dozen sandwiches. In addition, the soldiers and sailors were supplied 2,000 cigarettes, 200 bars of chocolate and 500 post cards. One hundred and fifty lunches, a box of apples and a box of oranges were served to convalescents who were unable to leave the cars. The expense of the Canteen for the month was $669.02 … Evening Telegraph | March 15, 1919 The local Red Cross Canteen received word last evening that 200 wounded men would pass thru North Platte last evening and asked that special
arrangements would be made for the supplying of these men with milk and other light foods. The [University of Nebraska] experimental farm sup- plied fifteen gallons of milk. … The 200 men were enroute to Ft. [D.A.] Russell convalescent camp [in Cheyenne, Wyoming, later Warren Air Force Base]. Besides these men, 400 overseas men were fed yesterday. Trainloads of healthy and wounded soldiers continued to pass through North Platte during the summer. On Aug. 2, 1919, the Canteen women served a special motorized entourage that included Kansas-raised Army Lt. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the future World War II Allied com- mander in Europe and president of the United States. The convoy was driving coast to coast on the six-year-old, largely primitive Lincoln Highway (the future U.S. Highway 30 in Lincoln County), an experience Eisenhower later credited with spurring his interest in the Interstate Highway System that Congress authorized in 1956. Evening Telegraph | Aug. 1, 1919 With the roar of the 72 engines, the drivers of the Motor Transport Train threw into gear the huge motor train, leaving Grand Island at 6:30 this morning bound to North Platte, [scheduled to ar- rive] here Saturday afternoon at about 3:30. This huge train, three miles in length, under the command of Col. C.W. McClure, contains 72 trucks, 250 men and 40 officers, all of whom will
be North Platte’s guests from the time of their arrival Saturday until Monday morning, when they will leave for Big Springs, the next leg of their journey. … The Red Cross Canteen will serve the men with ice cream and sandwiches at all hours from the local Canteen.
A month later, after 14 months of operation, the Red Cross shut the Canteen down.
Evening Telegraph | Sept. 5, 1919 The executive board of the Red Cross at their meeting Wednesday evening issued the closing or- der for the North Platte Canteen September 15th. This canteen has established an enviable record in army and navy circles for its hospitality and good service, and North Platte owes much to the Canteen workers for the untiring work these wom- en have given in placing the North Platte Canteen on the map as one of the best in the country. Over 6,000 men were served in the month of August, but the army, which has just about been demobilized, will not furnish sufficient numbers of transient soldiers [to] pay to keep the Canteen open any longer. Evening Telegraph | Sept. 22, 1919 In appreciation of the faithful work done by the la- dies of the Canteen, the officers, Mrs. Chas. [Anna] Bogue, Mrs. M.F. [Anna] Hosler and Miss Sarah Kelly, entertained the entire Canteen at a luncheon
Patriotic North Platte residents installed this “Welcome Home Arch,” shown here on Jan. 21, 1919, outside the Red Cross Canteen. Long since torn down, the arch bore the names of 871 Lincoln County men who served in World War I.
16 CANTEEN: AS IT HAPPENED
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