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PRE
F
A CE
TH ES E impress ion s con tr ibuted origi
nall y to the Boston Evening Tr a nscr ipt
are here reprinted in r espon se to m any
requests an d to prov i de the wr iter
with a r ecor d of an absorb ing sum
mer No o n e is m o r e a war e th an he
of their s l ightn ess fro m the po in t of
v iew of the extraordinary % e t pos
s ib ly beca use they descr ibe for the
most p art everyd ay an d u nsp e ct a cu
l ar con diti on s the s e n otes m ay help
Am eri can r ea ders to co mprehen d the
u nity an d to r eal i ze the her oi c tem
per of two peop l es W hose c ause a l
though they h ave avoi ded its burden
i s essentiall y their own
RO B ER T G R A % T
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
BO S TO %
,
O cto ber 9 , 1 9 16
TH E I R
S
PI R I T
I
HA VING a son an d gr an dchi ldren tem
l
l
i
v
i
n
g
in
E
gl
a
d
I
d
i
d
n
ot
r
i
ra
o
n
n
p
y
n eed to s eek a re ason for le aving A m er
i c a thi s summ er I w as gl ad however
o i an excuse for gettin g a s n e ar a s pos
sible to the most terrific thing th at h as
ever h appen ed and h ad little p ati en ce
wi th the well intenti on ed murm urs of
c auti ous souls who asked i f I w as n ot
afr ai d of flo atin g mines In thi s d a y
when in dividu al l ife seem s to coun t for
n ext to n othin g w i th the rest of t he
“
world the fe ar of being a long time
dead con tin ues t o p alsy u nim a g in a
tive Ameri c an s Yet on e took b arely
,
,
.
,
'
“
,
—
.
,
.
[l l
,
THEIR SPIRIT
a sporting ch an ce in crossing the A t
l an ti c thi s % ul y A l though as we e n
t e re d the w ar z o n e f o u r good ship the
% e w Am sterd am h ad her l ife r afts
r e ady her bo ats cl e ared for lowering
i dentifying fl ags for e and aft an d el ec
tri c l etter ing on her s i des the ch arm
of the r adian t hori zon an d summer
se a eclipsed all sen se of peril during
our appro ach to Falm outh The pas
some Americ an s a ple nt i
s e n g e rs
ful sp rinkling of Dutch a number of
C anadian s (chi efly wi ves going out
to m eet their husb an ds on leave fr om
the fron t ) several young wom en o n
their w ay to R ed Cross Hosp it al s
must surely h ave l ost n o sl eep on th at
l ast night Among the few E ngli sh
men o u bo ard w as on e of forty-two
just beyon d t h e age lim i t who h av
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2
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,
THEIR SPIRIT
in g spen t over twen ty ye ars in T exas
w as going out to enlist
Our p asspor ts h ad been se a rchingly
scrutinized m ore th an on ce on the p ier
at % e w York Th e arri val of a fil e of
soldi ers as soon a s we dr opped an chor
w as our first in tim ation th at we were
in a country at war Th e sheep in the
form of the p assengers for R otterd am
were sep arated from the go ats and
herded in the second cl ass qu arters
while those expecting to l an d assem
bled a t 8 A M in the s aloo n at the
door o f wh ich s t ood armed sentin el s
b arring egress If on e left the room
before ex amination it must be in the
custod y of a m an in kh aki who n ever
rel axed vigil an ce
As our names were c alled we ap
r
o
c
h
a
e
a
t
a
ble
to
r
the
g
a
tlet
d
u
n
n
p
,
.
.
,
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,
~
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,
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[3 ]
THEIR SPIRIT
of
a mili t ary o fli Ce r a nd sever al lynx
eyed in spectors who in quired our re a
son s for visi ting E ngl an d an d put
other se arching questi on s while study
ing our credentials Behin d them s at
a burly looking wom an in pl ain clothes
whose functi on w as to le ad aw ay an d
se arch any fem ale p assenger under sus
.
i
c
i
n
o
p
.
Few h ad dif ficulty in justifyi ng their
“
desire to l and
You here ag ain %
You ve lost fi ve pounds in weight
since six mon ths ago cried the li eu
tenant a t the t able quick as a fl ash
by w ay of identific ati on to a ship a c
u
ain
t
an
ce
of
m
in
e
T
hough
eve
r
y
o
n
e
q
in aut hority w a s per fectl y ci vil the
process was necess arily slow We di d
n ot le ave the ship in the tender u ntil
after th ree o clock an d i t wa s s ix b e
.
’
%
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[4 ]
THEIR SPI R IT
fore the tr ain for Lon don st arted
Falmouth itself looked at pe ace wi th
all the world an d a s we gazed out of
the win dows at the lovely l andsc ape
gli stening with the p romi se of a ri ch
h arvest on e would n ever h ave guessed
the stupen dous truth but for the omi
n ous text in the railw ay c arri age
which m eets the eye wherever on e
tr avels %
.
,
,
,
F F
W A R % I% G % % E E% C E O
THE R EA L M
—
pub lic o f n a va l a nd m ili
ta ry m a tte rs m a y c o nve y info rm a t io n to
Be on yo ur g u a rd
t h e e ne m y
% iscussio n in
.
.
As t he twilight deepen ed the gu ard
pull ed down the sh ades of our com
r
m
e
n
a
t
t
w
i
th
a
r
esolute
a
i
r
We
d
i
d
p
n ot re ach Paddington until p ast mi d
night but before we could obt ain
.
,
[5 ]
THEIR SPIRIT
room s in the ad j acent hotel i t was o b
lig atory to fill in the bl anks thrust a t
us from the office wi th an swers to ques
tion s con cerning our identity an d thi s
i s required of every on e
Provi ded the tr avell er i s c areful to
keep the curt ain s d r awn while the
lights are li t an d to vis it the n e ar es t
poli ce st ati on promptl y after p assing
the night there are n o restri ction s on
coming or going in the z on e of unforb id
den p l aces
th at i s to s ay virtu ally
an ywhere in E ngl and except cert ain
p arts o f the se aco ast an d the vi cinity
of c amps or muni t i on pl an ts An al ien
m ay even h ave access to these if
vouched for and possessed of an i den
tity book obt ainable at the pol ice
st ation for a shilling after setting forth
hi s pedigree and p roducing two photo
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6
l
THEIR SPIRIT
gr aphs My wife an d I e ach procured
on e from a very bro ad shoul dered an d
very civil pol ice serge an t at Oxted
Surrey ten m in utes by train from
the little town of L ing fie ld where we
m ade our he adqu arter s Ther e i s a
munition pl an t at Oxted an d from
our top win dows we could re ad ily see
the se archlights probing the sky at
d
night We a ded an other ch alk mark
to the lon g t ally of G erm an f alsehoods
after re a ding in a desp atch fr om Berl in
publi shed during our st ay th at O x
ted h ad been r aided by % eppelin s an d
the m uni tion pl an t wrecked O ver
the lovely E ngli sh g arden where we
s at or g athered roses during the l ate
del ightful we ather of thi s Aug ust
aeropl an es on their way to or from
Fran ce p assed con st an tly with a res
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[7 ]
THEIR SPIRIT
whirr audible at a gre at height
but n ever a % eppelin showed itself
though we were hopefully on the
w atch for on e
Living in the country at an e asy di s
t an ce from Lon don we frequentl y
wen t to town though restri ction s on
the use of petr ol
a lim it of about
eight g all on s a month to the everyd ay
con sumer after A ugust first
m a de
us husb and our resources an d tr ave l
by tr ain There is a scarcity of n oth
ing else in E ngl and
n ot even pet
rol accord ing to those who kn ow the
b an reg arding it being inten d e d as a
s alut ary check o n week e nd an d o y
riding extr avagan ce
H ousekeep ing
b ill s h ave gon e up about sixty per cent
an d peopl e ar e li ving s imply ; but at
the hotel s an d rest aur ants there was
o n a nt
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[8 ]
THEIR SPIRIT
n o ch ange in the viand s an d n ot much
in the pri ces over former ye ars Th e
p lutocr atic Ameri can co n ti ngent h a d
dwindled to a rump to be sure and
quiet reigned at i ts favorite hostel
ries ; but el sewhere there wa s a f air
attend ance of p atron s h alf of whom
were men in kh aki Lon don w a s l ively
on the sur f ace
especiall y sin ce the
good n ews from the S om m e
despite
those tr agi c lists in the morning n ews
p apers It seemed as though the deter
m ination of an aroused Engl and to
win the w ar an d thorough confid ence
in i ts abil ity to d o so in the end were
in sp iring every on e to cl o ak his or her
in d ividu al grief A friend tol d me of
p ass ing the week en d at a coun try house
wher e every wom an pres en t h a d l ost
her only son ; yet n ever a word was s aid
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[9 ]
THEIR SPIRIT
.
Accustomed as I h ad become dur
“
ing the l ast ye ar to the formul a I s
n t Fr an ce sup erb % But E ngl an d h a s
m ade a mess of things W h y d oes n t
she w ake up % t here was n oth ing but
ch eer in wh at was seen a nd ihe ard I
gle an ed spiritu al ch asti s ement also for
my fri en ds at home if not for myself
from the words of an intelligent E ng
“
lish w o m a n at lun cheon % You Amer
ic a n s ought to h ave re ali zed when
you thr ew up your h an d s a nd t alked
of G allipoli and the rest th at we are
just like yourselves
an other d e m oc
r acy only we h appen to h ave a % in g
in ste ad of a Presi den t Besi des we
are much slower th an you But look
at Engl an d n ow
,
’
’
.
