Bellefonte, Pa., December 13, 1918.
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NEWS FROM SUNNY FRANCE. |
ee {
Interesting Incidents and Impressions
as Told by Miss Rebecca N. '
Rhoads.
The following excerpts from letters
written to friends at home by Miss |
Rebecca N. Rhoads, who is engaged |
in Y. M. C. A. canteen work in France,
will be read with interest by her many |
friends in Centre county.
In France, Aug. to Nov.
Well, I've done it! My very first
sale over a canteen counter was to-
bacco—Bull Durham. Think of that!
It was like going over the top. Real- |
ly I gasped; actually did, then laugh- |
ed. Certainly the irony of things.
And on a Sunday afternoon, too.
Already it seems as if I have talk-
ed hours to hundreds of boys. Of!
course, that may be exaggerated, but
it is wonderful, and oh, how glad they |
are to talk to an American woman,
and your heart comes up into your
throat when you think that in all
probability you will be the last wom-
an of their own well-beloved country
that many of them will talk to, for so
many of them go directly from here
to the front, and many never return.
But they are the bravest, manliest
fellows.
1 have to be very careful what I
write. Dare not say a word about the
military, what we have here, how
many eat, etc., or where we are lo-
cated. But I can say it is considered
the finest of all the camps, the most
desirable to be in, and there are such
nice women and men here in the “Y,”
and it’s great. We mess, and break-
JOSEPH J. QUIRK
SNOW SHOE
Killed in Action in France On Octo-
ber 3ist.
Private Quirk was a son of Mr.
and Mrs. Edward Quirk and was
born in Snow Shoe July 3, 1887. He
was called into the service June
29th, went over in August and met
his death in the Argonne campaign.
Before enlisting he was mine boss
for the Lehigh Valley Coal Co.
guerre and other badges of honor and
brave service well performed, came
along and said appealingly: “Don’t
stop laughing.”
But with it all you can’t imagine
how we long for news from home—
every one of us in this far-off inter-
esting old land. That is another
thing that impresses me, the age of
the country and the people, too. We
Americans, all of us, seem like chil-
dren of a later civilization. There is
a certain pathos in even the beauti-
ful and in youth, itself. Perhaps it
is because they have been so long at
war, and yet I think it is more than
that, for it seems to emanate from
the very buildings in Paris as well as
fast and mid-day meal with the offi- |
cers, in a nice big building, all togeth- |
er at long tables, with tablecloths, |
napkins, etc. And such plentiful, |
good fare that I am in despair of ever |
getting thin over here. The chocolate,
which is delicious, is served in big
bowls, plenty of sugar, butter, ete.,
and oh, bliss! delicious big, hot, white |
biscuit or buns for breakfast and |
white bread other times.
and women, eat in a little back room
of the canteen. Good cheer is the or-
times.
~ Qur hut No. 1 is a great long, wide ;
wooden building divided in half, front
and rear. I wish I could describe ful-
ly this lovely region of France with-
in the war zone, quite near the front.
Boche planes fly over here once in a
while they say, though I haven’t seen .
any yet.
The work
lonely expression to a bright, grate-
ful smile when we American women
speak to them. They just crowd |
i this week the
around the canteen and trustingly
hand out their money in their open
palms for us to pick out the price of |
what they buy, and then hang about
and talk and show pictures of their
wives, children or sweethearts, as the
case may be. Some days are of course
more interesting than others and it is
often hours and hours that we are
kept standing. I certainly can sym-
pathize with the boys in their desire
to hear from home and their disap-
pointment when the expected letter
doesn’t arrive.
But, oh! these wonderful men of
ours in the army! So patient, cheer-
ful and uncomplaining. They are
certainly remarkable. It makes one
feel ashamed of ever having complain-
ed about anything. They are prac-
tically all the same brave boys—rich
or poor, high or low, white or black,
cultured or uncultured, it makes no
difference. Just before I left the hos-
pital tonight I smoothed the headache
away into a quiet sleep of a great,
big, burly negro, black as the ace of
spades. And so it goes. This is “the
life,” sure enough.
