The evening world. Newspaper, September 9, 1919, Page 12

Saris oy TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1919 i w the Signal Corps Girls “Stayed on the Job” Told by Grace D. Banker, D.S.M. (Only American Woman in France Awarded This Medal.) final Girl Who Kept Up Communications Between Gen- 'eral Headquarters and the Battle Line Describes) |..How Plucky Young Women, Sometimes Work- |. ing in Bomb-Proof Shelters to Escape Air Raids, | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1919 “Odd American Custoraies Amaze Filipino Girls ‘Here to Study + |The Misses Solis, Jara and Tirona Already Find Dress and Dancing, Subway and Smokingst Rouge and Romance Quite a Contrast to Way Things Are Done in the Philippines, and Don’t vil a - a With Pershing at Headquarters : IMPRESSIONS OF A STAFF STENOGRAPHER 5 Made Best of Unfamiliar Phone Apparatus and | Awkward Conditions and “‘Got Results.” By Marguerite Mooers Marshall iht, 1919. by The Prom Publisht the ink Co, (The New York Bvening Wold). 1 Cofps girl stayed on the job, ‘That is why Miss Grace D. Banker, who has just returned from } overseas to her home at No, 227 Van Houten Avenue, Passaic, was | personally decorat: ed by Lieut, Gen. Hunter Liggett with | By C. Leslie Sweeney. Coprright, 191 HEN I enlisted as a stenog- rapher, that I was to serve as an oMcer on Gen, Pershing’s the Distingtished Service Medal, an honor given to no staff was a thought that never en- other American “For exceedingly in France, Her citation reads: torious and distinguished service | tered my mind. That I should be ‘where I could observe the coming and —by untiring devotion to her exacting duties under try-{ Sinz of #0 great a ‘man as Gon. ing conditions—did much to assure the success of phone system during the operations against the St. Mihiel salient and ‘The story of how she kept up communications be- tween General Headquarters and the far-flung battle- line ofthe fighting First Army, speeding the orders that init of American boys over the top, working hour efter! quarters and did not come to a full unit after ui north of Verdun,” \ the Pershing was beyond my wildest dreams or fondest hopes. But that is just what happened to me, and from this time hence nothing can thrill) me. I was some days realizing that IT wos really at Gen, Porshing’s head- with the most old-fashioned and inadequate telephone apparatus, eat- | realization of the fact until I had fing army food and sleeping over & barn—was told to me yesterday by | seen that great goldier with my own Miss Banker, as she sat in the Gloucester hammock on her screened and Piazza, surrounded by mother, sister and black Angora cat and wapaper man and a newspaper woman, shaded subjected to the crossfire of Bhe still wore her service uniform of @ark blue and her jaunty dlue cap ‘with the crossed flags. On her cont ‘was © long bar of bright-colored ser- view ribbons, with two tiny stars set «| Was at Coblens and, ‘dyring the peace ‘when she is asked a question she docs ‘mot want to answer, “Personally, I think she should have ‘Deen decorated for the discretion of the Sphinx and the modesty of the vio- det. «~My experiences while politely Simmying ber fund of personal remi- Biscences for readers of The Evening * Werld convinced me that the impor- tamt American Army plans of battle with which Miss Henker necessarily ‘was intrusted were perfectly safo in her keeping, Even if she had been captured I do not believe there was any form of German frightfulnens which would have made her tell what the chose not to tell, “How did you win your decoration 7" Tasked. “What was your most thrill- fing experience at the front? What were the hardest things you' had to aor “I was not decorated for any one ect or incident—don't try to mek» me & heroine!” Miss Hanker protested, wth the pretty smile. suppose } won the citation just for being where I Was wanted and staying there and do- ing the work. Why, really, it doosn't geem to me I did anything worth tell- ‘bout. I had & brother in the 4th Division, and when I think of what the men fh the trenches went through I feel as if my experiences were not ‘even to be mentioned.” “But weren't you under shell-fre?” I persisted. “And weren't you in dan- @er from the aeroplanes during tho bombing raids?” “I positively refuse to do any bomb- Or phelling to-day,” she twinkled, war is fought! Yes, bombs did near us sometimes, but think of girl’ in Paris who were menaced the, long-distance gun and. who expect a bomb any movgnlight \ specially enlisted ag members of the Signal Corps of the U, 8. A. and most of them did all their telephon ing after joining the service, Before that they were artists, sculptors, teachers—college women, for the most ‘part. And they were #0 fine! Nobody overseas had anything but praise for the Signal Corps girls.” Miss Banker was in charge of a unit of some twenty girls when she! went to France in March, 1918. She, ~ wag the first girl to join the Signal Corps after we went to war, Before that she was not a telephone opera- tor, a has been stated, but an instructor jn @ school for ie operators in Newark. Her expert) knowledge of French was her pri- mary qualification