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%
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II
N% O N i s teeming with soldi ers
E ngl an d also for the m atter of th at
We me t them by the score whereve r we
journ eyed
Rochester C irenceste r
B ath or Liverpool They ski rted the
ro ads in const an t process ion at week
ends sometimes in l ittl e gr oups each
Tommy swinging bri skly a short stick ;
som etimes with sweethea rts or f ami
li es as we rode to Ashdown Forest for
golf ; an d ag ain as I wh irled to war d
Br am shot on a simil ar err an d I passed
wh at seem ed a mile of recruits in proc
ess o f b e ing di sciplin ed for w ar in the
l
re
a
t
c
a
m
p
a
t
Fa
r
n
borough
t
i
t
i
n
g
a
t
g
d umm ies wi th the b ayo n et an d bein g
m ade f am ili ar with tren ches and wire
L
O
.
.
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I 11 l
THEIR SPIRIT
en t anglement They ar e in eviden ce
everywhere but in London on e meets
them at almost every step vigorous
he althy-looking fellows for the most
p art an d invariably in the best of sp ir
its b e they veter an s on le ave from the
fron t or conv al escents from the hosp i
t al s in their blue or grey su its (which so
m an y Ameri c an wome n h ave m ade )
a n d their r ed ti es or men fr om the v ari
ous en c ampmen ts waiting their turn to
be s en t to Fr an ce When I was here two
ye ars ago I thought th at som e of the
troops looked un dersi zed a nd puny ;
but of the thous an ds I r an across thi s
summ er in the streets r ail way st a
tions r est aurants a nd
hut s
in Lon don I r ec all only on e b att al ion
th at d id n ot appe ar rugged During
the six weeks I w as in E ngl and I s aw
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I 1% l
THEIR SPIRIT
on ly on e soldi er who s e em ed und er the
influen ce of l i quor
As for the Austr al ians they were
a delight to t h e eye % t all str app ing
bro ad shouldered ch aps with in gen u
They com e
o u s g ood natured f a ces
up to Lond on o n le ave from Sal i s
bury Pl ain in l arg e det achments an d
they h appened to be swarming every
where especiall y in the n eighborhood
of the S tr an d o n v ari ous d ays when
I w a s in town S ome of them we ar
fe athers at o n e s id e of the ir slouch
h ats whi ch prov i des a qu as i d A r
t a g n a n eff ect When I i n qu ir ed why
they wer e thus adorn ed of a wound ed
Austr al ian just from Pozier es th irty
hours from the b attle front to the
“
hosp it al he an swered gayly
F or
swank I guess
But I beli eve they
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13
THEIR SPIRIT
in the c ase of the Coloni als G a ad a
“
Austr al ia etc in full ; in th at of
the E ngl i sh app ropriate lettering to
in di c ate their sever al regiments An
officer c an be told at a gl an ce by the
s tr ap whi ch crosses from hi s shoulder
to hi s bel t wi thout studying the st ars
or cr own upon the cuff of hi s sl eeve
in di c ati ve of hi s r ank The flying corps
m e n whether officers or pri v ates are
kn own at on ce by the S cotch c ap s
of kh aki worn on the si de of the he ad
Ever y p ilot i s an o fficer d i stingu ish
able by the two spre a d wings e m b ro id
ered on the bre ast of hi s uniform
A young Americ an to whom the
Milit ary C ross h as been awarded for
g all antry in fighting above the cloud s
took me across Engl and to o ne of the
l argest aerodromes where I s aw the
%
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%
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15
l
THEIR SPIRIT
l atest type of w ar m achin es being
tested % Whil e I stood in fron t of the
lin es of sheds o n the w i de p l ate au a
b ip l an e str aight from active service in
Fr an ce c ame c ircling do w n a nd d e
s cend e d at our feet Th e huge d r agon
fly t arni shed by sm oke and gre ase but
int act h ad m ad e the %ourney in two
hours an d a h alf Th is l atest type c ar
ri es o nl y a p ilot ; the observer i s d i s
n
T
h
w
i
th
gu
n
i
s
st
a
t
i
o
na
ry
e
s
e
e
d
p
hugging t h e left si de a Vick a rs
Maxim wi th a m ag az in e of two hun
d r ed a nd fifty ch arges but so ad apted
th at the propeller c ann ot be struck by
the di sch arge Aim i s controll ed by
pointing the m ach ine n ot the gun
The bombs ar e c arri ed u n dern e ath
det ach able by a spring Th e m achin es
are n ot armored b u t they will st an d
,
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16
l
THEIR SPIRIT
some peppering Th e most vuln er able
p art i s the petrol t ank just for w ard
of where the p ilot s its The p i er cing of
the wings i s n ot a seri ous m atter ; but
if the propell er be sh atter ed on e
m ight descend in s afety but woul d
n ot be likely to esc ape In w ar f are
the aviator i s sen t up for an hour o r
two at a tim e The fightin g ordinarily
t akes pl ace a bove the cl ouds where
there i s n o win d an d e ach oppon en t
tri es to pot or wing hi s advers ary from
above
.
.
,
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,
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.
The on ly external s ign of w ar b e
s ides the ub i quitous individu al sold i er
i s the wom an bus cond uctor with her
s i ster who collects tickets an d m akes
herself gener all y useful at the r ailway
st ati on s As an E ngl ishm an u ng ru dg
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THEIR SPIRIT
E ngl an d i s being ru n by
a nd ru n rem ark ab l y wel l
fl a ppe rs
Certainly these fl e d g ling s of whose
ste ad in ess tradi ti on offered mournful
p ropheci es h ave turn ed the t ables on
the pessimi sts Nor should their s ati s
f action in their n ew e arning power
the ir rum ored ten den cy to squ an der
their revenues on wrist w atches an d
other luxuri es n or in deed the p roblem
a s to wh at i s to become of all the w o
m e n wo rkers after the w ar obscure
the p atri oti c z e al th at m akes them
f aithful and efficient in the national
em ergen cy T o win on e s spur s on the
jolting pl atform of a bus with con
st an t trips to the r oof for f ares re
quires cooln ess agility and ple as ant
m ann ers all of whi ch wer e d ispl ayed
by these girl conductors attired n ot
ing ly put
it
“
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I 18 l
THEIR
S PIRIT
unbecom ingl y in d ark blue costumes
i
n
ofte
n
b
r
o
w
n
holl
an
d
summer ) an d
(
l ong l eggings The fem ale rail w ay
official s in thei r cl ose fit t ing short un i
form and V l so re d c aps und er wh ich
the ir b ack h air i s n e atly rolled up
h ave a p i qu ant mil it ary air
I mention these bec ause they are
al ways in evi dence They are but
sym bol s however of the tre mendous
activity bel ow the surfa ce which e s
c apes the c as u al eye a nd mu s t be
seen in order to be re ali zed pri v ates
in the gre at army of wom ankin d wh ich
h as thrown its elf into the servi ce of
the country to fill it h e countl ess g aps
o cc as i on e d by the wi thdra wal of
men from bre ad winning
“
an d to m an the innum erabl e n ew
in dustries whe reby t h e citiz en army
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%
I 19 l
THEIR SPIRIT
i s suppli ed with ordnan ce fed suc
cored snatched from the j aws of de ath
an d reh abi lit ated by m inistr ati on s
volun t ary when ever the in divid u al
c an afford i t an d cons tan tly when
he or sh e c ann ot
throughout the
% ni ted % ingdom
Som e o ne s ai d publi cl y while I
was in E ngl and th at th i s i s a youn g
m an s war Th at i s true if we reckon
sim p ly tho s e engaged in killing But
the fig hters at home whose labors
are essential to s ucces s in clude n ot
merely young wom en but the mid
dl e aged of both s exes a nd scores
of superannu ated m e n who devote
long hours to thi s or th at requ i s i te
n eed in the scheme of alm ost u ni
vers al s ervi ce My W i fe a nd I vis ite d
numer ous shops an d room s where thi s
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THEIR SPIRIT
volunt ary work was bein g c arried on
an d foun d all anim ated with the s am e
en ergeti c ste adf ast and in d ef atigabl e
sp irit We s aw el derl y m en pa in st a k
ing ly ab s orbed in t he ni ce work of c o n
s t r u c t in g ar tific ial legs an d cr utches
whi le in the adjoining room a group of
women wer e m aki n g spl ints an d so
deftly th at it was in sp iring to watch
“
them
I w as a wood c ar ver befor e
“
the w ar o n e of them s aid an d all
of u s in th i s room were arti sts of on e
so r t or an other who w anted to help
A n d so i t goes
Spe aking of legs I am rem in ded
th at o n the way b ack from Fr an ce
th ree weeks l ater I stru ck up an
acqu aint an ce wi th a n English officer
who pointed down w ards and s ai d
“
Th at s an A m eri c an leg a nd it s a
,
,
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,
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l 91 l
THEIR SPIRIT
c an Clearing House who h a s th i s ch ar
i ty at he art th at the Fren ch G overn
ment provide s the m ut ilated with
either a s tump or a very he avy leg cost
in g two hu ndred fr an cs (forty doll ar s ) ;
but only with the applian ces n o
mo n ey The Ameri c an arti cul ated le g
costs full y on e hun dr ed doll ar s an d
the be s t arms ar e p r oporti onately ex
pen s ive
the admir able C arn e s arm
co s ting about two hun dred doll ars
Th e m oral ded uced by my inform an t
from thi s wa s th at for the ordinary
mech ani c an d f armer a stump i s pra c
ti c all y as servi ce able a s the arti cul ated
leg for the re as on th at hi s e arnin gs
would n ot suffice to keep it in rep air ;
but to the m a n of su peri or employ
men t a good arti cul ated leg i s in di s
p e n s able The dem an d for lim b s
,
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,
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l
23
l
THEIR SPIRIT
for arm s even more th an for legs
f ar exceeds the supp l y The pol icy
purs ued by tho s e m anaging this Splen
d id ch arity h as been to ask a p artial
p aymen t from the recip i ent s
a hun
dred fr an c s s ay from e ach ind ivid u al
an d I was tol d th at in every in
st an ce but on e the sufferer h ad been
e ager to con tribute
Whil e m aking the s e in quiri e s I w as
t aken to the Ecole R achel just outsi de
the g ate s of Pari s on e of the shop s of
the Association Na t io n a le des Mutilé s
de l a Guerre wher e som e sixty men
wer e being t aught self supportin g
trade s bes t ad apted to their in di vidu al
In%ur i es
l e arning to be mech an ic s
shoem akers jewell er s des ign er s an d
the l ike It w a s a very p atheti c an d
inter esting s ight The gre ater n umber
.