The other night we made fudge.
Most everybody here craves candy.
That has been another of my surpris-
es, to see that the boys really seem
to prefer candy, especially chocolate,
to tobacco. They take tobacco when
they can’t get candy, of course, which
is much of the time, but they seem to
erave candy.
Every day and every hour has its
interesting occurrences and if only 1
could tell of them. One incident I
can tell, though, as it somehow im-
pressed me as one of the most pathet-
ic I've experienced since I have been
over. The other day a haggard-fac-
ed, tall, war-worn Trench officer came
to the officers’ hut where I was in |
charge and after lingering around a
little while said he “just wanted to
hear a woman laugh.” (I had, as us-
ual, been laughingly. talking with
some of our American men and he
had heard us across the street and
came over just for that.) And then
it flashed across my mind that the
poor women of France, almost all in
mourning and the better classes sel-
dom seen in public, had no heart to
laugh, saddened as they surely are
with the loss of millions of their hus-
bands, sons and sweethearts, and my
Jaughter was very nearly turned to
tears. Almost immediately after-
wards another emaciated, pale-faced
French officer wearing the croix de
here is enough to make
one willing to die with fatigue, just |
to see the faces of these hordes of |
men change from a grave, rather
| League of Bellefonte sent to
| Bertha Laurie a sum of money to use
in her canteen work in France and:
y received the following
1
|
League.
in the villages.
The work here is much more fasci-
nating and absorbing than I ever
So many, many differ-
ent personalities from all of the al-
ways interesting people of this land.
And then our wonderful army. How
proud you people at home would be
of your boys over here if you could
see them as I have. The manner in
Our sup- | which they accept all that comes to
pers we canteen “Y” workers, men | them,
only in suffering (you know I have
i been nursing in the hospitals now
der of the day and night and all the |
about six weeks) but in the monot- |
; : ih .
time, so you can imagine the pleasant ' onous #ppy Crow
“actual active fighting.
duties every day when not in
I often
do. The weather has been wonderful
lately and the air is simply great.
—once more.
REBECCA N. RHOADS.
ew ——
How She Spent the Money.
Several months ago the Patriotic
Miss
letter of acknowledgement:
France, Oct. 22, 1918.
| to me, also a great
| that the people of my home town trust
me to spend their money wisely in
| trying to give some comfort and hap-
| piness to the boys who are so far
| away from their homes and families.
| pleasure it is
| ey to spend. We have been buying
| loads of wood and have two open fire
places burning in our canteen every
evening. The rainy season has start-
ed and although it is not very cold, it
is muddy and dreary, and it would do
your heart good to hear the boys when
they come into the canteen and see
the fire burning on the hearth. One
stopped in the doorway and said:
“My, this looks like heaven.” The
man with him said, “No, like home.”
And as they sat before the fire drink-
ing their hot chocolate and eating
sandwiches we could literally see
their weariness leave them.
We are to move this week into a
larger house, where Miss Watts and
I are to manage the enlisted men’s
! club. With part of your money we
will have a party for the men on Hal-
lowe’en. With our larger kitchen and
two stoves we will be able to make
pies and doughnuts and coffee to give
| away that one evening. The boys will
| love it. They appreciate avery little
| thing we do for them, even sewing on
| buttons or mending their clothes, they
never forget, and we get letters from
| them months later reminding us of
what we have done for them.
Thank you very much again and
please thank all the people who were
interested in giving the concert to
raise the money.
BERTHA A. LAURIE.
— The Bellefonte electric fire
alarm is again in service. The work
of putting in repairs was completed
| on Sunday and it was tested out dur-
ing the afternoon. Naturally resi-
dents of the town who did not know
that the alarm was being repaired
thought a fire had broken out, but
| such was not the case. And now that
the alarm has been fixed it is quite
probable that a little oil will be ap-
plied to it at intervals frequent
enough to keep it in shape.
g % | waited to see whether it was to cease
their marvelous patience not | or continue. When the firing ceased
, back any,
i forward to follow them up. I don’t
| 1 don’t care much, now that we don’t
{ fore this.