for service, al- though she kfew all about the actual | dusiness of running a switchboard |and took charge of Gen. Pershing’s | headquarters service at Chaumont as/ soon as she reached France She was there for five months, then | was sent to the First Army and fol- lowed its headquarters through the Bt. Mibiel operations. Afterward she negotiations, in Paris, There were six girls with me,” she took up the tale, after more urg- ing from me and more hesitant smiles and lip-pursing from her. “Yes, of course we lived in the most primi- tive fashion while up at the front. In Chaumont we had. had a charm- ing house where all of us were quar- tered together, and later at Coblenz we, were delightfully comfortabie. With the army, however, we never knew where we should be billeted next. Part of the time we slept over a barn, Often we were in the French barracks of stone, not too clean and with no comforts except a cot apiece and @ wash basin between us, Really, though, a cot makes @ per- fectly comfortable chair when you are tired, And there wag this advantage about work with the First Army— when you were off duty there was nowhere to go and nothing to do, so you could sleep. Naturally, the ten- sion under which we all worked was high, particularly just before a bat- tle, when instructions were going on in every direction from headquar- tera, “We ate canned willy and goldfish with the officers’ mess, and we did our own laundry work. I tried to give the girls an eight-hour day, but in a rush we all worked twice as long if necessary, “We had to do without many tele- phone operating conveniences used in this country, | We had French appa- ratus and old-fashioned apparatus, and instead of sitting on high stools we had packing boxes—if we were lucky, Whenever there was thought to be danger of an air raid the men of the Signal Corps removed our boards from the. barracks to the abris, the bomb-proof shelters. There we ‘plugged In’ by candle light, “The connections between the com- manding General and the various persons to whom he sent orders, were made by us in the usual way, Com- munications were broken, of course, by the enemy, but 1 do not think we often got things mixed up. 1 knew a 00d deal about the plans for the ad- vances, and yet many of the most important messages were sent in other ways, because the Germans could tap our wires too easily, a thing which we could not know even when it did happen, It was a most wonderful year,” Mins Hanker concluded seriously. “And if you were to ask every girl ‘m my party aboot her ha hnow she would answer that she had none worth mentioning—and that if she was afraid, ‘at leas e never gait anything about it—and that her work overseas helped her in ever; le her a bigger ,® digger person ‘dignity with him. eyes, Was it at a formal parade in all bis military dignity that I saw him first? Mais non! It was in a leaky Y. M. C. A, hut at a Washing- ton's Birthday celebration, back in ‘18, and he did not have his military I shall never for- get my feclings as he entered with his escort ofoMcers, On his entry every epired by an electric battery, as a |tribute to his commander in chief. He passed down the aisle to bis seat, which was a collapsible chair, (and any one who over there and pat- ronized the “Y" huts knows that the chairs were ‘collapsible’ and re- spected no man's rank when they decided to collapse), a broad smile lighted his face and it was then that I knew we were going to win the war before the year was out. Some one, some time, said that the man who smies must win, and from Gen, | Pershing’s smile on that night I knew we were in for a victory, My firet.impression of Gen. Pereh- ing wag mado White I was one,of a crowd. My next impression was) gained when I met him alone on the; road not far from the "caserne where General Headquarters was located.) I was returning from “downtown,” as we called the seotion about a half mile down the rue. I saw @ car ap- proaching at’ a rapid rate, and -im- mediately recognized it as the Gen- eral's car by the four white stars gleaming on the windshield, All the | instructions Captains, Lieutenants (First and Second) and Sergeants in the training camps had given mo in the matter of saluting passed through my mind, and I brought forth my dest salute, snapped to strictest attention, and delivered it to the General. His car was going ‘The General's chasffyur was re~ quested to maintal miles an hour, forty at ieast; but. not too fist for the General to return my courtesy, which he did so well that I felt sure he had been Instructed by a certain hardboiled Sergeant whom I had met in my brief army career, I was fool- ing rather lated, when the rear whee! of his car dropped into a mud puddie and sprayed me with delicious French gray mud, Despite the mud I had learned ao lesson in saluting which I have never ftorgotten—the example shown me by Gen, Pershing making a more pro- feund impression than all the plead- ings and threats of the leaser lights who had tried to make a soldier of me, ‘As I was personal stenographer to an officer of high rank on the Gen- eral Staff and worked in the room directly under Gen, Pershing’s office, T wag in @ position to observe him in @ rather unique manner, It is cus- tomary in all armies to have the guard fall out at the approach of the Commanding Officer and above all for the Commander in Chief, As snappy as our guard was at Chau. mont, I don't know of any tnstance when they fell out entirely for Gen, Pershing, unless it was for some { formal occasion, such as a decoration by The Press Publishing Co. (The New York Evening World), |r something of the kind. ly recognized the General's Passed him and was well on its way across the court yard. ‘The General was very quick tn his movements and never waited for his car to stop entirely, but was ready to alight the instant it reached the entrance to the building, and was up the stairs with a bound. This spirit he passed on to the entire army, and especially those who worked at Chau- mont were inoculated with “Pershing pep.” I was told by a comrade in the Motor Corps that Gen. Pershing in- sisted on a schedule being maintained as he travelled about the country on matters pertaining to the army, For instance, his chauffeur was required to maintain a speed of forty miles an hour from Chaumont to Paris—thirty- nine miles an hour would not do. I have also been informed from other sources that the General was Very regular in his habits and rose every morning at the same hour, which was a rather early one to my notion, and went through a course of exercises, among which was a very brisk walk on the balcony of his home, regardless of the temperature. I often thought, when I was falling His morming walks or horseback rides wore finished before 7.30 o'clock. |out at revellle those drear mornings, that I would like to change places with the General, and that my first order would be to have the bugler) shot and then go back to bed until ten o'clock, I have frequently seen! him returning from a gallop at the early hour of 7.30 A. M., and on such ‘occasions he invariably stopped his) mount to observe us in our hiking. How very conscious we were of being observed by him, Every man felt his keen eyes on the back of his neck and one wag inaisted that the General always spoke to him. On being asked what the General said replied that he merely told him to “get in step.” The French authorities at Chau- mont insisted that they be permitted to take charge of the celebration of the Fourth of July, 1918. This they did and it 1s an occasion which will never be effaced from my memory, The town fathers had the town miothers «et out their formal evening clothes end high silk hats for the occasion. The programme consisted of a parade of French and American troops, fol- lowed by speechmaking from the ps of the Hotel de Ville and a re- ception by the Mayor to French and American officers. ‘The Mayor, the principal of the high school and sev- eral other dignitaries spoke and waved thelr arms beautifully, I un- derstood them whenever they said “Amerique," but that is all I got out of thelr eloquence. Gen, Pershing closed the speechmaking with words of exhortation and encouragement to the American troops. At the end of his speech pandemonium reigned. The French cheered as if they knew what he was talking about, At the When the little French kiddies pre~ femted the bouquet be kissed them close of his speech a little French swirl and boy of possibly six or seven years of age presented the General with a huge bouquet. He was de- Ughted and raised the little donor high in the air and kissed her “a la ' ) Tle was too fast for them, ‘The gentry scarce- car through the trees and called “Turn. out the guard!” when the car had francaise.” the day when Gen, Pershing kissed him just like a Frenchman, This act made a very profound improssion on the people, who were loud in their Praise of our General. duties of everyone increased the Gen- eral began to show the strain under which he was laboring, but he did not cken his pace in anything. After the signing of the armistice and the cessation of the bloody sacrifice, Gen. Pershing actually rejuvenated. By Christmas he seemed years younger. The job was done—and well done, the victory coming when the hour was darkest. He could now rest on his oars, ‘The war now over, every one began to get his few belongings together Preparatory to an early departure home. Gen. Pershing, however, began to prepare schemes by which the men could utilize their time profitably during the long time of waiting which | he realized must be, One of the most excellent features which he furthered Pershing the show immensely. was the opportunity offered to Ameri- can soldiers to attend French and British universities. Many availed themselves of this opportunity and recelved the benefit of training which had heretofore been beyond their reach. Other courses were arranged , for those whose education would not Permit of their entry into the higher institutions of learning. It was in a mess line in a building that had been used as a boarding school before the war in the ancient city of Langres that we learned we were to return immediately to Chau- mont, to give a special command | Performance for the Prince of Wales, who was the guest of Gen, Per- shing. This was incredible, and it | was not until 1 had floated around the stage as a blond Bulgarian that I realized I was not dreaming. 