A "Y" girl overseas; extracts from letters written to her parents from Europe

Front matter

HKESKXTKO liV

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Foreword

Friends of the writer are asked to remember that these letters were dashed off at a high rate of speed, often at the close of a busy day. There was no thought of polishing them for publication, even if there had been time. One letter ends with the words : "I have been three hours writing this letter. It is now 12:30, and I am going to bed. As I write, one thing tumbles out on top of another, and I sometimes feel that there is an unconscionable lot of stuff for you to wade through. But I write what is happening to me, and I assume that you want it all."

H. M. T.

U

Chapter I

Paris, the Queen of Cities — Armistice — Red tape — Notre Dame — Champs Elysee — Old papal palace — France gives us gratitude that belongs to Belgium — Delightful walks — King and Queen of Belgium — Baths in Paris — seeming lack of poverty — Piano practice on a "tin pan" — Dinner at a Y. W. C. A. hostess house — Hotel des Empereurs — Funny things seen in Paris — Hints of homesickness.

"^lll^ARIS, Nov. 12, 1918. — We arrived just in time to jI^J see Paris celebrate the signing of the armistice. It ^§^ is a wonderful thing to have seen. Paris is certainly the Queen of cities, and now she is working herself up into a perfect frenzy of excitement. I had to go to headquarters about 4 o'clock, and had a hard time getting through the dense crowds. It had the Rose Festival beaten a mile. I wish you could see the amount of red tape one has to go through with. I have never before in my life signed so many papers, or given so many of my photographs.

To-day I had a delightful walk along the Rue de Rivoli, to the Place Hotel de Ville, across the Seine to Notre Dame Cathedral, and then across the big Place to the police station. Notre Dame is not like Antwerp Cathedral and others, so hemmed in that it can hardly be seen. I can imagine no finer setting than that of Notre Dame. It is a matter of increasing wonder to me, the hundreds and hundreds of acres, right in the heart of the city, devoted to wonderful buildings, parks and open places. Berlin, as I remember it, is a crude and upstart country town, compared with Paris.

It is an amazing thing to see the way Americans are regarded here. It is "Vive I'Amerique" wherever one goes, and the great trinity of flags which one sees everywhere is of France, England and America. I am grateful for what the gods send. But I feel that we are usurping a place in the affection of the French people that rightly belongs to Belgium.

To-day I walked the length of the Champs Elysee. Our entertainment headquarters and the library for the soldiers — the A. L. A. — ^are in the old Papal palace, on the Rue d'Elysee, right across the street from the mansion of the president of the French republic.

Nov. 14. — I saw the King of Belgium this afternoon. We got caught on one of our errands by a procession, and saw both the King and the Queen. I should like to be here when President Wilson comes ; I want to see the eft'ect it will have on the thousands of Americans here. The amount of khaki one sees on the streets is really uncanny.

It is funny to hear the Americans discussing baths. Those who used to have a hot bath at night, and a cold shower every morning, now get out a brass band, so they Siiy, whenever they take one. This hotel is a good one, and yet not only do they have no rooms with baths, but they do not even have a bath on every floor. * * *

It is interesting to notice the seeming lack of poverty and deprivation here in Paris. I presume in the war zone it is very different. But every one looks well dressed and well fed, and no beggars are to be seen. At all table d'hotes, meat is served twice a day ; and as I notice the prices, they seem about the same as at home. On the whole, vegetables are cheaper, but fruit is out of sight. You wouldn't see such apples in Oregon, even as windfalls. And prices are away up. Lemons are 12 cents apiece. On the other hand, I hear that England has been denying herself everything, for the sake of the people of France. Conditions there are much more acute. Instead of twice a day, meat is served there twice a week.

Nov. 21. — I am getting along, making the best of things, and am contented. But if I allowed myself to, I could be very homesick. I had my first piano-practice this morning on a tin pan at Y headquarters.

This noon I went to a hotel that used to be called the St. Petersbourg. It had the reputation of being very gay. And the humor with which Fate frequently guides the affairs of men has ordained that it should now be managed by the Y. W. C. A. It is a delightful place — no tipping, and meals which cater to American tastes. To-day, for five francs, we had mussels, good-sized portions of veal with onions and mushrooms, creamed potatoes, celery with tomato sauce, and bread and cheese. It was a delicious meal.