,
,
.
,
,
f
,
,
,
,
.
I 24 l
,
THE IR SPIRIT
l acked either a leg or an a rm On e
m an who w as at work o n som e c as t
ings t he a djustmen t of wh i ch required
preci si on h ad lost m os t of on e s i de
An other m in us hi s l eft leg an d hi s
l eft fore arm w a s dra ughting from
mech ani c al desi gn s H e s aid he wa s
a farmer with a t as te for in venti on
and tinkerin g an d th at he wa s try
ing t o inform h imsel f in order to be
able t o m anage somehow l ater H e
was so cheer ful and optimi s ti c th a t
hi s c onfiden ce w a s cont agi ous though
the fellow Bos tonian who wa s m y
comp ani on an d I h ad te ars in o u r
eyes ; but our gu ide c areful ly took
d own hi s name with the ev i dent int e n
ti on of keep ing him in mind
.
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
III
wa s of E ngl an d however th at I
w a s writin g I h ave d igressed to Pari s
only for a mom en t a s I sh all t ake you
across the Ch ann el l ater But wh at
e ver i s true o f the dete rm inati o n an d
the ardor of the workers in either coun
try i s equ ally t rue of the other I h ap
pen ed to be in E ngl an d when the w ar
broke o u t and I remember s aying in
those e arly weeks th at E ngl and w a s
in a de ath gr apple with G erm any for
the econo mi c suprem acy of the world
and seemed to h ave n o con cepti on of
it S uch were the sur f ace ind i c ation s
Yet after all i s s aid an d h e r later m u d
d ling i s admi tted i t i s p a ten t no w th at
from the v ery first there w as a group of
IT
,
,
.
,
.
.
.
.
,
l 936 l
THEIR SPIRIT
n oi seless men behin d the scen es who
re al iz ed the m agnitude of the effort
n ecess ary who took the b it of tireles s
en de avor between their teeth and who
hol d it still How otherwi se a re we
to accoun t for her con diti on to d ay %
E ngl and i s W Id e -awake an d on the
ful l ti de of her effici en cy R eferrin g
t o th is an E ngli sh fri en d n ot p ron e t o
overpr aise rem arked to me with feel
ing th at after the w ar some o n e ought
to receive h igh h on ors for the effect ive
n ess of the tr an sport ati on system I t
i s cert ainly a m arvell ous on e th at h a s
been able to c arry to Fr an ce without
interrupti on s or the loss so f ar a s we
kn ow of a singl e l ife such a contin u
ou s stre am of tr oops muniti on s an d
“
supp l i es Writing in the P etit % our
nal of A ugust 4 the sec ond a nniv e r
,
.
—
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
%
,
27
,
THEIR SPIRIT
s ary of E ngl and s en tr an ce into th e
w ar M Pi chon truly i f m agna ni mous
“
ly decl ared % Let n o Fren chm an de
Even t s
c e iv e h im sel f o n th i s m atter
h ave proved th at if the s truggle h ad
been loc al i zed between Fr an ce and
R uss ia on the on e h an d an d G erm any
and her alli e s on the other a G erm an
victory would h av e been the c o nse
I
t
i
s
useless
t
o
cher
i
sh
ph
an
u
e
n
ce
q
t asms The f acts are there Without
G re at Brit ain our p orts were pra ct i
c ally at the mercy of the en emy an d
our overse a communic ation s pra c t i
c ally cut off
’
.
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
%
.
To o m an y det ails spoil the pe rspe c
tive of an im pre ssm nl st p i cture but a
few ar e essential for real ity O n e of
the t ouching s ights in E nglan d
the
,
.
28
THEIR SPIR IT
str aws which reve al the we alth of feel
ing ben e ath a br ave surf ace
i s the
roll of hon or in every r ailw ay st ati on
an d in the porch of every church a l i s t
of the employees o r p arishi on ers at the
front often with the names of those
n ever to r eturn st arred with a l ittle fl ag
I s aw th i s ag ain in the hotel s of P ari s
I rec al l a Sun d ay vespers servi ce in
the old p ari s h church with the be au
tiful tower an d flying b u ttre ss e s at
an ci en t an d R om an C iren cester (wh i ch
some pr on oun ce C ic e t e r ) All pres
en t were women an d el derly m en ;
a n d a s I l i s te n e d to the in terce s sory
pr ayers te nd erly in ton e d by the rector
I co uld n ot but feel th at the s olemn
p auses throb bed with the univers al
he art ache of E n gl an d m askin g even
in G o d s pre sen ce a s fortitu d e
,
,
.
.
.
,
,
’
.
l
THEIR SPIRIT
woun d ed ar e c ared for n e at light
an d airy for the mo s t p art with a
s ingle row of beds al ong e ach s ide
We vi sited v ari ous hosp it als Th e
on e we s aw at B ath w as subst an tially
like those in Lon d on or i ts n eighbor
hood On e met alw ays the s ame cheer
fuln ess among the p ati en ts the s ame
un selfish devoti on on the p art of th e
atten d an ts Amon g the few gl addeni ng
s ights in thi s p an or am a of determin a
ti on i s the p ass age of the huge aut o
mob iles be arin g lo ads of c on v alescents
on s an cti one d joy rides in the ir blue
b l ouses a n
d re d ti es
i
th
r
a
d
ian
t
f
a
ces
w
riv alling boys let loose from sch o ol A n
acqu ain t an ce e ager to p l ay the lady
boun tiful told m e she aske d a woun ded
s ol di er to ch o o s e wh at he woul d h ave
a nd h i s first an d on ly ch o i ce w a s a
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
THEIR SPIRIT
m outhpiece of the jew s h arp v ariety
which sh e finally obt ain ed in Pari s for
there were n on e l eft in Lon d on In the
very gr ateful letter whi ch she received
in ackn owl edgm en t he l ai d stress on
the ple asure whi ch hi s gift h ad given
to ev ery o ne in the w ard S uch are the
s imple t a stes of Tommy Atkin s in the
mid s t of proffered l uxury
An in ci dent vouched for at a Lon don
l un cheon t able illus tr ate s hi s re adin e s s
an d hi s s anity During the height of
the r ecruitin g c amp aign a Salv ati on
Army pre acher envi ous perh aps of the
emph asi s l aid on the gl orie s of tren ch
w arf are en de avored to electrify the
“
% h aki
crowd by the apostrophe
kh aki kh aki
I see n oth ing el se
wher ever I turn But let me remin d
you my frien ds th at I belon g to a
’
—
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
l 32 l
,
THEIR SPIRIT
gre ater army th an any of which you
the arm y of He aven As
c a n bo a st
he p au s ed to l et hi s word s po s sess hi s
audi en ce he w a s met by the retort
“
Is th at so m an % Then you re a h l
of a lon g way from your b arr acks %
%
.
,
’
—
,
%
We di d n ot le ave B ath without stop
%
l
n
a
t
the
C
ana
d
ian
i
s
ch
a
rge
H
os
g
p
p i t al at Pri or P ark which comm an ds
an exquisite view fr om its proud height
once the se at of f amou s hosp it al ity
an d later a R om an C atholi c inst it u
ti on but n ow the h aven to wh ich all
inv ali ded C anadian Sold i ers m ust come
in order to receive d is ch arge p aper s
an d be s ent hom e with fixed pen si on s
Cert ainl y they h ave won for them
selves the distin cti on o i br ave st of the
br ave if on e i s t o di s crim inate in thi s
,
,
,
,
.
,
33
l
THEIR SPIRIT
c arniv al of hum an cour age an d im
a
ss
i
o
ed
loy
a
l
ty
S
ever
a
l
t
i
mes
th
i
s
n
p
summer h ave I he ard i t asked an d
sometimes by Ameri c an s a l ittle quer
“
H ow d o you accoun t for
u lo u sly
the devoti on of the Domi ni on s to the
M other Country % It h as bee n on e
o f the mo s t insp iring fe atures of thi s
war of surpri ses an d m ay w el l be sp irit
u a lly di scon certin g n ot m e r ely to the
G erm an s but to those whose motto
“
i s s afety first
Nor i s it less to the
credit of these fe arless legi on s from
overse as th at their ardor sprang fr om
the percepti on th at the Colonies woul d
be n oth ing but d ismembered limbs
were E ngl an d v an quished
A few d ays later we were at R oches
ter where in Egyptian d arkness
for
n ot a r ay esc aped from any win dow in
.
%
,
,
%
.
.
,
l 34 l
THEIR SPIRIT
th at town or from adj ac e n t Ch ath am
we w atched on the terr ace un de r
the sh adow of the C athe dral a dozen
se ar chl ights pr obe the sky l ike huge
lum in ous pen cil s di vergent c o n c e n
t r a t in g cros sin g an d recross in g wh ile
our hostess an Ameri c an bef ore her
m arr iage told us the story typ i c al of
ev ery town in E ngl an d of how a n e ig h
b o rh o o d utterly unprep ared for w ar
h ad b een welded into a body of tirel ess
en thusiasti c workers whose only im
puls e w as s ervi ce to t h e nati on Next
m orning un der her gui d an ce we m ade
a circuit of Ch ath am the obj ective of
more th an on e % eppel in r ai d saw ag ain
l arge bod ie s of recruits bein g m ade fit
for w ar the exten s i ve nav al bu il dings
wher e are housed n o le s s th an thirteen
th ous an d British s ail ors an d p assed
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
l
35
l
THEIR
SPIRIT
hug e lorri es of the Arm y S ervi ce Corps
tr an sporting supp l ies for the troops
.
