chief doughnut dipper stumbled into the hut. He looked tired +and dusty and it was evident by the way he walked that he was footsore. + +“Gee! It’s good to see you,” he said, sinking down in his old place by +the stove. + +They gave him a cup of steaming coffee and all the doughnuts he could +eat and waited for his story, but he did not begin. + +“Well, how are you?” asked one of the girls, hoping to start him. + +“Oh, all right, thanks,” he said meekly. + +“Where is your company?” + +“Up the line in some woods.” + +“How far is it?” + +“About ten miles.” + +The girls felt they were not getting on very fast in acquiring +information. + +“Did you walk all that way in the dust and sun?” + +“Most of it. Sometimes I was in the fields.” + +“Were you on watch last night?” + +“Ye-ah.” + +“Then you didn’t have any sleep?” + +“No.” + +“Why did you come over here then?” + +“I wanted to see you.” There was a sound of a deep hunger in his voice. + +“Well, we’re awfully glad to see you, surely. Is there anything we can +do for you?” + +“No, Just let me look at you”—there was frank honesty in his eyes, a +deep undertone of reverence in his voice, not even a hint of gallantry +or flattery, only a loyal homage. + +“Just let me look at you—and——” he hesitated. + +“And what?” + +“And cook some doughnuts.” + +“Why, of course!” said the girls cheerily, “but you must lie down and +sleep awhile first. We’ll fix a place for you.” + +“I don’t want to lie down,” said the soldier determinedly, “I don’t +want to waste the time.” + +“But it wouldn’t be wasted. You need the sleep.” + +“No, that isn’t what I need. I want to look at you,” he reiterated. +“I’ve got a wife and a little baby at home, and I love them. I like to +be here because seeing you takes me back to them. This morning I knew I +ought to sleep, but I just couldn’t go over the top tonight without +seeing you again. That’s why I want to see you and fry a few doughnuts +for you. It takes me back to them.” + +He finished with a far-away look in his eyes. He was not thinking what +impression his words would make, his thoughts were with his wife and +little baby. + +He worked around for a couple of hours, saying very little, but seeming +quite content. Then he looked at his watch and said it was time to go, +as it was quite a walk back to his company. Just so quietly he took his +leave and went out to take his chance with Death. + +The two girls thought much about him that night as they went about +their work, and later lay down and tried to sleep, and their prayers +went up for the faithful soul who was doing his duty out there under +fire, and for the anxious wife and little one who waited to know the +outcome. Sleep did not come soon to their eyes, as they lay in the +darkness and prayed. + +“The next day about noon as the girls were dipping doughnuts the chief +doughnut dipper stumbled once more into the hut, tired, dirty, dusty +and worn, but with his eyes sparkling: + +“Just thought I ought to come back and tell you I’m all right,” he +said. “I was afraid you’d be worried. My wife and baby would, anyway.” + +The girls received him with exultant smiles. “You go out there under +the trees and go to sleep!” they ordered him. + +“All right, I will,” he said. “I feel like sleeping now. Say, you don’t +think I’m crazy, do you? I just had to see you! It took me back to +them!” + +It was one of those chill rainy nights which have caused the winter of +1917-1918 to be remembered with shudders by the men of the earlier +American Expeditionary Forces. A large part of the American forces were +billeted in the weathered, age-old little villages of the Gondrecourt +area. They slept in barns, haylofts, cowsheds and even in pig sties. +The roads were mere ditches running knee deep in sticky, clogging mud. +Shoes, soaked through from the muddy road, froze as the men slept and +in the morning had to be thawed out over a candle before they could be +drawn on. Frequently men were late at roll-call simply because their +shoes were frozen so stiff that they were unable to don them, and their +leggings so icy that they could not be wound. After sundown there were +no lights, because lights invited air-raids and might well expose the +position of troops to the enemy observers. Only in towns where there +were Salvation Army or Y.M.C.A. huts could men find any artificial +warmth, during the day or night, and only in these places were there +any lights after nightfall. Such huts afforded absolutely the only +available recreation facilities. But in countless villages where +Americans were billeted there was not even this small comfort to be +had. + +On this particular night, in such a village, an eighteen-year-old boy +sat in the orderly room of a regimental headquarters, which was housed +in a once pretentious but now sadly decrepit house. Rain leaked through +the tiled roof and dribbled down into the room. Windows were long ago +shattered and through cracks in the rude board barricades which had +replaced the glass a rising wind was driving the rain. The boy sat at a +rough wooden table waiting orders. Two weeks previously a letter had +come, saying that his mother was seriously ill. Since that he had had +no further word. He was desperately homesick. There had been as yet +none of the danger and none of the thrill which seems to settle a man +down, to the serious business of war. + +A passing soldier had just told him that in a village some twelve +kilometers distant two Salvation Army women were operating a hut. He +longed desperately for the comfort of a woman of his own people and, +sitting in the drafty, damp room, he wished that these two +Salvationists were not so far away—that he could talk with them and +confide in them. At last the wish grew so strong that he could no +longer resist it. + +He got up quietly, and silently slipped out into the rainy night. The +darkness was so thick that he could not see objects six feet away. +Walking through the mud was out of the question. He stumbled down, the +street, once falling headlong into a muddy puddle, finally reaching the +horse-lines, where, saying that he had an errand for the Colonel, he +saddled a horse and slopped off into the night. + +For a while he kept to the road, his horse occasionally taking fright, +as a truck passed clanking slowly in the opposite direction, or a staff +car turned out to pass him like a fleeting, ghostly shadow. By +following the trees which lined the road at regular intervals he was +fairly sure to keep the road. He was very tired and soon began to feel +sleepy, but the driving storm, which by this time had assumed the +proportions of a tempest, stung him to wakefulness. Once, at a +cross-roads a Military Police stopped and questioned him and gave him +directions upon his saying that he was carrying dispatches. + +He went on. He dozed, only to be sharply awakened by a truck which +almost ran him down. He must be more careful, he thought to himself, +feeling utterly alone and miserable. But in spite of his resolution his +eyes soon closed again. He was awakened, this time by his horse +stumbling over some unseen obstacle. He could see nothing in any +direction. The blackness and rain shut him in like a fog. He turned at +right angles to find the trees which lined the road, but there were no +trees. He swung his horse around and went in the other direction, but +he found no trees—only an impenetrable darkness which pressed in upon +him with a heaviness which might almost have been weighed. He was +lost—utterly lost. + +He guided his steed in futile circles, hoping to regain the road, but +all to no avail. Fear of the night fell upon him. He was wet to the +skin and chilled to the bone. He shivered with cold and with fright. +Dropping from his horse he pulled from his pocket an electric +flashlight and began throwing its slender beam in widening arcs over +the ground. The light revealed a stubble field. Surely there must be a +path which would lead to the road, thought the boy. Backward and +forward over the field he waved the light. His hands trembled so that +he could not hold the switch steady, and the lamp blinked on and off. + +On the storm-swept, night-hidden hillside which overhung the field was +established an anti-aircraft battery. + +The sound detectors had just registered the intermittent hum of an +enemy plane. It was unusual that an enemy aviator should fight his way +over the lines in the face of such a storm, but such things had +occurred before and the Captain in charge of the battery searched the +tempestuous skies for the intruder, waiting for the sound to grow until +he should know that the searchlights had at least a chance of locating +the venturesome plane instead of merely giving away their position. + +Suddenly, cutting the night in the field below, a tiny ray of light cut +the darkness, sweeping back and forward, flashing on and off. For a +moment the officer watched it, then, with a muttered curse, he raced +down the hillside followed by one of his men. The noise of the storm +hid their approach. The boy collapsed into a trembling heap, as the +officer grasped him and wrested the flash-light from his chilled +fingers. He made no protest as they led him down into a dark, deserted +village. He followed his captors into a candle-lighted room where sat a +staff officer. + +Briefly the Captain explained the situation. + +“Caught him in the act of signaling to an enemy plane, sir,” he said. + +The boy was too cold to venture a protest. + +“Bring him to me again in the morning,” said the Colonel, shrugging his +shoulders. “Hold on, though! What are you going to do with him? He will +die unless you get him warmed up.” + +“Don’t know what to do with him, sir, unless I take him down to the +Salvation Army... they have a fire there.” + +“Very good, Captain, see that he is properly guarded and if they will +have him, leave him there for the night.” And so it came to pass that +the boy reached his destination. It was past closing time—long past; +but the motherly Salvationist in charge knew just what to do. Within +ten minutes, wrapped in a warm blanket, the boy sat with his feet in a +pan of hot water, with the Salvation Army woman feeding him steaming +lemonade. Between gulps, he told his story and was comforted. Soon he +was snugly tucked into an army cot, and still grasping the +Salvationist’s hand, was sleeping peacefully. + +The next day a little investigation assured the Colonel that the boy’s +story was a true one, and with a reprimand for leaving his post without +orders he was allowed to return. The delay, however, had absented him, +of course, from morning roll-call, and he was sentenced to thirty days +repairing wire on the front-line trenches, which was often equivalent +to a death sentence, for as many men were shot during the performance +of this duty as came in safely. + +He had done fifteen days of his time at this sentence when the +Salvation Army woman from the Ansauville hut which the boy had visited +that rainy night happened over to his Officers’ Headquarters, and by +chance learned of his unhappy fate. It took but a few words from her to +his commanding officer to set matters right; his sentence was revoked, +and he was pardoned. + +Ansauville was a point of peculiar importance in that all the troops +passing into or out from the sector stopped there. It was here that +cocoa and coffee were first provided for the troops. Afterwards it came +to be the habit to serve them with the doughnuts and pie. It was when +the Twenty-sixth Division came into the line. They had marched for +hours and had been without any warm meal for a long time. Detachments +of them reached Ansauville at night, wet and cold, too late to secure +supper that night, and hearing they were coming, the lassies put on +great boilers of coffee and cocoa, and as the men arrived they were +given to them freely. + +A hut was established at Mandres. This was some distance in advance of +Ansauville and lay in the valley. At first a wooden building was +secured. It had nothing but a dirt floor but lumber was hauled from +Newchateau by truck—a distance of sixty miles, and the place was made +comfortable. + +For some little time the boys enjoyed this hut, but on one occasion the +Germans sent over a heavy barrage; they hit the hut, destroying one end +of it, scattering the supplies, ruining the victrola, and after that +the military authorities ordered that the men should not assemble in +such numbers. + +When this order was given, the Salvation Army had no intention of +discontinuing work at Mandres and so found a cellar under a partially +destroyed building. This cellar was vaulted and had been used for +storing wine. It was wet and in bad condition, but with some labor it +was made fit to receive the men; and tables and benches were placed +there, the canteen established and a range set up. It was at this place +that a very wonderful work was carried on. The Salvation Army Ensign +who had charge, for a time, scoured the country for miles around to +purchase eggs, which he transferred to his hut in an old baby carriage. +The eggs were supplied to the men at cost and they fried them +themselves on the range, which was close at hand. This was considered +by the military authorities too far front for women to come and only +men were allowed here. + +The Ensign also mixed batter for pan cakes and established quite a +reputation as a pan-cake maker. Here was a place where the soldiers +felt at home. They could come in at any time and on the fire cook what +they pleased. + +They could purchase at the canteen such articles as were for sale and +it was home to them. Very wonderful meetings were held in this spot and +many men found Christ at the penitent-form, which was an old bench +placed in front of the canteen. + +On the wharf in New York when the soldiers were returning home some +soldiers were talking about the Salvation Army. “Did you ever go to one +of their meetings?” asked one. “I sure did!” answered a big fine +fellow—a college man, by the way, from one of the well known New +England universities. “I sure did!—and it was the most impressive +service I ever attended. It was down in an old wine cellar, and the +house over it _wasn’t_ because it had been blown away. The meeting was +led by a little Swede, and he gave a very impressive address, and +followed it by a wonderful prayer. And it wasn’t because it was so +learned either, for the man was no college chap, but it stirred me +deeply. I used to be a good deal of a barbarian before I went to +France, but that meeting made a big change in me. Things are going to +be different now. + +“The place was lit by a candle or two and the guns were roaring +overhead, but the room was packed and a great many men stood up for +prayers. Oh, I’ll never forget that meeting!” + +That meeting was in the old wine cellar in Mandres. + +The town of Mandres was shelled daily and it was an exceptional day +that passed without from one to ten men being killed as a result of +this shelling. + +Here are some extracts from letters written by the Ensign from the old +wine cellar in Mandres: + +“Somewhere in France,” +May 15, 1918. + +I am still busy in my old wine-cellar in France. I must give you an +idea of my daily routine: Get up early and, go to my cellar. Get wood +and make fire; go for some water to put on stove. Take my mess kit, +helmet, gas mask and cane, walk about one block to the part of the +church standing by the artillery kitchen and get my hand-out mess, go +back to my cellar and have my breakfast, see to the fire, fuel, clean +and light the lamps, dip and carry out some water and mud (but have now +found a place to drain off the water by cutting through the heavy stone +wall and digging a ditch underneath). I dig whenever I have time. Then +the boys begin to come in—some right from the trenches, others who are +resting up after a siege in the trenches. They are all covered with mud +when they come in and have to talk, stand and even sleep in mud. Then I +must have the cocoa and coffee ready and serve also the candy, figs, +nuts, gum, chocolate, shaving-sticks, razors, watches, knives, gun oil, +paper, envelopes, _etc_. I mostly wear my rubber boots and stand in a +little boot “slouched” down so I can stand straight. Almost every +evening we have a little “sing-song” or regular service, and on Sunday +two or three services. + +Our wine-cellar is supposed to be bomb-proof. First the roof, the +ceiling, the floor, then the three-feet stone and concrete under the +floor and along the wine-cellar. I am all alone for all this business. +Sometimes the boys help me to cut wood and keep the fire and carry +water, but the companies are changed so often that they go and come +every five days, and when they come from the trenches they are so tired +and sleepy they need all the rest they can get. Yesterday I had to +change the stove and stovepipes because it smoked so bad that it almost +smoked us out. So I had to run through the ruins and find old +stovepipes. I could not find enough elbows, so I had to make some with +the help of an old knife. We ran the pipes through the low window bars +and up the side of the house to the top, and plastered up poor joints +with mud, but it burns better and does not smoke. The boys claim I make +the best coffee they have had in France, and also cocoa. I am glad I +know something of cooking. You see, they don’t permit girls so near the +trenches and in the shell fire. + +My dear Major: + +Grace, love and peace unto you! Many thanks for the beautiful letter I +received from you full of love, Christian admonition and encouragement. +Such letters are much Appreciated over here. + +I have been very busy. The last week, in addition to running the +ordinary business, I have used the pick and shovel and wheelbarrow in +lowering our wine-cellar floor (now used as a Salvation Army rest +room), so we can walk straight in. I have also done some white-washing +to brighten things up and have some flowers in bowls, large French wine +bottles and big brass shells, which makes a great improvement. I now +expect to pick up pieces and erect a range, so we can cook and make +things faster. I secured two hams and am having them cooked, and expect +to serve ham sandwiches by Decoration Day, two days hence, when there +is to be a great time in decorating the graves of our heroes. I am also +trying to get some lemons so that I can make lemonade for the boys +besides the coffee and cocoa. You can get an idea of the immensity of +our business when I tell you I got 999.25 francs worth of butter-scotch +candy alone with the last lot of goods, besides a dozen other kinds of +candy, nuts, toilet articles, _etc_., and this will be sold and given +out in a very few days. + +We had very good meetings last Sunday. I spoke at night. A glorious +time we had, indeed. Praise God for the opportunity of working among +the New England braves! + +At Menil-la-Tours the French forbade any huts at all to be put up at +first, but finally they gave permission for one hut. The Staff-Captain +wanted to put up two, but as that wasn’t allowed he got around the +order by building five rooms on each side of the one big hut and so had +plenty of room. It is pretty hard to get ahead of a Salvation Army +worker when he has a purpose in view. Not that they are stubborn, +simply that they know how to accomplish their purpose in the nicest way +possible and please everybody. + +There were some American railroad engineers here, working all night +taking stuff to the front. They came over and asked if they could help +out, and so instead of taking their day for sleep they spent most of it +putting tar paper on the roof of the Salvation Army hut. + +It was in this place that there seemed to be a strong prejudice among +some of the soldiers against the Salvation Army for some reason. The +soldiers stood about swearing at the Staff-Captain and his helper as +they worked, and saying the most abusive and contemptible things to +them. At last the Staff-Captain turned about and, looking at them, in +the kindliest way said: + +“See here, boys, did you ever know anything about the Salvation Army +before?” + +They admitted that they had not. + +“Well, now, just wait a little while. Give us fair play and see if we +are like what you say we are. Wait until we get our hut done and get +started, and then if you don’t like us you can say so.” + +“Well, that’s fair, Dad,” spoke up one soldier, and after that there +was no more trouble, and it wasn’t long before the soldiers were giving +the most generous praise to the Salvation Army on every side. + +L’Hermitage, nestled in the heart of a deep woods, was no quiet refuge +from the noise of battle and the troubles of a war-weary world, as one +might suppose. It was surrounded by swamps everywhere. And it had been +raining, of course. It always seems to have been raining in France +during this war. There were duck boards over the swampy ground, and a +single mis-step might send one prone in the ooze up to the elbows. + +It was a very dangerous place, also. + +There was a large ammunition dump in the town, and besides that there +was a great balloon located there which the Boche planes were always +trying to get. It was the nearest to the front of any of our balloons +and, of course, was a great target for the enemy. There was a lot of +heavy coast artillery there, also, and there were monster shell holes +big enough to hold a good audience. + +At last one day the enemy did get the ammunition dump, and report after +report rent the air as first one shell and then another would burst and +go up in flame. It was fourteen hours going off and the military +officer ordered the girls to their billets until it should be over. It +was like this: First a couple of shells would explode, then there would +be a second’s quiet and a keg of powder would flare; then some boxes of +ammunition would go off; then some more shells. It was a terrible +pandemonium of sound. Thirty miles away in Gondrecourt they saw the +fire and heard the terrific explosions. + +The Zone Major and one of his helpers had been to Nancy for a truck +load of eggs and were just unloading when the explosions began. +Together they were carefully lifting out a crate containing a hundred +dozen eggs when the mammoth détonations began that rocked the earth +beneath them and threatened to shake them from their feet. They +staggered and tottered but they held onto the eggs. One of the sayings +of Commander Eva Booth is, “Choose your purpose and let no whirlwind +that sweeps, no enemy that confronts you, no wave that engulfs you, no +peril that affrights you, turn you from it.” The Zone Major and his +helper had chosen the purpose of landing those eggs safely, and eggs at +five francs a dozen are not to be lightly dropped, so they staggered +but they held onto the eggs. + +The girls in the canteen went quietly about their work until ordered to +safety; but over in Sanzey and Menil-la-Tour their friends watched and +waited anxiously to hear what had been their fate. + +The General who was in charge of the Twenty-sixth Division was +exceedingly kind to the Salvation Army girls. He acted like a father +toward them: giving up his own billet for their use; sending an escort +to take them to it through the woods and swamps and dangers when their +work at the canteen was over for a brief respite; setting a sentry to +guard them and to give a gas alarm when it became necessary; and doing +everything in his power for their comfort and safety. + + + + +IV. +The Montdidier Sector + + +Spring came on even in shell-torn France, lovely like the miracle it +always is. Bare trees in a day were arrayed in wondrous green. A +camouflage of beauty spread itself upon the valleys and over the +hillsides like a garment sewn with colored broidery of blossoms. Great +scarlet poppies flamed from ruined homes as if the blood that had been +spilt were resurrected in a glorious color that would seek to hide the +misery and sorrow and touch with new loveliness the war-scarred place. +Little birds sent forth their flutey voices where mortals must be +hushed for fear of enemies. + +The British had been driven back by the Huns until they admitted that +their backs were against the wall, and it was an anxious time. Daily +the enemy drew nearer to Paris. + +When the great offensive was started by the Germans in March, 1918, and +American troops were sent up to help the British and French, the +Division was located at Montdidier. Under the rules for the conduct of +war, they were not permitted to know where they were destined to go, +and so the Salvation Army could not secure that information. They knew +it was to be north of Paris, but where, was the problem. + +The French were opposed to any relief organizations going into the +Sector, and rules and regulations were made which were calculated to +discourage or to keep them out altogether. + +It was urgent that the Salvation Army should be there at the earliest +possible moment and as they could not secure permits, especially for +the women, they decided to get there without permits, + +The first contingent was put into a big Army truck, the cover was put +down and they were started on the road, to a point from which they +hoped to secure information of the movements of their outfit. From +place to place this truck proceeded until, finally, detachments of the +troops were located in the vicinity of Gisors. Contact was immediately +established. The girls were received with the greatest joy and portable +tents were set up. It seemed as if every man in the Division must come +to say how glad he was to see them back. The men decided that if it was +in their power they would never again allow the Salvation Army to be +separated from them. A few days later when the Division was ordered to +move they took these same lassies with them riding in army trucks. The +troops were on their way to the front and seldom remained more than +three days in one place, and frequently only one day. On arrival at the +stopping-place, fifteen or twenty of the boys would immediately proceed +to erect the tent and within an hour or two a comfortable place would +be in operation, a field range set up, the phonograph going, and the +boys had a home. + +At Courcelles the Salvation Army set up a tent, started a canteen, and +had it going four days in charge of two sisters just come from the +States. Then one morning they woke up and found their outfit gone, they +knew not where, and they had to pick up and go after them. An all-day +journey took them to Froissy, where they found their special outfit. + +There was no place for a tent at Froissy, but there was an old dance +hall, where they had their canteen. The Division stayed there five +weeks-under a roar of guns. But in spite of this there were wonderful +meetings every night in Froissy. + +This work was exceedingly trying on the girls. Permits were never +secured for any of the Salvation Army workers in this Sector. They were +applied for regularly through the French Army. About three months after +application was made, they were all received back with the statement +from the French that, seeing the workers were already there, it was not +now necessary that permits should be issued. It must be reported that +the French Army was opposed to the presence of women in any of the +camps of the soldiers. This prejudice existed for a long time, but it +was finally broken down because of the good work done by Salvation Army +women, which came to be fully recognized by the French Army. + +The work in the Montdidier Sector was particularly hard. Permanent +buildings could not be established. The best that could be done was to +erect portable tents, which were about twenty feet wide and fifty-seven +feet long. Huts were established in partially destroyed buildings or +houses or stores that had been vacated by their owners, and on the +extreme front canteens were established in dugouts and cellars and the +entire district was under bombardment from the German guns as well as +from the airplane bombs. The Salvation Army had no place there that was +not under bombardment continually. The huts were frequently shelled and +there was imminent danger for a long time that the German Army would +break through, which, of course, added to the strain. + +The Zone Major went back and forth bringing more men and more lassies +and more supplies from the Base at Paris to the front, and many a new +worker almost lost his life in a baptism of fire on his way to his post +of duty for the first time. But all these men and women, as a soldier +said, were made of some fine high stuff that never faltered at danger +or fatigue or hardship. + +They rode over shell-gashed roads in the blackest midnight in a little +dilapidated Ford; made wild dashes when they came to a road upon which +the enemy’s fire was concentrated, looking back sometimes to see a +geyser of flame leap up from a bend around which they had just whirled. +Shells would rain in the fields on either side of them; cars would leap +by them in the dark, coming perilously close and swerving away just in +time; and still they went bravely on to their posts. + +Everything would be blackest darkness and they would think they were +stealing along finely, when all of a sudden an incendiary bomb would +burst and flare up like a house-on-fire lighting up the whole country +for miles about, and there you were in plain sight of the enemy! And +you couldn’t turn back nor hesitate a second or you would be caught by +the ever watchful foe! You had to go straight ahead in all that blare +of light! + +The S. A. Adjutant’s headquarters were fifty feet below the ground; +sometimes the earth would rock with the explosives. Two of the dugouts +were burrowed almost beneath the trenches and S. A. Officers here +looked after the needs of the men who were actually engaged in +fighting. Every night the shattered villages were raked and torn above +them. Such dugouts could only be left at night or when the firing +ceased. The two men who operated these lived a nerve-racking existence. +Of course, all pies and doughnuts for these places had to be prepared +far to the rear, and no fire could be built as near to the front as +this. It was no easy task to bring the supplies back and forth. It was +almost always done at the risk of life. + +The Staff-Captain and the Adjutant were speeding over a shell-swept +road one cold, black, wet night at reckless speed without a light, +their hearts filled with anxiety, for a rumor had reached them that two +Salvation Army lassies had been killed by shell fire. The night was +full of the sound of war, the distant rumble of the heavy guns, the +nervous stutter of machine guns, the tearing screech of a barrage high +above the road. + +Suddenly in front of them yawned a black gulf. The Adjutant jammed on +his brakes, but it was too late. The game little Ford sailed right into +a big shell hole, and settled down three feet below the road right side +up but tightly wedged in. The two travelers climbed out and +reconnoitered but found the situation hopeless. There had been many +sleepless nights before this one, and the men, weary beyond endurance, +rolled up in their blankets, climbed into the car, and went to sleep, +regardless of the guns that thundered all about them. + +They were just lost to the land of reality when a soldier roused them +summarily, saying: + +“This is a heck of a place for the Salvation Army to go to sleep! If +you don’t mind I’ll just pick your old bus out of here and send you on +your way before it’s light enough for Fritzy to spot you and send a +calling card.” + +He was grinning at them cheerfully and they roused to the occasion. + +“How are you going to do it?” asked the Adjutant, who, by the way, was +Smiling Billy, the same one the soldiers called “one game little guy.” +“It will take a three-ton truck to get us out of this hole!” + +“I haven’t got a truck but I guess we can turn the trick all right!” +said the soldier. + +He disappeared into the darkness above the crater and in a moment +reappeared with ten more dark forms following him, and another soldier +who patrolled the rim of the crater on horseback. + +“How do you like ’em?” he chuckled to the Salvation Army men, as he +turned his flashlight on the ten and showed them to be big German +prisoners of war. Under his direction they soon had the little Ford +pushed and shouldered into the road once more. In a little while the +Salvationists reached their destination and found to their relief that +the rumor about the lassies was untrue. + +At Mesnil-St.-Firmin one of the lassies, a young woman well known in +New York society circles, but a loyal Salvationist and in France from +the start, drove a little flivver carrying supplies for several nights, +accompanied only by a young boy detailed from the Army. Every mile of +the way was dark and perilous, but there was no one else to do the +work, so she did it. + +Here they were under shell fire every night. The girls slept in an old +wine cellar, the only comparatively safe place to be found. It was +damp, with a fearful odor they will never forget—moreover, it was +already inhabited by rats. They frequently had to retire to the cellar +during gas attacks, and stay for hours, sometimes having only time to +seize an overcoat and throw it over their night-clothes. They were here +through ten counter-attacks and when Cantigny was taken. + +There seemed to be big movements among the Germans one day. They were +bringing up reinforcements, and a large attack was expected. The +airplanes were dropping bombs freely everywhere and it looked as if +there would not be one brick left on the top of another in a few hours. +Then the military authorities ordered the two girls to leave town. When +the boys heard that the hut was being shelled and the girls were +ordered to leave they poured in to tell them how much they would miss +them. They well knew from experience that their staunch hardworking +little friends would not have left them if they could have helped it. +Also, they dreaded to lose these consecrated young women from their +midst. They had a feeling that their presence brought the presence of +the great God, with His protection, and in this they had come to trust +in their hour of danger. Often the boys would openly speak of this, +owning that they attributed their safety to the presence of their +Christian friends. + +One young officer from the officers’ mess where the girls had dined +once at their invitation, brought them boxes of candy, and in +presenting them said: + +“Gee! We shall miss you like the devil!” + +The lassie twinkled up in a merry smile and answered: “That sure is +some comparison!” The officer blushed as red as a peony and tried to +apologize: + +“Well, now, you know what I mean. I don’t know just how to say how much +we shall miss you!” + +They left at midnight on foot accompanied by one of the Salvation Army +men workers who had been badly gassed and needed to get back of the +lines and have some treatment. It was brilliant moonlight as they hiked +it down the road, the airplanes were whizzing over their heads and the +anti-aircraft guns piling into them. They started for La Folie, the +Headquarters of the Staff-Captain of that zone, but they lost their way +and got far out of the track, arriving at last at Breteuil. Coming to +the woods a Military Police stationed at the crossroads told them: + +“You can’t go into Breteuil because they have been shelling it for +twenty minutes. Right over there beyond where you are standing a bomb +dropped a few minutes ago and killed or wounded seven fellows. The +ambulance just took them away.” + +However, as they did not know where else to go they went into Breteuil, +and found the village deserted of all but French and American Military +Police. They tried to get directions, and at last found a French mule +team to take them to La Folie, where they finally arrived at four +o’clock in the morning. + +The next day they went on to Tartigny, where they were to be located +for a time. + +One of the lassies left her sister with the canteen one day and started +out with another Officer to the Divisional Gas Officer to get a new gas +mask, for something had happened to hers. As they reached a crossroads +a boy on a wheel called out: “Oh, they’re shelling the road! Pull into +the village quick!” + +When they arrived in the village there was a great shell just fallen in +the very centre of the town. The girl thought of her sister all alone +in the canteen, for the shells were falling everywhere now, and they +started to take a short cut back to Tartigny, but the Military Police +stopped them, saying they couldn’t go on that road in the daytime as it +was under observation, so they had to go back by the road they had +come. The canteen was at the gateway of a chateau, and when they +reached there they saw the shells falling in the chateau yard and +through the glass roof of the canteen. It was a trying time for the two +brave girls. + +They had been invited out to dinner that evening at the Officers’ Mess. +As a rule, they did not go much among the officers, but this was a +special invitation. The shells had been falling all the afternoon, but +they were quite accustomed to shells and that did not stop the +festivities. During the dinner the soldier boys sang and played on +guitars and banjos. But when the dinner was over they asked the girls +to sing. + +It was very still in the mess hall as the two lovely lassies took their +guitars and began to sing. There was something so strong and sweet and +pure in the glance of their blue eyes, the set of their firm little +chins, so pleasant and wholesome and merry in the very curve of their +lips, that the men were hushed with respect and admiration before this +highest of all types of womanhood. + +It was a song written by their Commander that the girls had chosen, +with a sweet, touching melody, and the singers made every word clear +and distinct: + +Bowed beneath the garden shades, +Where the Eastern—sunlight fades, +Through a sea of griefs He wades, + And prays in agony. +His sweat is of blood, +His tears like a flood + For a lost world flow down. +I never knew such tears could be— + Those tears He wept for me! + +Hung upon a rugged tree +On the hill of Calvary, +Jesus suffered, death, to be + The Saviour of mankind. +His brow pierced by thorn, +His hands and feet torn, + With broken heart He died. +I never knew such pain could be, + This pain He bore for me! + +Suddenly crashing into the midst of the melody came a great shell, +exploding just outside the door and causing everyone at the table to +spring to his feet. The singers stopped for a second, wavered, as the +reverberation of the shock died away, and then went on with their song; +and the officers, abashed, wondering, dropped back into their seats +marvelling at the calmness of these frail women in the face of death. +Surely they had something that other women did not have to enable them +to sing so unconcernedly in such a time as this! + +Love which conquered o’er death’s sting, +Love which has immortal wing, +Love which is the only thing + My broken heart to heal. +It burst through the grave, +It brought grace to save, + It opened Heaven’s gate. +I never knew such love could be— + This love He gave to me! + +It needs some special experience to appreciate what Salvation Army +lassies really are, and what they have done. They are not just any good +sort of girl picked up here and there who are willing to go and like +the excitement of the experience; neither are they common illiterate +girls who merely have ordinary good sense and a will to work. The +majority of them in France are fine, well-bred, carefully reared +daughters of Christian fathers and mothers who have taught them that +the home is a little bit of heaven on earth, and a woman God’s means of +drawing man nearer to Him. They have been especially trained from +childhood to forget self and to live for others. The great slogan of +the Salvation Army is “Others.” Did you ever stop to think how that +would take the coquetry out of a girl’s eyes, and leave the sweet +simplicity of the natural unspoiled soul? We have come to associate +such a look with a plain, homely face, a dull complexion, careless, +severe hair-dressing and unbeautiful clothes. Why? + +Righteousness from babyhood has given to these girls delicate beautiful +features, clear complexions that neither faded nor had to be renewed in +the thick of battle, eyes that seemed flecked with divine lights and +could dance with mirth on occasion or soften exquisitely in sympathy, +furtive dimples that twinkled out now and then; hands that were shapely +and did not seem made for toil. Yet for all that they toiled night and +day for the soldiers. They were educated, refined, cultured, could talk +easily and well on almost any subject you would mention. They never +appeared to force their religious views to the front, yet all the while +it was perfectly evident that their religion was the main object of +their lives; that this was the secret source of strength, the great +reason for their deep joy, and abiding calm in the face of calamities; +that this was the one great purpose in life which overtopped and +conquered all other desires. And if you would break through their sweet +reserve and ask them they would tell you that Jesus and the winning of +souls to Him was their one and only ambition. + +And yet they have not let these great things keep them from the +pleasant little details of life. Even in the olive drab flannel shirt +and serge skirt of their uniform, or in their trim serge coats, the +exact counterpart of the soldier boy’s, except for its scarlet +epaulets, and the little close trench hat with its scarlet shield and +silver lettering, they are beautiful and womanly. Catch them with the +coat off and a great khaki apron enveloping the rest of their uniform, +and you never saw lovelier women. No wonder the boys loved to see them +working about the hut, loved to carry water and pick up the dishes for +washing, and peel apples, and scrape out the bowl after the cake batter +had been turned into the pans. No wonder they came to these girls with +their troubles, or a button that needed sewing on, and rushed to them +first with the glad news that a letter had come from home even before +they had opened it. These girls were real women, the kind of woman God +meant us all to be when He made the first one; the kind of woman who is +a real helpmeet for all the men with whom she comes in contact, whether +father, brother, friend or lover, or merely an acquaintance. There is a +fragrance of spirit that breathes in the very being, the curve of the +cheek, the glance of the eye, the grace of a movement, the floating of +a sunny strand of hair in the light, the curve of the firm red lips +that one knows at a glance will have no compromise with evil. This is +what these girls have. + +You may call it what you will, but as I think of them I am again +reminded of that verse in the Bible about those brave and wonderful +disciples: “And they took knowledge of them that they had been with +Jesus.” + +Two of the Salvation Army men went back to Mesnil-St.