The Elbert County tribune., 1907-05-16

at the front. And. naturally. every
letter written told of the comforts and
pleasures provided by this Young
Mems Christian Association. Could
the most bigoted Buddhist, in the re-
motest rural region. cherish ill-will
toward religion that was so helpful
to his son and his neighbors?
Bathhouse. teahouse, barber shop,
music hall, library. tailor shop. writ
ing room and lounging room were all
combined in these Y. NJ. c. A. quar-
tiers. The men were supplied with
/ innumerable games. including base
ball (the American national game has
become ubiquitous). archery, fencing
and fishing tackle. This last enabled
the men to vary their meager diet and
at some places literally hundreds of
men would be found lined up along
the bank of a stream fishing for fun
and dinner. II takes little imagina-
ton to read into the following figures.
just issued. a novel and far-reaching
ministry that fairly stirred the
nation, and called forth from every
general in the field. and from the
prime minister and minister of war,
/
and gratitude. Three quarters of a
million different individual soldiers
were touched by the work. About
| i.566,000 soldiers entered the IL diff
ferent branches during the war, some
men more than once, of course, which
explains the enormous total Eighty
eight thousand obtained buttons, SOAP
| thread, patches, etc. Books were bor
rowed by $4,000 men. and 152 900 used
the associations barber supplies. The
laundry facilities of single branch
were employed by $4,000 soldiers. In
addition, hundreds of visits were made
by the workers to hospitals and bar
racks and camp at distance from
the association bases.
After the days work was done, the
secretaries generally had to stay up
late at night putting the overworked
hair-clippers into condition for the
morrow. The wounded mems hair
! was cut by the secretaries themselves
pathetic incident of the sort OF
ministry required is related by Secre-
tary Hibbard: "One day a man ac-
costed him with: Will you please wash
my faceY l looked at him and saw
that he certainly needed 1t, and that
both arms were in slings, his hands
having been shot away. He had not
had chance to wash his face for two
weeks before he was wounded. SO
started in. But soap and water had
no effect on that accumulated dirt, so
| finally had to scrape the man clean.
Then l cut his matted, bloody hair.
and when ! go. through the man was
weeping for gratitude. He could not
utter word of thanks-and when the
poiiteness of the Japanese deserts
him, he is in a pretty bad way"
New Feature Of the Army.
All this work was done by force
of only Al secretaries, the Americans
who Initiated and largely directed 1t
being c. V. Hibbard, v. w. Helm
George Gleason and G.. S. Phelps.
There was an abundance of volunteer
help on the part of the soldiers. and
by military details officially appointed.
The officers themselves freely CO.
operated. In the matter of outdoor
sports and indoor entertainments the
soldiers gave unlimited assistance.
But the best friend of the secretaries
was the graphophone, OF which the
men seemed never to tire. Now one
hears these machines at work day
and night all over japan.
Since the return or the army, per.
manent Y. NJ. c. A. headquarters have
been established. by the urgent re.
quest of the army officers. at Liaoyang
and at Port Arthur. The governor.
general of Lioayang peninsula made
a personal subscription of thousand
yen for the continuance of the work
At Port Arthur the military officials
turned over to the association and
agreed to keep in repair. beautiful
Russian cathedral to be used as Y.
NJ. C. A. headquarters. The most
active Y. NJ. c. A. in the world was
probably at Dalny: as many as 10000
soldiers passed within its portals In a
single day. When the main army was
returning home 1t ministered to more
than half a million men. One OF the
Japanese secretaries of the associa-
ton has gone into rescue work at
Dalny for, while the army was kept
absolutely free from these camp fol.
lowers during hostilities. food of dis
solute women, recruited under the
most pitiable circumstances. has since
poured into Manchuria.
Touching the Nation Through the
Army.
The part that the army bas played
in the modern religious history OF
Japan is more considerable than