I
MAXINE ELLIOTT
AMERICAN ACTRESS SERVES IN
BELGIUM.
Captain William A. Clark, surgeon
in charge f Ward C-8, and who Was
in Belgium for several months after
German}^ had started through that
country on ruthless comiuest for
world power, writes of the service in
those dark hours by Maxine Elliott,,
the American actress.
RECALLS EXPERIENCES.
The recent success of the Belgian
Army in western Flanders recalls to
mind the early days of the German
invasion and the trench line on the
Yser river where the Huns were defi
nitely checked in October 1914. In the
winter of 1916 when I was working in
this neighborhood the line had not ma
terially changed—nor had it changed
during the long four years of the war
until ’the advance of the Belgians to
Roulers last month.
To one not calling this region his
home it is an unattractive stretch of
fiat muddy terr^iin reaching inward
from the rolling sand dunes of the
'North Sea coast, with winding canals,
flanked by roads and almost flush with
the ground level, creeping through
from the sea and here and there a
tower of an “hotel de ville’’ or sharp
spire of an “eglise” conspicuously
cleaving the dull horizon. Superimpose
upon this the low hanging smoke from
the trench line, the rumble of artil
lery, the hum of the menacing taubes,
the dismal gray stream of supply
trucks passing constantly up and
down, the full and overflowing cemeta-
ries and an ocasional lonely grave Ju
the dnues, the town of Oixmude to
uter ruins, Pervyse and Ramscappelle
shattered by shell, Nieuport destroyed.
Fumes with scarcely a building left
unstruck and the little seaside towns
of Adlngerke and La Panne constant
ly under threat of the Prussian guns,
and one has a picture dismal and de
pressing.
It was amidst these surroundings
that Maxine Elliott lived alone with
her French maid on a barge in the
canal near La Panne for eighteen
months\ distributing clothing to the
Belgian women and children refugees.
We visited her one afternoon^ taking
with us a Flemish peasant who'wished
to get some clothing for his children.
The barge was anchored to the bank
on the road side of the canal between
Adingerke and Fumes about two miles
from our hospital and was approach
ed by a landing gangway which lead
from the bank to the deck.
ORDINARY BARGE.
It was an ordinary freight barge
about a hundred feet long needing a
coat of paint rather badly but its name
still legible over the rudder and above
the stern floated an American flag.
The only entrance was the hatchway
at the end of the gang plank. No
I>ell or knocker was in sight so we
entered without ceremony and at the
foot of the stairs found ourselves in
front of a cook stove surrounded by
pots and pans, apparently we had en
tered the kitchen. The French maid ap
peared from behind some boxes and
THE CADUCEUS
we asked for Miss Elliott. At the same
instant Miss Elliott came forward up
a narrow aisle between packing boves
and shelves. Here was a practical
business woman still with all the
charm of the noted actress. She took
the names, ages and sizes of the chil
dren for whom our Flemish friend
came to get elothing, recording them
in an order book. Later we saw a
three-foot shelf full of these order
books containing a record of all peo
ple supplied and clothing issued
She showed us all through her barge
home. The forward half was the store
room for clothing, everything for wo
men and children to wear, even to ma
ternity kits and layettes, bright color
ed dresses, aprons, hoods and stock
ings, all clean and new in boxes and
on shelves classified in an orderly
manner with narrow aisles winding
around about them giving easy ascess
to every article.
FROM MANY SOURCES.
This clothing came from many
sources.' Some of it Miss Elliott had
purchased herself, some was sent by
her personal friends, some came
through various societies from Paris
and from America. At about the center
of the barge was the kitchen and that
portion toward the stern was the living
quarters. We were shown into her of
fice—a sort of den in its 'furnishings,
where Miss Elliott passed around her
cigarettes and we sat and smoked
and talked of the' peculiar situation
and of her work the."e and what she
had done. On the couch was a cover
with her monogram M. E. reminding
one of the curtain at her theatre. Over
the desk were a pair of swords cross
ed, a German rifie, a German officer’s
helmet, some hand decorated shell
cases of Belgium 75’s, a few pieces of
an airplane bomb that had fallen with
in a hundred yards of her barge and
other souvenirs of the war.
She had come to Belgium soon after
the beginning of the war and had been
given this barge by the military au
thorities and aided and protected by
them had carried on her useful work
at the time and place where it was
most keenly needed. She bud been in
the same place for more than a year
although the barge was capable of be
ing towed to any other point up or
down the -channel. Soon after this, at
the request of the Queen, she moved
to another town farther in from the
coast where she continued her good
work for some months longer and
when she finally left Belgium she was
decorated by the Queen with the Bel
gian Croix de Guerre. i
As we were returning to La Panne
our Flemish friend, whose English was
as bad as our French, said: “She speak
French partly well!”
CAPTAIN WILLIAM ARTHUR
CLARK.
By
What is the difference between an
apple and a pretty girl? One you
squeeze to get cider and the other you
get ‘sider to squeeze.
Why is the freight of a ship like
a locomotive? Because it makes the
cargo.
11
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