-Firmin the day +after the lassies had been obliged to leave, to get some of their +belongings which they had not been able to take with them, and one of +them, a Salvation Army Major, stayed to keep the place open for the +boys. He was the only Salvation Army man who is entitled to wear a +wound stripe. By his devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and contempt of +danger, he won the confidence of the men wherever he was. He chiefly +worked alone and operated a canteen usually in a dugout at the front. + +On one occasion a soldier was badly wounded at the door of a hut, by an +exploding gas-shell. He fell into the dugout and while the Major worked +over him, the Major himself was gassed and had to be removed to the +rear and undergo hospital treatment. For this service he was awarded a +wound stripe. During the St. Mihiel offensive he was appointed in the +Toul Sector and followed up the advancing soldiers, and later was +active in the Argonne. He is essentially a front-line man and always +takes the greatest satisfaction in being in the place of most danger. + +The following is a brief excerpt from his diary when he manned the +dugout hut in Coullemelle: + +May 12 + +“Arrived in Coullemelle Sunday night, May 12. Was busy with my work by +mid-day, Monday, 13. After cleaning our dugout, gave medicine to sick +man, who refused to sleep in my bed because he was not fit. However, I +made him feel fine, helped. I had a long talk with the boys. + +_Tuesday, 14:_ Shell struck opposite to dugout and sent tiles down +steps. The Captain of E Battery visited me to-day, and then I visited +the Battery and had chow with them. Airplane fight: while batteries +were roaring, the Germans came down in flames. + +_Wednesday, 15:_ No coming to dugout in the day-time on account of +shelling. I did good business in the evening and also had long services +by request of the boys. Received a letter from B—— here to-day, I slept +good. + +_Thursday, 16:_ I visited army, the officers and men of F Battery. +Their chow kitchen is in a bad place, all men coming down sick. I had +an arrangement with the doughboys that they might come in my dugout any +hour in the night, whenever they wanted. I visited infantry officers +to-day, Capt. Cribbs and Capt. Crisp. I had a lovely talk with them. I +offered to go to the trenches with my goods, but Capt. Cribbs said I +would just be killed without doing what he knew I wanted to do, namely, +serve the boys with food and encourage them. + +_Friday, 17:_ I was startled by a fearful barrage at four o’clock when +I got up, washed my clothes: was visited by the Y.M.C.A. Secretary: was +shelled from five o’clock till ten o’clock. I went for chow and found +shell ball gone through kitchen. High explosive, black smoke shells +bursting intermittently, tiles fell into my dugout. I took pick shovel +in with me; my kitten ran away but came back. A three-legged cat came +to the ruined home where I am; its leg evidently had been cut off by +shrapnel. Great air fight all day. Incendiary shells were fired into +the town and burnt for a long time. I visited Battery F, and gave the +fellows medicine. To-day both officers and men were in the gun pits and +I with them, while they were deviling with Fritzy. Big business in +evening with long service, gave out Testaments and held service in +dugout; got a Frenchman to interpret the scripture to his comrades. +Bequests for prayer. Doughboys came in 12:30, through a barrage, and +got sixty-five bars of chocolate, others got biscuits. I am very, very +tired; artillery is roaring as I go to sleep. + +_Saturday, 18:_ Capt. Cribbs came down to dugout and said he was +worried to death over me (thought I was killed). I assured him I was +all 0. K., and that it was their end of the town that needed looking +after. He laughed and enjoyed it. My supplies are kept up by the +courage and devotion of the Staff-Captain and Billy, who, taking their +lives in their hands, bring the Ford with supplies along the shell-torn +road at great peril. Capt. Corliss also came. + +During the day, the officer of Battery F wanted the Victrola and got +the use of it in their dugout for three days. In the meantime I had +furnished Battery D the use of the Victrola and the day I made the +promise, I found the boys without chow for twelve hours. When about to +serve it, the town was gassed and their food with it and no one was +permitted to touch a thing, they were blessing the Kaiser as only +soldiers can under such circumstances. When I arrived among them, after +finding out the way of things, I suggested to the officers that I +should be permitted to supply them with such food as I had. They +assured me it would be a mighty good thing for them if I would, and I +took four boxes of biscuits and six pots of jam and other things to +their trench in the rear of their batteries— they surely thought I was +an angel and I left them pretty happy. This was all done under fire and +at great risk. I chowed with Battery E and saw shell hole through +building which was new since my last visit—boys offer to teach me how +to work gun, their spirit is wonderful under the terrific strain which +they labor. I visited ruined church and went inside; here were some +graves of the French soldiers, some of the bodies being exposed. Could +not stay very long. Overtook soldier-boy limping, got him to stay +awhile and gave him hot chocolate; persuaded him to let his limb be +seen to, which he did, and was sent to hospital. I visited hospital +corps-fellows and arranged that in case of gas, they would visit and +rouse me at night. They are fine fellows. Doughboys bought lots of +goods and blessed the Salvation Army a thousand times. These lads come +in from the trenches and have some hair-raising stories to tell. + +_Sunday, 19:_ Quiet till the afternoon when a gas barrage started. I +was driven out of my dugout. I had a narrow escape, while reaching the +hospital corps dugout. Lieut. Roolan (since promoted), of the Fifth +Field Artillery, was there for two hours and half. 480 shells, I was +informed, came down, averaging up three and four per minute. All night, +from 6 o’clock to 3 A.M., 3000 shells are sent into the town. I slept +in the Headquarters Signal Corps dugout with my gas mask on all night. + +_Monday, 20:_ Visited Y.M.C.A. and found their dugout had been struck +and the Secretary’s eyes were gassed after a man took his place. I saw +Colonel Crane to try and get out of my dugout and get the one he had +left. He gave me permission, assuring me that it was not a very good +one at that. I took my Victrola with two of the battery boys from F +Battery. I carried the records and they the Victrola. We dodged the +shelling all the way and I had the pleasure of hearing the “Swanee +River” song at the same time as the firing of the big guns much to the +enjoyment of the boys. I understand that General Summerall visited and +heard the Victrola soon after I had taken it to the boys. I placed +about fifty books among officers of the Hospital Corps, Infantry +officers, Battery officers. They were highly appreciated. I slept with +Signal Corps boys again as Fritzy decided to continue the bombardment +of the town which he did from 5.30 P.M. to 5.30 A.M. I slept with mask +on and had no ill effects of the gas at all so far; but about five +o’clock a terrific crash just outside of my dugout followed by a man +shouting as he rushed down the dugout steps, “Oh, God, get me to the +doctor right away.” That shell nearly got me. I was only eight feet +from it. I sprung up and rushed him from the dugout over to the +hospital. I had to chase around from one dugout to another and finally +landed my man (his name was Harry), who was taken to the hospital. + +_Tuesday, 21:_ After taking the man to the doctor, I went to my own +place and found a nine-inch gas shrapnel shell had burst 15 or 20 feet +from my dugout, about fifteen holes were torn through the door, the top +of the shell lay six feet from the top of the steps, pieces of the +shell were scattered down the steps, and my dugout to the gas curtain, +was full of gas. If Staff-Captain and Billy had been visiting me that +night, the shell would have hit the Ford right in the center. Fierce +bombardment all the day. Houses were struck on the entire street from +end to end. Shells fell in the yard, one struck the corner of the +house. The soldiers next door have gone, and my place can only be +opened in the evenings. Things are pretty hot, I started out visiting +the batteries to-day, but was driven back and could get out only by the +back entrance to the yard. I am told by a soldier of the Intelligence +Dept., that their bombardment is what is known as a “Million-Dollar +Barrage,” and that all were fortunate to have passed through it, he +also told me the number and nature of the shells. I served hot +chocolate this Tuesday night and noticed that my hands were very red. + +_Wednesday, 22:_ I visited the Battery in their trenches again and took +them food. My eyes are affected by the gas, and I got treatment at the +Evacuating Hospital. Some shells come very close to my dugout—to-day +thirty feet, fifty feet and twenty feet. I gather up a box full of +remnants. I find I am gassed by a contact with the poor fellow coming +in whom I took to the doctor. I get treatment two or three times for my +eyes and throat. My hands begin to crack and smart. The flesh comes off +from my neck and other parts of my body. I had a fine meeting with boys +in dugout and am again visited by the doughboys and officers. I visit +the ruined church area again and get a few relics. + +_Thursday, 23:_ My eyes are very red and becoming painful and also my +throat and nose, _etc_. I plan to move my dugout and pack up +accordingly. Things are quieter today; had services again in the +evening. French schoolmaster among the number, six requests for prayer. + +_Friday, 24:_ Am all ready to move to a new dugout when Staff-Captain +arrives and tells me I am ordered out by the military.” + +Here is the Military Order received by the Staff-Captain: + +“To Major Coe, + +“Salvation Army: + +“(1) Major Wilson, Chief G1, directs that the Salvation Army evacuate +‘Coullemelle’ as soon as possible. + +“(2) He desires that they leave to-night if possible. + +“(3) This message was received by me from the office of G1. + +“L. Johnson, +“1st Lieut., F. A.” + +Orders also arrived soon for the removal of the Salvation Army workers +in Broyes: + +“Headquarters, 1st Division, G-1. +“American Expeditionary Forces, +“June 3, 1919. + +“Memorandum: To Mr. L. A. Coe, Salvation Army, La Folie. + +“The hut, which it is understood the Salvation Army is operating in +Broyes, will, for military reasons, be removed from there as soon as +practicable. + +“It is contrary to the desire of the Commanding General that women +workers be employed in huts or canteens east of the line +Mory-Chepoix-Tartigny, and if any are now so located they are to ’be +removed. + +“The operations of technical services, Red Cross, Y.M.C.A., and other +similar agencies is a function of this section of the General Staff and +all questions pertaining to your movements and location of huts should +in the future be referred to G.-1. + +“By command of Major General Bullard. + +“G. K Wilson, +“Major, General Staff, +“A. C. of S., G.-1.” + +In Tartigny they found a house with five rooms, one of them very large. +The billeting officer turned this over to the Salvation Army. + +There was plenty of space and the girls might have a room to themselves +here, instead of just curtaining off a corner of a tent or making a +partition of supply boxes in one end of the hut as they often had to +do. There was also plenty of furniture in the house, and they were +allowed to go around the village and get chairs and tables or anything +they wanted to fix up their canteen. The girls had great fun selecting +easy-chairs and desks and anything they desired from the deserted +houses, and before long the result was a wonderfully comfortable, cozy, +home-like room. + +“Gee! This is just like heaven, coming in here!” one of the boys said +when he first saw it. + +Just outside Tartigny there was a large ammunition dump, piles of +shells and boxes of other ammunition. It was under the trees and well +camouflaged, but night after night the enemy airplanes kept trying to +get it. The girls used to sit in the windows and watch the airplane +battles. They would stay until an airplane got over the house and then +they would run to the cellar. They came so close one night that pieces +of shell from the anti-aircraft guns fell over the house. + +Sometimes the airplanes would come in the daytime, and the girls got +into the habit of running out into the street to watch them. But at +this the boys protested. + +“Don’t do that, you will get hit!” they begged. And one day the nose of +an unexploded shell fell in the street just outside the door. After +that they were more careful. + +In this town one afternoon a whole truck-load of oranges arrived, being +three hundred crates, four hundred oranges to a crate, for the canteen, +and they were all gone by four o’clock! + +The Headquarters of the Division Commander were in a beautiful old +stone chateau of a peculiar color that seemed to be invisible to the +airplanes. There were woods all around it and the house was never +shelled. It was filled with rare old tapestries and beautiful +furniture. + +The Count who owned the chateau asked the Major General to get some +furniture that belonged to him out of the village that was being +shelled. Later the Count asked the General if he ever got that +furniture. The General asked his Colonel, “What did you do with that +furniture?” “Oh,” the Colonel said, “it’s down there all right!” “And +where is the piano?” “Oh, I gave that to the Salvation Army.” + +In this area it was one lassie’s first bombardment; it came suddenly +and without warning. The soldiers in the hut decamped without ceremony +for the safety of their dugouts. One soldier who had been detailed to +help the lassie, shouted: “Come on! Follow me to your dugout!” Without +further talk he turned and started for cover. The girl had been baking. +A tray full of luscious lemon cream pies stood on the table. She did +not want to leave those pies to the tender mercies of a shell. Also she +had some new boots standing beneath the table, and she was not going to +lose those. Without stopping to think, she seized the shoes in one hand +and the tray in the other and rushed after the soldier. A little gully +had to be crossed on the way to the dugout and the only bridge was a +twelve-inch plank. The soldier crossed in safety and turned to look +after the girl. Just as she reached the middle of the plank a shell +burst not far away. The lassie was so startled that she nearly lost her +balance, swaying first one way and then the other. In an attempt to +stop the tray of pies from slipping, she almost lost the shoes, and in +recovering the shoes, the pies just escaped sliding overboard into the +thick mud below. + +The soldier registered deep agitation. + +“Drop the shoes!” he shouted. “I can clean the shoes, but for heaven’s +sake don’t drop them pies!” And the lassie obeyed meekly. + +In the little town of Bonnet where the rest room was located in an old +barn connected with a Catholic convent, one Salvation Army Envoy and +his wife from Texas began their work. They soon became known to the +soldiers familiarly as “Pa” and “Ma.” + +It was in this old barn that the tent top, later made famous at +Ansauville, was first used. Stoves were almost impossible to obtain at +that time, but “Ma” was determined that she would bake pies for the +men, so the Envoy constructed an oven out of two tin cake boxes and +using a small two-burner gasoline stove, “Ma” baked biscuits and pies +that made her name famous. Through her great motherly heart and her +willingness to serve the boys at all times, under all circumstances, +she won their confidence and love. One soldier said he would walk five +miles any day to look into “Ma’s” gray eyes. + +From Bonnet they were transferred to command a hut at Ansauville, but +“Ma” could never rest so long as there was a soldier to be served in +any way. She worked early and late, and she made each individual +soldier who came to the hut her special charge as if he were her own +son. She could not sleep when they were going over the top unless she +prayed with each one before he went. + +The meetings which she and her husband held were full of life and power +and were never neglected, no matter how hard the strain might be from +other lines of service. + +It was not long before “Ma’s” strength gave out and it was necessary to +move her to a quieter place. She was transferred to Houdelainecourt. +She would not go until they carried her away. + +Houdelainecourt at this time was on the main road travelled by trucks, +taking supplies by train from the railroad at Gondrecourt to the front. +Truck drivers invariably made it a point to stop at “Ma’s” hut and here +they were always sure to receive a welcome and the most delicious +doughnuts and pies and hot biscuit which loving hands could make. + +Not satisfied with this service alone, she undertook to fry pancakes +for the officers’ breakfast. It was through these kindly services, +ungrudgingly done, at any time of the day or night, that her name was +established as one of the most potent factors in contributing to the +comfort and welfare of the men, and there was no hole or tear of the +men’s clothes that “Ma” could not mend. + +A short time after the pie contest over at Gondrecourt, “Ma” and one of +her lassie helpers set out to break the record of 316 pies as a day’s +work. Their oven would hold but six pies at a time; their hut had but +just been opened and all their equipment had not yet arrived, so they +were short a rolling pin, which had to be carved from a broken +wagon-shaft with a jack-knife before they could begin; but they +achieved the baking of 324 pies between 6 A.M. and 6 P.M. that day. It +is fair to state for the sake of the doubter, however, that the pie +fillers, both pumpkin and apple, were all prepared and piping hot on +the stove ready to be poured into the pastry as it was put into the +oven, which, of course, helped a good deal. + +A sign was put out announcing that pie would be served at seven +o’clock, but the lines formed long before that. + +[Illustration: “Ma”] + +[Illustration: “They had a pie-baking contest in Gondrecourt one +day”—the renowned “Aunt Mary” in the right-hand corner] + +The pies were unusually large and cut into fifths, but even at that +they were much larger pieces than are usually served at the ordinary +restaurant. + +By half-past eight some men were falling in for a second helping, but +“Ma” had been watching long a little company of men off to one side who +hovered about yet never dropped into line themselves, and made up her +mind that these were some of those who perhaps sent much of their money +home and found it a long time between pay-days. Casting her kindly eye +comprehendingly toward these men she mounted a chair and requested: + +“All of the men who have already had pie, please step out of the line; +and all of those boys who want coffee and pie but have no money, step +into line and get some, _anyhow!_” + +She gave the boys one of her beautiful motherly smiles and that made +them feel they had all got home, and they hesitated no longer. “Ma,” +however, was more deeply interested in her meetings than in mere pie. +The Sunday before this contest over five hundred soldiers had attended +the evening meeting, and almost as many had been present at the morning +service. Also, there had been twenty-eight members added to her Bible +class. Though the hut was a large one it had been crowded to its utmost +capacity in the evening, with men packed into the open doorways and +windows on either side, and forty of the men who announced their +determination to follow Christ that night could not get inside to come +forward. More than a dozen gave personal testimony of what Christ had +done for them. One notable testimony was as follows: + +“I used to be a hard guy fellers,” he said, “and maybe I had some good +reasons when I used to say that nothing was ever going to scare me, but +when we lay out there with a six-hour barrage busting right in front of +us and ‘arrivals’ busting all around us, I did a whole lot of thinking. +It seemed as though every shell had my number on it! And when we went +over and ran square into their barrage, I’ll admit I was scared yellow +and was darned afraid I was going to show it! We were under a barrage +for ten hours. A shell buried me under about a foot of earth, and for +the first time I can remember, while my bunkie was digging me out, I +prayed to God. And I want to say that I believe He answered my prayer, +and that is the only reason I came out uninjured. I promised if I got +out I’d call for a new deal, and I want to say that I’m going to keep +that promise!” + +A boy who had been converted in one of the meetings a few nights before +came into the hut and sought her out. He told her he was going over the +top that night, and he had something he wanted to confess before he +went. He had told a lie and he had felt terrible remorse about it ever +since he was converted. He had treated his mother badly, and gone and +enlisted, saying he was eighteen when he was only sixteen. “Now,” said +he with relief after he had told the story, “that’s all clear. And say, +if I’m killed, will you go through my pockets and find my Testament and +send it to mother? And will you tell my mother all about it and tell +her it is all right with me now? Tell mother I went over the top a +Christian. You’ll know what to say to her to help her bear up.” + +She promised and the boy went away content. That night he was killed, +and, true to her promise, she went through his pockets when he was +brought back, and found the little Testament close over his heart; and +in it a verse was marked for his mother: + +“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” + +During the early days of the Salvation Army work in France, while the +work was still under inspection as to its influence on the men, and one +Colonel had sent a Captain around to the meetings to report upon them +to him, “Ma’s” was one of the meetings to which the Captain came. + +She did not know that she was under suspicion, but that night she spoke +on obedience and discipline, taking as her text: “Take heed to the +law,” and urging the men to obey both moral and military laws so that +they might be better men and better soldiers. The Captain reported on +her sermon and said that he wished the regiment had a Salvation Army +chaplain for every company. + +The hospital visitation work was started by “Ma” in the Paris hospitals +while she was in that city for several months regaining her strength +after a physical break-down at the front. She was idolized by the +wounded. If she walked along any hospital passageway or through any +ward, a crowd of men were sure to call her by name. They knew her as +“Ma,” and frequently, overworked nurses have called up the Paris +Salvation Army Headquarters asking if Ma could not find time to come +down and sit with a dying boy who was calling for her. She observed +their birthdays with books and other small presents, wrote to their +mothers, wives and sweethearts, and performed a multitude of +invaluable, precious little services of love. For weeks after she left +Paris, returning to the front, the wounded called for her. She is one +of the outstanding figures of the Salvation Army’s work with the +American Expeditionary Forces in France. She is indelibly enshrined in +the hearts of hundreds of American soldiers. + +A Salvation Army lassie bent over the bed of a wounded boy recently +arrived in the Paris hospital from the front, and gave him an orange +and a little sack of candy. + +“I know the Salvation Army,” he said with a faint smile, “I knew I +should find you here.” + +She asked him his division and he told her he belonged to one that had +been coöperating with the French. + +“But how can that be?” she asked in surprise, “we have never worked +with your division. How do you know about us?” + +“I only saw the Salvation Army once,” he replied, “but I’ll never +forget it. It was when I came back to consciousness in the Dressing +Station at Cheppy, and the first thing I saw was a Salvation Army girl +bending over me washing the blood and dirt off my face with cold water. +She looked like an angel and she was that to me. She gave me a drink of +cold lemonade when I was burning up with fever, and she lifted my head +to pour it between my lips when I had not strength to move myself. No, +I shall not forget!” + +One bright young fellow with a bandaged eye turned a cheerful grin +toward the Salvation Army visitor as she said with compassion: “Son, +I’m sorry you’ve lost your eye.” + +“Oh, that’s nothing,” was the gay reply, “I can see everything out of +the other eye. I’ve got seven holes in me, too, but believe me I’m not +going home for the loss of an eye and seven holes! I’ll get out yet and +get into the fight!” + +The Salvation Army officer and his wife who were stationed at +Bonvillers visited every man in the local hospital every day, sleeping +every night in the open fields. As they are quite elderly, this was no +little hardship, especially in rainy weather. + +Five lassies stationed at Noyers St. Martin were for several weeks +forced by the nightly shelling and air-raids to take their blankets out +into the fields at night and sleep under the stars. One of these girls +was called “Sunshine” because of her smile. + +On the eve of Decoration Day a military Colonel visited her in the hut. +He seemed rather depressed, perhaps by the ceremonies of the day, and +said that he had come to be cheered up. In parting he said, “Little +girl, you had better get out of town early to-night; I feel as though +something is going to happen.” Less than an hour later, while the girls +were just preparing for the night in a field half a mile distant, an +aerial bomb dropped by an aviator on the house in which he was billeted +killed him and two other Captains who were sitting with him at the +time. He had been a great friend of the Salvation Army. + +Out in a little village in Indiana there grew a fair young flower of a +girl. Her mother was a dear Christian woman and she was brought up in +her mother’s church, which she loved. When she was only twelve years +old she had a remarkable and thorough old-fashioned conversion, giving +herself with all her childish heart to the Saviour. She feels that she +had a kind of vision at that time of what the Lord wanted her to be, a +call to do some special work for Christ out in the world, helping +people who did not know Him, people who were sick and poor and +sorrowful. She did not tell her vision to anyone. She did not even know +that anywhere in the world were any people doing the kind of work she +felt she would like to do, and God had called her to do. She was shy +about it and kept her thoughts much to herself. She loved her own +church, and its services, but somehow that did not quite satisfy her. + +One day when she was about fourteen years old the Salvation Army came +to the town where she lived and opened work, holding its meetings in a +large hall or armory. With her young companions she attended these +meetings and was filled with a longing to be one of these earnest +Christian workers. + +Her mother, accustomed to a quiet conventional church and its way of +doing Christian work, was horrified; and in alarm sent her away to +visit her uncle, who was a Baptist minister. The daughter, dutiful and +sweet, went willingly away, although she had many a longing for these +new friends of hers who seemed to her to have found the way of working +for God that had been her own heart’s desire for so long. + +Meantime her gay young brother, curious to know what had so stirred his +bright sister, went to the Salvation Army meetings to find out, and was +attracted himself. He went again and found Jesus Christ, and himself +joined the Salvation Army. The mother in this case did not object, +perhaps because she felt that a boy needed more safeguards than a girl, +perhaps because the life of publicity would not trouble her so much in +connection with her son as with her daughter. + +The daughter after several months away from home returned, only to find +her longing to join the Salvation Army stronger. But quietly and +sweetly she submitted to her mother’s wish and remained at home for +some years, like her Master before her, who went down to His home in +Nazareth and was subject to His father and mother; showing by her +gentle submission and her lovely life that she really had the spirit of +God in her heart and was not merely led away by her enthusiasm for +something new and strange. + +When she was twenty her mother withdrew her objections, and the +daughter became a Salvationist, her mother coming to feel thoroughly in +sympathy with her during the remaining years she lived. + +This is the story of one of the Salvation Army lassies who has been +giving herself to the work in the huts over in France. She is still +young and lovely, and there is something about her delicate features +and slender grace that makes one think of a young saint. No wonder the +soldiers almost worshipped her! No wonder these lassies were as safe +over there ten miles from any other woman or any other civilian alone +among ten thousand soldiers, as if they had been in their own homes. +They breathed the spirit of God as they worked, as well as when they +sang and prayed. To such a girl a man may open his heart and find true +help and strength. + +[Illustration: A letter of inspiration from the commander] + +[Illustration: The Salvation Army boy truck driver who calmly went to +sleep in his truck in a shell hole under fire] + +It was no uncommon thing for our boys who were so afraid of anything +like religion or anything personal over here, to talk to these lassies +about their souls, to ask them what certain verses in the Bible meant, +and to kneel with them in some quiet corner behind the chocolate boxes +and be prayed with, yes, and _pray!_ It is because these girls have let +the Christ into their lives so completely that He lives and speaks +through them, and the boys cannot help but recognize it. + +Not every boy who was in a Salvation hut meeting has given himself to +Christ, of course, but every one of them recognizes this wonderful +something in these girls. Ask them. They will tell you “She is the real +thing!” They won’t tell you more than that, perhaps, unless they have +really grown in the Christian life, but they mean that they have +recognized in her spirit a likeness to the spirit of Christ. + +Now and then, of course, there was a thick-headed one who took some +minutes to recognize holiness. Such would enter a hut with an oath upon +his lips, or an unclean story, and straightway all the men who were +sitting at the tables writing or standing about the room would come to +attention with one of those little noisy silences that mean, so much; +pencils would click down on the table like a challenge, and the +newcomer would look up to find the cold glances of his fellows upon +him. + +The boys who frequented the huts broke the habit of swearing and +telling unclean stories, and officers began to realize that their men +were better in their work because of this holy influence that was being +thrown about them. One officer said his men worked better, and kept +their engines oiled up so they wouldn’t be delayed on the road, that +they might get back to the hut early in the evening. The picture of a +girl stirring chocolate kept the light of hope going in the heart of +many a homesick lad. + +One ignorant and exceedingly “fresh” youth, once walked boldly into a +hut, it is said, and jauntily addressed the lassie behind the counter +as “Dearie.” The sweet blue eyes of the lassie grew suddenly cold with +aloofness, and she looked up at the newcomer without her usual smile, +saying distinctly: _“What did you say?_” + +The soldier stared, and grew red and unhappy: + +“Oh! I beg your pardon!” he said, and got himself out of the way as +soon as possible. These lassies needed no chaperon. They were young +saints to the boys they served, and they had a cordon of ten thousand +faithful soldiers drawn about them night and day. As a military Colonel +said, the Salvation Army lassie was the only woman in France who was +safe unchaperoned. + +When this lassie from Indiana came back on a short furlough after +fifteen months in France with the troops, and went to her home for a +brief visit, the Mayor gave the home town a holiday, had out the band +and waited at the depot in his own limousine for four hours that he +might not miss greeting her and doing her honor. + +Here is the poem which Pte. Joseph T. Lopes wrote about “Those +Salvation Army Folks” after the Montdidier attack: + +Somewhere in France, not far from the foe, +There’s a body of workers whose name we all know; +Who not only at home give their lives to make right, +But are now here beside us, fighting our fight. +What care they for rest when our boys at the front, +Who, fighting for freedom, are bearing the brunt, +And so, just at dawn, when the caissons come home, +With the boys tired out and chilled to the bone, +The Salvation Army with its brave little crew, +Are waiting with doughnuts and hot coffee, too. +When dangers and toiling are o’er for awhile, +In their dugouts we find comfort and welcome their smile. +There’s a spirit of home, so we go there each night, +And the thinking of home makes us sit down and write, +So we tell of these folks to our loved ones with pride, +And are thanking the Lord to have them on our side. + + + + +V. +The Toul Sector Again + + +When the German offensive was definitely checked in the Montdidier +Sector, the First Division was transferred back to the Toul Sector and +the Salvation Army moved with it. They had in the meantime maintained +all the huts which had been established originally, and with the return +of the First Division, they established additional huts between Font +and Nancy. When the St. Mihiel drive came off, they followed the +advancing troops, establishing huts in the devastated villages, keeping +in as close contact with the extreme front as was possible, serving the +troops day and night, always aiming to be at the point where the need +was the greatest, and where they could be of the greatest service. + +The first Americans to pay the supreme sacrifice in the cause of +liberty were buried in the Toul Sector. + +As it drew near to Decoration Day there came a message from over the +sea from the Commander to her faithful band of workers, saying that she +was sending American flags, one for every American soldier’s grave, and +that she wanted the graves cared for and decorated; and at all the +various locations of Salvation Army workers they prepared to do her +bidding. + +The day before the thirtieth of May they took time from their other +duties to clear away the mud, dead grass and fallen leaves from the +graves, and heap up the mounds where they had been washed flat by the +rains, making each one smooth, regular and tidy. At the head of each +grave was a simple wooden cross bearing the name of the soldier who lay +there, his rank, his regiment and the date of his death. Into the back +of each cross they drove a staple for a flag, and they swept and +garnished the place as best they could. + +One Salvation Army woman writing home told of the plans they had made +in Treveray for Decoration Day; how Commander Booth was sending enough +American flags to decorate every American grave in France, and how they +meant to gather flowers and put with the flags, and have a little +service of prayer over the graves. + +In the gray old French cemetery of Treveray five American boys lay +buried. The flowers upon their graves were dry and dead, for their +regiments had moved on and left them. The graves had been neglected and +only the guarding wooden crosses remained above the rough earth to show +that someone had cared and had stopped to put a mark above the places +where they lay. It was these graves the Salvation Army woman now +proposed to decorate on Memorial Day. + +The letter went to the Captain for censorship, and soon the Salvation +Army woman had a call from him. + +“I understand by one of your letters that you are thinking of +decorating the American graves,” he said. “We would like to help in +that, if you don’t mind. I would like the company all to be present.” + +The day before Memorial Day this woman with two of the lassies from the +hut went to the cemetery and prepared for the morrow. + +In the morning they gathered great armfuls of crimson poppies from the +fields, creamy snowballs from neglected gardens, and blue bachelor +buttons from the hillsides, which they arranged in bouquets of red, +white and blue for the graves. They had no vases in which to place the +flowers but they used the apple tins in which the apples for their pies +had been canned. + +The centuries-old gray cemetery nestled in a curve of the road between +wheat fields on every side. A gray, moss-covered, lichen-hung wall +surrounded it. The five American graves were under the shadow of the +Western wall, and the sun was slowly sinking in his glory as the +company of soldiers escorted the women into the cemetery. They passed +between the ponderous old gray stones, and beaded wreaths of the French +graves; and the officers and men lined up facing the five graves. The +women placed the tricolored flowers in the cans prepared for them, and +planted the flags beside them. Then the elder woman, who had sons of +her own, stepped out and saluted the military commanding officer: +“Colonel” said she, “with your permission we would like to follow our +custom and offer a prayer for the bereaved.” Instantly permission was +given and every head was uncovered as the Salvationist poured out her +heart in prayer to the Everlasting Father, commending the dead into His +tender Keeping, and pleading for the sorrow-stricken friends across the +sea, until the soldiers’ tears fell unchecked as they stood with rifles +stiffly in front of them listening to the quiet voice of the woman as +she prayed. God seemed Himself to come down, and the living boys +standing over their five dead comrades could not help but be enfolded +in His love, and feel the sense of His presence. They knew that they, +too, might soon be sleeping even as these at their feet. It seemed but +a step to the other life. When the prayer was finished a firing squad +fired five volleys over the graves, and then the bugler played the taps +and the little service was over. The lassies lingered to take pictures +of the graves and that night they wrote letters describing the +ceremony, to be sent with the photographs to the War Department at +Washington with the request that they be forwarded to the nearest +relatives of the five men buried at Treveray. + +[Illustration: The centuries-old gray cemetery in Treveray] + +[Illustration: Colonel Barker placing the commander’s flowers on +Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt’s grave] + +There were exercises at Menil-la-Tour and here they had built a simple +platform in the centre of the ground and erected a flagpole at one +corner. + +When the morning came two regimental bands took up their positions in +opposite corners of the cemetery and began to play. The French populace +had turned out en masse. They took up their stand just outside the +little cemetery, next to them the soldiers were lined up, then the Red +Cross, then the Y.M.C.A. Beyond, a little hill rose sloping gently to +the sky line, and over it a mile away was the German front, with the +shells coming over all the time. + +It was an impressive scene as all stood with bared heads just outside +the little enclosure where eighty-one wooden crosses marked the going +of as many brave spirits who had walked so blithely into the crisis and +given their young lives. + +Some French officers had brought a large, beautiful wreath to do honor +to the American heroes, and this was placed at the foot of the great +central flagpole. + +The bands played, and they all sang. It was announced that but for the +thoughtfulness and kindness of Commander Evangeline Booth in sending +over flags those graves would have gone undecorated that day. + +The Commanding General then came to the front and behind him walked the +Salvation Army lassies bearing the flags in their arms. + +Down the long row of graves he passed. He would take a flag from one of +the girls, slip it in the staple back of the cross, stand a moment at +salute, then pass on to the next. It was very still that May morning, +broken only by the awesome boom of battle just over the hill, but to +that sound all had grown accustomed. The people stood with that hush of +sorrow over them which only the majesty of death can bring to the +hearts of a crowd, and there were tears in many eyes and on the faces +of rough soldiers standing there to honor their comrades who had been +called upon to give their lives to the great cause of freedom. + +A little breeze was blowing and into the solemn stillness there stole a +new sound, the silken ripple of the flags as one by one they were set +fluttering from the crosses, like a soft, growing, triumphant chorus of +those to come whose lives were to be made safe because these had died. +As if the flag would waft back to the Homeland, and the stricken +mothers and fathers, sisters and sweethearts, some idea of the +greatness of the cause in which they died to comfort them in their +sorrow. + +Out through each line the General passed, placing the flags and +solemnly saluting, till eighty graves had been decorated and there was +only one left; but there was no flag for the eighty-first grave! +Somehow, although they thought they had brought several more than were +needed, they were one short. But the General stood and saluted the +grave as he had the others, and later the flag was brought and put in +place, so that every American grave in the Toul Sector that day had its +flag fluttering from its cross. + +Then the General and the soldiers saluted the large flag. It was an +impressive moment with the deep thunder of the guns just over the hill +reminding of more battle and more lives to be laid down. + +The General then addressed the soldiers, and facing toward the West and +pointing he said: + +“Out there in that direction is Washington and the President, and all +the people of the United States, who are looking to you to set the +world free from tyranny. Over there are the mothers who have bade you +good-bye with tears and sent you forth, and are waiting at home and +praying for you, trusting in you. Out there are the fathers and the +sisters and the sweethearts you have left behind, all depending on you +to do your best for the Right. Now,” said he in a clear ringing voice, +“turn and salute America!” And they all turned and saluted toward the +West, while the band played softly “My Country ’Tis of Thee!” + +It was a wonderful, beautiful, solemn sight, every man standing and +saluting while the flags fluttered softly on the breeze. + +Behind the little French Catholic church in the village of Bonvilliers +there was quite a large field which had been turned over to the +Americans for a cemetery. The Military Major had caused an arch to be +made over the gateway inscribed with the words: “National Cemetery of +the American Expeditionary Forces.” There were over two hundred graves +inside the cemetery. + +On Decoration Day the Regimental Band led a parade through the village +streets to the graveyard, the French women in black and little French +children, with wreaths made of wonderful beaded flowers cunningly +constructed from beads strung on fine wires, marching in the parade. +Arrived at the cemetery they all stood drawn up in line while the +Military Major gave a beautiful address, first in French and then in +English. He then told the French children and women to take their +places one at each grave, and lay down their tributes of flowers for +the Americans. Following this the Salvation Army placed flags on each +on behalf of the mothers of the boys who were lying there. + +It was noon-day. The sun was very bright and every white cross bearing +the name of the fallen glittered in the sun. Even the worst little +hovel over in France is smothered in a garden and bright with myriads +of flowers, so everything was gay with blossoms and everybody had +brought as many as could be carried. + +Over in one corner of the cemetery were two German graves, and one of +the lassies of that organization which proclaims salvation for all men +went and laid some blossoms there also. + +At La Folie one of the Salvation Army lassies going across the fields +on some errand of mercy found three American graves undecorated and +bare on Memorial Day, and turning aside from the road she gathered +great armfuls of scarlet poppies from the fields and came and laid them +on the three mounds, then knelt and prayed for the friends of the boys +whose bodies were lying there. + +The whole world was startled and saddened when the news came that +Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt had been shot down in his airplane in +action and fallen within the enemy’s lines. + +He was crudely buried by the Germans where he fell, near Chambray, and +a rude cross set up to mark the place. All around were pieces of his +airplane shattered on the ground and left as they had fallen. + +When the spot fell into the hands of the Allies, the grave was cared +for by the Salvation Army; a new white cross set up beside the old one, +and gentle hands smoothed the mound and made it shapely. On Decoration +Day Colonel Barker placed upon this grave the beautiful flowers +arranged for by cable by Commander Booth. + +The girls went down to decorate the two hundred American graves at +Mandres, and even while they bent over the flaming blossoms and laid +them on the mounds an air battle was going on over their heads. Close +at hand was the American artillery being moved to the front on a little +narrow-gauge railroad that ran near to the graveyard, and the Germans +were firing and trying to get them. + +But the girls went steadily on with their work, scattering flowers and +setting flags until their service of love was over. Then they stood +aside for the prayer and a song. One of the Salvation Army Captains +with a fine voice began to sing: + +My loved ones in the Homeland + Are waiting me to come, +Where neither death nor sorrow + Invades their holy home; +O dear, dear native country! + O rest and peace above! +Christ, bring us all to the Homeland + Of Thy redeeming love. + +Into the midst of the song came the engine on the little narrow track +straight toward where he stood, and he had to step aside onto a pile of +dirt to finish his song. + +That same Captain went on ahead to the Home Land not long after when +the epidemic of influenza swept over the world; and he was given the +honor of a military funeral. + + + + +VI. +The Baccarat Sector + + +Baccarat was the Zone Headquarters for that Sector. + +Down the Main street there hung a sign on an old house labeled “Modern +Bar.” + +Inside everything was all torn up. It had never been opened since the +battles of 1914. The Germans had lived there and everything was in an +awful condition. One wonders how they endured themselves. The Military +detailed two men for two days to spade up and carry away the filth from +the bedrooms, and it took two women an entire week all but one day, +scrubbing all day long until their shoulders ached, to scrub the place +clean. But they got it clean. They were the kind of women that did not +give up even when a thing seemed an impossibility. This was the sort of +thing they were up against continually. They could have no meetings +that week because they had to scrub and make the place fit for a +Salvation Army hut. + +Two of the lassies were awakened early one bright morning by the sound +of an axe ringing rhythmically on wood, just back of their canteen. It +was a cheerful sound to wake to, for the girls had been through a long +wearing day and night, and they knew when they went to sleep that the +wood was almost gone. It was always so pleasant to have someone offer +to cut it for them, for they never liked to have to ask help of the +soldiers if they could possibly avoid it. But there was so much else to +be done besides cutting wood. Not that they could not do that, too, +when the need offered. The sisters looked sleepily at one another, +thinking simultaneously of the poor homesick doughboy who had told them +the day before that chopping wood for them made him think of home and +mother and that was why he liked to do it. Of course, it was he hard at +work for them before they were up, and they smiled contentedly, with a +lifted prayer for the poor fellow. They knew he had received no mail +for four months and that only a few days before he had read in a paper +sent to one of his pals of the death of his sister. Of course, his +heart was breaking, for he knew what his widowed mother was suffering. +They knew that his salvation from homesickness just now lay in giving +him something to do, so they lingered a little just to give him the +chance, and planned how they would let him help with the doughnuts, and +fix the benches, later, when the wood was cut. + +In a few minutes the girls were ready for the day’s work and went +around to the kitchen, where the sound of the ringing axe was still +heard in steady strokes. But when they rounded the corner of the +kitchen and greeted the wood-chopper cheerily, he looked up, and lo! it +was not the homesick doughboy as they had supposed, but the Colonel of +the regiment himself who smiled half apologetically at them, saying he +liked his new job; and when they invited him to breakfast he accepted +the invitation with alacrity. + +After breakfast the girls went to work making pies. There had been no +oven in the little French town in which they were stationed, and so +baking had been impossible, but the boys kept talking and talking about +pies until one day a Lieutenant found an old French stove in some +ruins. They had to half bury it in the earth to make it strong enough +for use, but managed to make it work at last, and though much hampered +by the limitations of the small oven, they baked enough to give all the +boys a taste of pie once a week or so. Pie day was so welcomed that it +almost made a riot, so many boys wanted a slice. + +They were having a meeting one night at Baccarat. There was a great +deal of noise going on outside the dugout. The shells were falling +around rather indiscriminately, but it takes more than shell fire to +stop a Salvation Army meeting at the front. There is only one thing +that will stop it, and that is a sudden troop movement. It is the same +way with baseball, for the week before this meeting two regimental +baseball teams played seven innings of air-tight ball while the shells +were falling not three hundred yards away at the roadside edge of their +ball-ground. During the seven innings only eight hits were allowed by +the two pitchers. The score was close and when at the end of the +seventh a shell exploded within fifty yards of the diamond and an +officer shouted: “Game called on account of shell fire!” there was +considerable dissatisfaction expressed because the game was not allowed +to continue. It is with the same spirit that the men attend their +religious meetings. They come because they want-to and they won’t let +anything interfere with it. + +But on this particular night the meeting was in full force, and so were +the shells. It had been a meeting in which the men had taken part, led +by one of the women whose leadership was unquestioned among them, a +personal testimony meeting in which several soldiers and an officer had +spoken of what Christ had done for them. Then there was a solo by one +of the lassies, and the Adjutant opened his Bible and began to read. He +took as his text Isaiah 55:1. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to +the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat.” + +Those boys knew what it was to be thirsty, terrible thirst! They had +come back from the lines sometimes their tongues parched and their +whole bodies feverish with thirst and there was nothing to be had to +drink until the Salvation Army people had appeared with good cold +lemonade; and when they had no money they had given it to them just the +same. Oh, they knew what that verse meant and their attention was held +at once as the speaker went on to show plainly how Jesus Christ would +give the water of life just as freely to those who were thirsty for it. +And they were thirsty! They did not wish to conceal how thirsty they +were for the living water. + +Just in the midst of the talk the lights went out. Many a church under +like conditions would have had a panic in no time, but this crowded +audience sat perfectly quiet, listening as the speaker went on, quoting +his Bible from memory where he could not read. + +Over there in the corner on a bench sat the lassies, the women who had +been serving them all through the hard days, as quiet and calm in the +darkness as though they sat in a cushioned pew in some well-lit church +in New York. It was as if the guns were like annoying little insects +that were outside a screen, and now and then slipped in, so little +attention did the audience pay to them. When all those who wished to +accept this wonderful invitation were asked to come forward, seven men +arose and stumbled through the darkness. The light from a bursting +shell revealed for an instant the forms of these men as they knelt at +the rough bench in front, one of them with his steel helmet hanging +from his arm as he prayed aloud for his own salvation. No one who was +in that meeting that night could doubt but that Jesus Christ Himself +was there, and that those men all felt His presence. + +In Bertrichamps the Salvation Army was given a large glass factory for +a canteen. It made a beautiful place, and there was room to take care +of eight hundred men at a time. This building was also used by the Y. +M. C. A. as well as the Jews and the Catholics for their services, +there being no other suitable place in town. But everybody worked +together, and got along harmoniously. + +Here there were some wonderful meetings, and it was great to hear the +boys singing “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder, I’ll Be There.” +Perhaps if some of the half-hearted Christians at home could have +caught the echo of that song sung with such earnestness by those boyish +voices they would have had a revelation. It seemed as if the earth-film +were more than half torn away from their young, wise eyes over there; +and they found that earthly standards and earthly false-whisperings did +not fit. They felt the spirit of the hour, they felt the spirit of the +place, and of the people who were serving them patiently day by day; +who didn’t have to stay there and work; who might have kept in back of +the lines and worked and sent things up now and then; but who chose to +stay close with them and share their hardships. They felt that +something more than just love to their fellow-men had instigated such +unselfishness. They knew it was something they needed to help them +through what was before them. They reached hungrily after the Christ +and they found Him. + +Then they testified in the meetings. Often as many as twelve or more +before an audience of five hundred would get up and tell what Jesus had +become to them. In one meeting in this glass factory two hundred +soldiers pledged to serve the Lord, to read their Bibles, and to pray. + +There were in this place some Christian boys who came from families +where they had been accustomed to family worship, and who now that they +were far away from it, looked back with longing to the days when it had +been a part of every day. Things look different over there with the +sound of battle close at hand, and customs that had been, a part of +every-day life at home became very dear, perhaps dearer than they had +ever seemed before. They found out that the Salvation Army people had +prayers every night after they closed the canteen at half-past nine and +went to their rooms in a house not far away, and so they begged that +they might share the worship with them. So every night they took home +fifteen or twenty men to the living-room of the house where they stayed +just as many as they could crowd in, and there they would have a little +Bible reading and prayer together. The Father only knows how many souls +were strengthened and how many feet kept from falling because of those +brief moments of worship with these faithful men and women of God. + +“Oh, if you only knew what it means to us!” one of the men tried to +tell them one day. + +Sometimes men who said they hadn’t prayed nor read their Bibles for +years would be found in little groups openly reading a testament to +each other. + +When the girls opened their shutters in the morning they could look out +over the spot in No Man’s Land which was the scene of such frightful +German atrocities in 1914. + +Our field artillery, stationed in the woods, sent over to the Salvation +Army to know if they wouldn’t come over and cook something for them, +they were starving for some home cooking. So two of the women put on +their steel helmets and their gas masks, for the Boche planes were +flying everywhere, and went over across No Man’s Land to see if there +was a place where they could open up a hut. They were walking along +quietly, talking, and had not noticed the German plane that approached. +They were so accustomed to seeing them by twos and threes that a single +one did not attract their attention. Suddenly almost over their heads +the Boche dropped a shell, trying to get them. But it was a dud and did +not explode. Two American soldiers came tearing over, crying: “Girls! +Are you hurt?” + +“Oh, no,” said one of them brightly. “The Lord wouldn’t let that fellow +get us.” + +The soldiers used strong language as they looked after the +fast-vanishing plane, but then they glanced back at the women again +with something unspoken in their eyes. They believed, those boys, they +really did, that God protected those women; and they used to beg them +to remain with their regiment when they were going near the front, +because they wanted their prayers as a protection. Some of the +regiments openly said they thought those girls’ prayers had saved their +lives. + +That Boche plane, however, had not far to go. Before it reached +Baccarat the Americans trained their guns on it and brought it down in +flames. + +The house occupied by the Salvation Army girls as a billet had a sad +story connected with it. When the Germans had come the father was soon +killed and four German officers had taken possession of the place for +their Headquarters. They also took possession of the two little girls +of the family, nine and fourteen years of age, to wait upon them. And +the first command that was given these children was that they should +wait upon the men nude! The youngest child was not old enough to +understand what this meant, but the older one was in terror, and they +begged and cried and pleaded but all to no purpose. The officer was +inexorable. He told them that if they did not obey they would be shot. + +The poor old grandfather and grandmother, too feeble to do anything, +and powerless, of course, to aid, could only endure in agony. The +grandmother, telling the Salvation Army women the story afterward, +pointed with trembling lingers and streaming eyes to the two little +graves in the yard and said: “Oh, it would have been so much better if +he had shot them! They lie out there as the result of their infamous +and inhuman treatment.” + +Some most amusing incidents came to the knowledge of the Salvation Army +workers. + +An old French woman, over eighty years of age, lived in one of the +stricken villages on the Vosges front. Her home had been several times +struck by shells and was frequently the target for enemy bombing +squadrons. All through the war she refused to leave the home in which +she had lived from earliest childhood. + +“It is not the guns, nor the bombs which can frighten me,” she told a +Salvation Army lassie who was billeted with her for a time, “but I am +very much afraid of the submarines.” + +The village was several hundred miles inland. + +The activity was all at night, for no one dared be seen about in the +daytime. It must be a very urgent duty that would call men forth into +full view of the enemy. But as soon, as the dark came on the men would +crawl into the trenches, stick their rifles between the sandbags and +get ready for work. + +It seemed to be always raining. They said that when it wasn’t actually +raining it was either clearing off or just getting ready to rain again. +Twenty minutes in the trenches and a man was all over mud, wet, cold, +slippery mud. In his hair, down his neck, in his boots, everywhere. + +Through the trenches just behind the standing place ran a deeper trench +or drain to carry the water away, and this was covered over with a +rough board called a duck-board. Underneath this duck-board ran a +continual stream of water. A man would go along the trench in a hurry, +make a misstep on one end of the duck-board and down he would go in mud +and freezing water to the waist. In these cold, wet garments he must +stay all night. The tension was very great. + +As the soldiers had to work in the night, so the Salvation Army men and +women worked in the night to serve them. + +The Salvation Army men would visit the sentries and bring them coffee +and doughnuts prepared in the dugouts by the girls. It was exceedingly +dangerous work. They would crawl through the connecting trenches, which +were not more than three feet deep, and one must stoop to be safe, and +get to the front-line trenches with their cans of coffee. They would +touch a fellow on the shoulder, fill his mug with coffee, and slip him +some doughnuts. At such times the things were always given, not sold. +They did not dare even to whisper, for the enemy listening posts were +close at hand and the slightest breath might give away their position. +The sermon would be a pat of encouragement on a man’s shoulder, then +pass on to the next. + +One morning at three o’clock a Salvationist carried a second supply of +hot coffee to the battery positions. One gunner with tense, strained +face eyed his full coffee mug with satisfaction and said with a sigh: +“Good! That is all I wanted. I can keep going until morning now!” + +When the men were lined up for a raid there would be a prayer-meeting +in the dugout, thirty inside and as many as could crowded around the +door. Just a prayer and singing. Then the boys would go to the girls +and leave their little trinkets or letters, and say: “I’m going over +the top, Sister. If I don’t come back—if I’m kicked off—you tell +mother. You will know what to say to her to help her bear up.” + +Three-quarters of an hour later what was left of them would return and +the girls would be ready with hot coffee and doughnuts. It was +heart-breaking, back-aching, wonderful work, work fit for angels to do, +and these girls did it with all their souls. + +“Aren’t you tired? Aren’t you afraid?” asked someone of a lassie who +had been working hard for forty consecutive hours, aiding the doctors +in caring for the wounded, and in a lull had found time to mix up and +fry a batch of doughnuts in a corner from which the roof had been +completely blown by shells. + +“Oh, no! It’s great!” she replied eagerly. “I’m the luckiest girl in +the world.” + +By this time the Salvation Army had acquired many great three-ton +trucks, and the drivers of those risked their lives daily to carry +supplies to the dugouts and huts that were taking care of the men at +the front. + +There were signs all over everywhere: “Attention! The Enemy Sees You!” +Trucks were not allowed to go in daytime except in case of great +emergency. Sometimes in urgent cases day-passes would be given with the +order: “If you have to go, go like the devil!” + +The enemy always had the range on the road where the trucks had to +pass, and especially in exposed places and on cross-roads a man had no +chance if he paused. Once he had been sighted by the enemy he was done +for. A man driving on a hasty errand once dropped his crank, and +stopped his truck, to pick it up. Even as he stooped to take it a shell +struck his truck and smashed it to bits. + +Most of the travelling had to be done at night. Silently, without a +light over roads as dark as pitch, where the only possible guide was +the faint line above where the trees parted and showed the sky; over +rough, muddy roads, filled with shell-holes, the trucks went nightly. +Just fall in line, keep to the right, and whistle softly when something +got in the way. No claxon horns could be used, for that was the gas +alarm. A man could not even wear a radiolight watch on his wrist or a +driver smoke a cigarette. + +One very dark night a truck came through with a man sitting away out on +the radiator watching the road and telling the driver where to go. The +only light would be from shells exploding or occasional signal lights +for a moment. + +To get supplies from where they were to where they were needed was an +urgent necessity which often arose with but momentary +warning—frequently with no warning at all. The American front was a +matter not of miles, but of hundreds of miles, and the call for +supplies might come from any point along that front. Sometimes the call +meant the immediate shipment of tons of blankets, oranges, lemons, +sugar, flour for doughnuts, lard, chocolate and other materials, to a +point 200 miles distant. At times a railroad may supply a part of the +route, but always there is a long, dangerous truck haul, and usually +the entire route must be covered by truck. + +During the winter there were many thrills added to the already +strenuous task of the Salvation Army truck drivers. One of them driving +late at night in a snowstorm, mistook a river for the road for which he +was searching, and turned from the real road to the snow-covered +surface of the river, which he followed for some little distance before +discovering his mistake. Fortunately, the ice was solid and the truck +unloaded-an unusual combination. + +Another missed the road and drove into a field, where his wheels bogged +down. His fellow-traveller, driving a Ford, went for help, leaving him +with his truck, for if it had been left unguarded it would have soon +been stripped of every movable part by passing truck drivers. Here he +remained for almost forty-eight hours, during which time there was +considerable shelling. + +A Catholic Chaplain told the Salvation Army Staff-Captain that he +thought the reason the Salvation Army was so popular with his men was +because the Salvation Army kept its promises to the men. + +When the Salvation Army officer went to open work in the town of +Baccarat it was so crowded that he was unable to secure accommodations. +He was having dinner in the cafe, but could get no bread because he had +no bread tickets, The local K. of C. man, observing his difficulty, +supplied tickets, and, finding that he had no place to sleep, offered +to share his own meagre accommodations. For several nights he shared +his bed with him and the Salvation Army officer was greatly assisted by +him in many ways. The Salvation Army is popular not alone among the +soldiers. + +While the offensive was on in Argonne and north of Verdun, those who +were in the huts in the old training area, which were then used as rest +buildings, decided to do something for the boys, and on one occasion +they fried fourteen thousand doughnuts and took them to the boys at the +front. They traveled in the trucks, and distributed the doughnuts to +the boys as they came from the trenches and sent others into the +trenches. + +By the time they were through, the day was far spent and it was +necessary for them to find some place to stay over night. Verdun was +the only large city anywhere near but it had either been largely +destroyed or the civil population had long since abandoned it and there +was no place available. + +Underneath the trenches, however, there had been constructed in ancient +times, underground passages. There are fifty miles of these underground +galleries honeycombed beneath the city, sufficiently large to shelter +the entire population. There are cross sections of galleries, between +the longer passage ways, and winding stairways here and there. Air is +supplied by a system of pumps. There are theatres and a church, also. +The Army protecting Verdun had occupied these underground passages. + +When the officer commanding the French troops learned that the +Salvation Army girls were obliged to stay over night, he arranged for +their accommodation in the underground passage and here they rested in +perfect security with such comforts as cots and blankets could insure. + +It was said that they were the only women ever permitted to remain in +these underground passages. + + + + +VII. +The Chateau-Thierry-Soissons Drive + + +When the trouble at Seicheprey broke out the Germans began shelling +Beaumont and Mandres, and things took on a very serious look for the +Salvation Army. Then the Military Colonel gave an order for the girls +to leave Ansauville, and loading them up on a truck he sent them to +Menil-la-Tour. They never allowed girls again in that town until after +the St. Mihiel drive. + +That was a wild ride in the night for those girls sitting in an army +truck, jolted over shell holes with the roar of battle all about them; +the blackness of night on every side, shells bursting often near them, +yet they were as calm as if nothing were the matter; finally the car +got stuck under range of the enemy’s fire, but they never flinched and +they sat quietly in the car in a most dangerous position for twenty +minutes while the Colonel and the Captain were out locating a dugout. +Plucky little girls! + +The Salvation Army Staff-Captain of that zone went back in the morning +to Ansauville to get the girls’ personal belongings, and when he +entered the canteen he stood still and looked about him with horror and +thankfulness as he realized the narrow escape those girls had had. The +windows and roof were full of shell holes. Shrapnel had penetrated +everywhere. He went about to examine and took pieces of shrapnel out of +the flour and sugar and coffee which had gone straight through the tin +containers. The vanilla bottles were broken and there was shrapnel in +the vanilla, shrapnel was embedded in the wooden tops of the tables, +and in the walls. + +He went to the billet where two of the girls had slept. Opposite their +bed on the other side of the room was a window and over the bed was a +large picture. A shell had passed through the window and smashed the +picture, shattering the glass in fragments all over the bed. Another +shell had entered the window, passed over the pillows of the bed and +gone out through the wall by the bed. It would have gone through the +temples of any sleeper in that bed. After this they kept men in +Ansauville instead of girls. + +The next day the girls opened up the canteen at Menilla-Tour as calmly +as if nothing had happened the day before. + +The boys were going down to Nevillers to rest, and while they rested +the girls cooked good things for them and used that sweet God-given +influence that makes a little piece of home and heaven wherever it is +found. + +The girls did not get much rest, but then they had not come to France +to rest, as they often told people who were always urging them to save +themselves. They did get one bit of luxury in the shape of passes down +to Beauvais. There it was possible to get a bath and the girls had not +been able to have that from the first of April to the first of July. +They had to stand in line with the officers, it is true, to take their +turn at the public bath houses, but it was a real delight to have +plenty of water for once, for their appointments at the front had been +most restricted and water a scarce commodity. Sometimes it had been +difficult to get enough water for the cooking and the girls had been +obliged to use cold cream to wash their faces for several days at a +time. Of course, it was an impossibility for them to do any laundry +work for themselves, as there was neither time nor place nor +facilities. Their laundry was always carried by courier to some near-by +city and brought back to them in a few days. + +The Zone Major had supper with the Colonel, who told him that none of +the organizations would be allowed on the drive. The Zone Major asked +if they might be allowed to go as far as Crepy. The Colonel much +excited said: “Man, don’t you know that town is being shelled every +night?” The next morning a party of sixteen Salvation Army men and +women started out in the truck for Crepy. It was a beautiful day and +they rode all day long. At nightfall they reached the village of Crepy +where they were welcomed eagerly. The Zone Major had to leave and go +back and wanted them all to stay there, but they were unwilling to do +so because their own outfit was going over the top that night and they +wanted to be with them before they left. They started from Crepy about +five o’clock and got lost in the woods, but finally, after wandering +about for some hours, landed in Roy St. Nicholas where was the outfit +to which one of the girls belonged. + +The Salvation Army boys had just pulled in with another truck and were +getting ready for the night, for they always slept in their trucks. The +girls decided to sit down in the road until the billeting officer +arrived, but time passed and no billeting officer came. They were +growing very weary, so they got into the Colonel’s car, which stood at +the roadside, and went to sleep. A little later the billeting officer +appeared with many apologies and offered to take them to the billet +that had been set aside for them. They took their rolls of blankets, +and climbed sleepily out of the car, following him two blocks down the +street to an old building. But when they reached there they found that +some French officers had taken possession and were fast asleep, so they +went back to the car and slept till morning. At daylight they went down +to a brook to wash but found that the soldiers were there ahead of +them, and they had to go back and be content with freshening up with +cold cream. Thus did these lassies, accustomed to daintiness in their +daily lives, accommodate themselves to the necessities of war, as +easily and cheerfully as the soldier boys themselves. + +That day the rest of the outfits arrived, and they all pulled into +Morte Fontaine. + +Morte Fontaine was well named because there was no water in the town +fit to use. + +The girls felt they were needed nearer the front, so they went to Major +Peabody and asked permission. + +“I should say not!” he replied vigorously with yet a twinkle of +admiration for the brave lassies. “But you can take anything you want +in this town.” + +So the girls went out and found an old building. It was very dirty but +they went cheerfully to work, cleaned it up, and started their canteen. + +There was a hospital in the town; they knew that by the many ambulances +that were continually going back and forth; so they offered their +services to the doctors, which were eagerly accepted. After that they +took turns staying in the canteen and going to the hospital. + +The hospital was fearfully crowded, though it was in no measure the +fault of the hospital authorities, for they were doing their best, +working with all their might; but it had not been expected that there +would be so many wounded at this point and they had not adequate +accommodations. Many of the wounded boys were lying on the ground in +the sun, covered with blood and flies, and parched with thirst and +fever. There were not enough ambulances to carry them further back to +the base hospitals. + +The girls stretched pieces of canvas over the heads of the poor boys to +keep off the sun; they got water and washed away the blood; and they +sent one of their indefatigable truck drivers after some water to make +lemonade. The little Adjutant twinkled his nice brown eyes and set his +firm merry lips when they told him to get the water, in that place of +no water, but he took his little Ford car and whirled away without a +word, and presently he returned with a barrel of ice-cold water from a +spring he had found two miles away. How the girls rejoiced that it was +ice cold! And then they started making lemonade. They had known that +the Adjutant would find water somewhere. He was the man the doughboys +called “one game little guy,” because he was so fearless in going into +No Man’s Land after the wounded, so indefatigable in accomplishing his +purpose against all odds, so forgetful of self. + +They had but one crate of lemons, one crate of oranges and one bag of +sugar when they began making lemonade, but before they needed more it +arrived just on the minute. It was almost like a miracle. For a whole +car load of oranges and lemons had been shipped to Beauvais and arrived +a day too late—after the troops had gone. They were of no use there, so +the Zone Major had them shipped at once to the railhead at Crepy, and +got a special permit to go over with trucks and take them up to Morte +Fontaine. + +The Salvation Army never does things by halves. Colonel Barker sent to +Paris to get some mosquito netting to keep the flies off those +soldiers, and failing to find any in the whole city he bought $10,000 +worth of white net, such as is used for ladies’ collars and dresses—ten +thousand yards at a dollar a yard—and sent it down to the hospital +where it was used over the wounded men, sometimes over a wounded arm or +leg or head, sometimes over a whole man, sometimes stretched as netting +in the windows. And no ten thousand dollars was ever better spent, for +the flies occasioned indescribable suffering as well as the peril of +infection. + +Wonderful relief and comfort all these things brought to those poor +boys lying there in agony and fever. How delicious were the cooling +drinks to their parched lips! The doctors afterward said that it was +the cool drinks those girls gave to the men that saved many a life that +day. + +There were some poor fellows hurt in the abdomen who were not allowed +to drink even a drop and who begged for it so piteously. For these the +girls did all in their power. They bathed their faces and hands and +dipping gauze in lemonade they moistened their lips with it. + +The other day, after the war was over and a ship came sailing into New +York harbor, one of these same fellows standing on the deck looked down +at the wharf and saw one of these same girls standing there to welcome +him. As soon as he was free to leave the ship he rushed down to find +her, and gripping her hand eagerly he cried out so all around could +hear: “You saved my life that day. Oh, but I’m glad to see you! The +doctor said it was that cold lemonade you gave me that kept me from +dying of fever!” + +In one base hospital lay a boy wounded at Chateau-Thierry. Of course, +when wounded, he lost all his possessions, including a Testament which +he very much treasured. The Salvation Army supplied him with another, +but it did not comfort him as the old one had done. He said that it +could never be the same as the one he had carried for so long. He +worried so much about his Testament, that one of the lassies finally +attempted to recover it, and, after much trouble, succeeded through the +Bureau of Effects. The little book, which the soldier had always +carried with him, was blood-soaked and mud-stained; but it was an +unmistakable aid in the lad’s recovery. + +But the honor of those days in Morte Fontaine was not all due to the +Salvation Army lassies. The Salvation Army truck drivers were real +heroes. They came with their ambulances and their trucks and they +carried the poor wounded fellows back to the base hospitals. The +hospitals were full everywhere near there, and sometimes they would go +from one to another and have to drive miles, and even go from one town +to another to find a place where there was room to receive the men they +carried. Then back they would come for another load. They worked thus +for three days and five nights steadily, before they slept, and some of +them stripped to the waist and bared their breasts to the sharp night +wind so that the cold air would keep them awake to the task of driving +their cars through the black night with its precious load of human +lives. They had no opportunity for rest of any kind, no chance to shave +or wash or sleep, and they were a haggard and worn looking set of men +when it was over. + +While all this was going on the Zone Major kept out of sight of the +Colonel who had told him he couldn’t go out on that drive; but two days +later he saw his familiar car coming down the road and the Colonel +seemed greatly agitated. He was shaking his fist in front of him. + +The Zone Major pondered whether he would not better drive right on +without stopping to talk, but he reflected that he would have to take +his punishment some time and he might as well get it over with, so when +the Colonel’s car drew near he stopped. The Colonel got out and the +Zone Major got out, and it was apparent that the Colonel was very +angry. He forgot entirely that the Zone Major was a Salvationist and he +swore roundly: “I’m out with you for life” declared the Colonel +angrily. “The General’s upset and I’m upset.” + +“Why, what’s the matter, Colonel?” asked the Zone Major innocently. + +“Matter enough! You had no business to bring those girls up here!” + +The Colonel said more to the same effect, and then got into his car and +drove off. The Zone Major wisely kept out of his way; but a few days +later met him again and this time the Colonel was smiling: + +“Dog-gone you, Major, where’ve you been keeping yourself? Why haven’t +you been around?” and he put out his hand affably. + +“Why, I didn’t want to see a man who bawled me out in the public +highway that way,” said the Zone Major. + +“Well, Major, you had no business to bring those girls up here and you +know it!” said the Colonel rousing to the old subject again. + +“Why not, Colonel, didn’t they do fine?” + +“Yes, they did,” said the Colonel with tears springing suddenly into +his eyes and a huskiness into his voice, “but, Major, think what if +we’d lost one of them!” + +“Colonel,” said the Zone Major gently, “my girls are soldiers. They +come up here to share the dangers with the soldiers, and as long as +they can be of service they feel this is the place for them.” + +The Colonel struggled with his emotion for a moment and then said +gruffly: “Had anything to eat? Stop and take a bite with me.” And they +sat down under the trees and had supper together. + +It was at this town that the girls slept in a German-dug cave, in which +our boys had captured seven hundred Germans, the commanding officer of +whom said that according to his rank in Germany he ought to have a car +to take him to the rear. However, he was compelled to leg it at the +point of an American bayonet in the hands of an American doughboy. The +cave was of chalk rock made to store casks of wine. + +The airplanes were bad in this place. One speaks of airplanes in such a +connection in the same way one used to mention mosquitoes at certain +Jersey seashore resorts. But they were particularly bad at Morte +Fontaine, and Major Peabody ordered the canteen to be moved out of the +village to the cave. More Salvation Army girls came to look after the +canteen leaving the first girls free for longer hours at the hospital. + +One beautiful moonlight night the girls had just started out from the +hospital to go to their cave when they heard a German airplane, the +irregular chug, chug of its engine distinguishing it unmistakably from +the smooth whirr of the Allies’ planes. The girls looked up and almost +over their heads was an enemy plane, so low that they could see the +insignia on his machine, and see the man in the car. He seemed to be +looking down at them. In sudden panic they fled to a nearby tree and +hid close under its branches. Standing there they saw the enemy make a +low dip over the hospital tents, drop a bomb in the kitchen end just +where they had been working five minutes before, and slide up again +through the silvery air, curve away and dive down once more. + +The scene was bright as day for the moon was full and very clear that +night, and the roads stretched out in every direction like white +ribbons. One block away the girls could see a regiment of Scotch +soldiers, the famous Highland Regiment called “The Ladies From Hell,” +marching up to the front that night, and singing bravely as they +marched, their skirling Scotch songs accompanied by a bagpipe. And even +as they listened with bated breath and straining eyes the airplane +dipped and dropped another bomb right into the midst of the brave men, +killing thirty of them, and slid up and away before it could be +stopped. These were the scenes to which they grew daily accustomed as +they plied their angel mission, and daily saw themselves preserved as +by a miracle from constant peril. + +We had about eight or ten German prisoners here, who were employed as +litter bearers, and very good workers they were, tickled to death to be +there instead of over on their own side fighting. Most of the +prisoners, except some of the German officers, seemed glad to be taken. + +These German prisoners were sitting in a row on the ground outside the +hospital one day when the Salvation Army girls and men were picking +over a crate of oranges. The Germans sat watching them with longing +eyes. + +“Let’s give them each one,” proposed one of the girls. + +“No! Give them a punch in the nose!” said the boys. + +The girls said nothing more and went on working. Presently they stepped +away for a few minutes and when they came back the Germans sat there +contentedly eating oranges. Questioningly the girls looked at their +male coworkers and with lifted brows asked: “What does this mean?” + +“Aw, well! The poor sneaks looked so longingly!” said one of the boys, +grinning sheepishly. + +There in the hospital the girls came into contact with the splendid +spirit of the American soldier boys, “Don’t help me, help that fellow +over there who is suffering!” was heard over and over again when they +went to bring comfort to some wounded boy. + +When the supplies in the canteen would run out, and the last doughnut +would be handed with the words: “That’s the last,” the boy to whom it +was given would say: “Don’t give it to me, give it to Harry. I don’t +want it.” + +It was during that drive and there was a farewell meeting at one of the +Salvation Army huts that night for the boys who were going up to the +trenches. It was a beautiful and touching meeting as always on such +occasions. Starting with singing whatever the boys picked out, it +dropped quickly into the old hymns that the boys loved and then to a +simple earnest prayer, setting forth the desperate case of those who +were going out to fight, and appealing to the everlasting Saviour for +forgiveness and refuge. They lingered long about the fair young girl +who was leading them, listening to her earnest, plain words of +instruction how to turn to the Saviour of the world in their need, how +to repent of their sins and take Christ for their Saviour and +Sanctifier. No man who was in that meeting would dare plead ignorance +of the way to be saved. Many signified their desire to give their lives +into the keeping of Christ before they went to the front. The meeting +broke up reluctantly and the men drifted out and away, expecting soon +to be called to go. But something happened that they did not go that +night. Meantime, a company had just returned from the front, weary, +hungry, worn and bleeding, with their nerves unstrung, and their +spirits desperate from the tumult and horror of the hours they had just +passed in battle. They needed cheering and soothing back to normal. The +girls were preparing to do this with a bright, cheery entertainment, +when a deputation of boys from the night before returned. There was a +wistful gleam in the eyes of the young Jew who was spokesman for the +group as he approached the lassie who had led the meeting. + +“Say, Cap, you see we didn’t go up.” + +“I see,” she smiled happily. + +“Say, Cap, won’t you have another farewell meeting to-night?” he asked +with an appealing glance in his dark eyes. + +“Son, we’ve arranged something else just now for the fellows who are +coming back,” she said gently, for she hated to refuse such a request. + +“Oh, say, Cap, you can have that later, can’t you? We want another +meeting now.” + +There was something so pleading in his voice and eyes, so hungry in the +look of the waiting group, that the young Captain could not deny him. +She looked at him hesitatingly, and then said: + +“All right. Go out and tell the boys.” + +He hurried out and soon the company came crowding in. That hour the +very Lord came down and communed with them as they sang and knelt to +pray, and not a heart but was melted and tender as they went out when +it was over in the solemn darkness of the early morning. A little later +the order came and they “went over.” + +It was a sharp, fierce fight, and the young Jew was mortally wounded. +Some comrades found him as he lay white and helpless on the ground, and +bending over saw that he had not long to stay. They tried to lift him +and bear him back, but he would not let them. He knew it was useless. + +They asked him if he had any message. He nodded. Yes, he wanted to send +a message to the Salvation Army girls. It was this: + +“Tell the girls I’ve gone West; for I will be by the time you tell +them; and tell them it’s all right for at that second meeting I +accepted Christ and I die resting on the same Saviour that is theirs.” + +One of our wonderful boys out on the drive had his hand blown off and +didn’t realize it. His chum tried to drag him back and told him his +hand was gone. + +“That’s nothing!” he cried. “Tie it up!” + +But they forced him back lest he would bleed to death. In the hospital +they told him that now he might go home. + +“Go home!” he cried. “Go home for the loss of a left hand! I’m not +left-handed. Maybe I can’t carry a gun, but I can throw hand grenades!” + +He went to the Major and the Major said also that he must go home. + +The boy looked him straight in the eye: + +“Excuse me, Major, saying I won’t. But _I won’t let go your coat_ till +you say I can stay,” and finally the Major had to give in and let him +stay. He could not resist such pleading. + +One poor fellow, wounded in his abdomen, was lying on a litter in a +most uncomfortable position suffering awful pain. The lassie came near +and asked if she could do anything for him. He told her he wanted to +lie on his stomach, but the doctor, when she asked him, said “No” very +shortly and told her he must lie on his back. She stooped and turned +him so that his position was more comfortable, put his gas mask under +his head, rolled his blanket so as to support his shoulders better, and +turned to go to another, and the poor suffering lad opened his eyes, +held out his hand and smiled as she went away. + +The doctors said to the girls: “It is wonderful to have you around.” + +The Red Cross men and their rolling kitchens came to the front, but no +women. Somehow in pain and sickness no hand can sooth like a woman’s. +Perhaps God meant it to be so. Here at Morte Fontaine was the first +time a woman had ever worked in a field hospital. + +The Salvation Army women worked all that drive. + +It was a sad time, though, for the division went in to stay until they +lost forty-five hundred men, but it stayed two days after reaching that +figure and lost about seventy-five thousand. + +The doctor in charge of the evacuation hospital at Crepy spoke of the +effect of the Salvation Army girls, not alone upon the wounded, but +also upon the medical-surgical staff and the men of the hospital corps +who acted as nurses in that advanced position. “Before they came,” he +said, “we were overwrought, everyone seemed at the breaking point, what +with the nervous tension and danger. But the very sight of women +working calmly had a soothing effect on everyone.” + +When the drive was over orders came to leave. The following is the +official notice to the Salvation Army officers: + +G-1 Headquarters, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, July 26, +1918. + +_Memorandum._ + +To Directors, Y.M.C.A., Red Cross, Salvation Army Services, 1st +Division. + +1. This division moves by rail to destination unknown beginning at 6.00 +A.M., July 28th. Motor organizations of the Division move overland. +Your motorized units will accompany the advanced section of the +Division Supply Train, and will form a part of that train. + +2. Time of departure and routes to be taken will be announced later. + +3. Secretaries attached to units may accompany units, if it is so +desired. + +By command of Major-General Summerall. + +P. E. Peabody, +Captain, Infantry, +G-1 + +Copies: +YMCA +Red Cross +Salvation Army +G-3 +C. of S. +File + +The girls stowed themselves and their belongings into the big truck. +Just as they were about to start they saw some infantry coming, seven +men whom they knew, but in such a plight! They were unshaven, with +white, sunken faces, and great dark hollows under their eyes. They were +simply “all in,” and could hardly walk. + +Without an instant’s hesitation the girls made a place for those poor, +tired, dirty men in the truck, and the invitation was gratefully +accepted. + +There were more poor forlorn fellows coming along the road. They kept +meeting them every little way, but they had no room to take in any more +so they piled oranges in the back end of the truck and gave them to all +the boys they passed who were walking. + +Now the girls were on their way to Senlis, where they had planned to +take dinner at a hotel in which they had dined before. It was one of +the few buildings remaining in the town for the Germans, when they left +Senlis, had set it on fire and destroyed nearly everything. But as the +girls neared the town they began to think about the boys asleep in the +back of the truck, who probably hadn’t had a square meal for a week, +and they decided to take them with them. So they woke them up when they +arrived at the hotel. Oh, but those seven dirty, unshaven soldiers were +embarrassed with the invitation to dinner! At first they declined, but +the girls insisted, and they found a place to wash and tidy up +themselves a bit. In a few minutes into the big dining-room filled with +French soldiers and a goodly sprinkling of French officers, marched +those two girls, followed by their seven big unshaven soldiers with +their white faces and hollow eyes, sat proudly down at a table in the +very centre and ordered a big dinner. That is the kind of girls +Salvation Army lassies are. Never ashamed to do a big right thing. + +After the dinner they took the boys to their divisional headquarters, +where they found their outfit. + +They went on their way from Senlis to Dam-Martin to stay for a week +back of the lines for rest. + +There was a big French cantonment building here built for moving +pictures, which was given to them for a canteen, and they set up their +stove and went to work making doughnuts, and doing all the helpful +things they could find to do for the boys who were soon to go to the +front again. + +Then orders came to move back to the Toul Sector. + +Those were wonderful moonlight nights at Saizerais, but the Boche +airplanes nearly pestered the life out of everybody. + +“Gee!” said one of the boys, “if anybody ever says ’beautiful moonlight +nights’ to me when I get home I don’t know what I’ll do to ’em!” + +The boys were at the front, but not fighting as yet. Occasional shells +would burst about their hut here and there, but the girls were not much +bothered by them. The thing that bothered them most was an old “Vin” +shop across the street that served its wine on little tables set out in +front on the sidewalk. They could not help seeing that many of the boys +were beginning to drink. Poor souls! The water was bad and scarce, +sometimes poisoned, and their hearts were sick for something, and this +was all that presented itself. It was not much wonder. But when the +girls discovered the state of things they sent off three or four boys +with a twenty-gallon tank to scout for some water. They found it after +much search and filled the big tank full of delicious lemonade, telling +the boys to help themselves. + +All the time they were in that town, which was something like