R eturning to Lo ndon we availed
oursel ves of an inv it ation to in spect
the Lon don R e st an d R efreshment
Huts m ain t ain ed by the
on e of the most admirable an d b e ne fi
“
cen t forms of war rel ie f
% nder the
Sign of the R ed Triangle a Warm Wel
come a wait s Al l Me n in H M % niform
so he who run s m ay read
an d thi s me an s a bed and bre akfast
di nn er te a or supper a t re asonable
rate s at an y of the huts most of wh ich
are in the v 1c 1n1t y of on e of the b ig
r ailway s t ati on s an d all of whi ch ar e
open d ay an d night Their m 1ss10 n i s
to provide better a ccommod ation s an d
food th an could be obt ain ed el sewhere
,
.
.
.
r
%
,
,
,
,
.
'
36
l
THEIR SPIRIT
at the s ame pri ce an d con sequen t pro
t e c t io n from ev il comp an y
S elf re
spect i s c atered t o by a ch arge for
“
everyth ing except a wa sh an d b ru sh
up an d clo ak room f a cil ities ; a shilling
and S ixpen ce fo r a room an d b re akf a st
S o popul ar are these re s ort s th at a l
though the first wa s n ot open ed until
% uly 19 15 ther e are to -d ay fourteen
in a cti ve O per ati on in Londo n fre
n
u
e
t e d weekly by some s ev e n th o u
q
s and Tomm ies Ther e i s also a hu t fo r
officers close to Victoria St ati on Be
ginning with the Sh ake spe are Hut a
sunn y inv iting pl a ce ju s t open ed we
vis ited a n um ber in successi on in
clud ing th at at W aterloo wh ich might
be term ed the storm cen tre of p atron
age Although m idnight i s the hour
when t h e spect a cl e i s m ost dram ati c
.
—
.
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
37
l
IV
Ho w long will the war las t an d wh at
do they think of u s o ver there % N0 on e
in a pos ition t o kn ow expects the en d
f or at le ast an other ye ar an d the a t
t it u d e of the m an in the s t reet reg ard
ing t h e terms of pe ace i s well expressed
by thi s extr act from a le ading n ews
p aper whi ch w as p rinted shortly b e
fore I left E nglan d %
Th e rea lly im po rtant po int is tha t t h e
C ab ine t sh o uld kn o w
th a t th e pe o ple o f
this co untry a re de te rm ine d to c arry o n
t h e w a r u ntil t h e m ilita ry p o w e r o f G e r
m a ny is utte rly crush e d a nd t h a t th e y
e qua lly de te rm ine d to in si st up o n
a re
c o n d itio ns o f p e ac e w h ich w ill p re ve n t
t h e re h a b ilit a ti o n o f th a t p o we r within
any b rie f pe rio d
,
.
39
]
THEIR SPIRIT
A s to wh at they th ink of u s in
E ngl an d the an s wer i s s i mple % They
sc ar cel y think of us at all O nly a very
few i tem s of Americ an n e ws fin d their
way into the d ail y press At the ti m e
when the bl a ck li s t the fate of Sir
R oger C as ement an d B rit ish int e rf e r
en ce with the m ail s wer e ag it ating our
p ubl ic n either the Tim es
P ost
n or Telegraph n or an y of the eve
ning d ailies gave mor e th an a s can t p ar
Often er
a g r a p h or s o to our op ini o n s
they p rin ted n oth in g Ther e h a d been
so much b acking an d fill ing on the p art
of our G overnment th at wh at Ameri ca
thought h ad ce as ed to in terest them
i t h aving been s et down for certain
long ago th at we h a d n o in ten ti on of
taking a definite stan d on the m oral
issues a t stake I do n ot th ink th a t
,
.
.
,
,
%
,
%
,
,
%
,
.
.
,
.
l
40
l
THEIR SPIRIT
either E nglan d o r Fran ce expected or
des ired u s to enter the war but wh at
they di d hope for after the s itu ation
becam e p l ain wa s an official exp ression
of m oral symp a thy Ha d the % nited
S t ate s uttered th i s she woul d h av e put
the civil i z ati onof the O ld Worl d un der
everl as t ing ob liga tion s H er failure to
do so h a s r anked us in the e s tim ati on
of Europe with th at c aitiff choir of
an gel s who h av e n ot rebell i ou s been
n or f aithful were to G o d but wer e for
sel f of whom the poet writes %
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
%
,
th em no t to b le s f ir ;
t h em t h n eth e m o e a b y ss e c e iv e s
l
n
m
n
o
O
n
e
d
a
ed w o u ld h a v e f o m
t
h
g
y
th em
Th e h ea v en s
exp elle d
%
e
F
or
or
r
r
e
,
r
s
r
a
,
e
r
.
The F re n ch feel very grateful f o r
our ge n erous gifts of m on ey m un ifi
cen t in in dividu al c as es yet when
,
,
l 41 l
,
THEIR SPIRIT
measured by our popul ation f ar fr om
overpowering ; p rofoun dl y grateful al s o
to our n oble hearted youths who h ave
los t or risked the ir l ives in the
tren ches ambul ance corps or in the
air in or der to repel the G erm an hor
ror an d to the s p irited group of Am eri
can s in Pa ris who h av e l abored un
stin tingly during two years to r eli eve
hum an su fi e ring In both coun tri es
on e en counters d is appointment r ather
th an enmity Thoughtful peop le r eal
iz e the d ilemm a we were in an d make
allowan ces for us Nevertheless the
attitude of ou r rank an d file in th i s
crisis of whose s en timen ts our Pr es i
dent i s bel ieved to be the mouthp iece
h as g iven fresh l ife to the old E uro
pea n su s p icion th at the % nited S tates
love s high soun ding phrases but will
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
I 42 l
THEIR SPIRIT
s ide step a t a p inch an d h as c aused
both the E ngl i sh an d the French to
feel th at by fail ing to rise above the
height of the doll ar m ark an d its own
imm ediate s afety the forem ost expo
n en t of asp iring democracy h a s missed
the gran des t opportunity to protes t
agains t wrong ever o ffered to a n ation
-
,
,
.
V
F
on e c an go t o Fran ce it i s
n ecess ary to h ave o n e s p assport in
r
by
the
A
m
e
r
i
c
an
co
n
su
l
gen eral
d o se d
an d then V isé by the Fren ch con sul
gener al who s e offices are in sp aci ous
but n ow sem i-comm er cial Bedford
S qu are O n e mu s t h av e a f airl y good
reas on for cro ss ing the Ch ann el o r per
m iss i on i s n ot gran ted As I am a
m ember of the Boston Comm ittee of
the Ameri c an Hostel s for Refugees
and Ch il dr en of Fl an ders an d w a s
armed w i th a tel egram from Pari s I
ha d n o difficul ty in s ati sfy ing the a u
t h o rit ie s After I h a d wai te d h alf a n
hour in the antech amber on e of a
crowd of other a l i en s m ostl y Fren ch
BE
O RE
’
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
44
l
THEIR SPIRIT
(the E ngl ish apply n ext doo r) in clud
ing m an y women m y n umber wa s
called and I p ass ed up s t ai rs by a re ar
stairc ase to run the g antlet of several
official s s eated at l ittle tab l es to whom
I h ande d photographs an d an swer ed a
few s earch ing ques ti on s Permiss i on
to go i s l i mited to three con secut ive
d ay s It would be n ece ss ary
so
everybody i s informed
to leave
E ngl an d on on e of them o r p ass age
woul d be refused
Thi s wa s Fri d ay ; I was pl anning to
start on S un day
Vu a u Co n sul at
G en er a l de Fr an ce etc h av ing been
stamped on my p assport I took my
dep artur e from B e dfor d S qu ar e only
to turn up there (w i th the b a d h alf
crown that was g i ven m e in ch ange) o n
the following M onday an d a sk for an
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
.
%
.
,
,
,
45
l
THEIR SPIRIT
of my del ay The only route n ow op en
for travellers is from S outh ampton
to Havre a S i x hour j ourn ey o n the
water The tra in rea ches So u t h a m p
ton shortly after m i dn i ght an d the
steamer does n ot start unt il about five
o cl ock I h ad b een a dvi sed by a
fri en d to ri de in on e of the re ar rai l way
carriages in order o n arrival to be
exactly oppos ite the en tran ce to the
room where the p asspor ts would be
examin ed Con sequen tl y I was in the
fron t l ine of the three hundred p a ssen
gers s e ated in rows on ben ches or
s tan ding in the re ar A rigi d exam ina
t i on of p assports foll owed We p ro
c e e d e d s l ow l y in s in gle file fr o m in
spector to in spector p a st sold i er after
sold ier It was o n e o cl ock before the
p ink t icket which perm itted m e t o
.
,
.
,
’
.
,
,
.
.
%
.
,
’
.
,
l 47 l
THEIR SPIRIT
collect my b ags and go on bo a rd wa s
h an ded m e an d I h a d cl aimed my
cab in How lon g it was before the en d
of the fil e was re a ched I do n ot kn ow
for after a brief survey of the shrouded
h a rbor from the deck I wen t to bed
an d was asl eep s ome tim e befo re the
Ha nt o nia s t arted
W hen I a woke it wa s s till d ark
Peering through the porthol e I m ade
out th at it wa s a cl ear moonl it night
and I coul d dis cern but n ot very dis
t in c t ly the outl in es of on e o r two ves
s el s When m orning ca m e a l ovely
F
morning with a s umm er s e a n othing
was visib l e until we s ighted the French
coas t The Ha n t o n ia i s a s turdy craft
with two funn el s Her heavy deck
s e ats ar e also inten ded for l ife rafts an d
in the cab in s there was an abun dan ce
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
—
.