Nov. 2"]. — I have finally moved from my cold and gorgeous hotel. I have found a small room in a little hotel, with no lift, but nice and homey. I am supposed to have heat in my room, and all for four francs a day. I had a good night, on a comfortable bed, last night. Then I have also found a little restaurant in the neighborhood, where they serve for 2.75 francs a dinner which would cost four to five anywhere else. My noon meal I take at the Y. W. C. A. Hostess House. It costs me five francs, but it is worth it. I enjoy the atmosphere there, h: * * Later. Two other Y girls have followed me to this hotel, and so we make quite a nice little party. The people are all so pleasant, it is a welcome change from the surliness of the Central. I judge from what the young woman at the desk said, that it is a little old-fashioned place, where they have had the same clientele for years and years, and so do not make much of an effort to cater to transient trade. There is a darling little salon, with two pianos, both rather out of tune, but doubtless better than we shall have in the future ; and we can practice here, without trotting about.

from Dan to Beer-sheba. It has the magnificent name, "Hotel des Empereurs."

Nov. 29. — We hear that we are to be sent to the south of France as the best place to become acclimated. It is as much to the interest of the Y as to ourselves that we be kept in good condition. They don't want us to come down with pneumonia or bronchitis (as some of the entertainers have done lately) and have to be sent home. * * * One sees some funny things in this town ; for example, a big two-wheeled cart, wheels perhaps seven feet high, with a great load, drawn by four big horses, all tandem. And trailers to trucks, twenty or thirty feet long, on two wheels. And I saw one tiny auto, about a third the size of a Ford, looking like a scared baby buggy in the general jam.

My previous training abroad is going to stand me in fine stead. I shall suffer far less than most Americans from differences and inconveniences. Of course, I wish I were home ; but that is something to look forward to. And how I shall appreciate it when I get back ! I am alreadv at a place where I should be glad to cook again, if onlv I had a chance. And as for getting my hands on the steeringwheel of an auto — !

When I get back, you may be sure I shall appreciate things ; and after my term of service here has expired, I shall not stay one split second longer than I have to !

St. Naz.mre, Dec. 6. — We gave nine performances in seven days before leaving Paris. We have found our work very mteresting. I am accompanist for the others. I play solos when the piano is good enough, and I shall also give readings. We have had all sorts of experiences; hospitals where we performed in the wards ; rooms where the bovs were sitting on tables, and we were on the same floor level ; huts where there were several hundred present and where we had foot-lights ; and officers' clubs where everything was on a grander scale. We have gone by train, by Ford truck where we were nearly jolted out into the mud, and in a beautiful Packard limousine. We have dressed behind packing cases in the cold, with dough-boys darting through, and in luxurious hotel rooms. We have eaten with soldiers of the ranks and with officers.

The work itself is very interesting. The boys make a very inspiring audience, they are so fresh and enthusiastic and seem to enjoy so much what one does for them. Our work is on the order of a good concert program, and as a rule, of course, they don't get many of that sort. They have more vaudeville. A certain element doesn't care for the sort of thing we bring, but a large element does ; and in every audience there are many who know good things and are hungry for them. There are always officers in every audience, many of them with West Point training, and certainly they should not be entirely ignored.

After we had finished our program last night, we had to wait over an hour for our car. While we were waiting, I suddenly heard the strains of the Rachmaninofif prelude I had just been playing. I afterwards talked to the boy who was playing. He really played remarkablv well, and was playing Chopin's Funeral March when we at last left the place. It shows the sort of thing one has to face in entertaining in this army. In the roughest crowd, there is one who knows. Wherever we go, we hear of some fine singer or pianist ; and yesterday some professional stage people were in the audience when I gave my readings. It is a most peculiar condition. The mass of the audience is rough, and you have to handle them as carefully as you would an audience of high-spirited school boys. And yet, among them are such good judges of your best efforts.

Our name is the Victory Company. We were not responsible for that name, and feel it quite a task to live up to it. Other entertainment units also are stationed here.

St. Nazaire, Dec. 8. — Our food has been arranged for in a wonderful way. Five francs a day gives us three square American meals. At the Y hut they give you a big dish of mush, a buttered slice of white bread, a large cup of coffee or chocolate, and a good portion of jam (not unsweetened stewed fruit, which the French call confiture and charge unholy prices for), but good American jam — all this for breakfast, for one franc. Lunch is a good-sized meal for two francs, bread, meat, potatoes, a drink, fruit, and little cakes. Dinner at two francs is similar. It is a soldiers' canteen, but Y workers have their meals there, too. They must serve hundreds of boys each day. It is a Y canteen, and the workers all seem to be horribly overworked.