a week, +the girls kept that tank full of lemonade close by the door. They must +have made seventy-five or a hundred gallons of lemonade every day, and +they had to squeeze all the lemons by hand, too! They told the boys: +“When you feel thirsty just come here and get lemonade as often as you +want it!” No wonder they almost worship those girls. And they had the +pleasure of seeing the trade of the little wine shop decidedly +decrease. + +However near the front you may go you will always find what is known +over there in common parlance as a “hole in the wall” where “vin +blanche” and “vin rouge” and all kinds of light wines can be had. And, +of course, many soldiers would drink it. The Salvation Army tried to +supply a great need by having carloads of lemons sent to the front and +making and distributing lemonade freely. + +One cannot realize the extent of this proposition without counting up +all the lemons and sugar that would be required, and remembering that +supplies were obtained only by keeping in constant touch with the +Headquarters of that zone and always sending word immediately when any +need was discovered. There is nothing slow about the Salvation Army and +they are not troubled with too much red tape. If necessity presents +itself they will even on occasion cut what they have to help someone. + +The airplanes visited them every night that week, and sometimes they +did not think it worth while to go to bed at all; they had to run to +the safety trenches so often. It was just a little bit of a village +with dugouts out on the edge. + +One night they had gone to bed and a terrific explosion occurred which +rocked the little house where they were. They thought of course the +bomb had fallen in the village, but they found it was quite outside. It +had made such a big hole in the ground that you could put a whole truck +into it. + +The trenches in which they hid were covered over with boards and sand, +and were not bomb proof, but they were proof against pieces of shell +and shrapnel. + +It was a very busy time for the girls because so many different outfits +were passing and repassing that they had to work from morning early +till late at night. + +At Bullionville the hut was in a building that bore the marks of much +shelling. The American boys promptly dubbed the place “Souptown.” + +The Division moved to Vaucouleurs for rest and replacements. At +Vaucouleurs there was a great big hut with a piano, a victrola, and a +cookstove. + +They started the canteen, made doughnuts and pies, and gave +entertainments. + +But best of all, there were wonderful meetings and numbers of +conversions, often twenty and twenty-five at a time giving themselves +to Christ. The boys would get up and testify of their changed feelings +and of what Christ now meant to them, and the others respected them the +more for it. + +They stayed here two weeks and everybody knew they were getting ready +for a big drive. It was a solemn time for the boys and they seemed to +draw nearer to the Salvation Army people and long to get the secret of +their brave, unselfish lives, and that light in their eyes that defied +danger and death. In the distance you could hear the artillery, and the +night before they left, all night long, there was the tramp, tramp, +tramp of feet, the boys “going up.” + +The next day the girls followed in a truck, stopping a few days at +Pagny-sur-Meuse for rest. + + + + +VIII. +The Saint Mihiel Drive + + +The hut in Raulecourt was an old French barracks. Outside in the yard +was an old French anti-aircraft gun and a mesh of barbed wire +entanglement. The woods all around was filled with our guns. To the +left was the enemy’s third line trench. Three-quarters of the time the +Boche were trying to clean us up. Less than two miles ahead were our +own front line trenches. + +The field range was outside in the back yard. + +One hot day in July a Salvation Army woman stood at the range frying +doughnuts from eleven in the morning until six at night without +resting, and scarcely stopping for a bite to eat. She fried seventeen +hundred doughnuts, and was away from the stove only twice for a few +minutes. She claims, however, that she is not the champion doughnut +fryer. The champion fried twenty-three hundred in a day. + +One day a soldier watching her tired face as she stood at the range +lifting out doughnuts and plopping more uncooked ones into the fat, +protested. + +“Say, you’re awfully tired turning over doughnuts. Let me help you. You +go inside and rest a while. I’m sure I can do that.” + +She was tired and the boy looked eager, so she decided to accept his +offer. He was very insistent that she go away and rest, so she slipped +in behind a screen to lie down, but peeped out to watch how he was +getting on. She saw him turn over the first doughnuts all right and +drain them, but he almost burned his fingers trying to eat one before +it was fairly out of the fat; and then she understood why he had been +so anxious for her to “_go away_” and rest. + +Often the boys would come to the lassies and say: “Say, Cap, I can help +you. Loan me an apron.” And soon they would be all flour from their +chin to their toes. + +They would come about four o’clock to find out what time the doughnuts +would be ready for serving, and the girls usually said six o’clock so +that they would be able to fry enough to supply all the regiment. But +the men would start to line up at half-past four, knowing that they +could not be served until six, so eager were they for these delicacies. +When six o’clock came each man would get three doughnuts and a cup of +delicious coffee or chocolate. A great many doughnut cutters were worn +out as the days went by and the boys frequently had to get a new cutter +made. Sometimes they would take the top of quite a large-sized can or +anything tin that they could lay hands on from which to make it. One +boy found the top of an extra large sized baking powder tin and took it +to have a smaller cutter soldered in the centre. Sometimes they used +the top of the shaving soap box for this. When he got back to the hut +the cook exclaimed in dismay: “Why, but it’s too big!” + +“Oh, that’s all right,” said the doughboy nonchalantly. + +“That’ll be all the better for us. We’ll get more doughnut. You always +give us three anyway, you know. The size don’t count.” + +They were always scheming to get more pie and more doughnuts and would +stand in line for hours for a second helping. One day the Salvation +Army woman grew indignant over a noticeably red-headed boy who had had +three helpings and was lining up for a fourth. She stood majestically +at the head of the line and pointed straight at him: “You! With the red +head down there! Get out of the line!” + +“She’s got my number all right!” said the red-headed one, grinning +sheepishly as he dropped back. + +The town of Raulecourt was often shelled, but one morning just before +daybreak the enemy started in to shell it in earnest. Word came that +the girls had better leave as it was very dangerous to remain, but the +girls thought otherwise and refused to leave. One might have thought +they considered that they were real soldiers, and the fate of the day +depended upon them. And perhaps more depended upon them than they knew. +However that was they stayed, having been through such experiences +before. For the older woman, however, it was a first experience. She +took it calmly enough, going about her business as if she, too, were an +old soldier. + +On the evening of June 14th they made fudge for the boys who were going +to leave that night for the front lines. + +For several hours the tables in the hut were filled with men writing +letters to loved ones at home, and the women and girls had sheets of +paper filled with addresses to which they had promised to write if the +boys did not come back. + +At last one of the men got up with his finished letter and quietly +removed the phonograph and a few of its devotees who were not going up +to the front yet, placing them outside at a safe distance from the hut. +A soldier followed, carrying an armful of records, and the hut was +cleared for the men who were “going in” that night. + +For a little while they ate fudge and then they sang hymns for another +half hour, and had a prayer. It was a very quiet little meeting. Not +much said. Everyone knew how solemn the occasion was. Everyone felt it +might be his last among them. It was as if the brooding Christ had made +Himself felt in every heart. Each boy felt like crying out for some +strong arm to lean upon in this his sore need. Each gave himself with +all his heart to the quiet reaching up to God. It was as if the eating +of that fudge had been a solemn sacrament in which their souls were +brought near to God and to the dear ones they might never see on this +earth again. If any one had come to them then and suggested the +Philosophy of Nietzsche it would have found little favor. They knew, +here, in the face of death, that the Death of Jesus on the Cross was a +soul satisfying creed. Those who had accepted Him were suddenly taken +within the veil where they saw no longer through a glass darkly, but +with a face-to-face sense of His presence. They had dropped away their +self assurance with which they had either conquered or ignored +everything so far in life, and had become as little children, ready to +trust in the Everlasting Father, without whom they had suddenly +discovered they could not tread the ways of Death. + +Then came the call to march, and with a last prayer the boys filed +silently out into the night and fell into line. A few minutes later the +steady tramp of their feet could be heard as they went down the street +that led to the front. + +Later in the night, quite near to morning, there came a terrific shock +of artillery fire that heralded a German raid. The fragile army cots +rocked like cradles in the hut, dishes rolled and danced on the shelves +and tables, and were dashed to fragments on the floor. Shells wailed +and screamed overhead; and our guns began, until it seemed that all the +sounds of the universe had broken forth. In the midst of it all the gas +alarm sounded, the great electric horns screeching wildly above the +babel of sound. The women hurried into their gas masks, a bit flustered +perhaps, but bearing their excitement quietly and helping each other +until all were safely breathing behind their masks. + +The next day several times officers came to the hut and begged the +women to leave and go to a place of greater safety, but they decided +not to go unless they were ordered away. On June 19th one of them wrote +in her diary: “Shells are still flying all about us, but our work is +here and we must stay. God will protect us.” Once when things grew +quiet for a little while she went to the edge of the village and +watched the shells falling on Boucq, where one of her friends was +stationed, and declared: “It looks awfully bad, almost as bad as it +sounds.” + +The next morning as the firing gradually died away, Salvation Army +people hurried up to Raulecourt from near-by huts to find out how these +brave women were, and rejoiced unspeakably that every one was safe and +well. + +That night there was another wonderful meeting with the boys who were +going to the front, and after it the weary workers slept soundly the +whole night through, quietly and undisturbed, the first time for a +week. + +It was a bright, beautiful Sunday morning, June 23, 1918, when a little +party of Salvationists from Raulecourt started down into the trenches. +The muddy, dirty, unpleasant trenches! Sometimes with their two feet +firmly planted on the duck-board, sometimes in the mud! Such mud! If +you got both feet on it at once you were sure you were planted and +would soon begin to grow! + +As soon as they reached the trenches they were told: “Keep your heads +down, ladies, the snipers are all around!” It was an intense moment as +they crept into the narrow housings where the men had to spend so much +time. But it was wonderful to watch the glad light that came into the +men’s eyes as they saw the women. + +“Here’s a real, honest-to-goodness American woman in the trenches!” +exclaimed a homesick lad as they came around a turn. + +“Yes, your mother couldn’t come to-day,” said the motherly +Salvationist, smiling a greeting, “so I’ve come in her place.” + +“All right!” said he, entering into the game. “This is Broadway and +that’s Forty-second Street. Sit down.” + +Of course there was nothing to sit down on in the trenches. But he +hunted about till he found a chow can and turned it up for a seat, and +they had a pleasant talk. + +“Just wait,” he said. “I’ll show you a picture of the dearest little +girl a fellow ever married and the darlingest little kid ever a man was +father to!” He fumbled in his breast pocket right over his heart and +brought out two photographs. + +“I’d give my right arm to see them this minute, but for all that,” he +went on, “I wouldn’t leave till we’ve fought this thing through to +Berlin and given them a dose of what they gave little Belgium!” + +They went up and down the trenches, pausing at the entrances to dugouts +to smile and talk with the men. Once, where a grassy ridge hid the +trench from the enemy snipers, they were permitted to peep over, but +there was no look of war in the grassy, placid meadow full of flowers +that men called “No Man’s Land.” It seemed hard to believe, that sunny, +flower-starred morning, that Sin and Hate had the upper hand and Death +was abroad stalking near in the sunlight. + +It was a twelve-mile walk through the trenches and back to the hut, and +when they returned they found the men were already gathering for the +evening meeting. + +That night, at the close of a heart-searching talk, eighty-five men +arose to their feet in token that they would turn from the ways of sin +and accept Christ as their Saviour, and many more raised their hands +for prayers. One of the women of this party in her three months in +France saw more than five hundred men give themselves to Christ and +promise to serve Him the rest of their lives. + +A little Adjutant lassie who was stationed at Boucq went away from the +town for a few hours on Saturday, and when she returned the next day +she found the whole place deserted. A big barrage had been put over in +the little, quiet village while she was away and the entire inhabitants +had taken refuge in the General’s dugout. Her husband, who had brought +her back, insisted that she should return to the Zone Headquarters at +Ligny-en-Barrios, where he was in charge, and persuaded her to start +with him, but when they reached Menil-la-Tour and found that the +division Chaplain was returning to Boucq she persuaded her husband that +she must return with the Chaplain to her post of duty. + +That night she and the other girls slept outside the dugout in little +tents to leave more room in the dugout for the French women with their +little babies. At half-past three in the morning the Germans started +their shelling once more. After two hours, things quieted down somewhat +and the girls went to the hut and prepared a large urn of coffee and +two big batches of hot biscuits. While they were in the midst of +breakfast there was another barrage. All day they were thus moving +backward and forward between the hut and the dugout, not knowing when +another barrage would arrive. The Germans were continually trying to +get the chateau where the General had his headquarters. One shell +struck a house where seven boys were quartered, wounding them all and +killing one of them. Things got so bad that the Divisional Headquarters +had to leave; the General sent his car and transferred the girls with +all their things to Trondes. This was back of a hill near Boucq. They +arrived at three in the afternoon, put up their stove and began to +bake. By five they were serving cake they had baked. The boys said: +“What! Cake already?” The soldiers put up the hut and had it finished +in six hours. + +While all this was going on the Salvation Army friends over at +Raulecourt had been watching the shells falling on Boueq, and been much +troubled about them. + +These were stirring times. No one had leisure to wonder what had become +of his brother, for all were working with all their might to the one +great end. + +Up north of Beaumont two aviators were caught by the enemy’s fire and +forced to land close to the enemy nests. Instead of surrendering the +Americans used the guns on their planes and held off the Germans until +darkness fell, when they managed to escape and reach the American +lines. This was only one of many individual feats of heroism that +helped to turn the tide of battle. The courage and determination, one +might say the enthusiasm, of the Americans knew no bounds. It awed and +overpowered the enemy by its very eagerness. The Americans were having +all they could do to keep up with the enemy. The artillerymen captured +great numbers of enemy cannon, ammunition, food and other supplies, +which the trucks gathered up and carried far to the front, where they +were ready for the doughboys when they arrived. One of the greatest +feats of engineering ever accomplished by the American Army was the +bridging of the Meuse, in the region of Stenay, under terrible shell +fire, using in the work of building the pontoons the Boche boats and +materials captured during the fighting at Chateau-Thierry and which had +been brought from Germany for the Kaiser’s Paris offensive in July. The +Meuse had been flooded until it was a mile wide, yet there was more +than enough material to bridge it. + +As the Americans advanced, village after village was set free which had +been robbed and pillaged by the Germans while under their domination. +The Yankee trucks as they returned brought the women and children back +from out of the range of shell fire, and they were filled with wonder +as they heard the strange language on the tongues of their rescuers. +They knew it was not the German, but they had many of them never seen +an American before. The Germans had told them that Americans were wild +and barbarous people. Yet these men gathered the little hungry children +into their arms and shared their rations with them. There were three +dirty, hungry little children, all under ten years of age, Yvonne, +Louisette and Jeane, whose father was a sailor stationed at Marseilles. +Yvonne was only four years of age, and she told the soldiers she had +never seen her father. They climbed into the big truck and sat looking +with wonder at the kindly men who filled their hands with food and +asked them many questions. By and by, they comprehended that these big, +smiling, cheerful men were going to take the whole family to their +father. What wonder, what joy shone in their eager young eyes! + +Strange and sad and wonderful sights there were to see as the soldiers +went forward. + +A pioneer unit was rushed ahead with orders to conduct its own campaign +and choose its own front, only so that contact was established with the +enemy, and to this unit was attached a certain little group of +Salvation Army people. Three lassies, doing their best to keep pace +with their own people, reached a battered little town about four +o’clock in the morning, after a hard, exciting ride. + +The supply train had already put up the tent for them, and they were +ordered to unfold their cots and get to sleep as soon as possible. But +instead of obeying orders these indomitable girls set to work making +doughnuts and before nine o’clock in the morning they had made and were +serving two thousand doughnuts, with the accompanying hot chocolate. + +The shells were whistling overhead, and the doughboys dropped into +nearby shell holes when they heard them coming, but the lassies paid no +heed and made doughnuts all the morning, under constant bombardment. + +Bouconville was a little village between Raulecourt and the trenches. +In it there was left no civilian nor any whole house. Nothing but +shot-down houses, dugouts and camouflages, Y.M.C.A., Salvation Army and +enlisted men. + +Dead Man’s Curve was between Mandres and Beaumont. The enemy’s eye was +always upon it and had its range. + +Before the St. Mihiel drive one could go to Bouconville or Raulecourt +only at night. As soon as it was dark the supply outfits on the trucks +would be lined up awaiting the word from the Military Police to go. + +Everyone had to travel a hundred yards apart. Only three men would be +allowed to go at once, so dangerous was the trip. + +Out of the night would come a voice: + +“Halt! Who goes there? Advance and give the countersign.” + +Every man was regarded as an enemy and spy until he was proven +otherwise. And the countersign had to be given mighty quick, too. So +the men were warned when they were sent out to be ready with the +countersign and not to hesitate, for some had been slow to respond and +had been promptly shot. The ride through the night in the dark without +lights, without sound, over rough, shell-plowed roads had plenty of +excitement. + +Bouconville for seven months could never be entered by day. The dugout +wall of the hut was filled with sandbags to keep it up. It was at +Bouconville, in the Salvation Army hut, that the raids on the enemy +were organized, the men were gathered together and instructed, and +trench knives given out; and here was where they weeded out any who +were afraid they might sneeze or cough and so give warning to the +enemy. + +Not until after the St. Mihiel drive when Montsec was behind the line +instead of in front did they dare enter Bouconville by day. + +Passing through Mandres, it was necessary to go to Beaumont, around +Dead Man’s Curve and then to Rambucourt, and proceed to Bouconville. +Here the Salvation Army had an outpost in a partially destroyed +residence. The hut consisted of the three ground floor rooms, the +canteen being placed in the middle. The sleeping quarters were in a +dugout just at the rear of these buildings. It was in the building +adjoining this hut that three men were killed one day by an exploding +shell, and gas alarms were so frequent in the night that it was very +difficult for the Salvation Army people to secure sufficient rest as on +the sounding of every gas alarm it was necessary to rise and put on the +gas mask and keep it on until the “alerte” was removed. This always +occurred several times during the night. + +Map + +It was just outside of Bouconville that the famous doughnut truck +experience occurred. The supply truck, driven by two young Salvation +Army men, one a mere boy, was making its rounds of the huts with +supplies and in order to reach Raulecourt, the boy who was driving +decided to take the shortest road, which, by the way, was under +complete observation of the Germans located at Montsec. The truck had +already been shelled on its way to Bouconville, several shells landing +at the edge of the road within a few feet of it. They had not noticed +the first shell, for shells were a somewhat common thing, and the old +truck made so much noise that they had not heard it coming, but when +the second one fell so close one of the boys said: “Say, they must be +shooting at _us!_” as though that were something unexpected. + +They stepped on the accelerator and the truck shot forward madly and +tore into the town with shells breaking about it. Having escaped thus +far they were ready to take another chance on the short cut to +Raulecourt. + +They proceeded without mishaps for some distance. Just outside of +Bouconville was a large shell hole in the road and in trying to avoid +this the wheels of the truck slipped into the ditch, and the driver +found he was stuck. It was impossible to get out under his own power. +While working with the truck, the Germans began to shell him again. At +first the two boys paid little heed to it, but when more began to come +they knew it was time to leave. They threw themselves into a +communicating trench, which was really no more than a ditch, and +wiggled their way up the bank until they were able to drop into the +main trenches, where they found safety in a dugout. + +The Germans meantime were shelling the truck furiously, the shells +dropping all around on either side, but not actually hitting it. This +was about two o’clock in the afternoon. + +[Illustration: “It was just outside of Bouconville that the famous +doughnut truck experience occurred”—and this is the Salvation Army boy +who drove it] + +[Illustration: Bullionville, promptly dubbed by the American boys +“Souptown”] + +At Headquarters they were becoming anxious about the non-appearance of +the truck and started out in the touring car to locate it. Commencing +at Jouey-les-Côtés they went from there to Boucq and Raulecourt, which +were the last places the truck was to visit. Not hearing of it at +Raulecourt, the search was continued out to Bouconville, again, by a +short road. Montsec was in full view. There were fresh shell holes all +along the road since the night before. Things began to look serious. + +A short distance ahead was an army truck, and even as they got abreast +of it a shell went over it exploding about twenty-five feet away, and +one hit the side of the road just behind them. It seemed wise to put on +all speed. + +But when they reached Bouconville and found that the truck they had +passed was the Salvation Army truck, they were unwilling to leave it to +the tender mercies of the enemy as everybody advised. That truck cost +fifty-five hundred dollars, and they did not want to lose it. + +As soon as it was dark a detail of soldiers volunteered to go with the +Salvation Army officers to attempt to get it out, but the Germans heard +them and started their shelling furiously once more, so that they had +to retreat for a time; but later, they returned and worked all night +trying to jack it up and get a foundation that would permit of hauling +it out. Every little while all night the Germans shelled them. About +half-past four in the morning it grew light enough for the enemy to +see, and the top was taken off the truck so that it would not be so +good a mark. + +That day they went back to Headquarters and secured permission for an +ammunition truck to come down and give them a tow, as no driver was +permitted out on that road without a special permit from Headquarters. +The journey back was filled with perils from gas shells, especially +around Dead Man’s Curve, but they escaped unhurt. That night they +attached a tow line to the front of the truck, started the engine +quietly, and waited until the assisting truck came along out of the +darkness. They then attached their line without stopping the other +truck and with the aid of its own power the old doughnut truck was +jerked out of the ditch at last and sent on its way. In spite of the +many shells for which it had been a target it was uninjured save that +it needed a new top. The knowledge that the truck was stuck in the +ditch and was being shelled aroused great excitement among all the +troops in the Toul Sector and it was thereafter an object of +considerable interest. Newspaper correspondents telegraphed reports of +it around the world. + +In most of the huts and dugouts Salvation Army workers subsist entirely +upon Army chow. At Bouconville the chow was frequently supplemented by +fresh fish. The dugout here was very close to the trenches, less than +five minutes’ walk. Just behind the trenches to the left was a small +lake. When there was sufficient artillery fire to mask their attack, +soldiers would toss a hand grenade into this lake, thus stunning +hundreds of fish which would float to the surface, where they were +gathered in by the sackful. The Salvation Army dugout was never without +its share of the spoils. + +Before the soldiers began to think, as they do now, that being detailed +to the Salvation Army hut was a privilege, an Army officer sent one of +his soldiers, who seemed to be in danger of developing a yellow streak, +to sweep the hut and light the fires for the lassies. “You are only fit +to wash dishes, and hang on to a woman’s skirts,” he told the soldier +in informing him that he was detailed. That night the village was +bombed. The boy, who was really frightened, watched the two girls, +being too proud to run for shelter while they were so calm. He trembled +and shook while they sat quietly listening to the swish of falling +bombs and the crash of anti-aircraft guns. In spite of his fright, he +was so ashamed of his fears that he forced himself to stand in the +street and watch the progress of the raid. The next day he reported to +his Captain that he had vanquished his yellow streak and wanted a +chance to demonstrate what he said. The demonstration was ample. The +example of these brave lassies had somehow strengthened his spirit. + +Back of Raulecourt the woods were full of heavy artillery. Raulecourt +was the first town back of the front lines. The men were relieved every +eight days and passed through here to other places to rest. + +The military authorities sent word to the Salvation Army hut one day +that fifty Frenchmen would be going through from the trenches at five +o’clock in the morning who would have had no opportunity to get +anything to eat. + +The Salvation Army people went to work and baked up a lot of biscuits +and doughnuts and cakes, and got hot coffee ready. The Red Cross +canteen was better situated to serve the men and had more conveniences, +so they took the things over there, and the Red Cross supplied hot +chocolate, and when the men came they were well served. This is a +sample of the spirit of cooperation which prevailed. One Sunday night +they were just starting the evening service when word came from the +military authorities that there were a hundred men coming through the +town who were hungry and ought to be fed. They must be out of the town +by nine-thirty as they were going over the top that night. Could the +Salvation Army do anything? + +The woman officer who was in charge was perplexed. She had nothing +cooked ready to eat, the fire was out, her detailed helpers all gone, +and she was just beginning a meeting and hated to disappoint the men +already gathered, but she told the messenger that if she might have a +couple of soldiers to help her she would do what she could. The +soldiers were supplied and the fire was started. At ten minutes to nine +the meeting was closed and the earnest young preacher went to work +making biscuits and chocolate with the help of her two soldier boys. By +ten o’clock all the men were fed and gone. That is the way the +Salvation Army does things. They never say “I can’t.” They always can. + +In Raulecourt there were several pro-Germans. The authorities allowed +them to stay there to save the town. The Salvation Army people were +warned that there were spies in the town and that they must on no +account give out information. Just before the St. Mihiel drive a +special warning was given, all civilians were ordered to leave town, +and a Military Police knocked at the door and informed the woman in the +hut that she must be careful what she said to anybody with the rank of +a second lieutenant, as word had gone out there was a spy dressed in +the uniform of an American second lieutenant. + +That night at eleven o’clock the young woman was just about to retire +when there came a knock at the canteen door. She happened to be alone +in the building at the time and when she opened the door and found +several strange officers standing outside she was a little frightened. +Nor did it dispel her fears to have them begin to ask questions: + +“Madam, how many troops are in this town? Where are they? Where can we +get any billets?” + +To all these questions she replied that she could not tell or did not +know and advised them to get in touch with the town Major. The visitors +grew impatient. Then three more men knocked at the door, also in +uniform, and began to ask questions. When they could get no information +one of them exclaimed indignantly: + +“Well, I should like to know what kind of a town this is, anyway? I +tried to find out something from a Military Police outside and he took +me for a spy! Madam, we are from Field Hospital Number 12, and we want +to find a place to rest.” + +Then the frightened young woman became convinced that her visitors were +not spies; all the same, they were not going to leave her any the wiser +for any information she would give. + +Several times men would come to the town and find no place to sleep. On +such occasions the Salvation Army hut was turned over to them and they +would sleep on the floor. + +The St. Mihiel drive came on and the hut was turned over to the +hospital. The supplies were taken to a dugout and the canteen kept up +there. Then the military authorities insisted that the girls should +leave town, but the girls refused to go, begging, “Don’t drive us away. +We know we shall be needed!” The Staff-Captain came down and took some +of the girls away, but left two in the canteen, and others in the +hospital. + +It rained for two weeks in Roulecourt. The soldiers slept in little dog +tents in the woods. + +The meetings held the boys at the throne of God each night, they were +the power behind the doughnut, and the boys recognized it. + +“One hesitated to ask them if they wanted prayers because we knew they +did,” said one sweet woman back from the front, speaking about the time +of the St. Mihiel drive. “We couldn’t say how many knelt at the altar +because they all knelt. Some of them would walk five miles to attend a +meeting.” + +It poured torrents the night of the drive and nearly drowned out the +soldiers in their little tents. + +They came into the hut to shake hands and say goodbye to the girls; to +leave their little trinklets and ask for prayers; and they had their +meeting as always before a drive. + +But this was an even more solemn time than usual, for the boys were +going up to a point where the French had suffered the fearful loss of +thirty thousand men trying to hold Mt. Sec for fifteen minutes. They +did not expect to come back. They left sealed packages to be forwarded +if they did not return. + +One boy came to one of the Salvation Army men Officers and said: “Pray +for me. I have given my heart to Jesus.” + +Another, a Sergeant, who had lived a hard life, came to the Salvation +Army Adjutant and said: “When I go back, if I ever go, I’m going to +serve the Lord.” + +After the meeting the girls closed the canteen and on the way to their +room they passed a little sort of shed or barn. The door was standing +open and a light streaming out, and there on a little straw pallet lay +a soldier boy rolled up in his blanket reading his Testament. The girls +breathed a prayer for the lad as they passed by and their hearts were +lifted up with gladness to think how many of the American boys, fully +two-thirds of them, carried their Testaments in the pockets over their +hearts; yes, and read them, too, quite openly. + +Two young Captains came one night to say good-bye to the girls before +going up the line. The girls told them they would be praying for them +and the elder of the two, a doctor, said how much he appreciated that, +and then told them how he had promised his wife he would read a chapter +in his Testament every day, and how he had never failed to keep his +promise since he left home. + +Then up spoke the other man: + +“Well, I got converted one night on the road. The shells were falling +pretty thick and I thought I would never reach my destination and I +just promised the Lord if He would let me get safely there I would +never fail to read a chapter, and I never have failed yet!” This young +man seemed to think that—the whole plan of redemption was comprised in +reading his Bible, but if he kept his promise the Spirit would guide +him. + +On the way back to the hut one morning the girls picked marguerites and +forget-me-nots and put them in a vase on the table in the hut, making +it look like a little oasis in a desert, and no doubt, many a soldier +looked long at those blossoms who never thought he cared about flowers +before. + +Within thirty-six hours after the first gun was fired in the St. Mihiel +drive seven Salvation Army huts were established on the territory. + +Three days before the drive opened twenty Salvation Army girls reached +Raulecourt, which was a little village half a mile from Montsec. They +had been travelling for hours and hours and were very weary. + +The Salvation Army hut had been turned over to the hospital, so they +found another old building. + +That night there was a gas alarm sounded and everybody came running out +with their gas masks on. The officer who had them in charge was much +worried about his lassies because some of them had a great deal of +hair, and he was afraid that the heavy coils at the back of their heads +would prevent the masks from fitting tightly and let in the deadly gas, +but the lassies were level-headed girls, and they came calmly out with +their masks on tight and their hair in long braids down their backs, +much to the relief of their officer. + +It had been raining for days and the men were wet to the skin, and many +of them had no way to get dry except to roll up in their blankets and +let the heat of their body dry their clothes while they slept. It was a +great comfort to have the Salvation Army hut where they could go and +get warm and dry once in awhile. + +The night of the St. Mihiel drive was the blackest night ever seen. It +was so dark that one could positively see nothing a foot ahead of him. +The Salvation Army lassies stood in the door of the canteen and +listened. All day long the heavy artillery had been going by, and now +that night had come there was a sound of feet, tramping, tramping, +thousands of feet, through the mud and slush as the soldiers went to +the front. In groups they were singing softly as they went by. The +first bunch were singing “Mother Machree.” + +There’s a spot in me heart that no colleen may own, +There’s a depth in me soul never sounded or known; +There’s a place in me memory, me life, that you fill, +No other can take it, no one ever will; +Sure, I love the dear silver that shines in your hair, +And the brow that’s all furrowed and wrinkled with care. +I kiss the dear fingers, so toil-worn for me; + O, God bless you and keep you! + Mother Machree! + +The simple pathos of the voices, many of them tramping forward to their +death, and thinking of mother, brought the tears to the eyes of the +girls who had been mothers and sisters, as well as they could, to these +boys during the days of their waiting. + +Then the song would die slowly away and another group would come by +singing: “Tell mother I’ll be there!” Always the thought of mother. A +little interval and the jolly swing of “Pack up your troubles in your +old kit bag and smile, smile, smile!” came floating by, and then +sweetly, solemnly, through the chill of the darkness, with a thrill in +the words, came another group of voices: + +Abide with me; fast falls the eventide, +The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!’ + +There had been rumors that Montsec was mined and that as soon as a foot +was set upon it it would blow up. + +The girls went and lay down on their cots and tried to sleep, praying +in their hearts for the boys who had gone forth to fight. But they +could not sleep. It was as though they had all the burden of all the +mothers and wives and sisters of those boys upon them, as they lay +there, the only women within miles, the only women so close to the +lines. + +About half-past one a big naval gun went off. It was as though all the +noises of the earth were let loose about them. They could lie still no +longer. They got up, put on their rain-coats, rubber boots, steel +helmets, took their gas masks and went out in the fields where they +could see. Soon the barrage was started. Darkness took on a rosy hue +from shells bursting. First a shell fell on Montsec. Then one landed in +the ammunition dump just back of it and blew it up, making it look like +a huge crater of a volcano. It seemed as if the universe were on fire. +The noise was terrific. The whole heavens were lit up from end to end. +The beauty and the horror of it were indescribable. + +At five o’clock they went sadly back to the hut. + +The hospital tents had been put up in the dark and now stood ready for +the wounded who were expected momentarily. The girls took off their +rain-coats and reported for duty. It was expected there would be many +wounded. The minutes passed and still no wounded arrived. Day broke and +only a few wounded men had been brought in. It was reported that the +roads were so bad that the ambulances were slow in getting there. With +sad hearts the workers waited, but the hours passed and still only a +straggling few arrived, and most of those were merely sick from +explosives. There were almost no wounded! Only ninety in all. + +Then at last there came one bearing a message. There _were_ no wounded! +The Germans had been taken so by surprise, the victory had been so +complete at that point, that the boys had simply leaped over all +barriers and gone on to pursue the enemy. Quickly packing up seven +outfits a little company of workers started after their divisions on +trucks over ground that twenty-four hours before had been occupied by +the Germans, on roads that were checkered with many shell holes which +American road makers were busily filling up and bridging as they +passed. + +One of the Salvation Army truck drivers asked a negro road mender what +he thought of his job. He looked up with a pearly smile and a gleam of +his eyes and replied: “Boss, I’se doin’ mah best to make de world safe +foh Democrats!” + +They had to stop frequently to remove the bodies of dead horses from +the way so recently had that place been shelled. They passed through +grim skeletons of villages shattered and torn by shell fire; between +tangles of rusty barbed wire that marked the front line trenches. Then +on into territory that had long been held by the Huns. More than half +of the villages they passed were partially burned by the retreating +enemy. All along the way the pitiful villagers, free at last, came out +to greet them with shouts of welcome, calling “Bonnes Americaines! +Bonnes Americaines!” Some flung their arms about the Salvation Army +lassies in their joy. Some of the villagers had not even known that the +Americans were in the war until they saw them. + +In the village of Nonsard a little way beyond Mt. Sec they found a +building that twenty-four hours before had been a German canteen. Above +the entrance was the sign “Kamerad, tritt’ ein.” + +The Salvation Army people stepped in and took possession, finding +everything ready for their use. They even found a lard can full of lard +and after a chemist had analyzed it to make sure it was not poisoned +they fried doughnuts with it. In one wall was a great shell hole, and +the village was still under shell fire as they unloaded their truck and +got to work. One lassie set the water to heat for hot chocolate, while +another requisitioned a soldier to knock the head off a barrel of flour +and was soon up to her elbows mixing the dough for doughnuts. Before +the first doughnut was out of the hot fat several hundred soldiers were +waiting in long, patient, ever-growing lines for free doughnuts and +chocolate. These things were always served free after the men had been +over the top. + +The lassies had had no sleep for thirty-six hours, but they never +thought of stopping until everybody was served. In that one day their +three tons of supplies entirely gave out. + +The Red Cross was there with their rolling kitchen. They had plenty of +bread but nothing to put on it. The Salvation Army had no stove on +which to cook anything, but they had quantities of jam and potted +meats. They turned over ten cases of jam, some of the cases containing +as many as four hundred small jars, to the Red Cross, who served it on +hot biscuits. Some one put up a sign: “This jam furnished by the +Salvation Army!” and the soldiers passed the word along the line: “The +finest sandwich in the world, Red Cross and Salvation Army!” The first +day two Salvation Army girls served more than ten thousand soldiers in +their canteen. They did not even stop to eat. The Red Cross brought +them over hot chocolate as they worked. + +Evening brought enemy airplanes, but the lassies did not stop for that +and soon their own aerial forces drove the enemy back. + +That night the girls slept in a dirty German dugout, and they did not +dare to clean up the place, or even so much as to move any of the +_débris_ of papers and old tin and pasteboard cracker boxes, or cans +that were strewn around the place until the engineer experts came to +examine things, lest it might be mined and everything be blown up. The +girls set up their cots in the clearest place they could find, and went +to sleep. One of the women, however, who had just arrived, had lost her +cot, and being very weary crawled into a sort of berth dug by the +Germans in the wall, where some German had slept. She found out from +bitter experience what cooties are like. + +The next morning they were hard at work again as early as seven +o’clock. Two long lines of soldiers were already patiently waiting to +be served. The girls wondered whether they might not have been there +all night. This continued all day long. + +“We had to keep on a perpetual grin,” said one of the lassies, “so that +each soldier would think he had a smile all his own. We always gave +everything with a smile.” Yet they were not smiles of coquetry. One had +but to see the beautiful earnest faces of those girls to know that +nothing unholy or selfish entered into their service. It was more like +the smile that an angel might give. + +Here is one of the many popular songs that have been written on the +subject which shows how the soldiers felt: + +Salvation Lassie of Mine + +“They say it’s in Heaven that all angels dwell, + But I’ve come to learn they’re on earth just as well; +And how would I know that the like could be so, + If I hadn’t found one down here below? + +CHORUS. + +A sweet little Angel that went o’er the sea, + With the emblem of God in her hand; + A wonderful Angel who brought there to me + The sweet of a war-furrowed land. +The crown on her head was a ribbon of red, + A symbol of all that’s divine; +Though she called each a brother she’s more like a mother, + Salvation Lassie of Mine. + +Perhaps in the future I’ll meet her again, + In that world where no one knows sorrow or pain; +And when that time comes and the last word is said, + Then place on my bosom her band of red.” + +_By “Jack” Caddigan and “Chick” Stoy._ + +That day a shell fell on the dugout where they had slept the night +before, and a little