Woonsocket High School - Quiver Yearbook (Woonsocket, RI)

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THE QUIVER 13 CANADA’S HELP IN THE GREAT WAR We, the people of the United States, have been so engrossed in our own part in the great world struggle for democracy that we have not realized the splendid work which Canada has accomplished. The people of the United States are to have the honor and glory of being, to a large extent, the deciding factor in bringing this terrible war to a happy conclusion; however, had it not been for the brave countries which entered the war long before the United States did, we should not now be receiving this praise. Canada, in the beginning of August, 1914, was totally unprepared lor war, but she felt it her duty to help her mother country. As for military organization, she had none. Although there were 60,000 militia, they had had little training, and had taken their duties lightly. The national spirit rose to the occasion, and when the call for 25,000 vo.unteers to go overseas came, not only 25,000, but 33.000 responded. By October. .918, there was a total of 500,000 enlistments, and of these 450,000 were in Europe. Canada later developed the draft system. In the early days, the casualties were tremendous. She was short of artillery and of rifles, and was unprepared for the poison gas which Germany launched upon her. Up to the last of June, 1918. over 43,000 had been 1 i led. and over 115,000 were wounded or prisoners. In the second battle of Ypres, the Germans used their first poisonous gas. This was sent against Canadians and French troops from Morocco. The Moroccans broke and fled, but the Canadians stood firm. Although greatly outnumbered, they charged against the Germans. Ihe enemy believed they had a large force, so, instead of pushing through, ihey withdrew. The next day reserves were brought up, and ( rlais was saved. But for the brave Canadian boys at that time, the course of the war would nave been very different. The people of the United States think our country has done re-r.iark.ib’y well in gomg ’’over the top in all the Liberty Loan drives. However, in comparing the one hundred and ten million people of the United States with the seven million people of Canada, we find that our neighbor on the north has done even better than we have. At first she thought she could do little toward financing the war, and the mother country advanced money to the various dominions at the same rate • he herself had to pay; but in 1915, Canada began to rely on herself. From that time up till June, 1918, she raised a total of $970,000,000 in response to various calls requesting an amount of $551,000,000. The Canadians, not realizing what they could do, surprised themselves.

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12 THE QUIVER Hangman’s Corner, West County, Me., July 21, 1918. Dear Hattie: Hangman's Corner is a very pleasant name; it is so very cheerful, isn’t it? But we don't mind that, for it will prove to be an attractive place, we believe, although we didn’t catch a glimpse of its “company manners’’ unti. this afternoon. At three o’clock, Thursday afternoon, the day of our arrival, the heavens opened a id the rain descended; for three days and three nights the rain beat an incessant ta.too on the roof, but it has entirely stopped now. Citizens, wearing clumsy rubber boots, are splashing down the road, ankle-deep in water. Since we are provided with rubbers only, we may not have the privilege of joining them. I have no idea how I shall mail this unless my fairy-godmother turns me into a duck. We have a quaint little cottage, shaded by maples and white elms. There are a kitchen, a living-room, and a hall; we have turned the bedrooms into dressing rooms, for we all sleep out of doors on the back porch. Then there are a tiny barn and pasture for the Jersey cow. We have a beautiful flower-garden ard a useful vegetable one; the flowers look rather bedraggled now after their drenching of rain. We are wondering how so pretty a little hamet ever acquired such an ugly name as Hangman's Corner. Friday evening, as we sat around the fireplace, telling stories, chiefly of ghosts, Edna suggested that each one of us should invent a reason for the naming of it. Louise said that in the days when hanging was a favorite form of punishment, a hangman, who had become extremely wealthy, had built the big house which stands at the corner of the roads for a country home and the place had borrowed his title; but Annie was more blood-thirsty, holding that the name was a corruption of Hanged-Man’s Corner and that some un scrupulous horse-thief had been lynched there by an infuriated mob. Jane admitted the possibility of the name’s being corrupted, but stated the cause as suicide. Perhaps, when we discover the real reason, it will not be as creepy as these. We have not yet summoned sufficient courage to inquire into the matter. Everyone says it so glibly, mentions it so casually, that I suppose it means nothing more than home to them. We think we shall be settled by next week Thursday and we shall be very glad indeed if you will come to visit us during your week’s vacation. We can offer you a bed on the haymow beneath a big, open window, or one on the sleeping porch if you prefer. Cordially yours, ELSIE MOWRY, '20.

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14 THE QUIVER In addition to paying for the upkeep of her troops, Canada granted war credits to the Imperial Government of $532,000,000, with which to purchase foodstuffs, munitions, e'.c. She also loaned them $200,000,-000 more. In spite of this the country was never before so wealthy. The expenditures for war purposes, up to October, 1918, were about a billion dollars. Much of this was raised by taxes. But more than men and money was needed. There was a pressing need for munitions. Canada had never been a great manufacturing country, but again she surprised herself. She supplied over 60,000,000 shells, and munitions valuing about $ 1,00c,coo,oco. She also helped in ship building, and in 1918 turned out about Sc0.000 tons of new shipping. In aircraft she not only produced about 350 planes a month, but she manned these airships. The people responded nobly to all appeals for the relief of the suffering. They gave generously to the Canadian Patriotic Fund, which looks after the wives, children, and dependents of the men at the front; to the Red Cross; to the Belgian Relief Fund; and for the military work done by the Y. M. C. A. The Canadian troops were regular demons in their attack. When the future of humanity was at stake, they were glad that, as part of the British Empire, they were allowed to be a factor in the great world struggle. The Germans expected them to stay out and could not realize why they went in. At first the boys were influenced only by patriotic reasons, but they soon came in contact with German brutality and their feeling became vastly deeper and more intense. The following is one incident which intensified their feeling: Lieutenant Holt of Winnipeg returned on leave of absence, and brought with him as a souvenir a little doll. In one of the early days, his regiment was forced back by the enemy through a Belgian village. He stopped at a small house to ask directions, and a little girl of about seven ran out and gave him her doll, saying. “Please take my dolly to a safe place.” To please her he took it. Next day the Canadians recaptured the village, and he at once went to see how the child had fared. He found her lying across the threshold, dead, killed by a German bayonet. It has been no selfish struggle, and like the people of the United States, Canada had nothing to gain. She, like us, sought no territory, no indemnity, no advantage; but, nevertheless, was glad and proud to have been in the war. The United States and the British Empire have been helping each other in this great struggle, and will continue, we trust, through the centuries to come, giving mutual aid and strength The Germans have succeeded in unifying the Anglo-Saxon world. DOROTHY MOWRY, ’19.