1 [almost forgot my cues watching the |audience that night. I thought surely that the General and the Prince |would be bored to death with our little comedy, but quite contrary to my expectations, they enjoyed it im- |mensely, The General seemed es- pecially delighted and laughed hear- tily at the Jests which, of course, had reference to army life. On another occasion we were or- dered to Chaumont for a week's rest to prepare for another command per- formance to be given in honor of the King and Queen of Belgium. The en- tire wardrobe was freshened up, the French women of the town being kept busy for three days washing and iron. ing. The beautiful bearded females Nor was the little chap forgotten. He too can tell the tale of As the months wore on and the The General Who Could Smile—A Lesson in Saluting—“ Pershing Pep’’—An Early Riser—An Act That Endeared Him to the French— Relaxation—Pershing and His Royal Guests—His Soldierly Bearing Pretty little modiste fitted thelr mas- culine forms into new gowns, Scen- ¢ry was painted on the “while you wait" plan, and the night of the per- formance we were especially instruct- ed not to touch the wings, aa they were wet with paint--some of them having been finished hs late as a half polite dispute over the seat of hour before the curtain was rung up. The General and his royal guests entered at exactly five minutes before the appointed hour of 9 o'clock; the three national anthems were played and the performance commenced promptly at 9. Much to the amuse- ment of the audience and the cast, who were peeping through the cur- tain. the General and the King en- gaged in a polite dispute as to who was going to occupy the chair of honor (we had prospered and had regular chairs by this time). The King won and the General occupied the chair of honor. The General was in an excellent mood and apparently enjoyed the performance a second time, His appreciation of our efforts did us an amount of guod and made playing the “sticks” easier, Later in the spring athletics wore developed, the results of which were displayed at the interallied meet re- cently held in Paris. These and many other welfare activities had the hearty approval and active co-opera- tion of Gen. Pershing. My last sight of Gen. Pershing was like my first—I saw him smiling. Tho garage men had made a huge push ‘The General rose and watched the Dushball game until he bad passed. ball out of old inner tubes and were pushing it around the Boulevard des Etats Unis, which we called “Our Street.” The ball was so large that it knocked a man over as though he were.a tenpin, The General drove by Always Approve. oad sous By Fay Stevenson Copyrinht, 1019. by The Press Publishing Co. (The New York Bvenine World). HEY made me think of the song “Three Little Maids From School Are We,” in “The Mikado,” only this time instead of being Japan- ese they are Filipino girls. They are the Misses Tere: Solis, Josefa Jara and Ramona Tirona, and they have come to New York to study Amer- icanization and social service with the intention of going back to the Philippines to instruct teachers and the public in genera! some of ‘our ways. But when I saw them the other afternoon at the clubhouse of the School ot Social Work, No. 11 Gramercy Park, it occurred to me that while they have come here to study our ways and possibly the American girl it would be well worth the American girl's time to adopt a few of the charming manners and courtesies of these little maids. “We were very much shocked,” said Miss Jara, “to see an account in Piven one of the New York papers that we did the ‘shatamie’.” “Shimmy,” quickly corrected Miss Solis as she blushed a rosy red, outside of the one little break on the name of our new dance their English and pronunciation are excellent, far exceeding that of the average New York Miss. “Well, shimmy, then," laughed Miss Jara, “but, you see, I didn’t even know how to say It, much less actu- ally dance it.” “But of course you do dance?” I and enjoyed the sport so much that be rose in his car and watched it as he passed down the street. This little act was typical of the man and dem- onstrated to the soldiers under him that regardiess of his high rank he was “a man for a’ that.” ’ The French’ people loved him and hailed him us typitying the spirit of America, They admired him espe- cially for bis fine optimism and wor- shipped him as a hero as only the French can worship a hero, Future years will hear many a little garcun answering to “Pairshang,” which stood painfully for hours while a By' J. P. Water is a wondrous blessing, good Just the thing for lakes and rivers Nice to park beneath the bridges Water is « wondrous blessing, but 4 Wr is composed of two gases, both dry, but which become wet when they get together. This often happens among men in dry territories, Water is found in many places, such as oceans, lakes, milk, stocks, on the knees, on the brain and recently on the bar. One becomes accustomed to hav- ing water in oceans, lakes and stocks, but water on the knee is something else again. However, this condition is easily