! where he can do it.
I have just received your letter en- |
| closing check from the Patriotic
It was the greatest surprise |
satisfaction to feel |
| around at night and light matches
home, soon.
| I wish I could tell you what a great
to us to have some mon- :
LUTHER D. MILLER
BELLEFONTE
Killed in Action in France On Ne-
vember 10th.
Private Miller was a son of Mr.
- and Mrs. J. C. Miller and was born
in Bellefonte twenty-four years ago.
He was called into the service on
May 28th, trained at Camp Meade
and went across in July, being as-
signed to Company H, 314th infan-
try, 154th Depot brigade.
Corp. Robert T. Willard Details In-
cidents of that Memorable Time.
At the Front, Nov. 14, 1918. }. The “Watchman” last week carried :
Your letter dated October 17th was
received a few days ago, but since!
that time the war has ended, as you
will know long before you receive this
letter. It ended on the 11th hour of
the 11th day of the 11th month of the |
year 1918. !
We were in it when the last shot
was fired, and there was an awful
barrage put over by both sides just |
before it ended. Some of the shells |
were lighting pretty close to us, in |
fact, a dud lit within about ten feet
of where I was lying beside my em- |
placement. It actually raised me off
the ground, and we were mighty lucky
that it was a dud. As it was we did
not have a casualty in our whole com- |
pany on the last day. ;
Before we went into action we had
heard that the Huns had until eleven !
}
f
t
o'clock the next day to sign the arm- |
istice, so it was with anxiety that we
we received word that the armistice
had been signed we were certainly a |
In the afternoon some of us took a :
2 — _ . | walk to the German lines and swap: |
frig unl That a privilege it Is | ped souvenirs with them, such as byt-
! to be over here helping In wha tons, cigarettes and coins. They were
| all tickled to death
Sab : y i and one could see all around crowds |
wish I could write freely but I'll have | ,¢ orang and Americans talking to-
"to wait until I get home—real home | gether. a
that it was over, |
As yet we have not started to move
but instead we are moving
know how far we will take them, but
have to “jook” shells, etc.
Johnny Woods said that he was
going to send a cablegram home tell-
ing that all the Bellefonte boys are
well, so I presume you know of it be-
He is back a little ways,
My whole squad ‘is sitting here
writing letters and reading, beside a
big bon-fire, as it is pretty chilly now.
About a week ago we would have-been
picked off for having a fire this close
to the Boche. It seems funny to go
and have fires. I am hoping to ‘be
ROBERT.
ee Ap or mm
How They Celebrated in France.
The first letter to reach Bellefonte
since the signing of the armistice
came from Charles E. Gates, who is
in the ordnance department and lo-
cated at Calais. He wrote as fol-
lows:
France, Nov. 11, 1918.
As I write this sitting in my bunk
I can hear the wonderful sound of a
hundred or more steamboat whistles,
together with all the factory and rail-
road engines in Calais blowing the
news to the world that the war is fin-
ished. They have been shooting the
cannon and carrying on now for about
an hour. I am out of luck, as I had
a touch of pneumonia instead of the
flu, and the doctor absolutely refuses
to allow me to go out and see the cel-
ebration that is already going on. It
is now noontime.
To think that it is’ over is almost
beyond my comprehension, and as I
don’t believe my mind has been
dwarfed bythe war I think I will
shortly be able to grasp the magni-
tude of the event. I can imagine the
celebration that will be taking place
back in the big cities in the States,
as well as Bellefonte, but they won’t
be a drop in the bucket to what we
see here among the people who have
fought and suffered the past four
years. tiny
I suppose the next thing now will
be the time when the boys start home,
which, I am afraid will be a long way
off for me, as our branch of the serv-
ice, it is believed, will have to stay
and do the tidying up.
I hope to be out of bed in a day
or two, but as the weather is damp
and cold the doctor don’t want me to
get out and suffer a relapse, so I had
better take his advice. Listen! The
whistles are still blowing. Think
how great it is. Love and kind re-
membrances to all.