The canteen at meals is interesting to watch. An hour, or an hour and a half before the windows are opened, a line of soldiers begins to form. By the time the windows are opened, there is an extremely long line. On Sundays it doubles back and forth, and about fills this very large hut. Perhaps the meal consists of "meat pie" (but with no crust it is really just beef hash), mashed potatoes, cabbage, chocolate or coffee, and bread pudding. The food is served as in any cafeteria, and the line moves quite quickly. There are many tables, and the only trouble is that sometimes the food gives out. There is always that possibility. For the meal described, two francs is the price. It is a godsend to us. We tried one day getting into line with the soldiers, but an M. P. was so perturbed at the idea of ladies standing in line, when they were supposed to be served first, that we finally went up to the front. Now we simply step into the line at the source of supplies, and the boys step back for us. I don't like it altogether, but there are only five or six of the women entertainers here, and it seems to be an understood thing among all the boys. They always step back smilingly for us. It is also the understood thing from the Y standpoint.

I feel it is better to do it that way, than to be remarkable.

Chapter II

Entertainment work in Paris and St. Nazaire — Good concert work vs. vaudeville — Character of audiences — Victory party — Food at Y canteen — An amazingly good time — Transportation problem — Horse-back riding a preparation for Lizzie 'bus — ^Problems of heat, mud and drinking water — Wine and cigarettes for French children — German kindness to our soldiers — Washing barge — Christmas eve — Christmas packages — Canteen girls overworked — Christmas dinner at the Y — Worthless coal — Y secretary from Jerusalem — Negro problem — Wrist watch and darky — Programs at officers' club and motor-base camp — Kittens — Camp guarding German prisoners improved by Y — Cake made by Miss S. — Soldier from Beirut — "The Call of the Wild" — "I bet she could play jazz" — Creative small audience — Program in mess-hall.

T. NAZAIRE, December 15. — Of course, there are many things which I should prefer to have changed in my present Hfe, but I am really having an amazingly good time. The transportation problem is not an easy one. I should think that the Y man who has charge of it would lose his wits completely. He is a harried-looking man. I have seen something of his trials. Funny as it may sound, my horseback riding is now standing me in good stead. We occasionally ride in a dreadful old Lizzie 'bus, solid tires and no springs, benches that are not fastened down, and only curtains at the backs, so that if a big jolt comes — and it always does — one is in danger of going backwards through the curtains. The roads are sometimes terrible, and the result is that every one complains most bitterly. Last night, when we reached

home, Miss S felt almost ill from the jolting she had

received. But I can save myself. I may go up in a hurry, but I can come down when I choose. A horse does not always tell you beforehand just what he is going to do. When you have the necessary mental and muscular quickness to keep in the middle of his back, no matter whether he jumps up or sideways, you are much better prepared for a jolty machine and an awful road. I did not say so to Miss S., but I enjoyed the ride. It was bad enough to be funny.

Our one problem is heat, and it doesn't get verv cold here. I forgot. We have two other problems. One is drinking water, which we have to buy in bottles, at quite a good price, and the other is mud. St. Nazaire is the muddiest place on earth. And the middle of the streets is like nothing you ever saw in your life. There is, of course, a solid road bed, but on top is a coating of thick, rich pea soup, which beggars description. Half of the men go around in their hip rubber boots, worn in the trenches. Passing trucks splash mud clear up on the windows of the houses, and sometimes on passers-by. No one attempts to keep his shoes clean. As to the drinking water, it is perfectly awful ; has to be treated heaven knows how many times, before it is fit to drink ; and then it tastes perfectly vile. I can understand how it is that people are driven to wine.