.
48
l
THEIR SPIRIT
of l ife belts but I doubt if any on e put
them on My fellow p assengers
amon g the m a n umber of E ngl ish
and hosp ital n urses
wer e
O fficer s
evi den tly n ot a n ervou s lot Ou r a p
p ro a ch to Havre wa s between two
strings of m in es convergin g t o a na r
row p ass age a t the h arbor s mouth an d
in dicated by hu ge buoy s r esembl ing
corks TWO l arge steam sh ip s crowded
with E ngl ish tr oops wer e ju s t ahea d
of us A Fren ch p atrol boat with gun s
an d torpedo tubes d ashed out a s we
p assed in
the onl y warship th at we
sa w on the p ass age O n our starbo ard
bow were the protruding m as ts an d
funn els of two sunken vess el s but
whether they ran a shor e o r were the
V i ct i m s of m in es o r sub m a r in es w a s
n ot d isclosed to m e We rea ched the
,
.
.
’
.
.
.
,
.
I 49 l
THEIR SPIRIT
jetty about n oon an d befor e sep arat
ing
the tr ain for Pari s d id n ot l eave
until five o clock
s tood in l in e again
an d exh ib ited ou r p as sports this time
to Fren ch official s three of them in
turn
Havre vi ewed casually showed few
outwar d sign s of war In the streets
I m et soldi ers here and there both
Fren ch in their sky b lue uniforms
and E ngl ish but they were no t n um er
ous T ortoni s wher e I lun ched was
well p atronized O n the tram whi ch
bore m e to the railway stati on a very
voluble an d very good natu r ed woman
con ductor of l arge physi que ruled her
comp atri ot s with a r od of iron As we
sped towar d Pari s the abun dant cr ops
wer e being gathered by m en l on g p a st
their prim e or oc cas ion ally by women
,
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THE IR SPIRIT
Rouen wa s still a th ing of beauty a s
we crossed the S e in e an d the d inne r
served t o us o n the train in tim e of
war was b e tter th an th at of the aver
age Am erican dining car in these p ip
ing days of n eutral ity A n d s o without
misa dventur e o r friction we re ached
Paris in the e arly evening
,
.
.
VI
TA I s nz -vo o s % Méfie z -v ous % Les
oreill es enn em ies v ou s é coutent the
s ign which confron ts on e in r ailw ay
tr ain s an d other pub li c pl ace s in
Fr an ce h as a ten ser an d m ore dr a
m atic soun d th an the equi valen t Eng
lish w arning My firs t duty after p as s
ing the night in Pari s was to r epor t
to the Comm iss aire de P ol i ce n e arest
h otel who p r ov i ded me wi th a
my %
s t amped p aper emb l azon ed with my
photogr aph whi ch s et forth th at I
w a s author i zed to con tin ue my r e si
den ce in Pari s for the tim e b ein g
There were fewer s urf ace indi c a
ti on s of w ar th an in Lon don Ther e
were n ot n e arly so m any soldi ers in
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l 52 l
THEIR SPIRIT
the streets The c a fes on the f ashi on
abl e boulev ards seemed to h ave their
usu al comp l em en t of guests desp ite
the absen ce of Ameri c an s Th er e w as
no sc ar city of t axi c abs driven by men
The hotels In the Pl ace Vendom e an d
the s hop s along the Rue de la P aix an d
in the Pl ace de l O pér a were open
When I looked in at the C a fe des A m
b a ssa d e u rs at h al f p ast seven there
w as sc ar cely anybody d ining but by
h alf p ast eight every t able was o c
.
,
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c u pie d
.
P ari s in August i s n ot apt t o be
lively ; it w as n ot l ively then but the
atm osphere w as bri sk r ather th an s ad
the co rn er
C o nfid e n ce w a s in the ai r
h ad been turn ed an d R oum ani a w as
s ai d to be com in g in
with the re s ult
th at the prev al en t n ote w as alm ost
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l
THEIR SPIRIT
I was told th at m an y wer e
Sp aniar ds When I ven tured to s ay to
“
a qui et Fren chm an
H ow superb
Fran ce h as been % he an s were d s adly
“
Yes b ut at wh at a cost
Ben e ath
the br ave surface there i s no l ack of
appreciation of the app allin g s acr ifice
Fran ce i s he art-broken but it sees the
beginnin g of the en d , an d th is h as
brought fresh z est ln living At the
Ma delein e in to which I stepped twi ce
at the no on hour a few women were
kn eelin g before the shr in e of the Virgin
an d there wer e votive flow ers for the
de ad on the alt ar but the soul of
Fr an ce seeme d to be on the b attle
fields an d in the hosp it als an d work
shops r ather th an in the churches
t a u ra n t s ,
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,
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On the d ay after my arrival I was
l 55
l
THEIR SPIRIT
c alled b y tel ephon e from the Bure au
de l a Presse att ached to the Minist ere
des A ff aires Etr angeres (F oreign O f
fic e ) an d told th at I w a s to be allowed
t o go to the fron t I owed th is f avor to
my fri en d Mrs Ed ith Wh arton the
d is tingu ished n ovelis t who h a s m ade
Fr an ce her debtor by her b e n e fic e nt
ch ari ti es the Americ an Ho s tels for
R efugees and Children of Fl and ers an d
who spoke t o the authoriti es a s s oon
as she he ard th at I w a s coming I wa s
as ked t o c all at 3 R ue Fran coi s Premi er
for further in s tructi on s I d i d so th at
aftern oon an d there le arn ed from the
courteous official s who received me
th at the jo urn ey w a s fixed for four
d ays l ater an d th at the p arty would
in clude two or three Americ an w ar
corresp on dents an d a wel l kn o wn
.
,
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l 56 %
F
THEIR SPIRIT
ren ch m an of letter s Our prob able
r
dest inati on would be the fi st lin e
tren ches b ey ond Rhe ims
n ot a very
active fron t at the mom ent but the
more accessible on th at accoun t I w as
provided with a l ittle c ardb o ard iden
tity book con t ain in g my photogr aph
“
wherein I w as described a s a R om an
ci er Améric ain an d my m ovements
in the w ar z on e were l im ited to a p ar
t icu la r d ate an d loc al ity
There was
sp ace reserved in the book for othe r e x
i
i
e
t
o n s an d i t seems th at the G o v
d
p
e rnm e n t Is n o t av e r se to gi v in g a sm all
num ber of properly a ccredi ted for
eign ers ch an ces at in terv al s to observe
wh at i s in terestin g
I presented my s elf o n the follo w in g
Tuesd ay morn ing at the Gar e d e l Est
to t ake the tr ain for E pern ay th at left
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I 57
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THEIR SPIRIT
“
at 8 A M Except for my Permi s de
C orrespon den t d e l a Pr ess e aux Ar
mees I should n ot h ave been per
m it t e d to buy a ticket for an y spot in
the w ar zon e After th i s w as sho w n to
the gen d arme gu arding the appro ach
to the ticket office there was n o d iffi
culty The l ong express tr ain the c ar
Nan cy
ria g e s of wh i ch were l abell ed
etc cont ain ed chi efl y army officers
or person s whose employmen t wa s
n e ar the front Our route w as through
the w atershed of the Marn e As I
viewed the smiling and as it appe ared
from the win dows u nm arred and fer
tile l an dsc ape a successi on of lovel y
v all eys an d comm an ding heights it
wa s d ifficult to credit th at thi s p ar a
di se wa s the scen e of the s tupendou s
an d ever m em orable b attle As we
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I 58 l
THEIR SPIRIT
crossed the river at a cert ain point the
two experi en ced Americ an corr espon d
en ts who sh ared the comp artmen t
with m e an d who h ad recently vi sited
the di stri ct a s far as Meaux an d Our cq
an d Et r a v ig ny where they s aw the
rows on r ows of cross es white for the
Fren ch and bl ack for the G erm an
i dentified for my ben efit thi s an d th at
l an dm ark
,
,
,
,
.