LAST DAY OF THE FIGHTING. KILLED IN ACTION IN
|
CHARLES E. GATES.
JACK B. LYON
BELLEFONTE
Twice Wounded and Gassed in Action
in France.
Private Lyon is a son of Mr. and
Mrs. W. A. Lyon, of Bellefonte, and
is about thirty years old. He en-
listed at Syracuse, N. Y., over a
year ago in the ambulance unit of
the 9th infantry, (Fighting Ninth)
and has been in France almost a
year.
FRANCE.
| Private Joseph Quirk, of Snow Shoe,
Paid Supreme Price.
a brief announcement of the fact that
private Joseph J. Quirk had been kill-
ed in action in France.
his having paid the supreme price
came to his parents in an announce-
ment from the War Department, and
the fact that he was killed on Octo-
ber 31st is taken as evidence that he
was in the big drive in the Argonne
sector which virtually brought about
the end of the war.
Private Quirk was a son of Mr. and
Mrs. Edward Quirk and was born in
Snow Shoe on July 13th, 1887, hence
at the time of his death was 31 years,
| 3 months and 18 days old. He was
educated in Snow Shoe and later went
to work in the mines of the Lehigh
Valley Coal company. He was ener-
getic and progressive in his work with
the result that at twenty-two years
of age he was appointed mine fore-
man. He filled that position for nine
years, until called into the service on
June 29th, 1918. He trained at Camp
Lee and was sent overseas the latter
part of August. In France he was as-
signed to Company I, 363rd regiment
of infantry. The fact that he was
killed in action shows that he did his
duty as a soldier just as he did in pri-
vate life.” Fone Bad
He is survived by his parents, a
twin brother, Patrick E. Quirk, who
was also a mine foreman for the Le-
high Valley Coal company when call-
ed into service on July 22nd, and one
sister, Miss Ellie M. Quirk, a stendg-
rapher in the office of the same com-
pany.
| LUTHER MILLER KILLED IN ACTION
NOVEMBER 10th.
Mr. and Mrs. James C. Miller, of
Spring township, received notice from
the War Department last Friday that
their son, Luther D. Miller, had been
killed in action on November 10th,
the day before the signing of the
armistice. The young man was call-
ed into the service on May 28th and
sent to Camp Meade for training. He
was transferred overseas in July and
was assigned to Company H, 314th
infantry, 154th Depot brigade. He ev-
idently was in most of the fighting in
the Argonne sector as letters written
to friends in Bellefonte late in Octo-
ber stated that he had been through
some fearful scenes.
Private Miller was born in Spring
township and was 24 years old in
June. When but seven years old he
was taken by his uncle and aunt, Mr.
and Mrs. George H. Tibbens, and they
raised and educated him. In fact he
made their place his permanent home.
He graduated at the Bellefonte High
school with the class of 1915. Fol-
lowing his graduation he taught
school two years at Roopsburg and
‘one at Clarence, expecting to return
there for the current school year.
Following the close of his school last
spring he went to Williamsport and
applied for enlistment in the navy.
He passed a good examination and
had his papers all made out. He pre-
ferred enlistment to induction into
the service but while he was waiting
for his summons from Williamsport
he was called by the local board and
like a good soldier responded. He
leaves to mourn his death his uncle
and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Tibbens; his
cousin, Earl Tibbens; his parents, liv-
ing in Spring township, and the fol-
lowing brothers and sisters: George,
Albert, Caroline, John, Lee and Ed-
gar.
FRANK CRISSMAN WOUNDED, DE-
GREE UNDETERMINED.
Some weeks ago word reached
Bellefonte through some of the soldier
boys serving in France that Frank H.
Crissman had been wounded, but no
particulars were given. His father,
W. Homer Crissman, endeavored to
find out from the War Department
about his son but got no reply until
Monday morning of this week when
he got a message stating that the
young soldier had been wounded about
September first, degree undetermin-
ed, which leaves him about as much
in the dark as ever as to his son’s
condition.