It is said by those who claim to know that there is a distinct deterioration in the French mental processes to-day, due both to the amount of wine they drink and to the cigarette habit, begun at a tender age by the children. And as to the children, they have all been spoiled and turned into inveterate beggars by our good-natured soldiers continually giving them coppers. * * * j^^st evening I was talking to a young fellow who has just come back from Coblenz. He said the Germans there treated them royally. I said that that was more of their extremely efficient propaganda. He said that the common people with whom our men came into contact felt that the x\mericans were their deliverers from the harsh masters they have had. I was also talking to a Y man just back from the front. He says what the boys there most need is entertainment, and their letters from home. * * * j watched a washing barge one day. It was in a muddy, dirty river, and they brushed the garments with soap, rinsed them in this water, the color of the Chicago river, and hung them up to dry. No, thank you. Not for my clothes. The water we get here is queer. It is very yellow, and heaven only knows how my things will look, after three months of this place. * * * Like every one else here, I am counting the days until I can be at home again.

Saint Nazaire, Dec. 26. — On Christmas eve, after our program and dance, we were brought back home in the Major's car, at 12 o'clock. The car was a sedan, but I am ashamed to say I didn't see what make. We saw about 200 boys going to midnight mass in the church here. It seems that the church was packed, about a third of them being French. Then we went to bed, and I went to sleep. During the night I was vaguely conscious of a commotion outside the window, and a voice shouting things, and then I promptly went to sleeep again, and slept till it was time to get up. Miss S. didn't sleep at all, so she says. The noise outside was so terrific all night. It seems, judging from her tale, that the whole American army gathered underneath our windows. And the riot they made quite frightened her. Then they began calling off men into companies, and one after another the companies marched off. She can't imagine how I could have slept as I did. Sleeplessness is not one of my troubles, just at present. Nor is lack of appetite. I am always hungry.

And speaking of Christmas, I must tell what the boys did near Vannes. On a hill overlooking the camp they built a huge cross, laid two miles of wiring and put in two hundred electric lights. We saw it illuminated. You can imagine the effect. I helped to tie the Christmas parcels at Camp One. In each parcel were chocolate, chewing gum and two kinds of cigarettes. At that one camp they were making up five thousand of these parcels, all from Y money. There was a terrific amount of work connected with it, which falls on the Y force. The money sent from home is bv no means all of it. When I see how these canteen girls have to work, it makes me turn pale. They do indeed have to be as strong as horses to stand it.

Last evening at the Y we had a most gorgeous dinner, roast chicken, gravy, peas, potatoes, bread, cranberry sauce, nuts, raisins, chocolate, and some rare little things that looked like croquettes, about two inches long, filled with fondant, covered with chocolate and chopped nuts. Each one had two. The Y said that if they took in enough to pay for the chickens, at four dollars apiece, they would be doing well. In the evening we went to a camp and gave two short entertainments. To-day is the third day of sunshine we have had, and we are revelling in it. * * *

I have had a walk of about two and a half hours this morning, and have seen some very beautiful country. The birds are singing as if it were a spring day, and, best of all, the mud is drying up. * * Our present supply of coal is worthless. Miss S. has spent the entire afternoon struggling with our fire. I have simply paid no attention to it, sitting in the other room, and going for a walk when I got cold. The weather still continues delightful, and I consider my way of warming up much better than hers.

Dec. 2^. — Last evening we went to a camp of locomotive engineers. After our program, we watched the rehearsal of a very good darky minstrel show. It was being coached by a lieutenant with rather a fine face. Then, as we were waiting for our 'bus, we visited the secretary in his room. He was a most interesting man, a Syrian, with a college education, and a slight accent in his English, wiiich is otherwise perfect. He was born ten miles from Jerusalem. * * * Yesterday we went back to a negro camp we had visited shortly after our arrival in St. Nazaire. They were then a very delightful, responsive audience. Yesterday they were dull and unresponsive. The mistake had been made of telling them some time ago that they were going home at once, and now, as we were told by their secretary, they are very restive. Miss S., being a Southerner, understands negroes, and she says they are just like sulky children. She said that when a "nigger" won't sing, things are very radically wrong, and she tried to get them to join with her in singing some plantation songs, but they would not respond. It is certainly a problem how to handle these men of elementary minds, who can't reason things out, and only know that they want to go home, and can't.

