Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-11-22
SOLDIERS ENJOY
REST ROOM
A Haven OF Rest To Service Men
Of Army And Navy.
SUBSTANTIAL "EATS."
Writing Room Most Popular Next To
Dining ROom-The 23rd In
Evidence

sailors and marines, popular? For
the answer go TO the State Armory
on Bladen stret any night and see for
yourself To use the words OF one of
the soldiers Of the grand old 23rd In
fantry, This Rest Room is a Cod
send We enjoy every minute we
spend here. 1t is nice to have place
| like this to come to, nice to have
other people to talk 10, and we appre-
ciate the privilege"
And they seem to- From 5 d. m.
until II p. m. the Rest Room is a busy
place For soldiers and sailors all
roads lead thereto, and throng pass
es in and out at all times between
those hours. The helpers are busy
Mr.. Joseph NJ. Armstrong, who is in
charge, pending the arrival of a paid
Secretary of the Y NJ. c. A. familiar
with the work, extends cordial
/ greeting to all who enter, and he di-
4 rects them to various departments of
| the building. However, most of the
men who have been going there night
| after night are familiar with all
rooms of the building and now re-
quire no guidance.
4 After one weeks operation, the An
| napolis rest room has proved all, and
| more, that it promised in the way OF
a haven of rest and recreation for the
men wearing Uncle Sans uniform.
/ First of all. after dusty day Of
| target practice, drill and rifle prac-
| tice, they feel the need Of shower
bath Putting down a nickel for a
towel, many of them repair to the
bath rooms. After refreshing
shower and rub down they go to the
| dining-rooms in the basement where,
at long tables covered neatly with
| white oil cloth, each bearing a bou-
quet of chrysanthemums, the men are
| served hot coffee, sandwiches and
pie A cup of coffee and sandwich
is priced ut a nickel A good slice OF
| pie costs nickel The service by
/ the women in charge is excellent.
There are seven committees, of
seven women, for each night in the
week. and it was said last night by the
| cashier, Mrs. Mccarthy. that all these
committees are working harmoniously
and that there has not been the
slightest friction, although no two of
them have the same ideas. All defer
| to the great idea for the good Of the
government and the young men in uni
| form who have pledged their lives
and sacred honor to serve and obey.
Soldiers and sailors, mostly mere
youths. were seated at these long
| tables last night enjoying their hot
coffee, sandwiches and pie, and were
being served by Miss Jessup. Mrs.
Robert Barber, Mrs. Alex. Proskey,
Mrs. Bernard Wells. Mrs. Fred. c.
Smith, and one other lady whose
| name could not be ascertained.
Mrs. James Small was in charge OF
| the kitchen and is general overseer.
! One good thing is the system and man
agement. The dining-room and kitchen
are we'll provided for. Not once have
the supplies run short, although some
time there have been some two hun
dred soldier and sailor patrons. All
have been supplied and have gone
away satisfied.
| II is not the intention of the COM
mittee in charge to make" The one
| idea is to meet expenses and come out
even, and TO serve the men as cheaply
as possible, the most Wholesome sand
wiches and other things they desire.
One young soldier last night said
..This is my fourth visit to the table
here tonight. and have enjoyed them
all"
/ Another said: This is the only
place where they do not do u.s.
Everywhere we go it seems the prices
are put up because we wear the uni
form
All the men are a healthy, strong,
clean body of young fellows, for most
part well bred, with good manners,
courteous and polite. Most of the
men now in training at the rife
range opposite the Naval Academy are
| volunteers, and not drafted men.
Many of them gave up good positions
to go into the army when war with
Germany was declared. A large num-
her are men of the 23rd Infantry,
| which Is composed u AhSu AAoAA SFSAJ
state in the Union. and a finer set
of men cannot be found anywhere.
There are also many fine men in the
corps Of engineers.
The sailors are also a splendid
body of young men, and the army and
navy affiliate at the rest room in such
fashion that does one good to see.
Next to ~eats." the writing room is
most popular. Here writing ma
terial is provided free, and every table
| IS filed with young men Of both
branches Of the service writing to
loved ones at home. Scrap baskets
are needed, both in the reading and
writilE rooms, to help the men keep
the rooms tidy and neat
Several things were asked for IN
these columns a few nights ago, and
some of them--a chest OF drawers for
towels. records for grafonola and
| virtola, and other things were sent
Including magazines and subscrip-