VII
W E re a ched Epernay about ten where
we were greeted by the Fr en ch o ifi
cer who ha d been detail ed to meet
us Lieutenan t C
D
wh ose
left hand wa s in a spl in t from a woun d
rec eived at Verdun in the early d ays
of the war It s n erves were dead
but so deft a s well a s debon air w as he
th at on e sc arcely re al iz ed it Our a s
semble d p ar ty h ad incre as ed to nin e in
all in clud ing on e l ady who h ad been
all owed t o com e bec ause she ha d trav
e lle d much in l i ttle -explo red p ort i on s
of the gl obe There were four army
a utom ob il es sky blue lik e the Fren ch
uniform s an d helmets wait ing for us
three of them l imous in es an d on e op en
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60
l
THEIR
S
PIRIT
Pres um ably because I h ad b rought
a fairly heavy co a t w ith me I wa s
invited b y the l ieutenan t to occupy
the open car with h im an d the la dy
an d soon we wer e speed ing in the
d irecti on of Rheim s through a lovely
rol l ing country wher e the crop s were
be ing gathered wh ich revealed n o
traces of war
O ur firs t p a use was on ris ing gr oun d
wher e we dism ounted to obtain a dis
t ant vi ew of Rheim s C athedral which
fr om th i s po in t looked int a ct and ou r
firs t gl impse of the G erman tren ches
wh ich from ten m iles a wa y appeared
gl is tening white thr eads upon the h ill
s i de We gather ed round our guide
wh o map in h an d pointed out where
we wer e an d where he p roposed to t ake
us On e ran a little risk he s ai d smil
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61
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THEIR SPIRIT
My firs t imp re ssio n a s I stepped
from the c ar an d g a zed up a t the C ath
e d ral wa s th at i t i s le ss b a dly damaged
th an I feared I t s t ill stan ds an d s o
substan tiall y th at fo r an instan t I wa s
deceived The n ext momen t I r eal ized
tha t I wa s look ing a t the l a cerated
r iddled c alcin ed remnan t of wh at
h ad once been a thing of S up rem e
beauty In o n e sen se the ed ifice i s al l
there in an other there is n oth ing left
“
Pierre Lot i s s imil e fits the ca se
It
gives the imp ressi on of a hu ge mummy
still up right an d m ajesti c , but wh ich
a b re ath woul d reduce to a shes It i s
a won der th at the G er m an s d id n ot
comp l ete their h an di wo rk They cer
t a in ly d i d their be s t for the int e rv e n
ing shops an d hou ses in the l in e of fir e
ar e comp l etely gutted literally torn
,
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TH EIR SPIRIT
to p ieces while certain p arts of t h e
town ar e uninjured We r ode by them
later an d bought pho t ogr aphs a t a
l ittle shop wh ich som ehow h ad e s
caped the gen eral des truction
The shell fire wh i ch wrought the
d ama ge fell obli quely
Th at i s i t
must h ave com e across the s i de of the
C athedral on my ri ght h an d as I f a ced
the faca de so th at the gorgeous fro nt
was n ot directly exposed ; but the ex
l
o
d
i
n
m
i
ss
i
l
es
cr
a
s
hed
in
to
the
P
l
a
ce
g
p
d u Parv is an d ri cochetted There i s
a gap ing hole wi de a s a l arge m an s
shoul ders in the roof of the s ide in
quest i on and m an y of the c arving s
h ave been l opped o ff The statues o n
the fam ous front ar e s a dly mutil ated
but it w a s n ot e asy to estim ate the
exact d amage for the rea son th at they
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I 64 l
THEIR SP IRIT
are n ow protected an d p ropped up by
s an db ags
The exterior of the a dj acent HO t e l
Lion d O r looks a s if it h a d been
u s ed as a shooting gall ery so d isfig
u r e d i s i t w i th shot holes
With in
the C athedral the h avoc wr ought by
fi re exceeds that from the bom b ar d
m ent % e arly all the pri celess gl ass in
the church is gon e O nly o n e h al f of
the cel eb rated r ose win dow rem ain s
The p avem ent is sh at tered her e an d
there and strewn with glass an d d eb ris
Pigeo n s r oost in the c apitals of t he
column s an d the ir feathers ar e every
where Certain porti on s o f the st r u c
ture both in side and without h a ve
escaped in jury but a s a whole it i s ter
r ib ly d i sfigu r ed an d d e file d
Whether
it ca n be adequ atel y r estored after the
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l 65 l
THEIR SPIRIT
war i s o v er an d the s en s e of outrage
less a cute remains t o be seen
.
After an h our or s o in Rheim s we set
out for the trenche s ; in two a uto
m ob il es instea d of four in order to
d iminish the n umber of objects on the
ro ad lest the G erman s who ar e con
st a n t ly o n the w a tch fo r m u nit i o n
wagons open fir e The C athedral i s
a mile an d a qu arter from the front ;
the inn er an d outer Fren ch l in es h ad
already been po inted out to us on the
map an d we wer e n ow on the way to
the outer tren che s of whi ch ther e were
three r ows the n e ares t e ighteen hun
dred an d the f arthest three hundre d t o
five hun dred y ard s from the G er
m an s The comple xi on o f the l and
s cape wh ich o n the way up from
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I 66 l
THEIR SPIRIT
Epernay was so smiling h ad ch anged
It l ooked wo rn an d desol ate Not a
soul was in s ight except ourselves so
far a s the eye c ould rea ch In the d i s
m al fields as we flew p ast we caught
s ight of wir e en tanglement an d the
tops of tren ches % o w and again a
sol itary gu n boomed fro m the r ear
two or three mi les a way Pr esu m ably
they were shooting over our he a ds
but at th at t ime we s a w n othing an d
n o r espon se ca me from the G erman s
By the way I heard in Pari s th at ever
s in ce the exch ange of n otes between
Washington an d B erl in the Fren ch
call the shells th at don t explode
Yankees
W e al ighte d beh in d a rough r am
p art o f e arth an d ch alk ston e beyon d
whi ch w as the en tr an ce to the tren ch
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THEIR SPIRIT
“
lin e or boy au a s it i s c alled and
after a few wor ds b etween our lie u t e n
an t a nd the officer in ch arge we were
a dm itted P erh aps a dozen sol di er s
were vi s ibl e at thi s poin t As we
p ass ed on we kept meeting them dur
ing the two hours we were ther e in
li ttle g roups n ot m an y at a time or
emerging from the dugouts I under
stood th at it w as the Fren ch custom t o
keep onl y a sm all force in the outer
tren ches on the theory th at an att ack
i s ordinaril y p receded by a bomb ard
ment an d th at bec ause of close tele
ph oni c communic ati on with the re ar
there would be ample time to brin g up
“
troops in c as e of an attempt to rush
the p os i ti on Th e tr en ches were very
devi ous purposely so in order to b e
wilder the en em y who should en ter
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THEIR SPIRIT
t hem
w e s aw we re cut
through the solid ch alk rock and h ad a
h ar d bottom with a narr ow rut at the
edge to c arry the mo i sture Their level
was s l ightl y above our he ads and their
sides toward t h e top were gay with
p opp i e s an d wild flowers the growth
of which In such grim surroun d ings i s
en cour aged in order th at the tr en ches
m ay be less obvi ous to the G erm an
“
aeropl an es or a v Io ns a s the Fr en ch
c all them
The force we s aw was a det achmen t
of the 2 88t h regim en t an d the m ajor in
comm a n d courteously gav e u s every
f acility for re al iz in g wh at life at the
front was l ike sh ort of in ducing the
G erm an s t o open fire As we pro
c e e d e d win d in gly from on e tr en ch to
a n other we wer e perm itted to t ake a
.
A ll th os e
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69
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THEIR SPIRIT
ing an d the n ext in s t ant we re al iz ed
th at the gun h ad been d i s ch arged a
l ittl e f arther on in our boy au for the
e d ific a t io n of the re s t of the p arty
Noticin g in the ha nds of a private a
gun with a curi ous attachmen t at the
en d a little like a telescope I a sked
wh at it w as for An o fi c e r told the
soldi er to fire Thi s he did at on ce an d
we s aw di stin ctly a bl ack object about
the s i ze of a golf b all de s cri be an arc
with the velocity of a well-h it m i d
iron shot then f all app aren tly in or o n
the G erm an trench % p rose a bl ack
clou d of smoke an d dirt with wh atever
el s e h appen ed to be where it struck
Thi s wa s a bomb of course an d the
we apon wa s s ai d to be a n ew c o nt riv
an ce
Presen tly an officer le d the way int o
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71
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THEIR SPIRIT
a subterran e an ch am ber a steep de
s cen t at fir st by a narrow an d dark
p ass age After reach ing the level we
grop ingl y a scen ded toward an aper
ture l arge enough for a m an s b ody
through wh ich our guide set the ex am
pl e of crawl ing on hi s stom ach S everal
of us foll owed h im an d foun d ourselves
on the gr ound outside the tren ches
in No Man s L and so -c all ed In
fron t of us from on e angle wa s a
hun dred y ard s of wire en ta nglem en t
beyon d wh i ch we could n ot see while
recumbent b u t from another the
G erm an tren che s were in pl ain s ight at
short r ange ; yet n othing stirr ed in
them The ch amber from whi ch we
i ssued was an outpost for m a ch ine g u n
“
fir e
kn own a s
ab ri c avern e
un
av an ce
On e of the party wh o re
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THEIR SPIRIT
m ain ed in the tren ch s aid it seemed
surpris ing th at the G erm an s d i d n ot
spy us ; but our guide s l ack of con cern
m ade us t ake for gr an ted th at they
would n ot fir e if they did an d we re
m ain ed lying or s itting o n the dri ed
gr ass for several m in utes
L ater we were info rmed th at some
gu n s would be fired fr om the r e ar for
our ben efit an d h aving been con
ducted to an other subterran e an ch am
ber were told to w atch thr ough the
aperture At interval s during the d ay
perh aps twen ty r an dom shots h a d
been fired all of them to judge b y the
“
s oun d of the s ame c al ibre a s the so i
xa n t e qu in ze
the boom of wh i ch we
n o w hea rd The loc ati on of the gun
was pre s um ably a m il e or two a w ay
Gaz ing fixedly at the G erm an lin e four
’
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73
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THEIR SPIRIT
hundred y ards in fron t of us I s a w the
shell bre ak in the tren ch a s it seemed
and a m ass b l a ck a s a thund er clou d
le ap in to the air Boom went a secon d
c ann on but thi s tim e I f ailed to see the
shell explode It w a s n ow my turn to
retire an d two more s hots were fired
fo r the other h alf of our p arty To
h av e b ig guns di s ch arged to order
wh ile y ou w ait g ave me slightl y the
sen se of being personally con ducted
an d I h a d to ass ur e my s elf th at I w as
a guest of the Fren ch W a r Office an d
n ot a Cook s touri st % e t ther e wa s
grim re ality st a rm g us in the f ace from
les s th an five hundred y ard s aw ay
an d simp ly beca use of an i di osyn cr as y
the h ab it of n ot firi ng until after
five o clock
ign oring our p r esen ce
Of course we visi ted the d ugout s and
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74
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THEIR SPIR IT
s aw the qu arter s of both the officers
an d the po il us d ark and cr ampe d at
be s t in order to be re asonabl y sa fe
It i s a won d er th a t all look so cheer ful
an d in s uch good phys ic al trim The
sol di ers smil ed at u s a l ittle wonder
ing ly ; the word h a d been pass e d th at
we were Ameri c an v isitors A s I
roun ded a turn the d im un dergr oun d
p ass age widened into a sort of c ave
where two men wer e loungin g on their
bun ks wh ich were on e abo v e the
other wh il e close by a th ir d wa s
s e ate d at a t able b efore a n umb er of
telegr aph wir es Life un der such con
d it io n s even to s ave o n e s s kin m u s t
be con tra cted an d gloomy b ut I d id
n ot b eh old during the vis it an y f ace
which suggested d espond en cy or l ack
of vigor The sol di ers th at we met
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I 75
l
THEIR SPIRIT
were a well sea son ed and resolute lot
Wh ile retr acin g our steps we c ame
up on two of them c arrying a huge
ste am ing c an of soup for their com
r ad e s in the forward tren ch Befo r e we
left we wer e shown the k i tchen and
the R ed Cross sh elter wher e the
woun ded were c ared fo r It wa s c on
fid e d to me th at the G erm an s h ad n ot
los t the ir mor ale judgin g fr om an
officer c apture d the previous day wh o
“
on cross ex ami nati on s aid % We m ay
n ot b e able to bre ak through y ou r l in e
but n either will you through ours
At the request of our h o st s c amer a
shots of our p arty were taken at sev
er al points In the tren ch during the
aftern oon the l a s t time gr ouped with
some of the sol d i ers Shor tly after thi s
we b a de adi eu to Major B
in c om
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76
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THEIR SPIRIT
m an d who h ad been so a ccommod at
ing and reentering our two m otors
took our dep arture from the firin g l in e
Our l i eutenant who e arl i er in the d ay
h ad arranged wher e we sh ould lun ch
c arri ed us to a l ittle inn for aftern oo n
te a where we foun d the other aut o
mob iles aw aiting us
When we resumed our journ ey the
h igh spe ed at which e a ch c ar wa s
dri ven over the screened ro ad al re ady
referred to wa s very n oti ce able We
s imply tore alon g The o b v Iou s d e d u c
tion seemed to b e th at a s it was n ow
five o cl ock the G erm an s might begin
firing at an y time S ome on e sal d our
ch aperon h a d an engagement and m u s t
be b ack on t h e Be th is a s it m ay I
think he w a s gl ad to h av e us out of
r ange Very shortly after we h ad left
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l
THEIR SPIRIT
tio n s were n o l ess comfort able th an in
time of pe ace W e r e ached P ari s b e
fore ten o cl ock an d our first obliga
ti on n ext m orning wa s to c all at the
Bure au de l a Press e in or der to return
our identity books an d expres s gr ati
tude for the un u s u al pri vilege th at h ad
b een a ccorded us
.