Frank was one of the old Troop L
boys, having gone out as a bugler.
When the cavalry was broken up at
The news of |
FRED MULFINGER
PLEASANT GAP -
Wounded and Shell Shocked in Action
in France.
Private Mulfinger is a son of
John C. Mulfinger and was born at
Pleasant Gap February 11, 1895. He
went out with Troop L, trained at
Camp Hancock and when the cav-
alry was disbanded was. transferred
to the 109th field artillery, going
across in May.
or mmm
JOHN ARTHUR WAITE
CELLEFONTE
Reported Severely Wounded in Action
in France.
Private Waite is a son of Mr. and
Mrs. George C. Waite, of Belle-
fonte, and is about twenty-four
years old. He was called into the
service on Nov. 5th, 1917, and train-
ed at Camp Meade. He went to
France early this year, and has
been in the fight six months.
AAA AAAS AAA AA AAAARAAATAAARIAATIAAAAINAIIIYNT NAIA
Camp Hancock he was assigned to the
| military police and it was with that
' organization he has been serving in
France.
ONE SON KILLED, ANOTHER WOUND-
1 ED.
{| Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Woomer, of
| Orviston, have received word that
their son, Merrill Woomer, was kill-
| ed in action in France while another
son, Floyd Woomer, is in a base hos-
pital seriously wounded. Both young
men were well and favorably known
in Curtin township and the sympathy
of the community is extended to this
family, which has been stricken hard-
er than any other known at this time
in Centre county. The young soldier
is survived by his parents, his broth-
er in France, another brether, Harry,
at home, and a sister, Mrs. Ethel
Confer, of Orviston.
GOTLIEB HAAG WOUNDED.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Haag received
a notice on Wednesday that their son
Gotlieb had been wounded in two
places in action in France on Novem-
ber 10th, one wound being in the left
wrist and the other in the right shoul-
der. Fortunately neither wound is in
a critical place. Private Haag left
Bellefonte with a contingent of na-
tional army men early in July for
Camp Meade. He was there but five
weeks when he was sent across,
where he was assigned to Company
H, 314th infantry. He was on the
fighting line twelve days before he
was wounded. y
WOUNDED AND GASSED SOLDIERS.
Among the Bellefonte soldiers in
France who have been wounded is
Fred Mulfinger, son of Mr. John C.
| Mulfinger, of Pleasant Gap. The
| young soldier, who was born at Pleas-
ant Gap on February 11th, 1895, went
to Camp Hancock as a member of
Troop L and when the cavalry was dis-
banded he was assigned to the 109th
field artillery. He went across in
May and got into action in July. He
was wounded on August 17th and
after recovering and going back to
service was shell-shocked on Septem-
ber 15th. At last reports he had
again recovered and was back on du-
ty.
Last week the “Watchman” pub-
lished an item relating to John Arth-
ur Waite, son of Mr. and Mrs. George
Waite, of this place, having been
from letters received by members of
the family it was not believed at the
time that his condition was serious.
The War Department, however, on
Monday announced him as being se-
verely wounded, and now the family
are in suspense as to just how bad
his condition is.
The last word received from Jack
B. Lyon, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A.
Lyon, was that he was still in a con-
valescent hospital, but improving.
Jack enlisted at Syracuse, N. Y., in
try and went across early in the year.
Last May he had a portion of one of
his ears torn off by a piece of shrap-
nel while driving an ambulance and
after recovering and going back into
active service he was again wound
and gassed on July 24th.
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR DEAD SOL-
DIER.
Special memorial services will be
held in the Bellefonte Methodist
church on Sunday afternoon at 2:30
o'clock in honor of Edward B. Brooks,
the young soldier of Boggs township
who was killed in action in France on
September 22nd, while in the per-
formance of his duty as a member of
the supply company of the 108th field
artillery. The services will be in
charge of Dr. Ezra H. Yocum and
Rev. C. C. Shuey, while Major H.
Laird Curtin will also bear testimony
to the dead soldier's career while a
member of Troop L, First Pennsylva-
nia cavalry. The Bellefonte mounted
machine gun troop will attend in a
body, and it is quite probable Col. H.
