El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-08
By WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE

organized influence at work for the
salvage of our men in this dreadful
social cataclysm are organizations
like the Y ". c. A And the one big
does is to combat lonesOmeness in the
men. The first thing the devil does
to a man before grabbing him. either
at home or abroad. is to smear that
man over with lonesomeness- And
the army lonesomeness is an acute
and awful experience To combat
that lOnesomeness. the Y NJ c A.
must spend literally hundreds of mill
lions of dollars in this war.
The Brighter Side.
Now. having presented the black
side of the picture. one may be justi
fled in presenting the brighter shades
Imagine a great camp containing
thousands and thousands Of young
men living in barracks or billeted
upon the population. then imagine,
somewhere in that camp, a long
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 90 feet long in
cases-and from so to IS feet wide.
It is built of boards according to an
approved pattern made by American
engineers 1t IS one-story and as
weil-liEhted as economy Of fuel in
the winter viii permit II has a hip
roof and inside the rafters often show.
though sometimes they are covered
with composition board and wallpaper
Generally the floors are Of dirt COW
cred with sand or sawdust, though
sometimes board floors are available.
To AmuSe sammy
Scores and scores of writing desks
covered with writing paper are scat
tered about the place. along two sides
of a long central aisle. and some
times two. sometimes three pianos are
about the room. Billiard tables. ia
bles for al sorts of games. are scat
rara1 rhn writing desks and
at one ed Of the room Is a counter
and at the counter are three or four
or half a dozen American women.
selling chewing gum. chocolate. toilet
articles. various small articles Of
mems furnishings like carriers. hat
bands. cuff buttons or small jewelry.
and a variety of things that the SOL
der needs in his daily life
Selling these trinkets is but q
small part Of the American girls job.
Il is her job to jolly along. the boys
10 talk 10 them about anything in the
world that interests them; TO give
them always the cOmpanionship of the
women Of their kind: TO discuss their
home affairs. or their love affairs. or
their military affairs, and TO make
friends with the boys. These women
are generally mature women in their
late twenties. early or late thirties,
who know the American youth.
The English Camp Mother.
In addition TO this. many Of the
English Y N. c A. huts have camp
mothers who take a motherly as well
as a sisterly and friendly interest in
the boys. and doubtless some similar
will be made TO mother
our American boys also In every
large camp is another hut, not unlike
the one just described except that II
has at one end or one side, a stage.
This stage is well equipped with all
kinds Of stage machinery for shifting
scenes and for lighting, and on this
stage every night amateur shows are
given IN every group Of 10000 men
or so. viii he found enough good act
ors. professional actors as well as
others, 70 keep a performance staged 4.
every night with the bill changed 4
every week Into these big amuse- +
ment and recreation buildings the I
En- glish-speaking soldiers of Europe .
,rowd every night They are the .
great safety valves Of the army
The Need Is Realized.
The French at first did not see the
leed for these safety valves. and Il .
vas not until within the year thar .
he French have seen the wisdom OF .
providing places for recreation and F
amusement and relaxation for the
men Indeed at first the British did
rot see the need for these things as
5eenly as they should have. and as a
-esult-One must speak plainly in or
Ter 20 have the need emphasized
Turing the first year of the war. IL is
aid by competent authorities. 0.0Og
British troops were laid out Of the
inc BY social diseases More than
hat, so common were these diseases
imong the soldiers that the shame of .
hem was gone and many a boy with
ear in his heart. preferred TO be in /
he hospital camps of those disabled
Nth diseases than TO 20 on the fir
nE line. And so a horrible condition
Prevailed That condition is all
hanged now. II was one Of the
hings that had to be learned with
he first year Of the war Tt is les