The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1917-06-18
HOW WASHINGTON
WAS CROWDED


Washington People Did Their Best
Hard to Realize Here Strenuous
Wartime Conditions in Capital
City
The editor takes the liberty OF !
printing the following personal let
Ter because it explains so interesting
i. and so well conditions prevailing
IN Washington during the reunion and
nov:
Dear Mr.. Sharpe:
i have just seen the last number |
of The Robesonian, and | feel sure
rat some of the veterans who came |
"a Washington do not even now real
,cs the pressure we are under in tax |
NO care of the people who are COM
INC here every day. There are people
Esre. on account of the war, from all
YER the world. The hotels were ali
full before any of the veterans came
=, me city. Our committee wrote
~ all camps and urged them to get
averybody who expected to come TO
Tyr;ta in advance; thousands of peo-l
ME came without writing a soul. All
vho wrote were provided for, and
VS. did the best we could with all the
rest
You people down home do not
realize that We are at war; you are
living in peace and plenty; you have
r,ora 70 eat than you can possibly
sat: Won have all the room You want
and more too. We live in a house
Win sleeping accommodations for
s;rb- people. 1t is full all the time.
nsrmanently. Mr.. Kenyon and II
s'ert in our sitting room, which Is
= nassagewav from the second floor,
md 'et visitors have our bedroom.
some Of my friends here one day
rsr. 70 five restaurants on Pennsyi-
vania avenue and there was not any
thing 70 serve them; everything they
lad was cooked and eaten. There
vas no food in the city which could
bs bought, not till next days supply
came into the market.
u send YOU our church bulletin
FOR Yesterday, in which you will find
an item asking the people to take
s ~ extra employees into their
homes. At present the city has many
Of them temporarily in tents; but
eha: is hard on the women employees.
-es.erdav | was at Mrs. Josephus
Daniels home and she told me she
kept an extra place at her table all
the time, and when she found some
one with no place to go, she took
him 70 dinner. DR.. Wood, pastor OF
the church of the Covenant, Presby-
1Itianl yesterday took twenty-five
Young men to his home to dinner.
He is a wealthy man and can do 1t;
il I had to take that many people to
dinner it would take more than
weeks pay to foot the bill.
This letter is not criticism or
q complaint; all the veterans say Is
true; We could not house them and
We could not feed them; but they did
not tell US they were coming. Know
ing Washignon as do, feel that. a
great many people will always mis-
understand and think they were not
treated with the hospitality that
should have been shown them. we
wanted to take care of the visitors;
we did all We could for them. Many
busy Washington men, among them
Mr.. Kenyon (whose father was a
Union officer took the veterans free
in their automobiles wherever they
wanted to go and showed them al!
the attention they possibly could.
spent the week before the reunion
at my home; it did not seem posi-
lie, even to me, that we were at war
hope YOU folks will never come ar
inch nearer it than you are at thl3
moment; l hope you will always bE
as we'll off as you now are.
Our offices here have more t.
do than we can we'll do, and this !:
a hurriedly written letter; but | az
want to let you know that if any
body was hungry here, it was not thu
fault of the Washington people, ou
was due to affairs which were un
foreseen and could not be helped. L
had time l would write you an ar
ticle for The Robesonian to print
but haven't. If you wish you mlgn
Just make a short statement OF al
this, so the people of Robson will
not misunderstood us. When thu
churches have to advertise in thei
bulletins for help to house people, yo1
can understand that the situation
"tute. The visitors here could no
know no VIKINGS actually were
times we do not know, ourselves, an
&c living right here in the center
things.
Il am always Interested inRobeso
and always am glad to do what
can for the folks down there. Wit
all GOOD wishes for you and for Tn
Rooesonian, / am,
every truly yours :.
"FODIE BUIE KENYON.
Washington, D. C.
l3l4 Kenyon ST., n. ".
June II, 1917.
This letter gives h2tter an
more vivid idea of the situation tina
%ny short statement we could max
from it, so we take the liberty
printing it in full. The news itel
published in last Thursdays Rob-
N1nian, givin gthe experience OF
veteran who had just returned hom