later one dropped next door to the canteen; +another took seven men from the signal corps right in the street near +by, and the girls were ordered out of the village because it was no +longer safe for them. + +One of the boys had been up on a pole putting up wires for the signal +corps. These boys often had to work as now under shell fire in daytime +because it was necessary to have telephone connections complete at +once. A shell struck him as he worked and he fell in front of the +canteen. They had just carried him away to the ambulance when his chum +and comrade came running up. A pool of blood lay on the floor in front +of the canteen, and he stood and gazed with anguish in his face. +Suddenly he stooped and patted the blood tenderly murmuring, “My Buddy! +My Buddy!” Then like a flash he was off, up the pole where his comrade +had been killed to finish his work. That is the kind of brave boys +these girls were serving. + + + + +IX. +The Argonne Drive + + +That night they slept in the woods on litters, and the next day they +went on farther into the woods, twelve kilometres beyond what had been +German front. + +Here they found a whole little village of German dugouts in the form of +log cabin bungalows in the woods. It was a beautifully laid out little +village, each bungalow complete, with running water and electric lights +and all conveniences. There were a dance hall, a billiard room, and +several pianos in the woods. There were also fine vegetable gardens and +rabbit hutches full of rabbits, for the Germans had been obliged to +leave too hastily to take anything with them. + +The boys were hungry, some of them half starved for something different +from the hard fare they could take with them over the top, and they +made rabbit stews and cooked the vegetables and had a fine time. + +The girls up at the front had no time for making doughnuts, so the +girls back of the lines made 8000 doughnuts and sent them up by trucks +for distribution. They also distributed oranges to the soldiers. + +News came to the girls after they had been for a week in Nonsard that +they were to make a long move. + +Back to Verdun they went and stopped just long enough to look at the +city. They were much impressed with St. Margaret’s school for young +ladies, and a wonderful old cathedral standing on the hill with a wall +surrounding it. Just the face of the building was left, all the rest +shot away, and through the concrete walls were holes, with guns +bristling from every one. + +[Illustration: Here they found a whole little village of German +dugouts] + +[Illustration: The girls who came down to help in the St. Mihiel drive] + +They did not linger long for duty called them forward on their journey. +At dusk they stopped in a little village, bought some stuff, and asked +a French woman to cook it for them. They inquired for a place in which +to wash and were given a bar of soap and directed to the village pump +up the street. After supper they went on their way to Benoitvaux. Here +they found difficulty in getting quarters, but at last an old French +woman agreed to let them sleep in her kitchen and for a couple of days +they were quartered with her. The word went forth that there were two +American girls there and people were most curious to see them. One +afternoon two French soldiers came to the kitchen to visit them. It was +raining, as usual, and the girls had stayed in because there was really +nothing to call them out. The soldiers sat for some time talking. They +had heard that America was a wild place with _beaucoup_ Indians who +wore scalps in their belts, and they wanted to know if the girls were +not afraid. It was a bit difficult conversing, but the girls got out +their French dictionary and managed to convey a little idea of the true +America to the strangers. At last one of the soldiers in quite a matter +of fact tone informed one of the girls that he was pleased with her and +loved her very much. This put a hasty close to the conversation, the +lassie informing him with much dignity that men did not talk in that +way to girls they had just met in America and that she did not like it. +Whereupon the girls withdrew to the other end of the kitchen and turned +their backs on their callers, busying themselves with some reading, and +the crest-fallen gallants presently left. + +They only had a canteen here one day when they were called to go on to +Neuvilly. + +When the offensive was extended to the Argonne the Salvation Army +followed along, keeping in touch with the troops so that they felt that +the Salvation Army was ever with them, sharing their hardships and +dangers, and always ready to serve them. + +Just before a drive, close to the front, there are always blockades of +trucks going either way. + +The Salvation Army truck filled with the workers on their way to +Neuvilly one dark night was caught in such a blockade. They crawled +along making only about a mile an hour and stopping every few minutes +until there was a chance to go on again. At last the wait grew longer +and longer, the mud grew deeper, and the truck was having such a hard +time that the little company of travellers decided to abandon it to the +side of the road till morning and get out and walk to Neuvilly. There +was a field hospital there and they felt sure they could be of use; and +anyway, it was better than sitting in the truck all night. They were +then about eight kilometers from the front. So they all got off and +walked. But when they reached the place, found the hospital, and +essayed to go in, the mud was so deep that they were stuck and unable +to move forward. Some soldiers had to rescue them and carry them to the +hospital on litters. + +Their help was accepted gladly, and they went to work at once. There +were many shell-shocked boys coming in who needed soothing and +comforting, and a woman’s hand so near the front was gratefully +appreciated. + +When at last there was a lull in the stream of wounded men the girls +went to find a place to sleep for a little while. It was early morning, +and sad sights met their eyes as they hurried down what had once been a +pleasant village street. Destruction and desolation everywhere. The +house that had been selected for a Salvation Army canteen was nearly +all gone. One end was comparatively intact, with the floor still +remaining, and this was to be for the canteen. The rest of the building +was a series of shell holes surrounding a cellar from which the floor +had been shot away. + +The women reconnoitred and finally decided to unfold their cots and try +to get a wink of sleep down in that cellar. It did not take them long +to get settled. The cots were brought down and placed quickly among the +fallen rafters, stone and tiling. Part of the walls that were standing +leaned in at a perilous slant, threatening to fall at the slightest +wind, but the lassies took off their shoes, rolled up in their +blankets, and were at once oblivious to all about them, for they had +been travelling all the day before and had worked hard all night. + +One hour later, still early in the morning, they were awakened by the +arrival of the truck and the thumping of boxes, tables and supplies as +the Salvation Army truck drivers unloaded and set up the paraphernalia +of the canteen. The girls opened their eyes and looked about them, and +there all around the building were American soldiers, a head in every +shell hole, watching them sleep. There was something thrilling in the +silent audience looking down with holy eyes—yes, I said holy eyes!—for +whatever the American soldier may be in his daily life he had nothing +in his eyes but holy reverence for these women of God who were working +night and day for him. There was something touching, too, in their +attitude, for perhaps each one was thinking of his mother or sister at +home as he looked down on these weary girls, rolled up in the brown +blankets, with their neat little brown shoes in couples under their +cots, nothing visible above the blankets but their pretty rumpled brown +hair. + +The women did not waste much more time in sleeping. They arose at once +and got busy. There were five tables in the canteen above and already +from each one there stretched a long line of men waiting silently, +patiently for the time to arrive when there would be something good to +eat. The girls had no more sleep that day, and there simply was no +seclusion to be had anywhere. Everything was shell-riddled. + +When night came on the question of beds arose again. The cellar seemed +hardly possible, and the military officers considered the question. + +Across the road from the most ruined end of the canteen building stood +an old church. All of its north wall was gone save a supporting column +in the middle, all the north roof gone. There were holes in all the +other walls, and all the windows were gone. The floor was covered with +_débris_ and wreckage. It had been used all day for an evacuation +hospital. + +Just over the altar was a wonderful picture of the Christ ascending to +heaven. It was still uninjured save for a shot through the heart. + +The military officer stood on the steps of this ruined church, and, +looking around in perplexity, remarked: + +“Well, I guess this is the wholest place in town.” Then stepping inside +he glanced about and pointed: + +“And this is the most secluded spot here!” + +The seclusion was a pillar! But the girls were glad to get even that +for there was no other place, and they were very weary. So they set up +their little cots, and prepared to roll themselves in their blankets +for a well-earned rest. + +The boys had built a small bonfire on the stone floor against a piece +of one wall that was still standing, and now they sent a deputation to +know if the girls would bring their guitars over and have a little +music. The boys, of course, had no idea that the girls had not slept +for more than twenty-four hours, and the girls never told them. They +never even cast one wistful glance toward their waiting cots, but +smilingly assented, and went and got their instruments. + +[Illustration: The wrecked house in Neuvilly where the lassies went to +sleep in the cellar and woke up to find the soldiers watching them.] + +[Illustration: The wrecked church in Neuvilly where the memorable +meeting was held.] + +Beneath the picture of the Christ, in front of the altar a few men were +at work in an improvised office with four candles burning around them. +In the rear of the church Lt.-Col. Frederick R. Fitzpatrick of the One +Hundred and Tenth Ammunition Train had his office, and there another +candle was burning. Some wounded men lay on stretchers in the shadowed +northwest corner, and around the little fire the five Salvation Army +lassies sat among two hundred soldiers. They sang at first the popular +songs that everybody knew: “The Long, Long Trail,” “Keep the Home Fires +Burning,” “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile! Smile! +Smile!” and “Keep Your Head Down, Fritzie Boy!” + +By and by some one called for a hymn, and then other hymns followed: +“Jesus Lover of My Soul,” “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder,” and, as +always, the old favorite, “Tell Mother I’ll Be There!” + +They sang for at least an hour and a half, and then they did not want +to stop. Oh, but it was a great sound that rolled through the old +broken walls of the church and floated out into the night! One of the +lassies said she would not change crowds with the biggest choir in New +York. + +Then they asked the girls to sing and the room was very still as two +sweet voices thrilled out in a tender melody, speaking every word +distinctly: + +Beautiful Jesus, Bright Star of earth! +Loving and tender from moment of birth, +Beautiful Jesus, though lowly Thy lot, +Born in a manger, so rude was Thy cot! + +Beautiful Jesus, gentle and mild, +Light for the sinner in ways dark and wild, +Beautiful Jesus, O save such just now, +As at Thy feet they in penitence bow! + +Beautiful Christ! Beautiful Christ! +Fairest of thousands and Pearl of great price! +Beautiful Christ! Beautiful Christ! +Gladly we welcome Thee, Beautiful Christ! + +Before they had finished many eyes had turned instinctively toward the +picture in the weirdly flickering light. + +Then the young Captain-lassie asked her sister to read the Ninety-first +Psalm, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall +abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” and she told them that was a +promise for those who trusted in God, and she wished they would think +about it while they were going to sleep. + +“This evening has made me think so much of home,” she said +thoughtfully, drooping her lashes and then raising them with a sweeping +glance that included the whole group, while the firelight flickered up +and lit her lovely serious face, and touched her hair with lights of +gold, “I suppose it has made every one else feel that way,” she went +on; “I mean especially the evenings at home when the family gathered in +the parlor, with one at the piano and brothers with their horns, and +the rest with some kind of instrument, and we had a good ‘sing;’ and +afterward father took the Bible and read the evening chapter, and then +we had family prayers and kissed Mamma and Papa good night and went to +bed. I shouldn’t wonder if many of you used to have homes like that?” + +The lassie raised her eyes again and looked on them. Many of the men +nodded. It was beautiful to see the look that came into their faces at +these recollections. + +“And you used to have family prayers, too, didn’t you?” she asked +eagerly. + +They nodded once more but some of them turned their faces away from the +light quickly and brushed the back of their hands across their eyes. + +“To-night has been a family gathering,” she went on, “We girls are +little sisters to all you big brothers, and we have had a delightful +time with just the family, and the evening chapter has been read, and +now I think it would not be complete if we did not have the family +prayers before we separate and go to sleep.” + +Down went the heads in response, with reverent mien, and the place was +very still while the lassie prayed. Afterward the boys joined their +gruff voices, husky now with emotion, into the universal prayer with +which she closed: “Our Father which are in heaven——” + +They were all sorts and conditions of men gathered around the little +fire in that old shell-torn church in Neuvilly that night. To quote +from a letter written by a military officer, Lt-Col. Frederick R. +Fitzpatrick, to his wife: + +“There was the lad who was willing but not strong enough for field +work, who was in the rear with the office; the walking wounded who had +stopped for something to eat; the big, strong mule skinner who could +throw a mule down or lift a case of ammunition, who was rough in +appearance and speech and who would deny that the moisture in his eye +was anything but the effects of the cold. There were the men who had +been facing death a thousand times an hour for the last three days, who +had not had a wash or a chance to take off their shoes and had been +lying in mud in shell holes —men who looked as though they were chilled +through and through; men on their way to the front, well knowing all +the hardships and dangers which were ahead of them, but who were +worried only about the delay in the traffic; doctors who had been +working for three days without rest; men off ammunition and ration +trucks, who had been at the wheel so long that they had forgotten +whether it was three or four days and nights; wounded on their +stretchers enjoying a smoke. And as I stepped in the door there were +the feminine voices singing the good old tunes we all know so well, and +not a sound in the church but as an accompaniment the distant booming +of big guns, the rattle of small arms, the whirl of air craft, the +passing of the ever-present column of trucks with rations and +ammunition going up, and the wounded coming back; the shouted +directions of the traffic police, the sound of the ammunition dump just +outside the door and the rattle of the kitchens which surround the +church, and which are working twenty-four hours a day. + +There was the crowd of men, each uncovered, giving absolute undivided +attention to the good, brave girls who were not making a meeting of it; +it was just a meeting which grew—men who in their minds were back with +mother and sister. The girls sang the good old songs, and then one of +them offered a short prayer, in which all the men joined in spirit, and +as I tip-toed out of the church it seemed to me that the four candles +at the altar did not give all the light that was shown on the picture +of Christ our Saviour. Every man in the building that night was in the +very presence of God. It was not a religious meeting; it was a meeting +full of religion. And it was a picture that will ever stand fresh in my +memory and which will be an inspiration in time of doubt. There was +nothing there but the real things, absolutely no sham of any kind. Oh, +it was wonderful! I hope you can get just a little idea of what it was. +I wish you would keep this letter. I want to be able to read it in +future years.” + +In what remained of another village not far distant from Neuvilly, the +lassies had a tent erected. The rain was endless—a driving drizzle +which quickly soaked through everything but the staunchest raincoats in +a very few moments. The ground was so thickly covered by shell craters +that they could find no clear space wide enough for the tent. It so +happened that almost in the centre of the tent there was a big shell +crater. In this the girls lighted a fire. All through the night, and +through nights to follow, wounded men limping back through the rain and +mud to the dressing stations came in to warm themselves around the fire +in the shell hole, and to drink of the coffee prepared by the girls. As +they sat around the blazing wood, the fire cast strange shadows on the +bleached brown canvas of the tent. In spite of their wounds, they were +very cheerful, singing as lightly as though they were safe at home. + +Everybody had worked hard at Neuvilly, but they felt they must get to +their own outfit as soon as possible at the Field Hospital up in Cheppy +where the wounded were coming in droves and the boys were pouring in +from the front half-starved, having been fighting all night with +nothing to eat except reserve rations. Some had been longer with only +such rations as they took from their dead comrades. The need was most +urgent, but the puzzle was how to get there. The roads had been shelled +and ploughed by explosives until there was no possible semblance of a +way, and there were no conveyances to be had. The Zone Major had gone +back for supplies, telling the girls to get the first conveyance +possible going up the road. That was enough for the girls. “We’ve _got_ +to get there” they said, and when they said that one knew they would. +They searched diligently and at last found a way. One girl rode on a +reel cart, one on a mule team and one went with an old wagon. They went +over roads that had to be made ahead of them by the engineers, and late +in the night, bruised and sore from head to foot, they arrived at their +destination. + +The next morning they reported at the hospital for work and the Major +in charge said: “I never was so glad to see anybody in my life!” + +They went straight to work and served coffee and sandwiches to the poor +half-starved men. The Red Cross men were there, also, with sandwiches, +hot chocolate and candy. + +The wounded men continued to pour in, later to be evacuated to the base +hospital; they kept coming and coming, a thousand men where two hundred +had been expected. There was plenty to be done. The girls were put in +charge of different wards. They were under shell fire continually, but +they were too busy to think of that as they hurried about ministering +to the brave soldiers, who gave never a groan from their white lips no +matter what they suffered. + +The girls worked about eighteen hours a day, and slept from about one +or two at night to five or six in the morning. The hospital was in +front of the artillery and every shell that went over to Germany passed +over their heads. When they had been there five days under continual +shell fire from the enemy the General gave orders that they _must_ +leave, that it was no fit place for women so near to the front. + +When the Salvation Army Zone Major brought this order to the girls +rebellion shone in their eyes and they declared they would not leave! +They knew they were needed there, and there they would stay! The Zone +Major surveyed them with intense satisfaction. He turned on his heel +and went back to the General: + +“General,” he said, with a twinkle, “my girls say they won’t go.” + +The General’s face softened, and the twinkle flashed across to his +eyes, with something like a tear behind its fire. Somehow he didn’t +look like a Commanding Officer who had just been defied. A wonderful +light broke over his face and he said: + +“Well, if the Salvation Army wants to stay let them stay!” And so they +stayed. + +It was in a German-dug cave that they had their headquarters, cut out +of the side of a hill and opening into the hospital yard. It was a work +of art, that cave. There was a passage-way a hundred feet long with +avenues each side and places for cots, room enough to accommodate a +hundred men. + +The German airplanes came in droves. When the bugle sounded every one +must get under cover. There must be nobody in sight for the Germans +were out to get individuals, and even one person was not too +insignificant for them to waste their ammunition upon. They had a +mistaken idea, perhaps, that this sort of thing destroyed our morale. +The tents, of course, were no protection against shells and bombs, and +presently the Boche began to shell the town in good earnest, especially +at night. Gas alarms, also, would sound out in the middle of the night +and everybody would have to rush out and put on their gas masks. They +would not last long at a time, of course, but it broke up any rest that +might have been had, and it was only too evident that the enemy was +trying to get the range on the hospital. + +One morning, standing by the window making cocoa for the boys, one of +the lassies saw an eight-inch shell land between the hospital tents, +ten feet in front of the window, and only five feet from the door of +the place where the severely wounded were lying. These shells always +kill at two hundred feet. All that saved them was that the shell buried +itself deep in the soft earth and was a dud. + +The shells were coming every twenty minutes and there was no time to +lose for now the enemy had their range. At once all hands got busy and +began to evacuate the wounded men into the Salvation Army cave. The +cave would accommodate seventy men, but they managed to get a hundred +men inside, most of them on litters. They were all safe and the girls +heard the whistle of the next shell and made haste toward safety +themselves. But someone had carelessly dropped a whole outfit of +blankets and things across the passageway of the dugout and the first +woman to enter fell across it, shutting out the other two. Before +anything could be done the next shell struck the doorway, partly +burying the fallen young woman. Inside the dugout rocks came down on +some of the men on litters, and anxious hands extricated the lassie +from the _débris_ that had fallen upon her, and lifted her tenderly. +She was pretty badly bruised and lamed, besides being wounded on her +leg, but the brave young woman would not claim her wound, nor let it +become known to the military authorities lest they would forbid the +girls to stay at the front any longer. So for three weeks she patiently +limped about and worked with the rest, quietly bearing her pain, and +would not go to the hospital. One lassie outside was struck on the +helmet by a piece of falling rock. If she had not had on her helmet she +would have been killed. + +The shelling continued for six hours. + +The hospital was all the time filled with wounded men and there was +plenty to be done twenty-four hours out of every day. The women moved +about among the men as if they were their own brothers. + +A poor shell-shocked boy lay on his cot talking wildly in delirium, +living over the battle again, charging his men, ordering them to +advance. + +“Company H. Advance! See that hill over there? It’s full of Germans, +but _we’ve got to take it_!” + +Then he turned over and began to sob and cry, “Oh God! Oh God!” + +A lassie went to him and soothed him, talking to him gently about home, +asking him questions about his mother, until he grew calm and began to +answer her, and rested back quite rationally. The stretcher-bearers +came to take him to another hospital, and he started up, put out his +hand and cried: “Oh, nurse! I’ve got to get back to my men! _I’m the +only one left_!” + +Thus the heart-breaking scenes were multiplied. + +One boy came back to the hospital in the Argonne badly wounded. He +called the lassie to him one day as she passed through the ward, and +motioned her to lean down so he could talk to her. He said he knew he +was hard hit and he wanted to tell her something. + +“I was wounded, lying on the ground over there in No Man’s Land,” he +went on. “It was all dark and I was waiting for someone to come along +and help me. I thought it was all up with me and while I was lying +there I felt something. I can’t explain it, but I knew it was there and +I saw my mother and I prayed. Then my Buddy came along and I asked him +if he could baptize me. He said he wasn’t very good himself but he +guessed the heavenly Father would understand. So he stooped down and +got some muddy water out of a shell hole close by and put it on my +forehead, and prayed; and now I know it’s all right. I wanted you to +know.” + +Often the boys, just before they went over the top, would come to these +girls and say: + +“We’re going up there, now. You pray for us, won’t you?” + +One day some boys came to the hut when there were not many about and +asked the girls if they might talk with them. These boys were going +over the top that night. + +“We fellows want to ask you something,” they said. “Some of the +chaplains have been telling us that if we go over there and die for +liberty that it’ll be all right with us afterward. But we don’t believe +that dope and we want to know the truth. Do you mean to tell me that if +a man has lived like the devil he’s going to be saved just because he +got killed fighting? Why, some of us fellows didn’t even go of our own +accord. We were drafted. And do you mean to tell me that counts just +the same? We want to know the truth!” + +And then the girls had their opportunity to point the way to Jesus and +speak of repentance, salvation from sin, and faith in the Saviour of +the world. + +A lassie was stooping over one young boy lying on a cot, washing his +face and trying to make him more comfortable, and she noticed a hole in +his breast pocket. Stooping closer she examined it and found it was a +piece of high explosive shell that had gone through the cloth of his +pocket and was embedded in his Testament, which he, like many of the +boys, always kept in his breast pocket. + +Another boy lay on a cot biting his lips to bear the agony of pain, and +she asked him what was the matter, was the wound in his leg so bad? He +nodded without opening his eyes. She went to ask the doctor if the boy +couldn’t have some morphine to dull the pain. The Sergeant in charge +came over and looked at him, examined the bandage on the boy’s leg and +then exclaimed: “Who bandaged this leg?” + +“I did” said the boy weakly, “I did the best I could.” + +The poor fellow had bandaged his own leg and then walked to the +hospital. The bandage had looked all right and no one had examined it +until then, but the Sergeant found that it was so tight that it had +stopped the circulation. He took off the bandage and made him +comfortable, and the agony left him. In a little while the Salvation +Army lassie passed that way again and found the boy with a little book +open, reading. + +“What is it?” she asked, looking at the book. + +“My Testament,” he answered with a smile. + +“Are you a Christian?” + +“Oh, yes,” he said with another smile that meant volumes. + +It grew dark in the tent for they dared not have lights on account of +the enemy always watching, but stooping near a little later she could +see that his lips were murmuring in prayer. There was an angelic smile +on his white, dead face in the morning when they came to take him away. + +There was a funeral every day in that place. A hundred boys were buried +that week. Always the girls sang at the graves, and prayed. There would +be just the grave digger, a few people, and some of the boys. Off to +one side the Germans were buried. When the simple services over our own +dead were complete one of the girls would say: “Now, friends, let us go +and say a prayer beside our enemy’s graves. They are some mother’s +boys, and some woman is waiting for them to come home!” + +And then the prayers would be said once more, and another song sung. + +Those were solemn, sorrowful times, death and destruction on every +side. The fighting was everywhere. United States anti-aircraft guns +firing at German planes; Germans firing at us; air fights in the sky +above. + +And in the midst of it all the boys had meetings every night on log +piles out in the open. These meetings would begin with popular songs, +but the boys would soon ask for the hymns and the meetings would work +themselves out without any apparent leading up to it. The boys wanted +it. They wanted to hear about religious things. They hungered for it. +So they were held at the throne of God each night by the wonderful men +and girls who had learned to know human hearts, and had attained such +skill in leading them to the Christ for whom they lived. + +It was not alone the doughnut that bound the hearts of the boys to the +Salvation Army in France, it was what was behind the doughnut; and +here, in these wonderful God-led meetings they found the secret of it +all. Many of them came and told the girls they did not believe in the +so-called “trench religion” and wanted to know the truth from them. And +those girls told them the way of eternal life in a simple, beautiful +way, not mincing matters, nor ignoring their sins and unworthiness, but +pointing the way to the Christ who died to save them from sin, and who +even now was waiting in silent Presence to offer them Himself. Great +numbers of the men accepted Christ, and pledged themselves to live or +die for Him whatever came to them. + +How close the Salvation Army people had grown to the hearts and lives +of the men was shown by the fact that when they came back from the +fight they would always come to them as if they had come to report at +home: + +“We’ve escaped!” they would say. “We don’t know how it is, but we think +it’s because you girls were praying for us, and the folks at home were +praying, too!” + +There were three cardinal principles which were deemed necessary to +success in this work. The first and most important depended upon +winning the confidence of the boys. This was a prime requisite in any +work with the boys, especially by a religious organization. + +_The first quality_ looked for in a person professing religion is +always consistency. It was felt that if the boys saw that the Salvation +Army was consistent, that it stood only for those things in France +which it was known to stand for in the United States, that the first +step would be established in winning the confidence of the boy. It was +therefore determined that the Salvation Army would not, under any +circumstances, compromise, and that it should stand out in its +religious work and adhere to its teachings as firmly and as vigorously +as it was known to do at home. + +A stand upon the tobacco question was, therefore, highly important. +Other organizations were encouraging the use of tobacco but those who +had come in contact with the Salvation Army at home knew that it had +always discouraged its use, and although the officers had to go against +the judgment of many high military authorities who thought they should +handle it, they decided that the Salvation Army would not handle +tobacco and that no one wearing its uniform should use it. The +consistency of the Salvation Army and the careful conduct of its +workers won the esteem of the boys. + +_The second requisite_ was that the Salvation Army should be willing to +share their hardships. To accomplish this, it was made a rule that +Salvation Army workers should not mess with the officers but should +draw their rations at the soldiers’ mess, also that they should not +associate with the officers more than was absolutely necessary and that +in the huts. It was neither possible nor desirable that officers should +be kept out of the huts, but as far as possible soldiers were made to +feel that the Salvation Army was in France to serve them and not for +its own pleasure or convenience. + +_The third requisite_ was that the Salvation Army should be willing to +share their dangers and this was proved to them when they went to the +trenches—the Salvation Army moved to the trenches with them and +established huts and outposts as close to the front line as was +permitted. + + + + +X. +The Armistice + + +After the Armistice was signed, on November 11th, it was a great +question what disposition would be made of the troops. It was concluded +that they would be sent home as rapidly as possible and that the three +ports—Brest, St. Nazaire and Bordeaux—would be used for that purpose. +Immediately arrangements were made for the opening of Salvation Army +work at the base ports with a view to letting the boys have a last +sight of the Salvation Army as they left the shores of France. The +Salvation Army had served them in the training area and at the front +and were still serving them as they left the shores of the old world +and it would meet them again when they arrived on the shores of the +home-land. In this way the contact of the Salvation Army would be +continuous, so that when they returned, it would be able to reach their +hearts and affect their lives with the Gospel of Christ. + +The problem of buildings was, of course, the first one and a very +difficult one. To secure buildings of adequate size, which could be +constructed in a short space of time, was almost out of the question, +but it occurred to the officers that the aviation section would be +demobilizing and that they had brought over portable steel buildings, +for use as hangars. The matter was taken up at once with the military +authorities and twenty of these steel buildings were secured—each of +them sixty-six feet wide by one hundred feet long. It was planned to +place eight of them at Bordeaux, six at St. Nazaire and six at Brest. +By placing two of them end to end it was possible to secure one +auditorium sixty-six feet wide by two hundred feet long—capable of +seating three thousand men. Adjoining that could be another building +sixty-six feet by one hundred feet, to be used for canteen and rest +room. + +It was planned to proceed with a religious campaign at these Base +Ports, holding Salvation meetings in these extensive departments. + +When the Army of Occupation was started for Germany, two Salvation Army +trucks were assigned to go along with the Army. Whenever the Army of +Occupation stopped for a space of two or three days, places were +secured where doughnuts could be fried, pies made, and at all times hot +coffee and chocolate were available for the men. + +When the American soldiers marched through the villages of +Alsace-Lorraine the Salvationists marched with them. At Esch and +Luxemburg they were in all the rejoicing and triumph of the parade, +bringing succor and comfort wherever they could find an opportunity. + +When the men arrived at Coblenz the Salvation Army was there before +them, and on their crossing the Rhine, arrangements had been made for +the location of the Salvation Army work at the principal points in the +Rhine-head. They are now conducting Salvation Army operations with the +Army of Occupation. + +One of the occasions when President Wilson clapped for the Salvation +Army was at the inauguration of the Soldiers’ Association in Paris. The +Y had invited all the other organizations to be present. The meeting +was held in the Palais de Glace, which seats about ten thousand people. + +President and Mrs. Wilson were present, accompanied by many prominent +American officials. Representatives of the various War Work +Organizations spoke. + +The Salvationist who had been selected to represent the Army at this +meeting had been in the United States Navy for twelve years and was a +chaplain. + +When he was called upon to speak the boys with one accord as if by +preconcerted action arose to their feet and gave him an ovation. Of +course, it was not given to the man but to the uniform. + +A soldier of the Rainbow Division sitting next to one of the Salvation +Army workers over there, kept telling him what the boys thought of the +Salvation Army, and when the cheering began he poked the Salvationist +in the ribs and whispered joyously: + +“I told you! I told you! We’ve just been waiting for eight months to +pull this off! Now, you see!” + +The speaker when given opportunity did not attempt to make a great +speech. He told in simple, vivid sentences of the services of the +Salvation Army just back of the trenches under fire; and President +Wilson sat listening and applauding with the rest. + +The chaplain paid a tribute to President Wilson, finishing with these +words: + +“President Wilson was not man-elected, but God-selected!” + +Chaplains. + +For some little time after the War started it was a question as to +whether the Salvation Army was entitled to any representation in the +realm of Chaplaincies of the United States forces. During the progress +of the consideration Adjutant Harry Kline secured an appointment with +the Nebraska National Guard, and his regiment being made a part of the +National Army, he was received as an officer of the same and thus +became our first Army Chaplain. + +The War Office decided favorably with regard to the question of our +general representation, and shortly thereafter Adjutant John Allan, of +Bowery fame, was given a first lieutenancy and then followed, in the +order given, Captain Ernest Holz, Adjutant Ryan and Captain Norman +Marshall. + +The exceptional service that these men have rendered is of sufficient +importance to have a much wider notice than where only the barest of +reference is possible. Shortly after arrival in France Chaplain Allan +was being very favorably noticed because of the character of the work +which he was doing, and it was gratifying to learn that this confidence +was reflected in his appointment as Senior Chaplain of his regiment and +his assignment to special service where probity and wisdom were +essential. Shortly thereafter he was taken to the Army Headquarters, +where up to the present time he is most highly esteemed as a co-laborer +with Bishop Brent, the Chaplain-General of the overseas forces. + +Typical of the enthusiasm of each of the five men appointed as +Chaplains, the following story is told of First Lieutenant Ernest Holz, +who was inducted into his office as Senior Chaplain of his regiment +right at the commencement of his career. + +At the beginning of the year, when Chaplain Holz knew his Salvation +Army comrades would, as usual, be engaged in special revival work, he +thought it would be a worthy thing to time a similar effort among the +men of his regiment. Approaching the Colonel, he found him in hearty +agreement concerning the effort, and so securing the assistance of his +fellow chaplains they arranged for a series of meetings nightly for one +week, with the result that two hundred of the men of the regiment +confessed Christ and practically all of them were deeply interested. + +The effort was wholly directed to the uplift of the men and God +commanded His blessing in a most gratifying manner. + + + + +XI. +Homecoming + + +The boat docked that morning, and one soldier at least, as he stood on +the deck and watched the shores of his native land draw nearer, felt +mingling with the thrill of joy at his return a vague uneasiness. He +was coming back, it is true, but it had been a long time and a lot of +things had happened. For one thing he had lost his foot. That in itself +was a pretty stiff proposition. For another thing he was not wearing +any decorations save the wound stripes on his sleeve. Those would have +been enough, and more than enough, for his mother if she were alive, +but she had gone away from earth during his absence, and the girl he +had kissed good-bye and promised great things was peculiar. The +question was, would she stand for that amputated foot? He didn’t like +to think it of her, but he found he wasn’t sure. Perhaps, if there had +been a croix de guerre! He had promised her to win that and no end of +other honors, when he went away so buoyant and hopeful; but almost on +his first day of real battle he had been hurt and tossed aside like a +derelict, to languish in a hospital, with no more hope of winning +anything. And now he had come home with one foot gone, and no +distinction! + +He hadn’t told the girl yet about the foot. He didn’t know as he +should. He felt lonely and desolate in spite of his joy at getting back +to “God’s Country.” He frowned at the hazy outline of the great city +from which tall buildings were beginning to differentiate themselves as +they drew nearer. There was New York. He meant to see New York, of +course. He was a Westerner and had never had an opportunity to go about +the metropolis of his own country. Of course, he would see it all. +Perhaps, after he was demobilized he would stay there. Maybe he +wouldn’t send word he had come back. Let them think he was killed or +taken prisoner, or missing, or anything they liked. There were things +to do in New York. There were places where he would be welcome even +with one foot gone and no cross of war. Thus he mused as the boat drew +nearer the shore and the great city loomed close at hand. Then, +suddenly, just as the boat was touching the pier and a long murmur of +joy went up from the wanderers on board, his eyes dropped idly to the +dock and there in her trim little overseas uniform, with the sunlight +glancing from the silver letters on the scarlet shield of her trench +cap and the smile radiating from her sweet face, stood the very same +Salvation Army lassie who had bent over him as he lay on the ground +just back of the trenches waiting to be put in the ambulance and taken +to the hospital after he had been wounded. He could feel again the +throbbing pain in his leg, the sickening pain of his head as he lay in +the hot sun, with the flies swarming everywhere, the horrible din of +battle all about, and his tongue parched and swollen with fever from +lying all night in pain on the wet ground of No Man’s Land. She had +laid a soft little hand on his hot forehead, bathed his face, and +brought him a cold drink of lemonade. If he lived to be a hundred years +old he would never taste anything so good as that lemonade had been. +Afterward the doctor said it was the good cold drink that day that +saved the lives of those fever patients who had lain so long without +attention. Oh, he would never forget the Salvation lassie! And there +she was alive and at home! She hadn’t been killed as the fellows had +been afraid she would. She had come through it all and here she was +always ahead and waiting to welcome a fellow home. It brought the tears +smarting to his eyes to think about it, and he leaned over the rail of +the ship and yelled himself hoarse with the rest over her, forgetting +all about his lost foot. It was hours before they were off the ship. +All the red tape necessary for the movement of such a company of men +had to be unwound and wound up again smoothly, and the time stretched +out interminably; but somehow it did not seem so hard to wait now, for +there was someone down there on the dock that he could speak to, and +perhaps—just perhaps—he would tell her of his dilemma about his girl. +Somehow he felt that she would understand. + +He watched eagerly when he was finally lined up on the wharf waiting +for roll-call, for he was sure she would come; and she did, swinging +down the line with her arms full of chocolate, handing out telegraph +blanks and postal cards, real postal cards with a stamp on them that +could be mailed anywhere. He gripped one in his big, rough hand as if +it were a life preserver. A real, honest-to-goodness postal card! My it +was good to see the old red and white stamp again! And he spoke +impulsively: + +“You’re the girl that saved my life out there in the field, don’t you +remember? With the lemonade!” Her face lit up. She had recognized him +and somehow cleared one hand of chocolate and telegrams to grasp his +with a hearty welcome: “I’m so glad you came through all right!” her +cheery voice said. + +All right! _All right!