’
.
VIII
M% time
before an d after my
vis it t o the fron t durin g the too b r i ef
ten d ays I w as in P ari s w as s pen t in
f am il iari zin g mys elf with rel i ef work
O rdinary s ight-seei ng w a s out of the
questi on for an y on e alive to the in
ten sity of the s itu ati on ben e ath t h e
prevalen t surface brightn e s s G aller
ies were forgotten ; I think th at m ost
of them were closed I did go of
course to % e s In vali des t o vi ew the
coll ecti on o f G erm an troph ies in the
wid e courty ard an in terestin g array
in clu ding a T aube p arts of a % eppel in
sever al coupoles f or c ann on -revolver
( a sort of armored beehive with a p r o
,
b oth
,
.
‘
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
l
80
l
THEIR SPIRIT
gu n ) a nd a qu antity of c an
no n from the obus i er of two hun dred
and fif ty m il limetr es to the sm allest
s izes l an ces bombes m itr ailleuses etc
Ther e w as also on exhib iti on a huge
Fren ch bipl an e with two propellers
th at h ad return ed in a d am aged c on
d iti on after h av ing been att acked The
s iz e an d e agern ess of the crowd in clud
ing m any soldi ers th at d an ced atten d
an ce on these vis ib l e symbols of suc
cess wa s impress ive I wen t also t o
Font aineb l e au t o p ass the week en d
with a fri en d an d her e (as everywher e )
a w in g in e a ch of three of the most a n
ci ent an d be autiful ch ate aux in Fran ce
h ad been tr an sformed in to a hosp it al
Who would h av e guess e d th at the
aler t an d seemingly c are free mistres s
of on e of these who s auntered with us
t ru d in g
,
—
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
—
,
81
l
THEIR SPIRIT
through her verd an t all eys h ad a hus
b an d an d two son s at Verdun %
,
W h atever m ay b e s ai d of the f ailure
of Americ an im a g l n a t io n as a whole
to vis u aliz e the w ar hi st ory will b e
forev er proud of the corps of Ameri
c an symp ath i zers who h ave l avi shly
contributed m on ey or else labori ou s
d ays t o help s ave r an ce Th ough
m any st atistics h ave been p ub lished
c on cerning the rel i ef work in P aris
on e who c an s ay I w as ther e and th i s
i s wh at I s aw i s often m or e appe al
ing th an mere f acts a nd figures I h ad
time to vi s it a few of the w ar ch ariti es
and should like to refer to them before
I cl ose First of all to Mrs Wh arton s
Americ an H ostels for R efugees an d
Children of Fl an ders wh i ch I w a s
,
F
.
,
,
%
,
.
,
’
.
.
,
82
l
THEIR SPIRIT
given the opp ortunity to ins pect
thoroughly A s I h ave p revi ously m en
t io n e d I w as alre a dy o n e of her Boston
comm ittee ; but of course at lon g r an ge
l
it h ad n ot been e as y to get a c e ar cut
pi ctu r e of a ll she h as accompl i shed
s in ce the w ar beg an T o quote the l ast
report the Ho s tel s h ave s truggle d
through n e arly two ye ars of exi sten ce
depen din g wh olly on p riv ate support
and wi th the gifts collected they h ave
help ed over
desti tute hopeless
people c are d fo r
si ck person s
di s tributed over
g arm ents
served
m e als and foun d em
6
0
T
loyme
n
t
for
n
e
a
rly
refugees
0
0
o
p
do thi s costs about five thous an d d o l
l ars a mo nth b ut m uch more rem ains
t o b e don e
The two m o s t urgen t
problems to be de alt wi th are ( 1 ) % e
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
83
l
THEIR SPIRIT
cen t lodgings ; (2 ) The isol ati on of the
tuberculous Three m odel lodging
h ou ses h ave alre ady b een open ed In
them h ave b een fitted r oom s a cc o m
m o d a t ing a s a rule two adults o r a mo
ther with two chil dren From ei ght t o
fiftee n fran cs
to
a month
is ch arged for on e of these rooms
light he at an d washin g in cluded an d
e ach h ou s e i s un der the supervi s i on of
a resi den t m anager It is hoped th at
several other h ous es of the same type
m ay b e open ed A sum of
is
n eeded to go on w it h lt h is work ap art
from the gen er al expenses of the H os
tels As to tubercul osi s m any of t h e
refugees and especiall y the ch ildren
h ave developed con sumpti ve tenden
ci es owin g to the exposu r e and h ard
ships they un derwen t in their flight
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
I 84 l
THEIR SPIRIT
an d t o the mi sery in wh ich they h ave
sin ce been li vin g A gr e at n umber are
stil l in the first stages of the di se ase
an d c ould be qu i ckly cu re d b y good air
an d proper d i et ; but ther e i s n ot a t
thi s m omen t a free tuberculos i s h os
p it al for civilian s open in Fr an ce In
“
Mrs Wh arton s own words
The
gre atest help th at l overs of Fr an ce c an
give her in her awful str uggl e i s to try
to remedy thi s defic i en cy We n eed
an d n ee d at once a b ig house in the
country to a ccommod ate at least on e
hun dred p ati en ts ; an d we n eed forty
thous an d doll ars to fi t it up an d run it
If we c an get the house an d the mon ey
we c an s ave m any ch ildr en for Fr an ce ;
an d r an ce n eeds her ch ildren n ow as
she h as never n eeded them before
.
.
’
,
.
.
,
,
.
F
,
%
.
THEIR SPIRIT
b en ches the youngest n e are s t t o the
alt ar s at m otionless a s m i ce durin g
the servi ce an d the c ardinal s a ddre ss
except when uttering the requi site re
sp o ns e s wi th impecc able uniform i ty
When the time c ame they left their
b en ches in regul ar ord er an d stepp in g
n o is eles s ly in sin gle file with folded
palms between whi ch e ach girl held a
sl ip of p ape r m arke d wi th he r name a p
r
h
o
a
c
e d the c ard inal to be an o i n ted
p
They wer e presen ted in turn by Mrs
R oy all Tyler the v ice pres i de nt of the
R es cue Com m i ttee to C ardinal A m
ette a m ost benign and gr aci ous d ig ni
t ary an d when the ceremon y w a s fin
ish e d e ach stole d emurely b a ck to her
se at wi th closed eyes an d folded h an d s
It w a s a t ouch in g an d p atheti c cer e
m on y In the s ix houses the Child ren
,
,
’
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
87
l
THEIR SPIRIT
of Fl an der s Comm ittee i s c aring for
about s ev en hundred and fifty chil
dren on e hundr ed an d five ol d m en
and women and some s ixty n un s (who
superinten d an d te ach the chil dr en ) ;
al together over nin e hundre d people
al l from the s ame narrow s trip of sh at
t e r e d an d ru in ed Bel g i um
After the rel igi ous exer cises t h e r é
wa s s inging by the children in the
o uter h all an a dd r ess to the c ard inal
in ren ch by on e of the girls the p r e
s e nt a t io n to h im by a sm all er ch i ld of
an immen se bouquet of belles fl e u rs
with a coupl et in verse s ome p atri oti c
w ords of th ank s by the c ard inal at
“
the close of whi ch he excl aimed Vive
l a Belgi que % Thi s del ighted and in
sp ir ed the children who retorted with
“
Vi ve le C ard inal % so arden tly th at
,
,
,
.