S. Taylor will be present and make an
address.
LIEUT TAYLOR BACK IN FRANCE.
“Am well and safe in France.”
Such was the cablegram received
on Sunday by Mrs. E. R. Taylor, from
her husband, Lieut. “Dick” Taylor,
who has just returned to France via.
wounded and gassed in action, but.
the ambulance unit of the 9th infan- the success of the people of his native
Switzerland from Germany, where he
was confined as a prisoner of war.
Liuet. Taylor was captured July 16th
while making observations and was
first imprisoned at Camp Rastatt.
Later he was removed to Camp Vil-
lingen. He was released the last
week in November and is prebably by
this time back with his cempany.
NEWS NOTES OF MEN IN SERVICE.
John Payne, who has been in serv-
ice in the U. S. navy, will be discharg-
ed on December 21st and will go di~
rect to Norfolk, Va., for a short visit
with his mother, coming from there
to Bellefonte to spend a few days then
proceed to Pittsburgh where he has
a good position awaiting him in one
of the large steel plants.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bechdel, of
Blanchard, last week received word
that their son, Joseph R. Bechdel, had
been killed in action on November
10th.
R. S. Taylor, a son of Mr. and Mrs.
W. B. Taylor, of State College, was
wounded on October 30th when &
piece of shrapnel pierced his left side
and entered his body, while another
piece struck him in the left shoulder.
He is now in one of the Australian
hospitals.
David Richards, of Martha, and Al-
bert R. Lucas, are also among the list
of wounded. fer rn
Among the first Centre countians
to return home from the other side
were John Love, of Bellefonte, and
Edmund Evey, of Valley View, both
of whom arrived on Sunday. They
were in the aviation branch of the
service.
Lieut. Elliott Lane returned home
last Friday, having been discharged
from the officers’ training school at
Camp Lee, Va.
Annual Meeting of Centre County
Farm Bureau.
Ee
The annual meeting of the Centre
county farm bureau, held in the court
house last Friday, was not as largely
attended as it should have been but
notwithstanding this fact two very
interesting sessions were held. The
forenoon was taken up with reports
of the president, secretary and treas-
urer and the farm agent; while a
number of farmers who had co-oper-
ated in demonstrations and various
| kinds of work took occasion to tell
| about it for the benefit of others.
| At the afternoon session there were
| several very interesting talks on dai-
| rying and farm bureau work in gener-
ial. Prof. Rasmussen, of State Col-
. lege, who is a member of the dairy
| division of the Public Safety commit-~
, tee, gave a very interesting talk on
| doirying as a business and offered
some good suggestions as to dairy
improvement in Centre county. Prof,
Rasmussen is a native of Denmark
and one of the principal reasons for
i land in dairying he attributes to co-
operation. The formation of blooded
bull associations and breeding clubs
| are phases of work which he avers
| should be adopted in Centre county
| as a means of increasing the quality
of the dairy stock.
| M. S. McDowell, also of State Col-
{ lege, gave a very interesting talk on
| farm bureau work as a state and na-
tional proposition. Mr. Gray, of But-
ler county, and Mr. Ross, of Lacka-
wanna county, also gave interesting
talks of the work and worth of the
farm bureaus in their counties.
Officers for the ensuing year were
elected as follows:
President—John S. Dale,
College. .
Vice President—C. R. Neff, Centre
Hall. :
Secretary and Treasurar—W. C.
Smeltzer, Bellefonte.
Executive Committee.—Milo B.
Campbell, Pennsylvania _ Furnace;
Col. W. Fred Reynolds, Bellefonte;
John Meek, Waddle; S. G. Walker,
Spring Mills; D. 0. Etters, State Col-
lege; J. Will Mayes, Howard.
The hunting season is about at
an end, but cheer up! Fishing season
will open on April 15th, 1919, if the
coming session of the Legislature
doesn’t monkey with the fish laws.
State
Subscribe for the “Watchman.”
“i