_ Did she call it all right? He looked down at +his one foot with a dubious frown. She was quick to see. She +understood. + +“Oh, but that’s nothing!” she said, and somehow her voice put new heart +into him. “Your folks will be so glad to have you home you’ll forget +all about it. Come, aren’t you going to send them a telegram?” And she +held out the yellow blank. + +But still he hesitated. + +“I don’t know,” he said, looking down at his foot again. “Mother’s +gone, and——” + +Instantly her quick sympathy enveloped his sore soul, and he felt that +just the inflection of her voice was like balm when she said: “I’m so +sorry!” Then she added: + +“But isn’t there somebody else? I’m sure there was. I’m sure you told +me about a girl I was to write to if you didn’t come through. Aren’t +you going to let her know? Of course you are.” + +“I don’t know,” said the boy. “I don’t think I am. Maybe I’ll never go +back now. You see, I’m not what I was when I went away.” + +“Nonsense!” said the lassie with that cheerful assurance that had +carried her through shell fire and made her merit the pet name of +“Sunshine” that the boys had given her in the trenches. “Why, that +wouldn’t be fair to her. Of course, you’re going to let her know right +away. Leave it to me. Here, give me her address!” + +Quick as a flash she had the address and was off to a telephone booth. +This was no message that could wait to go back to headquarters. It must +go at once. + +He saw her again before he left the wharf. She gave him a card with two +addresses written on it: + +“This first is where you can drop in and rest when you are tired,” she +explained. “It’s just one of our huts; the other is where you can find +a good bed when you are in the city.” + +Then she was off with a smile down the line, giving out more telegraph +blanks and scattering sunshine wherever she went. He glanced back as he +left the pier and saw her still floating eagerly here and there like a +little sister looking after more real brothers. + +The next day, when he was free and on a few days leave from camp, he +started out with his crutch to see the city, but the thought of her +kept him from some of the places where his feet might have strayed. Yet +she had not said a word of warning. Her smile and the look in her eyes +had placed perfect confidence in him, and he could remember the prayer +she had uttered in a low tone back there at the dressing station behind +the trenches in the ear of a companion who was not going to live to get +to the Base Hospital, and who had begged her to pray with him before he +went. Somehow it lingered with him all day and changed his ideas of +what he wanted to see in New York. + +But it was a long hard tramp he had set for himself to see the town +with that one foot. He hadn’t much money for cars, even if he had known +which cars to take, so he hobbled along and saw what he could. He was +all alone, for the fellows he started with went so fast and wanted to +do so many things that he could not do, that he had made an excuse to +shake them off. They were kind. They would not have left him if they +had known; but he wasn’t going to begin his new life having everybody +put out on his account, so he was alone. And it was toward evening. He +was very tired. It seemed to him that he couldn’t go another block. If +only there were a place somewhere where he could sit down a little +while and rest; even a doorstep would do if there were only one near at +hand. Of course, there were saloons, and there would always be soldiers +in them. He would likely be treated, and there would be good cheer, and +a chance to forget for a little while; but somehow the thought of that +Salvation lassie and the cheery way she had made him send that telegram +kept him back. When a girl with painted cheeks stopped and smiled in +his face he passed her by, and half wondered why he did it. He must go +somewhere presently and get a bite to eat, but it couldn’t be much for +he wanted to save money enough and hunt up that lodging house where +there were nice beds. How much he wanted that bed! + +[Illustration: Right in the midst of the busy hurrying throng of Union +Square] + +[Illustration: “Smiling Billy” “One Game Little Guy”] + +It was quite dark now. The lights were lit everywhere. He was coming to +a great thoroughfare. He judged by his slight knowledge of the city +that it might be Broadway. There would likely be a restaurant somewhere +near. He hurried on and turned into the crowded street. How cold it +was! The wind cut him like a knife. He had been a fool to come off +alone like this! Just out of the hospital, too. Perhaps he would get +sick and have to go to another hospital. He shivered and stopped to +pull his collar up closer around his neck. Then suddenly he stood still +and stared with a dazed, bewildered expression, straight ahead of him. +Was he getting a bit leary? He passed his hand over his eyes and looked +again. Yes, there it was! Right in the midst of the busy, hurrying +throng of Union Square! He made sure it was Union Square, for he looked +up at the street sign to be certain it wasn’t Willow Vale—or +Heaven—right there where streets met and crossed, and cars and trolleys +and trucks whirled, and people passed in throngs all day, just across +the narrow road, stood the loveliest, most perfect little white +clapboard cottage that ever was built on this earth, with porches all +around and a big tree growing up through the roof of one porch. It +stood out against the night like a wonderful mirage, like a heavenly +dove descended into the turmoil of the pit, like home and mother in the +midst of a rushing pitiless world. He could have cried real tears of +wonder and joy as he stood there, gazing. He felt as though he were one +of those motion pictures in which a lone Klondiker sits by his campfire +cooking a can of salmon or baked beans, and up above him on the screen +in one corner appears the Christmas tree where his wife and baby at +home are celebrating and missing him. It seemed just as unreal as that +to see that little beautiful home cottage set down in the midst of the +city. + +The windows were all lit up with a warm, rosy light and there were +curtains at the windows, rosy pink curtains like the ones they used to +have at the house where his girl lived, long ago before the War spoiled +him. He stood and continued to gaze until a lot of cash-boys, let loose +from the toil of the day, rushed by and almost knocked his crutch from +under him. Then he determined to get nearer this wonder. Carefully +watching his opportunity he hobbled across the street and went slowly +around the building. Yes, it was real. Some public building, of course, +but how wonderful to have it look so like a home! Why had they done it? + +Then he came around toward the side, and there in plain letters was a +sign: “Soldiers and Sailors in Uniform Welcome.” What? Was it possible? +Then he might go in? What kind of a place could it be? + +He raised his eyes a little and there, slung out above the neatly +shingled porch, like any sign, swung an immense fat brown doughnut a +foot and a half in diameter, with the sugar apparently still sticking +to it, and inside the rough hole sat a big white coffee cup. His heart +leaped up and something suddenly gave him an idea. He fumbled in his +pocket, brought out a card, saw that this was the Salvation Army hut, +and almost shouted with joy. He lost no time in hurrying around to the +door and stepping inside. + +There revealed before him was a great cozy room, with many easy-chairs +and tables, a piano at which a young soldier sat playing ragtime, and +at the farther end a long white counter on which shone two bright +steaming urns that sent forth a delicious odor of coffee. Through an +open door behind the counter he caught a glimpse of two Salvation Army +lassies busy with some cups and plates, and a third enveloped in a +white apron was up to her elbows in flour, mixing something in a yellow +bowl. By one of the little tables two soldier boys were eating +doughnuts and coffee, and at another table a sailor sat writing a +letter. It was all so cozy and homelike that it took his breath away +and he stood there blinking at the lights that flooded the rooms from +graceful white bowl-like globes that hung suspended from the ceiling by +brass chains. He saw that the rosy light outside had come from soft +pink silk sash curtains that covered the lower part of the windows, and +there were inner draperies of some heavier flowered material that made +the whole thing look real and substantial. The willow chairs had +cushions of the same flowered stuff. The walls were a soft pearly gray +below and creamy white above, set off by bands of dark wood, and a dark +floor with rush mats strewn about. He looked around slowly, taking in +every detail almost painfully. It was such a contrast to the noisy, +rushing street, a contrast to the hospital, and the trenches and all +the life with which he had been familiar during the past few dreadful +months. It made him think of home and mother. He began to be afraid he +was going to cry like a great big baby, and he looked around nervously +for a place to get out of sight. He saw a fellow going upstairs and at +a distance he followed him. Up there was another bright, quiet room, +curtained and cushioned like the other, with more easy willow chairs, +round willow tables, and desks over by the wall where one might write. +The soldier who had come up ahead of him was already settled writing +now at a desk in the far corner. There were bookcases between the +windows with new beautifully bound books in them, and there were +magazines scattered around, and no rules that one must not spit on the +floor, or put their feet in the chairs, or anything of the sort. Only, +of course, no one would ever dream of doing anything like that in such +a place. How beautiful it was, and how quiet and peaceful! He sank into +a chair and looked about him. What rest! + +And now there were real tears in his eyes which he hastened to brush +roughly away, for someone was coming toward him and a hand was on his +shoulder. A man’s voice, kindly, pleasant, brotherly, spoke: + +“All in, are you, my boy? Well, you just sit and rest yourself awhile. +What do you think of our hut? Good place to rest? Well, that’s what we +want it to be to you, Home. Just drop in here whenever you’re in town +and want a place to rest or write, or a bite of something homelike to +eat.” + +He looked up to the broad shoulders in their well-fitting dark blue +uniform, and into the kindly face of the gray-haired Colonel of the +Salvation Army who happened to step in for a minute on business and had +read the look on the lonesome boy’s face just in time to give a word of +cheer. He could have thrown his arms around the man’s neck and kissed +him if he only hadn’t been too shy. But in spite of the shyness he +found himself talking with this fine strong man and telling him some of +his disappointments and perplexities, and when the older man left him +he was strengthened in spirit from the brief conversation. Somehow it +didn’t look quite so black a prospect to have but one foot. + +He read a magazine for a little while and then, drawn by the delicious +odors, he went downstairs and had some coffee and doughnuts. He saw +while he was eating that the front porch opened out of the big lower +room and was all enclosed in glass and heated with radiators. A lot of +fellows were sitting around there in easy-chairs, smoking, talking, one +or two sleeping in their chairs or reading papers. It had a dim, quiet +light, a good place to rest and think. He was more and more filled with +wonder. Why did they do it? Not for money, for they charged hardly +enough to pay for the materials in the food they sold, and he knew by +experience that when one had no money one could buy of them just the +same if one were in need. + +Later in the evening he took out the little card again and looked up +the other address. He wanted one of those clean, sweet beds that he had +been hearing about, that one could get for only a quarter a night, with +all the shower-bath you wanted thrown in. So he went out again and +found his way down to Forty-first Street. + +There was something homelike about the very atmosphere as he entered +the little office room and looked about him. Beyond, through an open +door he could see a great red brick fireplace with a fire blazing +cheerfully and a few fellows sitting about reading and playing +checkers. Everybody looked as if they felt at home. + +When he signed his name in the big register book the young woman behind +the desk who wore an overseas uniform glanced at his signature and then +looked up as if she were welcoming an old friend: + +“There’s a telegram here for you,” she said pleasantly. “It came last +night and we tried to locate you at the camp but did not succeed. One +of our girls went over to camp this afternoon, but they said you were +gone on a furlough, so we hoped you would turn up.” + +She handed over the telegram and he took it in wonder. Who would send +him a telegram? And here of all places! Why, how would anybody know he +would be here? He was so excited his crutch trembled under his arm as +he tore open the envelope and read: + +“Dear Billy (It was a regular letter!): + “I am leaving to-night for New York. Will meet you at Salvation + Hostel day after to-morrow morning. What is a foot more or less? + Can’t I be hands and feet for you the rest of your life? I’m proud, + proud, proud of you! + +Signed “Jean” + +He found great tears coming into his eyes and his throat was full of +them, too. It didn’t matter if that Salvation Army lassie behind the +counter did see them roll down his cheeks. He didn’t care. She would +understand anyway, and he laughed out loud in his joy and relief, the +first joy, the first relief since he was hurt! + +Some one else was coming in the door, another fellow maybe, but the +lassie opened a door in the desk and drew him behind the counter in a +shaded corner where no one would notice and brought him a cup of tea, +which she said was all they had around to eat just then. She didn’t pay +any attention to him till he got his equilibrium again. + +She was the kind of woman one feels is a natural-born mother. In fact, +the fellows were always asking her wistfully: “May we call you Mother?” +Young enough to understand and enter into their joys and sorrows, yet +old enough to be wise and sweet and true. She mothered every boy that +came. + +A sailor boy once asked if he might bring his girl to see her. He said +he wanted her to see her so she could tell his mother about her. + +“But can’t you tell her about your girl?” she asked. + +“Oh, yes, but I want you to tell her.” he said. “You see, whatever you +say mother’ll know is true.” + +So presently she turned to this lonely boy and took him upstairs +through the pleasant upper room with its piano and games, its sun +parlor over the street, lined with trailing ferns, with cheery canaries +in swinging tasseled cages, who looked fully as happy and at home as +did the soldier boys who were sitting about comfortably reading. She +found him a room with only one other bunk in it. Nice white beds with +springs like air and mattresses like down. She showed him where the +shower-baths were, and with a kindly good-night left him. He almost +wanted to ask her to kiss him good-night, so much like his own mother +she seemed. + +Before he got into that white bed he knelt beside it, all clean and +comfortable and happy like a little child that had wandered a long way +from home and got back again, and he told God he was sorry and ashamed +for all the way he had doubted, and sinned, and he wanted to live a new +life and be good. Then he lay down to sleep. To-morrow morning Jean +would be there. And she didn’t mind about the foot! She didn’t mind! +How wonderful! + +And then he had a belated memory of the little Salvation Army lassie on +the wharf who had brought all this about, and he closed his eyes and +murmured out loud to the clean, white walls: “God bless her! Oh, God +bless her!” + +This is only one of the many stories that might be told about the boys +who have been helped by the various activities of the Salvation Army, +both at home and abroad. + +It would be well worth one’s while to visit their Brooklyn Hospital and +their New York Hospital and all their other wonderful institutions. In +several of them are many little children, some mere infants, belonging +to soldiers and sailors away in the war. In some instances the mother +is dead, or has to work. If she so desires she is given work in the +institution, which is like a real home, and allowed to be with her +child and care for it. Where both mother and father are dead the child +remains for six years or until a home elsewhere is provided for it. +Here the little ones are well cared for, not in the ordinary sense of +an institution, but as a child would be cared for in a home, with +beauty and love, and pleasure mingling with the food and shelter and +raiment that is usually supplied in an institution. These children are +prettily, though simply, dressed and not in uniform; with dainty bits +of color in hair ribbon, collar, necktie or frock; the babies have wee +pink and blue wool caps and sacks like any beloved little mites, they +ride around on Kiddie Cars, play with doll houses and have a fine +Kindergarten teacher to guide their young minds, and the best of +hospital service when they are ailing. But that is another story, and +there are yet many of them. If everybody could see the beautiful +life-size painting of Christ blessing the little children which is +painted right on the very wall and blended into the tinting, they could +better comprehend the spirit which pervades this lovely home. + +The New York Hospital, which has just been rebuilt and refurnished with +all the latest appliances, is in charge of a devoted woman physician, +who has given her life to healing, and has at the head of its Board one +of the most noted surgeons in the city, who gives his services free, +and boasts that he enjoys it best of all his work. Here those of small +means or of no means at all, especially those belonging to soldiers and +sailors, may find healing of the wisest and most expert kind, in +cheery, airy, sanitary and beautiful rooms. But here, too, to +understand, one must see. Just a peep into one of those dainty white +rooms would rest a poor sick soul; just a glance at the room full of +tiny white basket cribs with dainty blue satin-bound blankets—real wool +blankets—and white spreads, would convince one. + +And what one sees in New York in the line of such activities is +duplicated in most of the other large cities of the United States. + +Not the least of the Salvation Army service for the returning soldiers +is the work that is done on the docks by the lassies meeting returning +troop ships. They send telegrams free, not C.O.D., for them, give the +men stamped postal cards, hunt up relatives, answer questions, and give +them chocolate while they wait for the inevitable roll call before they +can entrain. Often these girls will sit up half the night after having +met boats nearly all day, to get the telegrams all off that night. It +is interesting to note that on one single day, April 20th, 1919, the +Salvation Army Headquarters in New York sent 2900 such free telegrams +for returning soldiers. + +The other day the father of a soldier came to Headquarters with an +anxious face, after a certain unit from overseas had returned. It was +the unit in which his boy had gone to France, but he had written saying +he was in the hospital without stating what was the matter or how +serious his wound. No further word had been received and the father and +mother were frenzied with grief. They had tried in every way to get +information but could find out nothing. The Salvation Army went to work +on the telephone and in a short time were able to locate the missing +boy in a Casual Company soon to return, and to report to his anxious +father that he was recovering rapidly. + +Another soldier arrived in New York and sent a Salvation Army telegram +to his father and mother in California who had previously received +notification that he was dead. A telegram came back to the Salvation +Army almost at once from the West stating this fact and begging some +one to go to the camp where the boy’s Casual Company was located and +find out if he were really living. One of the girls from the office +went over to the Debarkation Hospital immediately and saw the boy, and +was able to telegraph to his parents that he was perfectly recovered +and only awaiting transportation to California. He was overjoyed to see +someone who had heard from his parents. + +A portion of one troop ship had been reserved for soldiers having +influenza. These men were kept on board long after all the others had +left the ship. A Salvation Army worker seeing them with the white masks +over their faces went on board and served them with chocolate, +distributing post cards and telegraph blanks. When she was leaving the +ship a Captain said to her rather brusquely: “Don’t you realize that +you have done a foolish thing? Those men have influenza and your +serving them might mean your death!” + +Looking up into the man’s eyes the Salvationist said: “I am ready to +die if God sees fit to call me.” + +The officer laughed and told her that was the first time in his life he +had known anyone to say they were ready to die and would willingly +expose themselves to such a contagious disease. + +“Aren’t you ready to die?” asked the girl. “Certainly not,” replied the +Captain. “Sometimes I think I am hardly fit to live, much less die.” + +“Don’t you realize that there is a Power which can enable you to live +in such a way as to make you ready to die?” + +“Oh, well, I don’t bother about going to church, in fact, I don’t +bother about religion at all, although I must say once or twice when I +was up the line over there I wished I did know something about +religion, that is, the kind that makes a fellow feel good about dying; +but I don’t want to go to church and go through all that business.” + +“It is possible to accept Christ here and now on this very spot—on this +ship—if you’ll only believe,” said the girl wistfully. + +The Captain could not help being interested and thoughtful. When she +left, after a little more talk he put out his hand and said: + +“Thank you. You’ve done me more good than any sermon could have done +me, and believe me, I am going to pray and trust God to help me live a +different life.” + +Sad things are seen on the docks at times when the ships come into +port, and the boys are coming home. + +A soldier in a basket, with both arms and both legs gone and only one +eye, was being carried tenderly along. + +“Why do you let him live?” asked one pityingly of the Commanding +Officer. + +The gruff, kindly voice replied: + +“You don’t know what life is. We don’t live through our arms and legs. +We live through our hearts.” + +Some of our boys have learned out there amid shell fire to live through +their hearts. + +One of these lying on a litter greeted the lassie from Indiana, just +come back to New York from France to meet the boys when they landed: + +“Hello, Sister! _You here?_” + +Her eyes filled with tears as she recognized one of her old friends of +the trenches, and noticed how helpless he was now, he who had been the +strongest of the strong. She murmured sympathetically some words of +attempted cheer: + +“Oh, that’s all right, Sister,” he said, “I know they got me pretty +hard, but I don’t mind that. I’m not going to feel bad about it. I got +something better than arms and legs over in one of your little huts in +France. I found Jesus, and I’m going to live for Him. I wanted you to +know.” + +A few days later she was talking with another boy just landed. She +asked him how it seemed to be home again, and to her surprise he turned +a sorrowful face to her: + +“It’s the greatest disappointment of my life,” he said sadly, “the +folks here don’t understand. They all want to make me forget, and I +don’t want to forget what I learned out there. I saw life in a +different way and I knew I had wasted all the years. I want to live +differently now, and mother and her friends are just getting up dances +and theatre parties for me to help me to forget. They don’t +understand.” + +Forty miles west of Chicago is Camp Grant and there the Salvation Army +has put up a hut just outside of the camp. + +During the days when the boys were being sent to France, and were under +quarantine, unable to go out, no one was allowed to come in and there +was great distress. Mothers and sisters and friends could get no +opportunity to see them for farewells. + +The Salvation officer in charge suggested to the military authorities +that the Salvation Army hut be the clearing place for relatives, and +that he would come in his machine and bring the boys to the hut, taking +them back again afterwards, that they might have a few hours with their +friends before leaving for France. + +This offer was readily accepted by the authorities, and so it was made +possible for hundreds and hundreds of mothers to get a last talk with +their boys before they left, some of them forever. + +One day a young man came to the Salvation Army officer and told him +that his regiment was to depart that night and that he was in great +distress about his wife who on her way to see him had been caught in a +railroad wreck, and later taken on her way by a rescue train. “I think +she is in Rockford somewhere,” he said anxiously, “but I don’t know +where, and I have to leave in three hours!” + +The Ensign was ready with his help at once. He took the young soldier +in his car to Rockford, seven miles away, and they went from hotel to +hotel seeking in vain for any trace of the wife. Then suddenly as they +were driving along the street wondering what to try next the young +soldier exclaimed: “There she is!” And there she was, walking along the +street! + +The two had a blessed two hours together before the soldier had to +leave. But it was all in the day’s work for the Salvation Army man, for +his main object in life is to help someone, and he never minds how much +he puts himself out. It is always reward enough for him to have +succeeded in bringing comfort to another. + +One of the Salvation Army Ensigns who was assigned to work at Camp +Grant hut had been an all-round athlete before he joined the Salvation +Army, a boxer and wrestler of no mean order. + +The fame of the Ensign went abroad and the doctor at the Base Hospital +asked him to take charge of athletics in the hospital. He was also +appointed regularly as chaplain in the hospital. Every day he drilled +the five hundred women nurses in gymnastics, and put the men attendants +and as many of the patients as were able through a set of exercises. +Thus mingling his religion with his athletics he became a great power +among the men in the hospital. + +The Salvation Army asked the hospital if there was anything they could +do for the wounded men. The reply was, that there were eighty wards and +not a graphophone in one of them, nothing to amuse the boys. The need +was promptly filled by the Salvation Army which supplied a number of +graphophones and a piano. Then, discovering that the nurses who were +getting only a very small cash allowance out of which they had to +furnish their uniforms, were short of shoes, the indefatigable good +Samaritan produced a thousand dollars to buy new shoes for them. The +Salvation Army has always been doing things like that. + +The Salvation Army built many huts, locating them wherever there was +need among the camps. They have a hut at Camp Grant, one at Camp +Funston, one at Camp Travis, San Antonio, one at Camp Logan, Houston, +Texas, one at Camp Bowie, Fort Worth, one at Camp Cody, Deming, New +Mexico, one at Camp Lewis, Tacoma, a Soldiers’ Club at Des Moines, a +Soldiers’ Club with Sitting Room, Dining Room, and rooms for a hundred +soldiers just opened at Chicago. There is a charge of twenty-five cents +a night and twenty-five cents a meal for such as have money. No charge +for those who have no money. There is such a Soldiers’ Club at St. +Louis, Kansas City, St. Paul and Minneapolis. All of these places at +the camps have accommodations for women relatives to visit the +soldiers, and all of the rooms are always full to the limit. + +In Des Moines the Army has an interesting institution which grew out of +a great need. + +The Federal authorities have placed a Woman’s Protective Agency in all +Camp towns. At Des Moines the woman representative of the Federal +Government sent word to the Salvation Army that she wished they would +help her. She said she had found so many young girls between the ages +of fourteen and sixteen who were being led into an immoral life through +the soldiers, and she wished the Salvation Army would open a home to +take care of such girls. + +With their usual swiftness to come to the rescue the Salvation Army +opened such a home. The Brigadier up in Chicago gave up his valued +private secretary, a lovely young girl only twenty-four years old, to +be at the head of this home. It may seem a pretty big undertaking for +so young a girl, but these Salvation Army girls are brought up to be +wonderfully wise and sweet beyond others, and if you could look into +her beautiful eyes you would have an understanding of the consecration +and strength of character that has made it possible for her to do this +work with marvellous success, and reach the hearts and turn the lives +of these many young girls who have come under her influence in this +way. In her work she deals with the individual, always giving immediate +relief for any need, always pointing the way straight and direct to a +better life. The young girls are kept in the home for a week or more +until some near relative can be sent for, or longer, until a home and +work can be found for them. Every case is dealt with on its own merits; +and many young girls have had their feet set upon the right road, and a +new purpose in life given to them with new ideals, from the young +Christian girl whom they easily love and trust. + +So great has been the success of the Salvation Army hut and women’s +hostel at Camp Lewis that the United States Government has asked the +Salvation Army to put up a hundred thousand dollar hotel at that camp +which is located twenty miles out of Tacoma. The Salvation Army hut at +this place was recently inspected by Secretary of War Baker and Chief +of Staff who highly complimented the Salvationists on the good work +being done. + +A Christmas box was sent by the Salvation Army to each soldier in every +camp and hospital throughout the West. Each box contained an orange, an +apple, two pounds of nuts, one pound of raisins, one pound of salted +peanuts, one package of figs, two handkerchiefs in sealed packets, one +book of stamps, a package of writing paper, a New Testament, and a +Christmas letter from the Commissioner at Headquarters in Chicago. + +No Officer in the Salvation Army has been more successful in ingenious +efforts to further all activities connected with the work than +Commissioner Estill in command of the Western forces. He is an +indefatigable and tireless worker, is greatly beloved, and his efforts +have met with exceptional success. + +It was a new manager who had taken hold of the affairs of the Salvation +Army Hostel in a certain city that morning and was establishing family +prayers. A visitor, waiting to see someone, sat in an alcove listening. + +There in the long beautiful living-room of the Hostel sat a little +audience, two black women-the cooks-several women in neat aprons and +caps as if they had come in from their work, a soldier who had been +reading the morning paper and who quietly laid it aside when the Bible +reading began, a sailor who tiptoed up the two low steps from the café +beyond the living-room where he had been having his morning coffee and +doughnuts—the young clerk from behind the office desk. They all sat +quiet, respectful, as if accorded a sudden, unexpected privilege. + + +[Illustration: Thomas Estill Commissioner of the Western Forces] + +[Illustration: The hut at Camp Lewis] + +The reading was a few well-chosen verses about Moses in the mount of +vision and somehow seemed to have a strange quieting influence and +carried a weight of reality read thus in the beginning of a busy day’s +work. + +The reader closed the book and quite familiarly, not at all pompously, +he said with a pleasant smile that this was a lesson for all of them. +Each one should have his vision for the day. The cook should have a +vision as she made the doughnuts—and he called her by her name—to make +them just as well as they could be made; and the women who made the +beds should have a vision of how they could make the beds smooth and +soft and fine to rest weary comers; and those who cleaned must have a +vision to make the house quite pure and sweet so that it would be a +home for the boys who came there; the clerk at the desk should have a +vision to make the boys comfortable and give them a welcome; and +everyone should have a vision of how to do his work in the best way, so +that all who came there for a day or a night or longer should have a +vision when they left that God was ruling in that place and that +everything was being done for His praise. + +Just a few simple words bringing the little family of workers into +touch with the Divine and giving them a glimpse of the great plan of +laboring with God where no work is menial, and nothing too small to be +worth doing for the love of Christ. Then the little company dropped +upon their knees, and the earnest voice took up a prayer which was more +an intimate word with a trusted beloved Companion; and they all arose +to go about that work of theirs with new zest and—a vision! + +In her alcove out of sight the visitor found refreshment for her own +soul, and a vision also. + +This is the secret of this wonderful work that these people do in +France, in the cities, everywhere; they have a vision! They have been +upon the Mountain with God and they have not forgotten the injunction: + +“See that thou do all things according to the pattern given thee in the +Mount” + +But the stories multiply and my space is drawing to a close. I am +minded to say reverently in words of old: + +“And there are also many other things which these disciples of Jesus +did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even +the world itself could not contain the books that should be written;” +but are they not graven in the hearts of men who found the Christ on +the battlefield or the hospital cot, or in the dim candle-lit hut, +through these dear followers of His? + + + + +XII. +Letters of Appreciation + + +My Dear Miss Booth: + +You may be sure that your telegram of November fifteenth warmed my +heart and brought me very real cheer and encouragement. It is a message +of just the sort that one needs in these trying times, and I hope that +you will express to your associates my profound appreciation and my +entire confidence in their loyalty, their patriotism, and their +enthusiasm for the great work they are doing. + +Cordially and sincerely yours, +Woodrow Wilson. +Nov. 30,1917. + +My Dear Miss Booth: + +I am very much interested to hear of the campaign the Salvation Army +has undertaken for money to sustain its war activities, and want to +take the opportunity to express my admiration for the work that it has +done and my sincere hope that it may be fully sustained. + +(Signed) Woodrow Wilson. +The President of the United States of America. + +Commander Evangeline Booth, +Paris, 7 April, 1919. +122 W. 14th Street, New York, U.S.A. + +I am very much interested to know that the Salvation Army is about to +enter into a campaign for a sustaining fund. + +I feel that the Salvation Army needs no commendation from me. The love +and gratitude it has elicited from the troops is a sufficient evidence +of the work it has done and I feel that I should not so much commend as +congratulate it. + +Cordially and sincerely yours, +Woodrow Wilson. + +British Delegation, Paris, 8th April, 1919. + +Dear Madam: + +I have very great pleasure in sending you this letter to say how highly +I think of the great work which has been done by the Salvation Army +amongst the Allied Armies in France and the other theatres of war. From +all sides I hear the most glowing accounts of the way in which your +people have added to the comfort and welfare of our soldiers. To me it +has always been a great joy to think how much the sufferings and +hardships endured by our troops in all parts of the world have been +lessened by the self-sacrifice and devotion shown to them by that +excellent organization, the Salvation Army. + +Yours faithfully, +W. Lloyd George. + +General J. J. Pershing, France. + +The Salvation Army of America will never cease to hail you with devoted +affection and admiration for your valiant leadership of your valiant +army. You have rushed the advent of the world’s greatest peace, and all +men honor you. To God be all the glory! + +Commander Evangeline Booth. + +Commander Evangeline Booth, New York City. + +“Many thanks for your cordial cable. The American Expeditionary Forces +thank you for all your noble work that the Salvation Army has done for +them from the beginning.” + +General Pershing. + +With deep feeling of gratitude for the enormous contribution which the +Salvation Army has made to the moral and physical welfare of this +expedition all ranks join me in sending heartiest Christmas greetings +and cordial best wishes for the New Year. + +(Signed) Pershing. + +Salvation, New York. +Paris, April 22, 1919. + +The following cable received, Colonel William S. Barker, Director of +the Salvation Army, Paris: My dear Colonel Barker—I wish to express to +you my sincere appreciation, and that of all members of the American +Expeditionary Forces, for the splendid services rendered by the +Salvation Army to the American Army in France. You first submitted your +plans to me in the summer of 1917, and before the end of that year you +had a number of Huts in operation in the Training Area of the First +Division, and a group of devoted men and women who laid the foundation +for the affectionate regard in which the workers of your organization +have always been held by the American soldiers. The outstanding +features of the work of the Salvation Army have been its disposition to +push its activities as far as possible to the Front, and the trained +and experienced character of its workers whose one thought was the +well-being of its soldiers they came to serve. While the maintenance of +these standards has necessarily kept your work within narrow bounds as +compared to some of the other welfare agencies, it has resulted in a +degree of excellence and self-sacrifice in the work performed which has +been second to none. It has endeared your organization and its +individual men and women workers to all those Divisions and other units +to which they have been attached and has published their good name to +every part of the American Expeditionary forces. Please accept this +letter as a personal message to each one of your workers. Very +sincerely, + +John J. Pershing. + +Marshal Foch, Paris, France: + +Your brilliant armies, under blessing of God, have triumphed. The +Salvation Army of America exults with war-worn but invincible France. +We must consolidate for God of Peace all the good your valor has +secured. Commander Evangeline Booth. + +Western Union cablegram + +WESTERN UNION +ANGLO-AMERICAN DIRECT UNITED STATES +CABLEGRAM +34 Broadway N.Y. +Received at 16 BROAD STREET, NEW YORK + +193 F8 PZ FRANCE 31 + +EVANGELINE BOOTH +COMMANDER SALVATION ARMY +IN AMERICA NEW YORK + + +TRÈS TOUCHÉ DU SENTIMENT ÉLEVÉ QUI A INSPIRÉ VOTRE +TÉLÉGRAMME JE VOUS ADRESSE AINSI QU’À VOS ADHÉRENTS MES +SINCÈRES REMERCIEMENTS + + +MARECHAL FOCH + +I am deeply touched by the high sentiment which inspired your +cablegram, and I tender you and your adherents sincere thanks. + +MARSHAL FOCH + +Letter from Sir Douglas Haig + +Just before leaving London on Thursday for his provincial campaigns, +General Booth received the following letter from Field Marshal Sir +Douglas +Haig. The generous tribute will be read with intense satisfaction by +Salvationists the world over: + +General Headquarters, British Armies in France. +March 27, 1918. + +I am glad to have the opportunity of congratulating the Salvation Army +on the service which its representatives have rendered during the past +year to the British Armies in France. + +The Salvation Army workers have shown themselves to be of the right +sort and I value their presence here as being one of the best +influences on the moral and spiritual welfare of the troops at the +bases. The inestimable value of these influences is realized when the +morale of the troops is afterwards put to the test at the front. + +The huts which the Salvation Army has staffed have besides been an +addition to the comfort of the soldiers which has been greatly +appreciated. + +I shall be glad if you will convey the thanks of all ranks of the +British Expeditionary Forces in France to the Salvation Army for its +continued good work. + +D. Haig, Field Marshal, +Commanding British Armies in France. + +The Following Message from Marshal Joffre: + +Miss Evangeline Booth, +Apr. 9, 1919. +New York City. + +“President Wilson has said that the work of the Salvation Army on the +Franco-American front needs no praise in view of the magnificent +results obtained and remains only to be admired and congratulated. I +cannot do better than to use the same words which I am sure express the +sentiments of all French soldiers. “J. Joffre.” + +From Field Marshal Viscount French. + +“Of all the organizations that have come into existence during the past +fifty years none has done finer work or achieved better results in all +parts of the Empire than the Salvation Army. In particular, its +activities have been of the very greatest benefit to the soldiers in +this war.” + +June 16, 1918. + +Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, writing from Oyster Bay, Long Island, under +date of April 11, 1918, has the following to say to the War Work +Executive of the Salvation Army: + +“I was greatly interested in your letter quoting the letter from my son +now with Pershing in France. His testimony as to the admirable work +done by the Salvation Army agrees with all my own observations as to +what the Salvation Army has done in war and in peace. You have had to +enlarge enormously your program and readjust your work in order to meet +the need of the vast number of soldiers and sailors serving our country +overseas; and you must have funds to help you. I am informed that over +40,000 Salvationists are in the ranks of the Allied armies. I can +myself bear testimony to the fact that you have a practical social +service, combined with practical religion, that appeals to multitudes +of men who are not reached by the regular churches; and I know that you +were able to put your organization to work in France before the end of +the first month of the World War. I am glad to learn that you do not +duplicate or parallel the work done by any other organization, and that +you are in constant touch with the War Work Councils of such +organizations as the Y. M. C. A. and the Bed Cross. I happen to know +that you are now maintaining and operating 168 huts behind the lines in +France, together with 70 hostels, and that you have furnished 46 +ambulances, manned and officered by Salvationists. I am particularly +interested to learn that 6000 women are knitting under the direction of +the Salvation Army, and with materials furnished by this organization +here in America, in order to turn out garments and useful articles for +the soldiers at the Front. + +“Faithfully yours, + +“(Signed) Theodore Roosevelt.” + +April 21st, 1919. + +Commander Evangeline Booth, +120 West 14th Street, New York, N. Y. + +Dear Commander Booth: + +I have known the Salvation Army from its beginning. + +The mother of the Salvation Army was Mrs. Catherine Booth, and her +common sense and Christian spirit laid the foundations; while her +husband, General William Booth, in his impressive frame, fertility of +ideas, and invincible spirit of evangelism always seemed to me as if he +were closely related to St. Peter, the fisherman—the man of ideas and +many questions, of the Lord’s family. + +General William Booth was of a discipleship that kept him always on the +“long, long trail” with a self-sacrificing spirit, but with a +cheerfulness that heard the nightingales in the early mornings that +awakened him to duty and service. He was never tired. The Salvation +Army under the present leadership of your brother, Bramwell Booth, has +“carried on” along the same roads, and with the same methods, as the +great General who has passed into the Beyond. + +The Salvation Army has been itself true to the spirit of its mighty +originator during the present war. No work was too hard; no day was +long enough; no duty too simple, no self-denial was too great. + +Prom my personal knowledge, the Salvation Army workers were consecrated +to their work. Just as the brave boys who carried the Flag, they were +soldiers fighting a battle, to find comforts, and a song to put music +into the hearts of the noble fellows that now lie sleeping on the +ridges of the Marne, with their graves unmarked save with a cross. + +The sleepless vigilance of the Salvation Army extended from their +kitchens where they cooked for the boys, to the hospitals where they +prayed with them to the last hour when life ended in a silence, the +stillest of all slumbers. + +The Armies of every country in which they labored have a record of +their faithfulness and devotion which will be sealed in the hearts of +the many thousands they helped in the days of the struggle for peace. + +The question is, what can we do now to perpetuate the Salvation Army +and its work, and my reply is, that there is nothing they ask or want +that should be refused to them. They are worthy; they are competent; +they can be trusted with responsibility; and their splendid leader +seems to have almost a miraculous power for management in the work +which her father committed to her so far as America is concerned. + +Very sincerely yours, + +(Signed) John Wanamaker. + +Cardinal’s Residence, 408 Charles Street, Baltimore. +April 16, 1919. + +Hon. Charles S. Whitman, New York City. + +Honorable and Dear Sir: + +I have been asked by the local Commander of the Salvation Army to +address a word to you as the National Chairman of the Campaign about to +be launched in behalf of the above named organization. This I am happy +to do, and for the reason that, along with my fellow American citizens, +I rejoice in the splendid service which the Salvation Army rendered our +Soldier and Sailor Boys during the war. Every returning trooper is a +willing witness to the efficient and generous work of the Salvation +Army both at the Front, and in the camps at home. I am also the more +happy to commend this organization because it is free from sectarian +bias. The man in need of help is the object of their effort, with never +a question of his creed or color. + +I trust, therefore, your efforts to raise $13,000,000 for the Salvation +Army will meet with a hearty response from our generous American +public. + +Faithfully yours, +James, Cardinal, Gibbons. + +Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. + +Paris, April 7th, 1919. + +My Dear Commander Booth: + +Those of us who have been fortunate enough to see something of the work +of the Salvation Army with the American troops have been made proud by +the devotion and self-sacrifice of the workers connected with your +organization. + +I congratulate you and, through you, your associates, and I wish you +the best of fortune in the continuance of your splendid work. + +Very sincerely yours, +L. M. House. + +Commander Evangeline Booth, Salvation Army. + +Evangeline Booth, +Salvation Army Headquarters, New York. + +I have seen the work of the Salvation Army in France and consider it +very helpful and valuable. I trust you will be able to secure the means +not only for its maintenance but for the enlargement of its scope. It +is a good work and should be encouraged. + +Leonard Wood. +Camp Funston, Kansas. + +Brigadier-General Duncan wrote to Colonel Barker the +following letter: + +December 7, 1917. + +The Salvation Army in this its first experience with our troops has +stepped very closely into the hearts of the men. Your huts have been +open to them at all times. They have been cordially received in a +homelike atmosphere and many needs provided in religious teachings. +Your efforts have the honest support of our chaplains. I have talked +with many of our soldiers who are warm in their praise and satisfaction +in what is being done for them. For myself I feel that the Salvation +Army has a real place for its activities with our Army in France and I +offer you and your workers, men and women, good wishes and thanks for +what you have done and are doing for our men. + +G. B. Duncan, Brigadier-General. + +The Salvation Army is doing a great work in France and every soldier +bears testimony to the fact. + +Omar Bundy, Major-General. + +Headquarters First Division, +American Expeditionary Forces. + +France, September 15, 1918. + +From: Chief of Staff. + +To: Major L. Allison Coe, Salvation Army. + +Subject: Service in Operation against St. Mihiel Salient. + +1. The Division Commander desires me to express to you his appreciation +of the particularly valuable service that the Salvation Army, through +you and your assistants, has rendered the Division during the recent +operation against the St. Mihiel salient. + +2. You have furnished aid and comfort to the American soldier +throughout the trying experiences of the last few days, and in +accomplishing this worthy mission have spared yourself in nothing. + +3. The Division Commander wishes me to thank you for the Division and +for himself. + +CK/T. Campbell King, Chief of Staff. + +CABLEGRAM. + +Paris, December 17,1917. + +Commander Miss E, Booth, 120 W. 14th St., New York. + +I am glad to be able to express my appreciation of the work done by the +Salvation Army in the way of providing for the comfort and welfare of +the Command. I think the efforts of the Salvation Army are admirable +and deserving of appreciation and commendation, and I consider the +effort is made without advertisement and that it reaches and is +appreciated by those for whom it is most needed. + +L. P. Murphy, Lieut.