F
,
,
,
,
,
%
,
%
88
l
THEIR SPIRIT
he l ingered at the door t o a dd still a n
other sp iri ted word as th o ugh thei r
pl ight and the p athos of the occ as i on
h ad touched him deeply W hen Mr s
Wh arton an d I rode aw ay a l ittle l ater
t h e fchild re n who h ad been l et loo s e o ut
of do ors w aved their h an dkerch i efs a t
the ir ben ef act ress an d on ce more cri ed
“
enthusiasti c ally Vive l a Belgi que
It shoul d be a dded th at a l ady who
before the war wa s o n e of the ch i ef
movers l n the revi v al of artis ti c lace
m akin g in Bel gi um h a s org ani zed lace
s ch ools in two of the Houses an d the
l
i
r
s are being t aught to m ake n ot
g
merely on e kin d but s ev er al kin d s of
l ace so as t o ren der them in depen den t
of the mi ddlem an
,
.
.
,
,
,
s
,
,
.
Next d ay I wa s c arri ed to see the
l
89
l
THEIR SPIRIT
d iffer ent Hostels by Mrs Tyler Mrs
Wh arton s cle ar-he aded an d executive
chie f of st aff wh o h as virtu ally d e
v oted every d ay for two ye ars to sup er
inten ding them First to Avenue elix
Faure where ther e are about tw o
hundred refugees o ccupying s om e
times on e r oom s om etimes two f or
whi ch they pay eight t o fifteen fr an cs
per month in cluding g as electri c l ight
an d clea n bed lin en twi ce a month
with use of the kitchen on the ét age in
common d ecen t nice m ann ered folk
wh o s eem ed very contented an d very
grateful I t alked with an eld erl y an d
decrep it but s till alert o ld couple wh o
described to u s their es c ape from the
G erm an inv as i on Across the entry
was a str an d ed young m other with her
l
b aby in its crib All ab e bo di e d men
.
.
,
’
F
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
.
90
l
THEIR SPIRIT
and wom en in a pos i ti on to e arn a liv
ing are elim inated after they h ave been
put in the way of getting work Then to
19 R ue de l a % u in tin e where free fu r
n ish e d lodg in gs ar e prov i d ed for women
with large f amilies of young children
Here again the inm ates who h ad
been rescued fr om privation and filth
be amed at u s from thei r wash tub s
ironing bo ards an d kitchen stoves On e
fam ily of thirteen w as n e atly housed in
two r ooms The ten an ts are expected
to con tri bute a little e ach m on th for
their accommodati on an d almost inv a
The Fr en ch G overn
r ia b ly they do
men t d oes not p ay the soldi er s an d
all ows only
fr an cs per d ay to the
wives of those at the front with fifty
centimes for e ach child un der s ixteen
I w as told th at these people were in a
.
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
.
l
91
l
THEIR SPIRIT
i
t
ia
ble
pl
i
ght
before
they
were
t
a
k
e
n
p
in Only about fifteen per cen t of the
wom en n ow help ed by the Hos tels are
Belgian s ; the re s t are refugees from
the invad ed Fren ch provin ces
.
.
Fr om here we wen t to the R u e
Ta it b o u t where there i s a r est auran t
free clini c an d d isp en s ary , workroom
for women an d re a ding room a ll u n
der the s ame ro of
a busy pl a ce I
c an assur e you an d m os t orderl y I
talked with the pleas an t faced doctor
who keeps an eye on a ll these people
Th e room s where the wo m en e at
coming either fr om thei r work u p
stairs o r outs i de
with little tabl es
hold ing s ix ea ch wer e v ery in vi tin g
Ther e are about th irty fiv e hun dred
helped b y the Hostels an d nine h u n
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
v
I 92 l
THEIR SPIRIT
d re d chi l dren by t h e Ch il dr en of
Fl an ders I visited also the D ay Nur
sery an d clothing dep ot on the Rue
Boiss y d A ng la s the grocery stor e
a t 6 7 R ue Pierre Ch arron wher e
co al and other supplies a re furni shed
“
on p roper vouchers an d Le Co m ité
den tell i er Belge-Fr an co -Amé ricain
25 R u e de C r ouchet where the la ce
m a de by the Children of Fl an ders i s
sold
An other b u s y ch arity which seemed
to m e a dm irably con ducted o n e well
kno wn to m any Americ an s
wa s
the Ameri can R el ief Cle aring House
the initials of wh ich form the word
“
Arch
The bo ast th at it is indee d
t he keyst on e to al l the other oe u vr es i s
well foun ded for it i s through this o r
th
a
t
v
i
rtu
a
lly
a
ll
the
g
i
fts
n
i
z
a
t
i
n
a
o
g
.
’
,
,
,
%
,
,
.
,
%
.
,
I 93 l
THEIR SPIR IT
tion of the enterp ri se I vi ewed the
re
u
a
a
t
the
r
ai
lro
a
d
st
a
t
i
o
n
e
n
t
ir
ely
i
q
s erved fo r the Cle aring House also
the warehouses ther e ar e four in all
two in the Rue Pierr e Ch arr on two in
the n ew b arra cks n ear the Por te
D auph in e
wher e huge c as es an d the
crates an d boxes are rec e ived open ed
repa cke d an d forwarded % p to t h e
pr es en t tim e the C l earing House h as
r eceived on behalf of its elf an d other s
about fifty thous an d c a s e s b ales an d
p a ck ages and forwarded an other fifty
thou s an d the ir contents r angin g from
a doz en to twelve hundred ar ticles an d
“
comp rising gr eat b ale s of cotton a h
s orben t an d n ot absorben t ; c l othes
for men women and chil dr en ; un der
wear s ock s shoes hosp it al garments
b and ages gau ze surgi cal instruments
.
’
,
—
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
9
I 5
l
THEIR SPIRIT
and o ver on e hun dred other us eful an d
v al u able gifts
At on e of the wa r e
houses w e l inger ed t o examin e two
auto -wagon s th at h ad ust arrived
fr om Americ a
the o n e a p resen t
from New % ork the other fro m Chi
c ago symp ath izers an d e a ch so I wa s
tol d a m ost timely an d servi ceable
donati on
9’
.
,
,
,
,
.
Not far from my hotel were the
bright comp act n ew qu arters of the
Ameri can F un d for Fren ch Woun d
ed Alc az ar d Et é Avenue Gabri el
Ch amps -Elys ees All art icles c on
s ign ed to it fr om Am erica are her e
del ivered forthwith by the Ameri can
Reli ef Clearing H ouse
Whoever
studies t h e m ap of Fran ce to -da y fin ds
it so do tted with hosp itals a s to rival
,
’
,
,
,
.
.
I 96 l
THEIR SPIRIT
the starry he aven s yet there ar e fe w
of these hosp it als th a t h ave n ot r e
direct a s s is t an ce f ro m thi s
c e iv e d
s ource As I watched the d il igen t an d
system ati c v olun tary work ers busy
amid the n ever-ceasing ebb an d flow of
th in gs a rrivin g an d th ings t o b e u n
p acked sorted an d sen t a way it wa s
e asy to cred it the figur es of the
“
precedin g m onth
cases receive d
10 3 4 ; b ales and ca ses desp atched 8 0 3 ;
hospital arti cles an d dress ings des
“
p atched
Do y ou requ ire
an y more ass istan ce % I in quir ed of
“
o n e of the ch ief officials
Oh yes
she repl i ed as p a cker s an d d rivers
girls con ten t w ith a ste a dy t ask ; but
sen d us n o m ore women eager for
p i ctur es que wo rk an d to be n ear t h e
soul of the war
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
%
%
,
.
,
‘
’
.
I 97 l
,
THEIR SPIRIT
c an lin er fr om Liverpool a week l ater
I found mys elf almo s t regretful to be
returning to my native l an d Desp ite
the u nderlying horr or an d di s tress to
whi ch I h ad been p ri vy I would gladly
h ave linger ed un der the spell of the u n
d aunted and won derfully resourc eful
sp iri t of the two peoples am ong wh om
I h ad p assed the summer an d I felt a
little imp atie n t at the thought of lis
tening t o con servati ve phr as es such as
“
G od be pr ai sed we are out of thi s
w ar % or its h ard he ade d coun terp art
“
Wh at c on cern i s it of our s % I h ad
s een a gre at de al th at w as interesting
and th at I should n ever forget ; yet as
I revi ewed my v i sit the con cr ete f ac
tor s seemed to d w in dle an d the im p res
s ion th at rem ain e d w as on e of s oul
r ather th an of sub s t an ce It i s n ot so
,
.
,
,
,
,
%
,
%
,
,
.
I 99
l
‘
THEIR SPIRIT
much wh at on e see s o r c an see over
there th at i s moving a s wh at on e feels
to exi st ; n ot so much the endless ch ain
of m arvell ous production uni que in
the annals of h i story a s the silen t
exalt ati on whi ch tran s mutes univer
s al suffering in to fresh forms of na
E ngl an d an d Fr an ce
t io n a l en ergy
are fightin g for their l ives but it i s the
qu al ity o f their fortitude th at appe als
to the im agination of the onlooker
On e do es n ot doubt th at they will win
in the en d ; no t mer ely bec ause their
l aten t resources are gre ater but b e
c au se o f the inten sity of their co nv ic
ti on th at the f ate of democr ati c lib
e r t y h in ges on the outcome of the
tit anic struggle an d th at de ath would
be prefer able to the coll apse of the
Th e f ail
m or a l f o r ces of c i v il i z ati o n
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
I 100 l
THEIR SPIRIT
ure of the Ameri can peop le a s a
whol e to appreciate thi s is the real
in d i ctmen t
Europe h as again st
them
.
THE