Dec. 28. — This week we have three performances to negroes. Miss S. says that this would be almost impossible for her, were it not for her Christian Science and her natural feelings of right and justice. Southerners would ordinarily about as soon go out and put on an entertainment for horses in the stable. Not that they don't like the blacks, but they consider them a lower order of intelligence. And this happened, last evening. An entertainment party that was in our 'bus went to a certain camp and, seeing negroes there, concluded a mistake had been made, and wandered about until they found a white hut. A program was already in progress there, and it happened that Mr. B., our chief, was there too. So the spokesman of the party, a woman from Texas, announced, with a flash of her eye, that she would entertain no negroes. The argument waxed long and hot, but eventually the lady changed her mind and the party went back to the colored hut. Their frame of mind can be imagined. I hope the negroes did not feel it, or the good that should have been done would have been turned to harm. I imagine that many entertainments are being sent these negroes, probably quite a bit more than usual, because of their particular restiveness. About twenty thousand negroes are in this vicinity.

Before I play. I always take my wrist watch off and put it on the piano. Heretofore, I have always remembered to pick it up when I finished, but to-day I forgot. On reaching home I missed it, and rushing right ba'ck, I arrived at the hut and walked up to the piano, where a negro was playing. I asked him if he had seen my watch. He hesitated for a few seconds, and then drew it out of his pocket. Whether his hesitation was due to a slowness of wit. or to a quick survey of the situation from all its angles, of course I don't know. But it is quite possible that if I had not gone immediately, I should never have seen my watch again. There seems a sort of fate following that watch, first stolen by a house burglar, and now taken care of (?) by a darky!

The best hotel in Vannes, where we recently stayed for a week, is simply alive with negro lieutenants. And Miss S. — a Southerner ! She sputtered about it every little while, but of course they were not doing us any harm, so I simply laughed at her. They were many of them fine looking fellows, and behaved in a perfectly civilized way. It is really very pathetic when one thinks about it. Here they are, receiving attention from the French people — French girls usually prefer the attentions of a negro officer to those of a white private — are ordering white servants about, and are seeing what life is like to white people. They must now go home, and with that memory behind them take their place again as inferiors.

We recently gave a program for an officers' club. Mr. C. and I both felt that they made an ideal audience. I felt that I did better than I had done for a long time. But the others felt that they were cold and blase! Perhaps I mistook those two qualities for mere undemonstrativeness. Being undemonstrative myself, perhaps I imagined a greater interest than they felt. But the response seemed to me ample, and the well-bred quiet was a joy after some of the restless crowds we get among the boys.

A few weeks ago we went to a motor-base camp, and the audience appealed to me at the time as a particularly fine one. They are stationary, not shifting, as so many camps are. Last evening we went there again, and changed our program entirely. I tried for the first time, '*J"''''> Eaten by the Lion," and it seemed to go. I also give Kipling's "If," as well as the parody thereon, a short Service poem, and "The Birth of the Opal." Mr. C. was screamingly funny in his recitations. The secretary said that our program had improved fifty per cent. He is not of the flattering type, and had done something himself in the entertainment line, so I judge from what his sister said. She is, helping him in the canteen, and is a very nice woman. After the program we had to wait for about an hour for our 'bus. and so I sat by a nice warm stove, with a most adorable kitten curled up asleep in my lap. One evening at another camp we were invited into a little back room, after our performance, for chocolate and macaroons,and a prettv little black kitten soon made its appearance. I picked it up and stroked it, and found out that French cats like just the same sort of things that American cats like. It displayed great content and purred and tried to kiss me.

Last evening we went to a camp where German prisoners are guarded. When we have been there before, it has been cold and most unattractive, with candles only for light. Since then the Y has taken charge of it. Now it has a secretary, a little canteen and three stoves, and is brilliantly lighted ; with a good piano, as pianos over here go ; and instead of gloom and dirt, there is an atmosphere of warmth and light and cheer. The audience was very nice, and included six or eight officers. After the program we had a perfect spread at the officers' quarters.

Last night Miss S. conspired with the secretary, the corporal, and the sergeant, as to making them a homemade cake some time soon, they to furnish the materials. It seems cake is her specialty. She is not much of a cook, she says, except for a few fancy things. But eggs are almost impossible to get. I shall help eat the cake. '•' * * Later. The cake turned out a perfect poem ; but in making it Aliss S. broke all the rules I was taught to observe.

This morning at breakfast I met an interesting youngsoldier. He spent three years in a missionary school in Beirut, and three years ago he went through Turkey, Austria and Germany, with German troops, a two months' trip. The Germans have been so short of rubber, he says, that thev have used steel tires for their trucks, with a clever contrivance of springs. Last night at dinner I had a little talk with a young fellow. As he left, he said he was so glad to have had the talk, the first for six or seven months with an American woman. How often that is said to me !