-Colonel of Cavalry. + +CABLEGRAM. + +Paris, December 17,1917. + +Commander Miss E. Booth, +120 W. 14th Street, New York City. + +I wish to express my most sincere appreciation of the work of your +organization with my regiment. Your Officer has done everything that +could be expected of any organization in carrying on his work with the +soldiers of this command, and has surpassed any such expectations. He +has assisted the soldiers in every way possible and has gained their +hearty good will. He has also shown himself willing and anxious to +carry out regulations and orders affecting his organization. As a +matter of fact, all the officers and soldiers of this command are most +enthusiastic about the help of the Salvation Army, and you can hear +nothing but praise for its work. The work of your organization, both +religious and material, has been wholesome and dignified, and I desire +you to know that it is appreciated. + +J. L. Hines, +Colonel, Sixteenth Infantry. + +In sending a contribution toward the expenses of the War Work, Colonel +George B. McClellan wrote: + +Treasurer, Salvation Army, July 24, 1918. +120 West 14th Street, New York City. + +Dear Sir: + +All the Officers I have talked with who have been in the trenches have +enthusiastically praised the work the Salvation Army is doing at the +front. They are agreed that for coolness under fire, cheerfulness under +the most adverse conditions, kindness, helpfulness and real efficiency, +your workers are unsurpassed. + +Will you accept the enclosed check as my modest contribution to your +War +Fund, and believe me to be + +Yours very truly, +Geo. B. McClelland Lt.-Col. Ord. Dept., N. A. + +CABLEGRAM. + +Paris, December 17,1917. + +Commander Miss B. Booth, +120 West 14th Street, New York City, N. Y. + +I have carefully observed the work of the Salvation Army from their +first arrival in Training Area First Division American Expeditionary +Force to date. The work they have done for the enlisted men of the +Division and the places of amusement and recreation that they have +provided for them, are of the highest order. I unhesitatingly state +that, in my opinion, the Salvation Army has done more for the enlisted +men of the First Division than any other organization or society +operating in France. + +F. G. Lawton, +Colonel, Infantry, National Army. + +To Whom It May Concern: + +The work of the Salvation Army as illustrated by the work of Major S. +H. Atkins is duplicated by no one. He has been Chaplain and more +besides. He has the confidence of officers and men. Major Atkins, as +typifying the Salvation Army, has been forward at the very front with +what is even more important than the rear area work. + +Theodore Roosevelt. + +The following letter was sent to Major Atkins of the Salvation Army: + +Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, +France, December 26, 1917. + +I wish to thank you for the great work you have been doing here among +the men of this battalion. You have added greatly to the happiness and +contentment of us all; giving, as you have, an opportunity for good, +clean entertainment and pleasure. + +In religious work you have done much. As you know, this regiment has no +chaplain, and you have to a large extent taken the place of one here. + +For myself, and on behalf of the officers stationed here, I wish to +express my appreciation of the work that you have been doing here, and +the hope that you can accompany the battalion wherever the fortune of +war may lead us. + +Wishing you a very happy and successful New Year, I am + +Yours sincerely, +(Signed) Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., +Major (U.S.R.), 26th Infantry. + +When Captain Archibald Roosevelt was lying wounded in Red Cross +Hospital No. 1 he wrote the following letter to the same officer: + +Red Cross Hospital No. 1. + +July 10, 1918. + +“You have, by your example, helped the men morally and physically. By +your continued presence in the most dangerous and uncomfortable +periods, you have made yourself the comrade and friend of every officer +and man in our battalion. It is in this way that you have filled a +position which the other charitable organizations had left vacant. + +“Let me also mention that, perfect Democrat that you are, you have +realized the necessity of discipline, and have helped make the +discipline understood by these men and officers. + +“If all the Salvation Army workers are like you, I sincerely hope to +see the time when there is a Salvation Army officer with each battalion +in the camp.” + +Before leaving France for the United States, two Salvation +Army lassies received the following letter: + +I was very sorry to hear that you had been taken from this division, +and desire to express my appreciation of the excellent assistance you +have been to us. + +In all of our “shows” you have been with us, and I wish that I knew of +the many sufferers you have cheered and made more comfortable. They are +many and, I am positive, will always have grateful thoughts of you. + +I have seen you enduring hardships—going without food and sleep, +working day and night, sometimes under fire, both shell and avion—and +never have you been anything but cheerful and willing. + +I thank you and your organization for all of this, and assure you of +the respect and gratitude of the entire division. + +J. I. Mabee, Colonel, Medical Corps, +Division Surgeon. + +CABLE. + +January 17, 1918. + +The Salvation Army, New York: + +As Inspector General of the First Division I have inspected all the +Salvation Army huts in this Division area and I am glad to inform you +that your work here is a well-earned success. Your huts are warm, dry, +light, and, I believe, much appreciated by all the men in this +Division. To make these huts at all homelike under present conditions +requires energy and ability. I know that the Salvation Army men in this +Division have it and am very willing to so testify. + +Conrad S. Babcock, Lieut.-Colonel, +Inspector General, First Division. + +“The Salvation Army keeps open house, and any time that a body of men +come back from the front lines, in from a convoy, there is hot coffee +and sometimes home-made doughnuts (all free to the men). I was in +command of a town where the hut never closed till 3 or 4 in the +morning, and their girls baked pies and made doughnuts up to the front, +under shell fire, for our infantrymen. A Salvation Army lassie is safe +without an escort anywhere in France where there is an American +soldier. That speaks for itself. I am for any organization that is out +to do something for my men, and I think that it is the idea of the +American people when they give their money. What we want is someone who +is willing to come over here and do something for the boys, regardless +of the fact that it may not net any gain—in fact, may not help them to +gather enough facts for a lecture tour when they return home.” + +Headquarters, Third Division, +September 5,1918. + +My Dear Mr. Leffingwell: + +Your letter of July 22d just received. It has, perhaps, been somewhat +delayed in reaching me, owing to the fact that I have recently been +transferred to another division. I only wish things had been so that I +might have granted you or a representative of the Salvation Army an +interview when I was in the States recently, but, being under orders, I +could wait for nothing. Whatever I may have said, in a casual way, of +the work of the Salvation Army in France, I assure you was all +deserved. Your organization has been doing a splendid work for the men +of my former division and other troops who have come in contact with +it. I have often remarked, as have many of the officers, that after the +war the Salvation Army is going to receive such a boom from the boys +who have come in touch with it over here that it will seem like a +veritable propaganda! Why shouldn’t it? For your work has been +conducted in such a quiet, unostentatious, unselfish way that only a +man whose sensibilities are dead can fail to appreciate it. I have +found several of your workers, whose names at this moment I am unable +to recall, putting up with all sorts of hardships and inconveniences, +working from daylight until well into the night that the boys might be +cheered in one way or another. Your shacks have always been at the +disposal of the chaplains for their regimental services. Whether Mass +for the Catholic chaplains or Holy Communion for an Episcopalian +chaplain, they always found a place to set up their altars in the +Salvation Army huts; and the Protestant chaplains, also the Jewish, +always, to my knowledge, were given its use for their services. I have +found your own services have been very acceptable to the boys, in +general, but perhaps your doughnut program, with hot coffee or +chocolate, means as much as anything. Not that, like those of old, we +follow the Salvation Army because we can get filled up, but we all like +their spirit. More than on one occasion do I know of troops moving at +night—and pretty wet and hungry—that have been warmed and fed and sent +on their way with new courage because of what some Salvation Army +worker and hut furnished. And as they went their way many fine things +were said about the Salvation Army. I am sure, as a result of this +work, you have won the favor and confidence of hundreds of these +soldier lads, and, if I am not terribly mistaken, when we get home the +Salvation tambourine will receive greater consideration than +heretofore. + +I am glad to express my feelings for your work. God bless you in it, +and always! + +Sincerely yours, + +Lyman Bollins, Division Chaplain, +Headquarters, Third Division, A. E. F., via New York. + +At the Front in France, June 12, 1918. + +Commissioner Thomas Estill, +Salvation Army, Chicago. + +My Dear Commissioner: + +We are engaged in a great battle. My time is all taken with our wounded +and dead. Still I cannot resist the temptation to take a few moments in +which to express our appreciation of the splendid aid given our +soldiers by the Salvation Army. + +The work of the Salvation Army is not in duplication of that of any +other organization. It is entirely original and unique. It fills a +long-felt want. Some day the world will know the aid that you have +rendered our soldiers. Then you will receive every dollar you need. + +Your work is also greatly appreciated by the French people. I have +never heard a single unfavorable comment on the Salvation Army. They +are respected everywhere. Their unselfish devotion to our well, sick, +wounded and dead is above any praise that I can bestow. God will surely +greatly reward them. + +I heartily congratulate you on the class of workers you have sent over +here. I pray that your invaluable aid may be extended to our troops +everywhere. God bless you and yours, + +In His name, +(Signed) Thomas J. Dickson, +Chaplain with rank of Major, +Sixth Field Artillery, First Division, U. S. Army. + +An appreciation written concerning the first Salvation +Army chaplain that was appointed after the war started: + +Camp Cody, New Mexico, + +January 16, 1918. + +Major E. C. Clemans, +136th Infantry, Camp Cody, N. M. + +Commissioner Thomas Estill, Chicago, Ill. + +I have been associated with the chaplain now for nearly four months. I +have found him a Christian soldier and gentleman. He is “on the job” +all the time and no Chaplain in this Division is doing more faithful +and effective work. He is thoroughly evangelistic, is burdened for the +souls of his men and is working for their salvation not in but from +their sins. He is a “man’s man,” knows how to approach men and knows +how and does get hold of their affections in such a way that he is a +help and a comfort to them. He brings things to pass. + +The Salvation Army may be well pleased that it is so well represented +in the Army as it is by Chaplain Kline. + +Sincerely yours, + +(Signed) Ezra C. Clemans, +Senior Chaplain, 34th Division. + +July 11, 1918. + +I have been familiar with the work of the Salvation Army for years, and +the organization from the beginning of the war has been doing a +wonderful work with the Allied forces and since the entering of the +United States into the struggle has given splendid aid and coöperation +not only in connection with the war activities at home but also with +our forces abroad. Their work is entitled to the sincere admiration of +every American citizen. + +Major Edwin F. Glenn. + +To Whom It May Concern: + +It gives me the greatest pleasure to testify to the very excellent work +of the Salvation Army as I have seen it in this division. I have seen +the work done by this organization for ten months, under all sorts of +conditions, and it has always been of the highest character. At the +start, the Salvation Army was handicapped by lack of funds, but even +under adverse conditions, it did most valuable work in maintaining +cheerful recreation centres for the men, often in places exposed to +hostile shell-fire. The doughnut and pie supply has been maintained. +This seems a little thing, but it has gone a long way to keep the men +cheerful. All the Salvation Army force has been untiring in its work +under very trying conditions, and as a result, I believe it has gained +the respect and affection of officers and men more than any similar +organization. + +Albert J. Myers, Jr., Major, National Army. +1st Div., A. E. F. (Captain, Cavalry, U.S.A.) + +Extract from letter from Captain Charles W. Albright: +Q. M., R. C., France. + +“As to the Salvation Army, well, if they wanted our boys to lie down +for them to walk on, to keep their feet from getting muddy, the boys +would gladly do so. + +“From everyone, officers and men alike, nothing but the highest praise +is given the Salvation Army. They are right in the thick of danger, +comforting and helping the men in the front line, heedless of shot, +shell or gas, the U. S. Army in France, as a unit, swears by the +Salvation Army. + +“I am proud to have a sister in their ranks.” + +An old regular army officer who returned to Paris last week said: + +“I wish every American who has stood on street corners in America and +sneered at the work of the Salvation Army could see what they are doing +for the boys in France. + +“They do not proclaim that they are here for investigation or for +getting atmosphere for War romances. They have not come to furnish +material for Broadway press agents. They do not wear, ‘Oh, such +becoming uniforms,’ white shoes, dainty blue capes and bonnets, nor do +they frequent Paris tea rooms where the swanky British and American +officers put up. + +“Take it from me, these women are doing almighty fine work. There are +twenty-two of them here in France. We army men have given them +shell-shattered and cast-off field kitchens to work with, and oh, man, +the doughnuts, the pancakes and the pies they turn out! + +“I’m an old army officer, but what I like about the Salvation Army is +that it doesn’t cater to officers. It is for the doughboys first, last +and all the time. The Salvation Army men do not wear Sam Browne belts; +they do as little handshaking with officers as possible. + +“They cash the boys’ checks without question, and during the month of +April in a certain division the Salvation Army sent home $20,000 for +the soldiers. The Rockefeller Foundation hasn’t as yet given the +Salvation Army a million-dollar donation to carry on its work. Fact is, +I don’t know just how the Salvation Army chaplains and lassies do get +along. But get along they do. + +“Perhaps some of the boys and officers give them a lift now and then +when the sledding is rough. They don’t aim to make a slight profit as +do some other organizations. + +“Ever since Cornelius Hickey put up ‘Hickey’s Hut,’ the first Salvation +Army hut in France, they have been working at a loss. I saw an American +officer give a Salvation Army chaplain 500 francs out of his pay at a +certain small town in France recently. + +“The work done in ‘Hickey’s Hut’ did much to endear the Salvation folks +to the doughboys. When a letter arrived in France some months ago +addressed only to ‘Hickey’s Hut, France,’ it reached its destination +_toute de suite_, forty-eight hours after it arrived. + +“The French climate has hit our boys hard. It is wet and penetratingly +cold. Goes right to the marrow, and three suits of underwear are no +protection against it. When the lads returned from training camp or the +trenches, wet, cold, hungry and despondent, they found a welcome in +‘Hickey’s Hut.’ + +“Not a patronizing, holier-than-thou, +we-know-we-are-doing-a-good-work-and-hope-you-doughboys-appreciate-it +sort of a welcome, but a good old Salvation Army, Bowery Mission +welcome, such as Tim Sullivan knew how to hand out in the old days. + +“Around a warm fire with men who spoke their own language and who did +not pretend to be above them in the social scale the doughboys forgot +that they were four thousand miles from home and that they couldn’t +’sling the lingo.’ + +“I saw a group of lads on the Montdidier front who had not been paid in +three months, standing cursing their luck. They had no money, +therefore, they could not buy anything. + +“The Salvation Army had been apprised by telegraph that the doughboys +were playing in hard luck. Presto! Out from Paris came a truck loaded +with everything to eat. The truck was unloaded and the boys paid for +whatever they wanted with slips of paper signed with their John +Hancocks. The Salvation Army lassies asked no questions, but accepted +the slips of paper as if they were Uncle Sam’s gold. + +“And one of the most useful institutions in Europe where war rages is +one that has no publicity bureau and has no horns to toot. This is the +Salvation Army. In the estimation of many, the Salvation Army goes way +ahead of the work of many of the other war organizations working here. +I see brave women and young women of the Salvation Army every day in +places that are really hazardous.” + +First Lieutenant Marion M. Marcus, Jr., Field Artillery, wrote to one +of our leading officers: + +October 9, 1918. + +“If the people at home could see the untiring and absolute devotion of +the workers of the Salvation Army, in serving and caring for our men, +they would more than give you the support you ask. The way the men and +women expose themselves to the dangers of the front lines and hardships +has more than endeared them to every member of the American +Expeditionary Forces, and they are always in the right spot with cheer +of hot food and drink when it is most appreciated.” + +Extract From Letter. + +“Away up front where things break hard and rough for us, and we are +hungry and want something hot, we can usually find it in some old +partly destroyed building, which has been organized into a shack +by—well, guess —the Salvation Army. + +“They are the soldier’s friend. They make no display or show of any +kind, but they are fast winning a warm corner in the heart of +everyone.” + +“I feel it is my duty to drop you a few lines to let you know how the +boys over here appreciate what the Salvation Army is doing for them. It +is a second home to us. There is always a cheerful welcome awaiting us +there and _I have yet to meet a sour-faced cleric behind the counter_. +One Salvation Army worker has his home in a cellar, located close to +the front-line trenches. He cheerfully carries on his wonderful work +amid the flying of shells and in danger of gas. He is one fine fellow, +always greeting you with a smile. He serves the boys with hot coffee +every day, free of charge, and many times he has divided his own bread +with the tired and hungry boys returning from the trenches. In the +evening he serves coffee and doughnuts at a small price. Say, who +wouldn’t be willing to fight after feasting on that? + +“In the many rest camps you will find the Salvation Army girls. They +are located so close to the front-line trenches that they have to wear +their gas masks in the slung position, and they also have their tin +hats ready to put on. The girls certainly are a fine, jolly bunch, and +when it comes to baking pies and doughnuts they are hard to beat. The +boys line up a half hour before time so as to be sure they get their +share. I had the pleasure of talking to a mother and her daughter and +they told me they had sold out everything they had to the boys with the +exception of some salmon and sardines on which they were living—salmon +for dinner and sardines for supper. They stood it all with big smiles +and those smiles made me smile when I thought of my troubles. + +“In the trenches the boys become affected with body lice, known as +cooties. A good hot bath is the only real cure for them. While on the +way to a bath-house a Salvation Army worker overtook us. He was riding +in a Ford which had seen better days. The springs on it were about all +in and it made a noise like someone calling for mercy. The Salvation +Army worker pulled up in front of us and with a broad smile on his face +said: “Room for half a ton!” We did not need a second invitation and we +soon had poor Henry loaded down. I thought sure it would give out, but +the worker only laughed about it and kept on feeding the machine more +gas as we cheered until it started away with us. + +“I want to tell you what the Salvation Army does for the moral side of +the soldier. The American soldier needs the guidance of God over here +more than he ever did in his whole life. Away from home and in a +foreign land in every corner, one must have Divine guidance to keep him +on the narrow path of life. If it was not for the _workers of God over +here the boys would gradually break away and then I’m afraid we would +not have the right kind of fighters to hold up our end_. Of course, +prayers alone won’t satisfy the appetite of the American soldier, and +the Salvation Army girls get around that by baking for the boys. They +believe in satisfying the cravings of the stomach as well as the +craving of the soul and mind. I always enjoy the sermons at the +Salvation Army. A good, every-day sermon is always appreciated. The +Salvation Army helps you along in their good old way, and they don’t +believe in preaching all day on what you should do and what you +shouldn’t do. The girls are a fine bunch of singers and their singing +is enjoyed very much by all of the boys. It is a treat to see an +American girl so close to the front and a still better treat to listen +to one sing. + +“The Salvation Army does much good work in keeping the boys in the +right spirit so that they are glad to go back to the trenches when +their turn comes. There is no Salvation Army hut on this front. I often +wish there was one on every front. I believe the Salvation Army does +not get its full credit over in the States. Perhaps the people over +there do not understand the full meaning of the work it is doing over +here. I want the Salvation Army to know that it has all of the boys +over here back of it and we want to keep up the good work. We will go +through hell, if necessary, because we know the folks back home are +back of us. We want the Salvation Army to feel the same way. The _boys +over here are really back of it and we want you to continue your good +work_.” + +“There is just one thing more I wish to speak of, and that is the +little old Salvation Army. You will never see me, nor any of the other +boys over here, laugh at their street services in the future, and if I +see anyone else doing that little thing that person is due for a busted +head! I haven’t seen where they are raising a tenth the money some of +the other societies are, but they are the topnotchers of them all as +the soldiers’ friend, and their handouts always come at the right time. +Some of those girls work as hard as we do.” + +“The Salvation Army over here is doing wonderful work. _They haven’t +any shows or music, but they certainly know what pleases the boys +most_, and feed us with homemade apple pie or crullers, with lemonade—a +great big piece of pie or three crullers, with a large cup of lemonade, +for a franc (18-1/2 cents). + +“These people are working like beavers, and the people in the States +ought to give them plenty of credit and appreciate their wonderful help +to the men over here.” “We were in a bomb-proof semi-dugout, in the +heart of a dense forest, within range of enemy guns, my Hebrew comrade +and I. We were talking of the fate that brought us here—of the +conditions as we left them at home. There was the thought of what +‘might’ happen if we were to return to America minus a limb or an eye; +we were discussing the great economic and moral reform which is a +certainty after the war, when through the air came the harmonious +strumming of a guitar accompanying a sweet, feminine voice, and we +heard: + +Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; + Lead Thou me on; +The night is dark and I am far from home, + Lead Thou me on. +Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see + The distant scene— +One step enough for me. + +“It was the Salvation Army! In a desert of human hearts, many of them +wounded with heartache, these brave, brave servants of the Son of David +came to cheer us up and make life more bearable. + +“In our outfit are Greeks, Italians, Bohemians, Irish, Jews—all of them +loyal Americans—and the Salvation Army serves each with an impartial +self-sacrifice which should forever still the voices of critics who +condemn sending Army lassies over here. + +“Those in the ranks are men. The Salvation Army women are +admired—almost worshipped—but respected and safe. Men by the thousands +would lay down their lives for the Salvationists, and not till after +the war will the full results of this sacrifice by Salvation Army +workers bear fruit. But now, with so many strong temptations to go the +wrong way, here are noble girls roughing it, smiling at the hardships, +singing songs, making doughnuts for the doughboys, and always reminding +us, even in danger, that it is not all of ‘life to live,’ bringing to +us recollections of our mothers, sisters, and sweethearts, and if +anyone questions, ’Is it worth while?’ the answer is: ‘A thousand times +yes!’ and I cannot refrain from sending my hearty thanks for all this +service means to us. + +“A few miles in back of us now, a half dozen Connecticut girls +representing the Salvation Army are doing their bit to make things +brighter for us, and say, maybe those girls cannot bake. Every day they +furnish us with real homemade crullers and pies at a small cost, and +their coffee, holy smoke! it makes me homesick to even write about it. +The girls have their headquarters in an old tumble-down building and +they must have some nerve, for the Boche keeps dropping shells all +around them day and night, and it would only take one of those shells +to blow the whole outfit into kingdom come.” + +In a letter from a private to his mother while he was lying wounded in +the hospital, he says of the Salvation Army and Red Cross: + +“Most emphatically let me say that they both are giving real service to +the men here and both are worthy of any praise or help that can be +given them. This is especially so of the Salvation Army, because it is +not fully understood just what they are doing over here. They are the +only ones that, regardless of shells or gas, feed the boys in the +trenches and bear home to them the realization of what God really is at +the very moment when our brave lads are facing death. Their timely +phrases about the Christ, handed out with their doughnuts and coffee, +have turned many faltering souls back to the path and they will never +forget it. ’Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity’ surely holds good +here. You may not realize or think it possible, but a large majority of +the boys carry Bibles and there are often heated arguments over the +different phrases. + +“I have just turned my pockets inside out and the tambourine could hold +no more, but it was all I had and I am still in debt to the Salvation +Army. + +“For hot coffee and cookies when I was shivering like an aspen, for +buttons and patches on my tattered uniform, for steering me clear of +the camp followers; but more than all for the cheery words of solace +for those ‘gone West,’ for the blessed face of a woman from the +homeland in the midst of withering blight and desolation—for these I am +indebted to the Salvation Army.” + +CABLEGRAM. + +Paris, December 17, 1917. + +Commander Miss E. Booth, +120 W. 14th Street, New York, N. Y. + +Being a Private, I am one of the many thousands who enjoy the +kindnesses and thoughtful recreation in the Salvation hut. The huts are +always crowded when the boys are off duty, for ’tis there we find +warmth of body and comradeship, pleasures in games and music, delight +in the palatable refreshments, knowledge in reading periodicals, +convenience in the writing material at our disposal, and other +home-like touches for enjoyment. The courtesy and good-will of the hut +workers, combined with these good things, makes the huts a resort of +real comfort with the big thought of salvation in Christ predominating +over all. Appreciation of these huts, and all they mean to the soldier +in this terrible war, rises full in all our hearts. + +Clinton Spencer, +Private, Motor Action. + +“I just used to love to listen to the Salvation Army at 6th and Penn +Streets, but I never dreamed of seeing them over here. And when I first +saw four girls cooking and baking all day I wondered what it was all +about. + +“But I didn’t have long to find out, for that night I saw these same +girls put on their gas masks at the alert and start for the trenches. +Then I started to ask about them. I never spoke to the girls, but +fellows who had been in the trenches told me that they came up under +shell fire to give the boys pies or doughnuts or little cakes or cocoa +or whatever they had made that day. I thought that great of the +Salvation Army. And many a boy who got help through them has a warm +spot in his heart for them. + +“You can see by the paper I write on who gave it to us. It is Salvation +Army paper. Altogether I say give three hearty cheers for the Salvation +Army and the girls who risk their own lives to give our boys a little +treat.” + +“I am going to crow about our real friends here—and it is the verdict +of all the boys—it is the Salvation Army, Joe. _That is the boys’ +mother and father here. It is our home_. They have a treat for us boys +every night—that is, cookies, doughnuts or pie—about 9 o’clock. But +that is only a little of them. The big thing is the spirit—the feeling +a boy gets of being home when he enters the hut and meets the lassies +and lads who call themselves the soldiers of Christ, and we are proud +to call them brother soldiers. We think the world of them! So, Joe, +whenever you get a chance to do the Salvation Army a good turn, by word +or deed, do so, as thereby you will help us. When we get back we are +going to be the Salvation Army’s big friend, and you will see it become +one of the United States’ great organizations.” + +“My life as a soldier is not quite as easy as it was in Rochester, but +still I am not going to give up my religion, and I am not ashamed to +let the other fellows know that I belong to the Salvation Army. +Sometimes they try to get me to smoke or go and have a glass of beer +with them, but I tell them that I am a Salvationist. There are twenty +fellows in a hut, so they used to make fun at me when I used to say my +prayers. Once in awhile I used to have a _pair of shoes_ or a coat or +something, thrown at me. I used to think what I could do to stop them +throwing things at me, so I thought of a plan and waited. It was two or +three nights before they threw anything again. One night, as I was +saying my prayers, someone threw his shoes at me. After I got through I +picked up the shoes and took out my shoe brushes and polished and +cleaned the shoes thrown at me, and from that night to now I have never +had a thing thrown at me. The fellow came to me in a little while and +said he was sorry he had thrown them. There are four or five +Salvationists in our company—one was a Captain in the States. The +Salvation Army has three big huts here among the soldier boys. We have +some nice meetings here, and they have reading-rooms and writing and +lunch-rooms, so I spend most of my time there.” + +Letter of Commendation RE Salvation Army. + +U.S.S. Point Bonita, 15 October, 1918. + +Miss Evangeline Booth, Commander, +Care of Salvation Army Headquarters, +14th Street, New York City. + +Dear Miss Booth:— + +We want to thank you for presenting our crew with an elegant phonograph +and 25 records. We are all going to take up a collection and buy a lot +of records and I guess we will be able to pass the time away when we +are not on watch. + +We have a few men in the crew who have made trips across on transports +and they say that every soldier and sailor has praised the Salvation +Army way-up-to-the-sky for all the many kindnesses shown them. + +We also want to thank you for the kindness shown to one of our crew. +The Major who gave us the present was the best yet and so was the +gentleman who drove the auto about ten miles to our ship. That is the +Salvation Army all over. During the war or in times of peace, your +organization reaches the hearts of all. + +We all would like to thank Mr. Leffingwell for his great kindness in +helping us. + +The undersigned all have the warmest sort of feeling for you and the +Salvation Army. + +Many, many thanks, from the ship’s crew. + +“I was down to the Salvation Army the other day helping them cook +doughnuts and they sure did taste good, and the fellows fairly go crazy +to get them, too. Anything that is homemade don’t last long around +here, and when they get candy or anything sweet there is a line about a +block long. + +“Notice the paper this is written on? Well, I can’t say enough about +them. They sure are a treat to us boys, and almost every night they +have good eats for us. One night it is lemonade, pies and coffee, and +the next it is doughnuts and coffee, and they are just like mother +makes. There are two girls here that run the place, and they are real +American girls, too. The first I have seen since I have been in France, +and I’ll say they are a treat! + +“Hogan and I have been helping them, and now I cook pies and doughnuts +as well as anyone. We sure do have a picnic with them and enjoy helping +out once in awhile. One thing I want you to do is to help the Salvation +Army all you can and whenever you get a chance to lend a helping hand +to them do it, for they sure have done a whole lot for your boy, and if +you can get them a write-up in the papers, why do it and I will be +happy.” + +From Lord Derby. + +“The splendid work which the Salvation Army has done among the soldiers +during the war is one for which I, as Secretary of State for War, +should like to thank them most sincerely; it is a work which is +deserving of all support.” + +State of New Jersey +Executive Department +Trenton. + +My Dear Mr. Battle: December 27, 1917. + +I have learned of the campaign of the Salvation Army to raise money for +its war activities. The work of the Salvation Army is at all times +commendable and deserving, but particularly so in its relation to the +war. + +I sincerely hope that the campaign will be very successful. +Cordially yours, + +(Signed) Walter B. Edge, + +Mr. George Gordon Battle, Governor. +General Chairman, 37 Wall Street, New York City. + +Governor Charles S. Whitman’s Address at Luncheon at Hotel Ten Eyck, +Albany, New York, December 8, 1917. + +“I take especial pleasure in offering my tribute of respect and +appreciation to the Salvation Army. I have known of its work as +intimately as any man who is not directly connected with the +organization. In my position as a judge and a district attorney of New +York City for many years, I always found the Salvation Army a great +help in solving the various problems of the poor, the criminal and +distressed. + +“Frequently while other agencies, though good, hesitated, there was +never a case where there was a possibility that relief might be +brought—never was a case of misery or violence so low, that the +Salvation Army would not undertake it. + +“The Salvation Army lends its manhood and womanhood to go ‘Over There’ +from our States, and our State, to labor with those who fight and die. +There is very little we can do, but we can help with our funds.” + +“The Salvation Army is worthy of the support of all right-thinking +people. Its main purpose is to reclaim men and women to decency and +good citizenship. This purpose is being prosecuted not only with energy +and enthusiasm but with rare tact and judgment. + +“The sphere of the Army’s operations has now been extended to the +battlefields of Europe, where its consecrated workers will coöperate +with the Y.M.C.A., K. of C., and kindred organizations. + +“It gives me pleasure to commend the work of this beneficent +organization, and to urge our people to remember its splendid service +to humanity. + +“Very truly yours, +“ Albert E. Sleeper, +“Governor.” + +Endorsement of January 25, 1918. +Governor Hugh M. Dorsey, of Georgia. + +The Salvation Army has been a potent force for good everywhere, so far +as I know. They are rendering to our soldiers “somewhere in France” the +most invaluable aid, ministering not only to their spiritual needs, but +caring for them in a material way. This they have done without the +blare of trumpets. + +Many commanding officers certify to the fact that the Salvation Army is +not only rendering most effective work, but that this work is of a +distinctive character and of a nature not covered by the activities of +other organizations ministering to the needs of the soldier boys. In +other words, they are filling that gap in the army life which they have +always so well filled in the civil life of our people. + +State of Utah Executive Office + +Salt Lake City, January 21, 1918. + +“I have learned with a great deal of interest of the splendid work +being done by the Salvation Army for the moral uplift of the soldiers, +both in the training camps and in the field. I am very glad to endorse +this work and to express the hope that the Salvation Army may find a +way to continue and extend its work among the soldiers.” + +(Signed) Simon Bamberg, +Governor. + +From a Proclamation by Governor Brumbaugh. + +To the People of Pennsylvania: + +I have long since learned to believe in the great, good work of the +Salvation Army and have given it my approval and support through the +years. This mighty body of consecrated workers are like gleaners in the +fields of humanity. They seek and succor and save those that most need +and least receive aid. Now, THEREFORE, I, Martin G. Brumbaugh, Governor +of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, do cordially commend the work of +the Salvation Army and call upon our people to give earnest heed to +their call for assistance, making liberal donations to their +praiseworthy work and manifesting thus our continued and resolute +purpose to give our men in arms unstinted aid and to support gladly all +these noble and sacrificing agencies that under God give hope and help +to our soldiers. + +[SEAL] + +Given under my hand and the great seal of the State, at the City of +Harrisburg, this seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord one +thousand nine hundred and eighteen, and of the Commonwealth the one +hundred and forty-second. + +By the Governor: +Secretary of the Commonwealth. +copy/h + +The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, +Executive Department, +State House, Boston, February 15, 1918. + +It gives me pleasure to add my word of approval to the very noble work +that is being done by the Salvation Army for the men now serving the +country. The Salvation Army has for many years been doing very valuable +work, and the extension of its labors into the ranks of the soldiers +has not lessened in any degree its power of accomplishment. The +Salvation Army can render most efficient service. It should be the aim +of every one of us in Massachusetts to assist in every way the work +that is being done for the soldiers. We cannot do too much of this kind +of work for them—they deserve and need it all. I urge everybody in +Massachusetts to assist the Salvation Army in every way possible, to +the end that Massachusetts may maintain her place in the forefront of +the States of the Union who are assisting the work of the Army. + +(Signed) Samuel W. McCall, +Governor. + +Proclamation. + +To the People of the State of Maryland: + +I have been very much impressed with the good work which is being done +in this country by the Salvation Army, and I am not at all surprised at +the great work which it is doing at the front, upon or near the +battlefields of Europe. It is doing not only the same kind of work +being done by the Y.M.C.A. and the Knights of Columbus, but work in +fields decidedly their own. + +It is now undertaking to raise $1,000,000 for the National War Service +and it is preparing a hutment equipped with libraries, daily +newspapers, games, light refreshments, _etc_., in every camp in France. + +Now, therefore, I, Emerson C. Harrington, Governor of Maryland, +believing that the effect and purposes for which the Salvation Army is +asking this money, are deserving of our warmest support, do hereby call +upon the people of Maryland to respond as liberally as they can in this +war drive being made by the Salvation Army to enable them more +efficiently to render service which is so much needed. + +[The Great Seal of the State of Maryland] + +In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be +hereto affixed the Great Seal of Maryland at Annapolis, Maryland, this +fourteenth day of February, in the year one thousand nine hundred and +eighteen. + +Emerson C. Harrington. + +By the Governor, +Thos. W. Simmons, Secretary of State. + +“The Salvation Army is peculiarly equipped for this kind of service. I +have watched the career of this organization for many years, and I know +its leaders to be devoted and capable men and women. + +“Of course, any agency which can in any way ameliorate the condition of +the boys at the front should receive encouragement.” + +(Signed) Frank C. Lowden, +Governor of Illinois. + +“I join with thousands of my fellow citizens in having a great +admiration for the splendid work which has already been accomplished by +the Salvation Army in the alleviation of suffering, the spiritual +uplift of the masses, and its substantial and prayerful ministrations. + +“The Salvation Army does its work quietly, carefully, persistently and +effectively. Our patriotic citizenry will quickly place the stamp of +approval upon the great work being done by the Salvation Army among the +private soldiers at home and abroad.” + +(Signed) Governor Brough of Arkansas. + +Lansing, Michigan, June 13, 1918. + +To Whom It May Concern: + +Among the various organizations doing war work in connection with the +American Army, none are found more worthy of support than the Salvation +Army. Entering into its work with the whole-hearted zeal which has +characterized its movement in times of peace, it has won the highest +praise of both officers and soldiers alike. + +It is an essential pleasure to commend the work of the Salvation Army +to the people of Michigan with the urgent request that its war +activities be given your generous support. + +Albert E. Sleeper, +Governor of the State of Michigan. + +Mark E. McKee, +Secretary, Counties Division, Michigan War Board. + +State of Kansas +Arthur Capper, Governor, +Topeka + +August 8, 1917. + +I have been greatly pleased with the war activities of the Salvation +Army and want to express my appreciation of the splendid service +rendered by that organization on the battlefield of Europe ever since +the war began. It is a most commendable and a most patriotic thing to +do and I hope the people of Kansas will give the enterprise their +generous support. + +Very respectfully, +(Signed) Arthur Capper, Governor. + +“Best wishes for the success of your work. As the Salvation Army has +done so much good in time of peace, it has multiplied opportunities to +do good in the horrors of war, if given the necessary means.” + +(Signed) Miles Poindexter, +Senator from Washington. +House of Representatives +Washington, D. C. + +January 8, 1918. + +Colonel Adam Gifford, Salvation Army, +8 East Brookline Street, Boston, Mass. + +My Dear Colonel Gifford: + +I desire to write you in highest commendation of the work the Salvation +Army is doing in France. During last November I was behind the French +and English fronts, and unless one has been there they cannot realize +the assistance to spirit and courage given to the soldiers by the “hut” +service of the Salvation Army. + +The only particular in which the Salvation Army fell short was that +there were not sufficient huts for the demands of the troops. The huts +I saw were crowded and not commodious. + +Behind the British front I heard several officers state that the +service of the Salvation Army was somewhat different from other +services of the same kind, but most effective. + +With kindest regards, I remain, +Very sincerely yours, + +(Signed) George Holden Tinkham, +Congressman. + +This Condolence Card conveyed the sympathy of the Commander to the +friends of the fallen. Forethought had prepared this some time before +the first American had made the supreme sacrifice. + +Looking + +Greater Love Hath No Man Than This, That a Man Lay Down His Life for +His Friends + +122 W. 14th Street New York + +My dear Friend: + +I must on behalf of The Salvation Army, take this opportunity to say +how deeply and truly we share your grief at this time of your +bereavement. It will be hard for you to understand how anything can +soothe the pain made by your great loss, but let me point you to the +one Jesus Christ, who acquainted Himself with all our griefs so that He +might heal the heart’s wounds made by our sorrows and whose love for us +was so vast that He bled and died to save us. + +It may be some solace to think that your loved one poured out his life +in a War in which high and holy principles are involved, and also that +he was quick to answer the call for men. + +Believe me when I say that we are praying and will pray for you. + +Yours in sympathy. + +(Signed) Evangeline Booth +Commander + + +“ Commander Evangeline Booth: + +“The comfort and solace contained in the beautiful card of sympathy I +recently received from you is more than you can ever know. With all my +heart I am very grateful to you and can only assure you feebly of my +deep appreciation. + +“It has made me realize more than ever before the fundamental +principles of Christianity upon which your Army is built and organized, +for how truly does it comfort the widow and fatherless in their +affliction. + +“Tucked away as my two babies and I are in a tiny Wisconsin town, we +felt that our grief, while shared in by our good friends, was just a +passing emotion to the rest of the world. But when a card such as yours +comes, extending a heart of sympathy and prayer and ferrets us out in +our sorrow in our little town, you must know how much less lonely we +are because of it. It surely shows us that a sacrifice such as my dear +husband made is acknowledged and lauded by the entire world. + +“I am, oh! so proud of him, so comforted to know I was wife to a man so +imbued with the principles of right and justice that he counted no +sacrifice, not even his life, too great to offer in the cause. Not for +anything would I ask him back or rob him of the glory of such a death. +Yet our little home is sad indeed, with its light and life taken away. + +“The good you have done before and during the war must be a very great +source of gratification for you, and I trust you may be spared for many +years to stretch out your helping hand to the sorrowing and make us +better for having known you. + +With deepest gratitude,” + +“ Commander Evangeline Booth: + +“I have just seen your picture in the November _Pictorial Review_ and I +do so greatly admire your splendid character and the great work you are +doing. + +“I want to thank you for the message of Christian love and sympathy you +sent to me upon the death of my son in July, aeroplane accident in +England. + +“Without the Christian’s faith and the blessed hope of the Gospel we +would despair indeed. A long time ago I learned to pray Thy will be +done for my son—and I have tested the promises and I have found them +true. + +“May the Lord bless you abundantly in your own heart and in your world +wide influence and the splendid Salvation Army.” + +“ Dear Friends: + +“Words fall far short in expressing our deep appreciation of your +comforting words of condolence and sympathy. Will you accept as a small +token of love the enclosed appreciation written by Professor ————- of +the Oberlin College, and a quotation from a letter written August 25th +by our soldier boy, and found among his effects to be opened only in +case of his death, and forwarded to his mother? + +I am +Yours truly,” + +Enclosure: + +“November 16, 1918. + +“If by any chance this letter should be given to you, as something +coming directly from my heart; you, who are my mother, need have no +fear or regret for the personality destined not to come back to you. + +“A mother and father, whose noble ideals they firmly fixed in two sons +should rather experience a deep sense of pride that the young chap of +nearly twenty-one years does not come back to them; for, though he was +fond of living, he was also prepared to die with a faith as sound and +steadfast as that of the little children whom the Master took in His +arms. + +“And more than that, the body you gave to me so sweet and pure and +strong, though misused at times, has been returned to God as pure and +undefiled as when you gave it to me. I think there is nothing that +should please you more than that. + +“In My Father’s House are many mansions, +I go to prepare a place for you; +If it were not so, I would have told you. +“Your Baby boy,” + + +(Signed) Paul. +Chatereaux, France. +August, 1918. + +N. B.