New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-11
Most of Y. M. G. A. Money
Tied Up in Supplies
Needed by All Soldiers
By James II. Collins

Right on the heels Of The first Liberty
Loan came the Red Cross, asking FOR
500. 900. 900. And close behind the see
ond loan. which ran into Food Pleds'
Week, comes the Young Mems ChrisHsi
Association, asking for S35,0oo,Ooa
Which seems 70 show that in war time
there is something going on all The
while.
Just few months ago the iouV
Mems Christian Association asked ic
5000 900 and got H. SO this new can
pa.cn raises two questions which tAi
average citizen may reasonably ask Be-
fore writing out the check Tor his COZ
.First~Why s35,oOO.OOO? And. sec.
ond What did they do with that ~
coo. 600?
Let US see il We can answer the las'
question first-perhaps the answer 70
one will be the answer 20 the other
An excited salesman. tearing up street
the other day in New York. ran into
q friend.
81 have just landed a big order" he
said. sold $4,000 worth OF iet'er'
heads to the Young Mems Christian
Association ..
He is conaected with a big litho-
graphic concern. Both OF them thought
that pretty big order. for il will keep
the presses busy for weeks. But II Is
only part of the total letterhead order
of the Y. VI. c. A.. for in the camps to.
day something like 100000 sheets Of
letter paper arc used by the soldiers
and sailors every day.
Soldiers Must Write
One thing is fundamental about he
soldier everywhere. He likes 20 receive
letters, and he wants 20 write home
He has mighty few facilities FOR VIII.
ing, because he cannot carry paper and
envelopes with him. and postage stamps
would be spoiled in his pockets IN
day, and there is no place around 81
army cantonment for him TO write, even
If he had stationery, except the I. D.
c. A. tent or building. Soldiers have
written letters on the backs Of laoes
soaked from beef cans, and on the mar,
gins Of newspapers, or any other 90
scrap of paper that they could lay iasi
hands on. So one of the best eXsmpls
Of how the Y. VI. c. A. spends mohg
is found in this letter writing serUa
for the soldier, which is only one Of J"
many activities. a..
million sheets of paper daily esls
for half a million envelopes ana
million postage stamps. Suppose you
got as close a price as a quarter OF
cent per sheet of letter paper and PEI
envelope. That would amount 10 oe'
tween $4,000 and $4,000 a day. or N'
100000 a year, not counting SUNDAY"
Il takes time TO print all this sls
tionery and ship it 20 the dihersa'
camps.
Tied Up in Supplies
Considerable supplies have 20 be esi,
ried ahead. Probably there Is SlO0N|
tied up in stationery all the time. !hea
there are the postage stamps. ZOE
$500 to $3.50 worth of postage stamp
are sold daily in each Y. VI. 1; =
building at a big cantonment, ana "
some of these cantonments have TOE
six TO ten separate buildings. the dsin
sales run from $4,000 70 $4,000. -, ~
the very reasonable estimato OF s:w
worth Of stamps sold daily m hw
hundred Y. NJ c. A buildings. the's
is 100000 involved. which IS monc
tied up permanently, for Uncle San,
gives no credit on postage stamps snJ
several days supplies must be earf'''
ahead.
Do you know what soldiers did iG
things Of this sort in the Civil VA.
They had 10 rely upon the camp Suusl
or go without. A very large part =.
the old army suffers stock IN trsI
consisted of whiskey. and any old serr
der who lived through that war W.
testify that the sutler demoraliZed ~
men as well as robbed them In "
war we have changed all that. ana 70.
Y. VI. c. A. has everything that wv
soldier needs in the way OF suppn,
games and amusements. and proNu
for these needs in the most wholes0"'
way.
Then there are buildings an We.
calling for a huge initial inyestm'''
fully s2.500.00O.
Erected 100 Buildings
In the big Southeastern Departmen.
of the army, one hundred buildlnt
have been erected since May J..
twenty-five different camps, amp ~,
hundred secretaries are now serNlss
100000 soldiers. sailors and marlh.,
On the Texas border. in the Southe,
Department. seventy-two buildings
five tents serve 3S0,0O0 soldiers sie..
twelve hundred miles of border wh...
are covered by four hundred se ser,
taries at the main buildings or mas,s
trips TO outposts in automobiles, nT
ing the troops supplied with Stationery
books, magazines, Photographs ~
athletic equipment