"TOUT DE SUITE" CORNER

Otago Witness, Issue 3313, 12 September 1917, Page 37

"TOUT DE SUITE" CORNER

NEAR THE HINDENBURG LINE

(Br a Y.M.C.A. Worker.)

Have you learnt to say " Tout de suite " yet? If not, you must do so "tout de suite" before the boys come home. It is one of our most popular adaptations from the French. "Toot sweet" we call it, and use it constantly. An officer likes to be obeyed "Toot sweet." We all want the war over "Toot sweet." If your chum's waiting and getting impatient, you tell him you're coming " Toot sweet." At a Y.M.C.A. counter we try to serve our customers "Toot eweet." Compree the idea? Yes, that's it, anything to be done immediately, without delay, is to be done *' Tout de suite."

So you see our address, "Tout de suite" Comer is somewhat boastful—at least, it would be if we had invented it ourselves. As a matter of fact, the men christened us, and we proudly accepted the title. There is an interesting story of a piece of Y.M. work in the way we were able to earn so enviable a name.

I think Providence must have selected the spot for us, and Providence certainly protected us while we occupied it. It Was at the junction of five roads, the most advanced canteen of any sort on the most advanced and most important sector of the British front at that time. From the moment we opened, a month ago, our doors have never been shut, and our boilers have never been out. Night and day men have been served with tea, cocoa, coffee, biscuits, and cigarettes, and not one penny has ever been taken. That's why we were "Tout de suite Corner." Customers can be dealt with "Toot sweet" when there's no money to take and no change to find. No statistics of the actual number of men served have been kept, but it must have run into tens of thousands. Forty-five urns of tea were made one night between eight in the evening and five in the morning. Generals, majors, captains, indeed, all ranks up to full privates, have been among our clientele. We had a monopoly of the trade of the whole district. There was no other canteen anything like so near the line. And the men marvelled to find even the Y.M. up so close. They marvelled still more when at night on several occasions a Y.M.C.A. worker appeared in the trenches, having taken a load of biscuits and cigarettes for free distribution there.

A cup of hot drink, a packet of biscuits, and a fev cigarettes do not sound much, but they mean a great deal to men out here, if they can get them at tiio right place and moment. Men came to us straight from the trenches, shelled and suffering lessen almost to the very doors. They oame dazed, weary, worn to the last extreme of human endurance, and a cup of cocoa, biscuits, and a smoke made the difference almost between life and death.

"" By Jove, that's good—that's the first warm drink I've had for five days." "Thank God for that—that's saved my life." 40 These are the expressions you could hear a score of times in any quarter of an hour at the counter at night. One man staggered up, panting: "I'm done. Can I leave my rifle and pack here? I can't carry it another yard!" "All right, chum; let's have it." We took away rifle and pack, gave him his cup of coffee, biscuits, and cigarettes, and in about five minutes' time he camo again. "I say, chum, let's have my rifle and pack. I'm all right now." Walking wounded by the hundred have been served, scores of wounded Germans have partaken of our hospitality, men gassed, men buried and dug out, men suffering from shellshock, men utterly broken by the strain of war have rested and been cared for, and sent on for further treatment.

It must not be forgotten that the horrors of war at tho front are at least equally great for officers and for the rank and file, and officers of all grades have blessed "Tout de Suite Corner." They have lost brother officers and men in the trenches, coming out of the trenches, on the way down, and have literally fallen into our chairs with "My God, this is awful; this isn't war, it's murder, human beings oan't stand this." And the Y.M C.A. welcome, tho cocoa, biscuits, and cigarettes have worked their miracle with them. Notes for ten, twenty francs have been offered us again and again, but we have always refused, jealous of our reputation of never having taken a penny. And the Y.M.C.A. will not be the loser. "Well I shall do something decent for the Y.M.C.A. after the war,'' said one in my hearing to a brother officer, "send them a cheque for £2O or bo." "Yes, I reckon the Y.M. will never want for money after this," said the other. One would like those who are familiar with our palatial huts at the bases in France and at home to see the buildings, or rather bits of building, that serve as hula near the front. "Tout de Suite Corner" was a fair sample. It was a part of what was originally stable buildings. All had been completely wrecked by shell fire except one room —the only structure of any kind left standing anywhere on the crossroads. Ono side of this was shot away and served conveniently as a window counter. The floor was some two feet deep in horse litter, that we were never able properly to clear. There was just sufficient ceiling loft to concentrate the rain into the room, and then the floor became morass. You wouldn't havo paid a big rent for ''Tout de Suite Corner."

One has to confess that life under such conditions is pretty rough and not without its dangers. Our billet was another bit of stable on a par with the hut. Bosche gas was an ever-present danger, and to bo out of reach of one's helmet was practically suicide. Our position on a crossroads was sufficient to ensure us a good share of Fritz's attention. Our customers sometimes disappeared below the lovel of tho counter when a ' shell whined and burst ominously near. Bits of debris have hit the wall, and new shell-holes constantly appear on this side and that. But a kindly Providence watches over "Tout do Suite Corner," and the frequent prophecy of the men, "It's bound to go up some day," has not yet been fulfilled.