—Written on back of the envelope: +“To be opened only in case of accident.” + +“ Commander Evangeline Booth: + +“Permit me to express through you my deep appreciation of the consoling +message from the Salvation Army on the loss of my brother, Clement, in +France. I am indeed grateful for this last thought from an organization +which did so much to meet his living needs and to lessen the hardships +of his service in France. I shall always feel a personal debt to those +of you who seemed so near to him at the end.” + +“Miss Evangeline Booth: + +“I was greatly touched by the card of sympathy sent me in your name on +the occasion of my great sorrow—and my equally great glory. The death +of a husband for the great cause of humanity is a martyrdom that any +soldier’s wife, even in her deep grief, is proud to share. + +“Thanking you for your helpful message,” + +“Miss Evangeline Booth: + +“Of the many cards of condolence received by our family upon the death +of my dear brother, none touched us more deeply than the one sent by +you. + +“We do indeed appreciate your thoughtfulness in sending words of +comfort to people who are utter strangers to you. + +“Accept again, the gratitude of my parents as well as the other members +of our family, including myself. + +“May our Heavenly Father bless you all and glorify your good works.” + +Miss Evangeline Booth, + +Commander of the Salvation Army, New York City, +N. Y. + +Dear Miss Booth: + +I beg of you to pardon me for writing you this letter, but I feel that +I must. On the 17th day of March I received a letter from my boy in +France, and it reads as follows: + +“Somewhere in France, Jan. 15, 1918. +“My Dear Mother: + +“I must write you a few lines to tell you that you must not worry about +me even though it is some time since I wrote you. We don’t have much +time to ourselves out here. I have just come out of the trenches, and +now it is mud, mud, mud, up to one’s knees. I often think of the +fireplace at home these cold nights, but, mother, I must tell you that +I don’t know what we boys would do if it was not for the Salvation +Army. The women, they are just like mothers to the boys. God help the +ones that say anything but good about the Army! Those women certainly +have courage, to come right out in the trenches with coffee and cocoa, +_etc_., and they are so kind and good. Mother, I want you to write to +Miss Booth and thank her for me for her splendid work out here. When I +come home I shall exchange the U. S. uniform for the S.A. uniform, and +I know, ma, that you will not object. Well, the Germans have been +raining shells to-day, but we were unharmed. I passed by an old shack +of a building—a poor woman sat there with a baby, lulling it to sleep, +when a shell came down and the poor souls had passed from this earthly +hell to their heavenly reward. Only God knows the conditions out here; +it is horrible. Well, I must close now, and don’t worry, mother, I will +be home some day. + +“Your loving son,” + +Well, Miss Booth, I got word three weeks ago that Joseph had been +killed in action. I am heart-broken, but I suppose it was God’s will. +Poor boy! He has his uniform exchanged for a white robe. I am all alone +now, as he was my only boy and only child. Again I beg of you to pardon +me for sending you this letter. + +December 10, 1917. + +Commander Evangeline C. Booth, New York City. + +My Dear Commander: + +I have just read in the New York papers of your purpose and plan to +raise a million dollars for your Salvation Army work carried on in the +interests of the soldiers at home and abroad, and I cannot refrain from +writing to you to express my deep interest, and also the hope that you +may be successful in raising this fund, because I know that it will be +so well administered. + +From all that I have heard of the Salvation Army work in connection +with the soldiers carried on under your direction, I think it is simply +wonderful, and if there is any service that I can render you or the +Army, I should be exceedingly pleased. + +I have read “Souls in Khaki,” and I wish that everyone might read it, +for could they do so, your million-dollar fund would be easily raised. + +With ever-increasing interest in the Salvation Army, I am, Cordially +yours, + +(Signed) J. Wilbur Chapman. +Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian +Church in the U.S.A. + +Salvation Army Is the Most Popular Organization in France. + +Raymond B. Fosdick, chairman of the War Recreation Commission, on his +return from a tour of investigation into activities of the relief +organizations in France, gave out the following: + +“Somewhat to my surprise I found the Salvation Army probably the most +popular organization in France with the troops. It has not undertaken +the comprehensive program which the Y.M.C.A. has laid out for itself; +that is, it is operating in three or four divisions, while the Y. M. C. +A. is aiming to cover every unit of troops. + +“But its simple, homely, unadorned service seems to have touched the +hearts of our men. The aim of the organization is, if possible, to put +a worker and his wife in a canteen or a centre. The women spend their +time making doughnuts and pies, and sew on buttons. The men make +themselves generally useful in any way which their service can be +applied. + +“I saw such placed in dugouts way up at the front, where the German +shells screamed over our heads with a sound not unlike a freight train +crossing a bridge. Down in their dugouts the Salvation Army folks +imperturbably handed out doughnuts and dished out the ‘drink.’” + +War Department Commission on Training Camp Activities, Washington + +45, Avenue Montaigne, Paris. + +Commander Evangeline Booth, Apr. 8, 1919. +Salvation Army, New York City. + +My Dear Commander Booth: + +The work of the Salvation Army with the armed forces of the United +States does not need any word of commendation from me. Perhaps I may be +permitted to say, however, that as a representative of the War and Navy +Departments I have been closely in touch with it from its inception, +both in Europe and in the United States. I do not believe there is a +doughboy anywhere who does not speak of it with enthusiasm and +affection. Its remarkable success has been due solely to the unselfish +spirit of service which has underlain it. Nothing has been too humble +or too lowly for the Salvation Army representative to do for the +soldier. Without ostentation, without advertising, without any emphasis +upon auspices or organization, your people have met the men of the Army +as friends and companions-in-arms, and the soldiers, particularly those +of the American Expeditionary Force, will never forget what you have +done. + +Faithfully yours, +(Signed) Raymond B. Fosdick. + +From Honorable Arthur Stanley, +Chairman British Red Cross Society. + +British Red Cross Society +Joint War Committee + +83 Pall Mall, London, S. W., + +December 22, 1917. + +General Bramwell Booth. + +Dear General Booth: + +I enclose formal receipt for the cheque, value £2000, which was handed +to me by your representative. I note that it is a contribution from the +Salvation Army to the Joint Funds to provide a new Salvation Army Motor +Ambulance Unit on the same conditions as before. + +I cannot sufficiently thank you and the Salvation Army for this very +generous donation. + +I am indeed glad to know that you are providing another twenty drivers +for service with our Ambulance Fleet in France. This is most welcome +news, as whenever Salvation Army men are helping we hear nothing but +good reports of their work. Sir Ernest Clarke tells me that your +Ambulance Sections are quite the best of any in our service, and the +more Salvation Army men you can send him, the better he will be +pleased. I would again take this opportunity of congratulating you, +which I do with all my heart, upon the splendid record of your Army. + +Yours sincerely, + +(Signed) Arthur Stanley. + +Extract from Judge Ben Lindsey’s picture of the Salvation Army at the +Front: + +“A good expression for American enthusiasm is: ’I am crazy about’—this, +or that, or the other thing that excites our admiration. Well, ’I am +crazy about the Salvation Army’—the Salvation Army as I saw it and +mingled with it and the doughboys in the trenches. And when I happened +to be passing through Chicago to-day and saw an appeal in the _Tribune_ +for the Salvation Army, I remembered what our boys so often shouted out +to me as I passed them in the trenches and back of the lines: ’Judge, +when you get back home tell the folks not to forget the Salvation Army. +They’re the real thing.’ + +“And I know they are the real thing. I have shared with the boys the +doughnuts and chocolate and coffee that seemed to be so much better +than any other doughnuts or coffee or chocolate I have ever tasted +before. And when it seemed so wonderful to me after just a mild sort of +experience down a shell-swept road, through the damp and cold of a +French winter day, what must it be to those boys after trench raids or +red-hot scraps down rain-soaked trenches under the wet mists of No +Man’s Land?... Listen to some of the stories the boys told me: ’You +see, Judge, the good old Salvation Army is the real thing. They don’t +put on no airs. There ain’t no flub-dub about them and you don’t see +their mugs in the fancy magazines much. Why, you never would see one of +them in Paris around the hotels. You’d never know they existed, Judge, +unless you came right up here to the front lines as near as the Colonel +will let you!’ + +“And one enthusiastic urchin said: ’Why, Judge, after the battle +yesterday, we couldn’t get those women out of the village till they’d +seen every fellow had at least a dozen fried cakes and all the coffee +or chocolate he could pile in. We just had to drag ’em out—for the boys +love ’em too much to lose ’em—we weren’t going to take no chances—not +much— for our Salvation ladies!’” + +Harry Lauder’s Endorsement. + +In speaking of the Salvation Army’s work before the Rotary Club of San +Francisco, Harry Lauder said: + +“There is no organization in Europe doing more for the troops than the +Salvation Army, and the devotion of its officers has caused the +Salvation Army to be revered by the soldiers.” + +Mr. Otto Kahn, one of America’s most prominent bankers, upon his return +to this country after a tour through the American lines in France, +writes, among other things: + +“I should particularly consider myself remiss if I did not refer with +sincere admiration to the devoted, sympathetic, and most efficient work +of the Salvation Army, which, though limited in its activities to a few +sectors only, has won the warm and affectionate regard of those of our +troops with whom it has been in contact.” + + +Mr. David Lawrence, special Washington correspondent of the _New York +Evening Post_ and other influential papers, in an article in which he +comments on the work of all the relief agencies, says of the Salvation +Army in France: + +“Curiously enough the Salvation Army is spoken of in all official +reports as the organization most popular with the troops. Its +organization is the smallest of all four. Its service is simple and +unadorned. It specializes on doughnuts and pie, which it gives away +free whenever the ingredients of the manufacture of those articles are +at hand. + +“_The policy of the organization_ is to place a worker and his wife, if +possible, with a unit of troops. The woman makes doughnuts and sews on +buttons, while the man helps the soldiers in any way he can. + +“_The success of the Salvation Army_ is attributed by commanding +officers to the fact that the workers know how to mix naturally. _In +other cases there had been sometimes an air of condescension not unlike +that of the professional settlement house worker_.” + + +In a recent issue of the _Saturday Evening Post_, Mr. Irvin Cobb, who +has just returned from France, has this to say of the Salvation Army: + +“Right here seems a good-enough place for me to slip in a few words of +approbation for the work which another organization has accomplished in +France since we put our men into the field. Nobody asked me to speak in +its favor because, so far as I can find out, it has no publicity +department. I am referring to the Salvation Army. May it live forever +for the service which, without price and without any boasting on the +part of its personnel, it is rendering to our boys in France! + +“A good many of us who hadn’t enough religion, and a good many more of +us who, mayhap, had too much religion, looked rather contemptuously +upon the methods of the Salvationists. Some have gone so far as to +intimate that the Salvation Army was vulgar in its methods and lacking +in dignity and even in reverence. Some have intimated that converting a +sinner to the tap of a bass drum or the tinkle of a tambourine was an +improper process altogether. Never again, though, shall I hear the +blare of the cornet as it cuts into the chorus of hallelujah whoops, +where a ring of blue-bonneted women and blue-capped men stand exhorting +on a city street-corner under the gaslights, without recalling what +some of their enrolled brethren—and sisters—have done, and are doing, +in Europe! + +“The American Salvation Army in France is small, but, believe me, it is +powerfully busy! Its war delegation came over without any fanfare of +the trumpets of publicity. It has no paid press agents here and no +impressive headquarters. There are no well-known names, other than the +names of its executive heads, on its rosters or on its advisory boards. +None of its members are housed at an expensive hotel and none of them +have handsome automobiles in which to travel about from place to place. +No campaigns to raise nation-wide millions of dollars for the cost of +its ministrations overseas were ever held at home. I imagine it is the +pennies of the poor that mainly fill its war chest. I imagine, too, +that sometimes its finances are an uncertain quantity. Incidentally, I +am assured that not one of its male workers here is of draft age unless +he holds exemption papers to prove his physical unfitness for military +service. The Salvationists are taking care to purge themselves of any +suspicion that potential slackers have joined their ranks in order to +avoid the possibility of having to perform duties in khaki. + +“Among officers, as well as among enlisted men, one occasionally hears +criticism—which may or may not be based on a fair judgment—for certain +branches of certain activities of certain organizations. But I have yet +to meet any soldier, whether a brigadier or a private, who, if he spoke +at all of the Salvation Army, did not speak in terms of fervent +gratitude for the aid that the Salvationists are rendering so +unostentatiously and yet so very effectively. Let a sizable body of +troops move from one station to another, and hard on its heels there +came a squad of men and women of the Salvation Army. An army truck may +bring them, or it may be they have a battered jitney to move them and +their scanty outfits. Usually they do not ask for help from anyone in +reaching their destinations. They find lodgment in a wrecked shell of a +house or in the corner of a barn. By main force and awkwardness they +set up their equipment, and very soon the word has spread among the +troops that at such and such a place the Salvation Army is serving free +hot drinks and free doughnuts and free pies. It specializes in +doughnuts—the Salvation Army in the field does—the real old-fashioned +home-made ones that taste of home to a homesick soldier boy! + +“I did not see this, but one of my associates did. He saw it last +winter in a dismal place on the Toul sector. A file of our troops were +finishing a long hike through rain and snow over roads knee-deep in +half-thawed icy slush. Cold and wet and miserable they came tramping +into a cheerless, half-empty town within sound and range of the German +guns. They found a reception committee awaiting them there—in the +person of two Salvation Army lassies and a Salvation Army Captain. The +women had a fire going in the dilapidated oven of a vanished villager’s +kitchen. One of them was rolling out the batter on a plank, with an old +wine-bottle for a rolling pin, and using the top of a tin can to cut +the dough into circular strips; the other woman was cooking the +doughnuts, and as fast as they were cooked the man served them out, +spitting hot, to hungry, wet boys clamoring about the door, and nobody +was asked to pay a cent! + +“At the risk of giving mortal affront to ultradoctrinal practitioners +of applied theology, I am firmly committed to the belief that by the +grace and the grease of those doughnuts those three humble benefactors +that day strengthened their right to a place in the Heavenly Kingdom.” + +My Dear Colonel Jenkins: + +I take pleasure in sending you a copy of my report as Commissioner to +France, in which I made reference to the work of the Salvation Army +with our American Expeditionary Forces. + +I cannot recall ever hearing the slightest criticism of the work of the +Salvation Army, but I heard many words of enthusiastic appreciation on +the part not only of the Generals and officers but of the soldiers. + +I saw many evidences showing that the unselfish, sometimes reckless, +abandon of your workers had a great effect upon our men. + +I am sure that the Salvation Army also stands in high respect for its +religious influence upon the men. + +It was pleasant still further to hear such words of appreciation as I +did from General Duncan regarding the work of Chaplain Allan, the +divisional chaplain of General Duncan’s unit. He has evidently risen to +his work in a splendid way. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity +of rendering this testimony to you. + +Faithfully yours, + +Charles S. MacFarland, +General Secretary. + +The _New York Globe_ printed the following: + +Huns Don’t Stop Salvation Army. Meeting Held in Deep Dugout Under +Ruined Village—Mandolin Supplants the Organ. + +By Herbert Corey. + +Just behind the Somme front, May 31.—Somewhere in the tangle of smashed +walls there was a steely jingle. At first the sound was hard to +identify, so odd are acoustics in this which was once a little town. +There were stub ends of walls here and there—bare, raw snags of walls +sticking up—and now and then a rooftree tilted pathetically against a +ruin, or a pile of dusty masonry that had been a house. A little path +ran through this tangle, and under an arched gateway that by a miracle +remained standing and down the steps of a dugout. The jingling sound +became recognizable. Some one was trying to play on a mandolin: + +“Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” + +It was grotesque and laughable. The grand old hymn refused its cadences +to this instrument of a tune-loving bourgeoise. It seemed to stand +aloof and unconquered. This is a hymn for the swelling notes of an +organ or for the great harmonies of a choir. It was not made to be +debased by association with this caterwauling wood and wire, this +sounding board for barbershop chords, this accomplice of sick lovers +leaning on village fences. Then there came a voice: + +“By gollies, brother, you’re getting it! I actually believe you’re +getting it, brother. We’ll have a swell meeting to-night.” + +I went down the steps into the Salvation Army man’s dugout. A large +soldier, cigarette depending from his lower lip, unshaven, tin hat +tipped on the back of his head, was picking away at the wires of the +mandolin with fingers that seemed as thick and yellow as ears of corn. +As I came in he stated profanely, that these dam’ things were not made +to pick out condemn’ hymn tunes on. The Salvation Army man encouraged +him: + +“You keep on, brother,” said he, “and we’ll have a fine meeting for the +Brigadier when he comes in to-night.” + +Taking His Chances. + +Another boy was sitting there, his head rather low. The mandolin player +indicated him with a jerk. “He got all roughed up last night,” said he. +“We found a bottle of some sweet stuff these Frogs left in the house +where we’re billeted. Tasted a good deal like syrup. But it sure put +Bull out.” + +Bull turned a pair of inflamed eyes on the musician. + +“You keep on a-talkin’, and I’ll hang somep’n on your eye,” said Bull, +hoarsely. + +Then he replaced his head in his hands. The Salvation Army man laughed +at the interlude and then returned to the player. + +“See,” said he, “it goes like this——” He hummed the wonderful old hymn. + +The floor of the dugout was covered with straw. The stairs which led to +it were wide, so that at certain hours the sun shone in and dried out +the walls. There were few slugs crawling slimily on the walls of the +Salvation Army’s place. Rats were there, of course, and bugs of sorts, +but few slugs. On the whole it was considered a good dugout, because of +these things. The roof was not a strong one, it seemed to me. A +77-shell would go through it like a knife through cheese. I said so to +the Salvation Army man. + +“Aw, brother,” said he. “We’ve got to take our chances along with the +rest.” + +At the foot of the stairs was a table on which were the few things the +Salvation Army man had to sell, up here under the guns. There were some +figs and a handful of black licorice drops and a few nuts. Boys kept +coming in and demanding cookies. Cookies there were none, but there was +hope ahead. If the Brigadier managed to get in to-night with the fliv, +there might be cookies. + +No Money, But Good Cheer. + +“Just our luck,” said some morose doughboy, “if a shell hit the fliv. +It’s a hell of a road——” + +“No shell has hit it yet, brother,” said the Salvation Army man, +cheerily. + +Fifteen dollars would have bought everything he had in stock. One could +have carried away the whole stock in the pockets of an army overcoat. +The Salvation Army has no money, you know. It is hard to buy supplies +for canteens over here, unless a pocket filled with money is doing the +buying. The Salvation Army must pick up its stuff where it can get it. +Yesterday there had been sardines and shaving soap and tin watches. +To-day there were only figs and licorice drops and nuts. + +“But if the Brigadier gets in,” said the Salvation Army man, “there +will be something sweet to eat. And we’ll have a little meeting of song +and praise, brother—just to thank God for the chance he has given us to +help.” + +Here there is no one else to serve the boys. Other organizations have +more money and more men, but for some reason they have not seen fit to +come to this which was once a town. Shells fall into it from six +directions all day and all night long. Now and then it is gassed. A few +kilometres away is the German line. One reaches town over a road which +is nightly torn to pieces by high explosives. No one comes here +voluntarily, and no one stays willingly—except the Salvation Army man. +He’s here for keeps. + +Men come down into his little dugout to play checkers and dominoes and +buy sweet things to eat. He is here to help them spiritually as well as +physically and they know it, and yet they do not hear him. He talks to +them just as they talk to each other, except that he does not swear and +he does not tell stories that have too much of a tang. He never +obtrudes his religion on them. Just once in a while—on the nights the +Brigadier gets in—there is a little song and praise meeting. They thank +God for the chance they have to help. + +That night the Brigadier got in with his cookies and chocolates and his +message that salvation is free. Perhaps a dozen men sat around +uncomfortably in the little dugout and listened to him. The man of the +mandolin had refused at the last moment. He said he would be dam’ if he +could play a hymn tune on that thing. But the old hymn quavered +cheerily out of the little dugout into the shell-torn night. The husky +voices of the Brigadier and the Ensign and Holy Joe carried it on, +while the little audience sat mute. + +While the nearer waters roll, +While the tempest still is high. + +Then there was a little prayer and a few straight, cordial words from +the Brigadier and then, somewhere in that perilous night outside, +“taps” sounded and the men were off to bed. They had no word of thanks +as they shook hands on parting. They did not speak to each other as +they picked their way along the path through the ruins. But when they +reached the street some one said very profanely and very earnestly: + +“I can lick any man’s son who says they ain’t all right.” + +“I have just received your letter of the 30th of July, and it has +cheered my heart to know you take an interest in a poor Belgian +prisoner of war. + +“Since I wrote to you last we have been changed to another camp; the +one we are now in is quite a nice camp, with lots of flowers, and we +are allowed more freedom, but it is very bad regarding food. We have so +very little to eat, it is a pity we can’t eat flowers! We rise up +hungry and go to bed hungry, and all day long we are trying to still +the craving for food. So you will understand the longing there is in +our hearts to once again be free—to be able to go to work and earn our +daily bread! But the one great comfort that I find is since I learned +to know Jesus as my Saviour and Friend I can better endure the trials +and even rejoice that I am called to suffer for His sake, and while +around me I see many who are in despair—some even cursing God for all +the misery in which we are surrounded, some trying to be brave, some +giving up altogether—yet to a number of us has come the Gospel message, +brought by the Salvation Army, and I am so glad that I, for one, +listened and surrendered my life to this Jesus! Now I have real peace, +and He walks with me and gives me grace to conquer the evil. + +“When I lived in Belgium I was very worldly and sinful—I lived for +pleasure and drink and sin. I did not then know of One who said, ’Come +unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you +rest.’ I did not know anything about living a Christian life, but now +it is all changed and I am so thankful! Salvation Army officers visit +us and bring words of cheer and blessing and comfort. You will be glad +to know that I have applied to our Commissioner to become a Salvation +Army officer when the war is over. I want to go to my poor little +stricken country and tell my people of this wonderful Saviour that can +save from all sin! + +“On behalf of my comrades and myself, I want to thank the American +nation for all they have done, and are still doing, for my people. May +God bless you all for it, and may He grant that before long there will +be peace on earth! + +“I remain, faithfully yours, + +“ Remy Meersman.” + +The “Stars and Stripes” Speaks from France for The Salvation Army. + +A copy of the “Stars and Stripes,” the official publication of the +American Expeditionary Forces published in Prance by the American +soldiers themselves, just received in Chicago, contains the following: + +“Perhaps in the old days when war and your home town seemed as far +apart as Paris, France, and Paris, Ill., you were a superior person who +used to snicker when you passed a street corner where a small Salvation +Army band was holding forth. Perhaps—Heaven forgive you—you even +sneered a little when you heard the bespectacled sister in the +poke-bonnet bang her tambourine and raise a shrill voice to the strains +of ’Oh death, where is thy sting-a-ling.’ Probably—unless you yourself +had known the bitterness of one who finds himself alone, hungry and +homeless in a big city—you did not know much about the Salvation Army. + +Well, we are all homeless over here and every American soldier will +take back with him a new affection and a new respect for the Salvation +Army. Many will carry with them the memories of a cheering word and a +friendly cruller received in one of the huts nearest of all to the +trenches. There the old slogan of ‘Soup and Salvation’ has given way to +‘Pies and Piety.’ It might be ‘Doughnuts and Doughboys.’ These huts +pitched within the shock of the German guns, are ramshackle and bare +and few, for no organization can grow rich on the pennies and nickels +that are tossed into the tambourines at the street-corners of the +world. But they are doing a work that the soldiers themselves will +never forget, and it is an especial pleasure to say so here, because +the Salvation Army, being much too simple and old-fashioned to know the +uses of advertisement, have never asked us to. You, however, can +testify for them. Perhaps you do in your letters home. And surely when +you are back there and you pass once more a ‘meeting’ at the curb, you +will not snicker. You will tarry awhile—and take off your hat.” + +We have received a letter from Mr. Lewis Strauss, Secretary to Mr. +Herbert Hoover, who has just returned from France, and he says that Mr. +Hoover’s time while in Europe was spent almost wholly in London and +Paris, and that he had no opportunity for observing our War Relief Work +at the front. The concluding paragraph of the letter, however, is as +follows: + +“Mr. Hoover has frequently heard the most complimentary reports of the +invaluable work which your organization is performing in invariably the +most perilous localities, and he is filled with admiration for those +who are conducting it at the front.” + +The Chicago Tribune (May 17, 1918), Quoting from the Above, also Speaks +Editorially. + +The acid test of any service done for our soldiers in France is the +value the men themselves place upon it. No matter how excellent our +intentions, we cannot be satisfied with the result if the soldiers are +not satisfied. Without suggesting any invidious distinctions among +organizations that are working at the front, it is nevertheless a +pleasure to record that the Salvation Army stands very high in the +regard of American soldiers. + +The evidence of the Salvation Army’s excellent work comes from many +sources. + + + + +Appendix. + + +A Few Facts about the Salvation Army + +It has been truly said that within four days after the German Army +entered Belgium, another Army entered also—the Salvation Army! One came +to destroy, the other to relieve distress and minister to the wounded +and dying. + +The British Salvation Army furnished a number of Red Cross Ambulances, +manned by Salvationists when the Red Cross was in great need of such. +When these arrived in France and people first saw the big cars with the +“Salvation Army” label it attracted a good deal of attention. The +drivers wore the Red Cross uniform, and were under its military rules, +but wore on their caps the red band with the words, “Salvation Army.” + +There is a story of a young officer in sportive mood who left a group +of his companions and stepped out into the street to stop one of these +ambulances: + +“Hello! Salvation Army!” he cried. “Are you taking those men to +heaven?” + +Amid the derisive laughter of the officers on the sidewalk the +Salvationist replied pleasantly: + +“I cannot say I am taking them to heaven, but I certainly am taking +them away from the other place.” + +One of the good British Salvationists wrote of meeting our American +boys in England. He said: + +“Oh, these American soldiers! One meets them in twos and threes, all +over the city, everlastingly asking questions, by word of mouth and by +wide-open trustful eyes, and they make a bee-line for the Salvation +Army uniform on sight. I passed a company of them on the march across +London, from one railroad station to another, the other, day. They were +obviously interested in the sights of the city streets as they passed +through at noon, but as they drew nearer one of the boys caught sight +of the red band around my cap among the hate crowning the sidewalk +crowd. My! but that one man’s interest swept over the hundred odd men! +Like the flame of a prairie fire, it went with a zip! They all knew at +once! They had no eyes for the crowd any more; they did not stare at +the façade of the railway terminus which they were passing; they saw +nothing of the famous ‘London Stone’ set in the wall behind its grid on +their right hand. What they saw was a Salvation Army man in all his +familiar war-paint, and it was a sight for sore eyes! Here was +something they could understand! This was an American institution, a +tried, proved and necessary part of the life of any community. All this +and much more those wide-open eyes told me. It was as good to them as +if I was stuck all over with stars and stripes. I belonged—that’s +it—belonged to them, and so they took off the veil and showed their +hearts and smiled their good glad greeting. + +“So I smiled and that first file of four beamed seraphic. Two at least +were of Scandinavian stock, but how should that make any difference? +Again and again I noticed their counterpart in the column which +followed.... It was all the same; file upon file those faces spread out +in eager particular greeting; those eyes, one and all, sought mine +expecting the smile I so gladly gave. And then when the last was past +and I gazed upon their swaying forms from the rear I wondered why my +eyes were moist and something had gone wrong with my swallowing +apparatus. Great boys! Bonny boys!” + +The Salvation Army was founded July 5, 1865, as a Christian Mission in +East London by the Reverend William Booth, and its first Headquarters +opened in Whitechapel Road, London. Three years later work was begun in +Scotland. + +In 1877 the name of the Christian Mission was altered to the Salvation +Army, and the Reverend William Booth assumed the title of General. + +December 29, 1879, the first number of the official organ, “The War +Cry,” was issued and the first brass band formed at Consett. + +In 1880 the first Training School was opened at Hackney, London, and +the first contingent of the Salvation Army officers landed in the +United States. The next year the Salvation Army entered Australia, and +was extended to France. 1882 saw Switzerland, Sweden, India and Canada +receiving their first contingent of Salvation Army officers. A London +Orphan Asylum was acquired and converted into Congress Hall, which, +with its large Auditorium, with a seating capacity of five thousand, +still remains the Mammoth International Training School for Salvation +Army officers, for missionary and home fields all over the world. The +first Prison-Gate Home was opened in London in this same year. + +The Army commenced in South Africa, New Zealand and Iceland in 1883. + +In 1886 work was begun in Germany and the late General visited France, +the United States and Canada. The First International Congress was held +in London in that year. + +The British Slum work was inaugurated in 1887, and Officers sent to +Italy, Holland, Denmark, Zululand, and among the Kaffirs and +Hottentots. The next year the Army extended to Norway, Argentine +Republic, Finland and Belgium, and the next ten years saw work extended +in succession to Uruguay, West Indies, Java, Japan, British Guiana, +Panama and Korea, and work commenced among the Lepers. + +The growing confidence of the great of the earth was manifested by the +honors that were conferred upon General Booth from time to time. In +1898 he opened the American Senate with prayer. In 1904 King Edward +received him at Buckingham Palace, the freedom of the City of London +and the City of Kirkcaldy were conferred upon him, as well as the +degree of D. C. L. by Oxford, during 1905. The Kings of Denmark, +Norway, the Queen of Sweden, and the Emperor of Japan were among those +who received him in private audience. + +On August 20, 1912, General William Booth laid down his sword. + +He lay in state in Congress Hall, London, where the number of visitors +who looked upon his remains ran into the hundreds of thousands. + +His son, William Bramwell Booth, the Chief of the Staff, by the +appointment of the late General, succeeded to the office and came to +the position with a wealth of affection and confidence on the part of +the people of the nations such as few men know. + +Salvation Army War Activities. + +77 Motor ambulances manned by Salvationists. + +87 Hotels for use of Soldiers and Sailors. + +107 Buildings in United States placed at disposal of Government for war +relief purposes. + +199 Huts at Soldiers’ Camps used for religious and social gatherings +and for dispensing comfort to Soldiers and Sailors. + +300 Rest-rooms equipped with papers, magazines, books, _etc_., in +charge of Salvation Army Officers. + +1507 Salvation Army officers devote their entire time to religious and +social work among Soldiers and Sailors. + +15,000 Beds in hotels close to railway stations and landing points at +seaport cities for protection of Soldiers and Sailors going to and from +the Front. + +80,000 Salvation Army officers fighting with Allied Armies. + +100,000 Parcels of food and clothing distributed among Soldiers and +Sailors. + +100,000 Wounded Soldiers taken from battlefields in Salvation Army +ambulances. + +300,000 Soldiers and Sailors daily attend Salvation Army buildings. + +$2,000,000 Already spent in war activities. + +45 Chaplains serving under Government appointment. + +40 Camps, Forts and Navy Yards at which Salvation Army services are +conducted or which are visited by Salvation Army officers. + +2184 War Widows assisted (legal and other aid, and visited). + +2404 Soldiers’ wives cared for (including medical help). + +442 War children under our care. + +3378 Soldiers’ remittances forwarded (without charge). + +$196,081.05 Amount remitted. + +600 Parcels supplied Prisoners of War. + +1300 Cables sent for Soldiers. + +275 Officers detailed to assist Soldiers’ wives and relatives; number +assisted, 275. + +40 Military hospitals visited. + +360 Persons visiting hospitals. + +147 Boats met. + +324,052 Men on board, + +35,845 Telegrams sent. + +24 Salvationists detailed for this work. + +20 Salvationists detailed for this work outside of New York City. + +Salvation Army Work in United States of America. + +1218 Buildings in use at present. + +2953 Missing friends found. + +6125 Tons of ice distributed. + +12,000 Officers and non-commissioned officers actively employed. + +11,650 Accommodations in institutions. + +68,000 Children cared for in Rescue Homes and Slum Settlements. + +22,161 Women and girls cared for in Rescue Homes. + +30,401 Tons of coal distributed. + +175,764 Men cared for in Industrial Homes. + +342,639 Poor families visited. + +399,418 Outings given poor people. + +668,250 Converted to Christian life. + +984,426 Jobs found for unemployed poor. + +1,535,840 Hours spent in active service in slum districts. + +6,900,995 Poor people given temporary relief. + +40,522,990 Nights’ shelter and beds given to needy poor. + +52,674,308 Meals supplied to needy poor. Constituency reached with +appeal for Christian citizenship. + +132,608,087 Out-door meeting attendance. + +134,412,564 In-door meeting attendance. + +National War Board. + +Commander Evangeline C. Booth, President. + +East. +Peart, Col. William, Chairman. +Reinhardsen, Col. Gustave S., Sec’y and Treas. +Damon, Col. Alexander M., +Parker, Col. Edward J., +Jenkins, Lt.-Col. Walter F., +Stanyon, Lt.-Col. Thomas, +Welte, Brigadier Charles + +West +Estill, Commissioner Thos., Chairman +Gauntlett, Col. Sidney, +Brewer, Lt.-Col. Arthur T., +Eynn, Lt.-Col. John T., +Dart, Brigadier Wm. J., Sec’y. + +France. +Barker, Lt.-Col. William S., Director of War Work. + +As indicated in the above list, the National War Board functions in two +distinct territories—East and West—the duty of each being to administer +all War Work in the respective territories. The closest supervision is +given by each War Board over all expenditure of money and no scheme is +sanctioned until the judgment of the Board is carried concerning the +usefulness of the project and the sound financial proposals associated +therewith. After any plan is initiated, the Board is still responsible +for the supervision of the work, and for the Eastern department Colonel +Edward J. Parker is the Board’s representative in all such matters and +Lieut-Colonel Arthur T. Brewer fills a similar office in the Western +department. Each section of the National Board takes responsibility in +connection with the overseas work, under the presidency of Commander +Evangeline C. Booth for the raising, equipping and sending of +thoroughly suitable people in proper proportion. Joint councils are +occasionally necessary, when it is customary for proper representatives +of each section of the Board to meet together. + +The National Board is greatly strengthened through the adding to its +special councils all of the Provincial Officers of the country. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of he War Romance of the Salvation Army, by Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR ROMANCE OF SALVATION ARMY *** + +***** This file should be named 7811-0.txt or 7811-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/8/1/7811/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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