cured by wearing pumps. If you suspect you have water on the brain, have a small round hole bored into your head, If water runs out, you have water on the brain, If nothing comes out, you have no brain. IGNORANT ESSAYS Copyright, 1019, by The Press Publishing Co. every mother will admit’ is some tribute. asked these three little olive-skinned ladies, all dressed in their native cos- tumes, for, to tell the truth, their very gowns themselves suggested a dance, With the exception that they have trains and a peculiar wired effect of soft maline about the shoulders, they would do for dance frocks for any of our debutantes. Two of the gowns were of satin and the other was of pineapple fibre, with flowers woven into the cloth. “Dance? Of course we do!” they chorused. “We do the fox trot, the one-step and the waltz, but not the sham—the shimmy, oh, mercy, no,” “But we didn’t come here to dance," said Miss Tirona, who holds McEvoy (The New York Evening World), WATER for washing necks and cars, indispensable for piers, cell for making rain and ink, it makes a drink, he got out of the Ark, he beat it for the grape juice fermented and drank himself cock-eyed, Jonah was another of those ardent water spaniels. His story about the whale, however, casts some suspicion on him, and leads one to muse upon the kick the stuff must have had in those days. Water falls upon us in the shape of rain, snow, hail and water taxes. It springs out of the ground at the slightest Provocation, and many placs have ooth hot and cold running water and never have to pay a Janitor for neglecting the fur- nace, A large percentage of the hu- man body is water. This per- centage is rapidly increasing Noah was the first prohibition- ist. He lived om water for forty days, The strain was too much for him, however, for as soon as since the first of July. In the not far distant future burial will consist in being poured ’ degrees of bachelor of arts, bachelor of science in teaching and master of arts from Philippine University, “And while it’s very nice to wear these clothes now I am afraid we would be pretty chilly this winter. You see, we have summer all the time in the Philippines, just the two seasons, the dry spell and the wet spell, Now we shall have to get some American clothes,” “Ot course you will want a tailor- made, for one thing,” I suggested, but all three looked at me in surprise. “A skirt and coat suit,” I added, “the representative sult of the New York woman, She may wear a business blouse with it and be fit for any ordinary occasion or a dress blouse and go to @ reception or the theatre.” “We never wear coats, it's too hot At home; the most we ever wear is a shawl, but usually a filmy scart.” ‘All of the girls say they “just love” New York with the exception of the subway. “Of course we have only been here a week and one day,” explained the little lady in tan satin, “but we have been on the elevated, the subway, to the Museum of Art and to the opera, There is #0 much to learn that one can hardly form an opinion in the time we have been here.” “However, there is one thing I don't like,” broke in Miss Jara, she of the pineapple Gowered frock, “and that is the way New York women smoke cigarettes, Of course a good deal of tobacco is grown right where we come from, but nobody but the wom- en who work in th: flelds ever thinks of smoking it, I shall adopt all-Amer- ‘{can customs, but I shall never, never smoke!” “And are you forgetting about rouge?” asked the little lady in white satin, “Well, of course I wouldn't think of ‘ rouging,” laughed Miss Jara, “because |for one thing my dark skin wouldn't look very well all highly colored, and then besides no one who is nice ever rouges at home. We all use white powder, but not pink.” “And then,” said Miss Solis and Miss Tirona together, as if an insple ration had seized them, “where are your chaperons? We see girls hue tling about with young men, on the streets, in autos, in your subways and even going into theatres with young men and no older women with them. Why, we never go to a party or anywhere witiout our mothers, oir aunts or some older person, And we never announce our engagements, until just the last moment, We feel Just a trifle modest about such affairs, and even if every one knows @ cere tain young man js fond of 4 lady and showing her a good deal of attention she wi:! raise her eyebrows, arch her shoulders and evade telling you a@aything positive, But as to flashing a big diamon. ring in every« body's face—oh, really, that is quite vulgar.” “Then you doy't have diamond en- gagement rings? I asked, “We simply have a plain ring, just 4 band of gold like your wedding rings, The flance gives that to the girl as an engagement ring and it also serves as a wedding ring, that being the only one given,” “Of course, we are just strangers in @ strange land,” said Miss Tironay “and while we wilt not smoke cigam ettes, use pink powder or go out un- chaperoned we greatly admire the New York girl for her breadth mind, her splendid mentality, her straightforwardness and her hospital: ity, And as to America itself*— “We are very t what has done for tual” they. a saint gt chorus, +e steht nee