The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-11-19

ana all Appliances ana means 10 pro-
duce the drama.
Malmberg told me about this con-
test, and l wanted to see it. 4
thought l knew about Where it was.
| figured il to be near the end of the
great maSnet-shap ped camp, whose
TWO tips reach toward the Long Is
land Railroad station, and gently
draw the rockies into its arms as,
they get off the train
| started eff for this show. l re
member that | sot on an undertook
ed thCrougnfare known as Upton
Boulevard. This interesting street,
where visible, is SO winding that ii
gently kisses itself on the back OF
the neck So did l, almost. Pretty
soon | got lost. l asked a soldier the
nearest way to the nearest Y. NJ. {.
A Soldier shrugged his shoulders
and replied, No spick English" l
asked another soldier. He looked at
ME wist1ully, as though he envieo
me my knowledge of the well-knoWn
American speech. He replied, sadly,
Me Greek-a boy" l tried one more,
and he replied at top speed-but
couldn't understand him, having very
little Slovak and less Esthonian.
And then l began to see what my
friend Humphreys Nichols, over in
the Intelligence Department., meant
when he said-not sneeringly, but
just with gentle irony-"This ought
to be called the Foreign Legion
Great Scott, think of it! A dlvl-
sion of American troops, many OF
whom can't speak word of English.
| was told that there is one man In
camp who has been tried with every
language known to the interpreters,
and they haven't struck his favorite
yet There's a captain who has If
teen men in his company who cant
understand our tongue. There's d
major who was told that he would
command a battalion of negro troops.
and it's said that when his fellow Of
ficers jollied him a little he replied,
That's all right, fellows, go to it.
But I'll have the only native Ameri-
cans in the crowd, and l won't have
to teach them the manual in seven
teen languages, either"
But-and here is the kicker to my
little diyergence-the Y. M. G. A. is
already at work with these young
Americans 1t has English classes
for them as well as French classes
for the others. Simply invaluable is
this service. Think of the cumber-
some system thai the Government it
self would have to inaugurate to do
this fundamental work!
But to get back to that show. l
stumbled finally into the rear door
of a green building. 1t wasn't the
one 1 was looking for. But the
seethIng animation in, around and
through it made me gasp. On the
side opposite the desk was a great
and growing pile of parcel post pack
ages. The postoffice department will
not collect these packages, but the
Y. NJ. c. A. has been doing it right
along. There was clamoring CROWD
of healthy, noisy youths shouting for
postcards, envelopes, stamps, infor-
nation, everything.
Writing paper and envelopes are
supplied-all they need, but no
waste-to the men free. In few
more weeks it is going to take 30O,-
paper weekly to handle the requests.
paper weekly to handle tn erequests.
This will run into money-and-bu
wait. I'm coming to the delicate
matter later. Anyway, you see what
our boys would be up against ii it
weren't for these services the Y. M.
c. A. is rendering. A place to meet,
a place to write. a place for wife and
mother and sister to come, a place
for song, and story, and mutual ad-
miration-no other country in the
world has ever done anything like it.
And we never did before.
l stumbled out of that building
and scurried along till found anoth-
er green one. When in doubt, or in
trouble, look for the green building!
This time l was wrong again. But
here was another crowd, swarmed |
like bees On a branch in the big hall /
with the stage at one end. The big
attraction here was boxing contest,
four bouts, between rival companies. |
There was a rope stretched across ,
the front of the stage-and l may be
permitted to hope that all those
knocked through it landed on soft
spots. The crowd was on tiptoe.
They were crying for action, immedi-
ate and swift. l looked at them. !
East Side boys, grocers' clerks,
chauffeurs, every trade, every dispo-
sition, every nationality. Boys who
were SO stoop-shouldered and shut
fling ten weeks ago that you could
have pocketed a led pencil on the
small of their back, had undergone
Transformation. And their eyes look
ed different. Something of the camp
morale had gotten under their skins. |
I'm prepared to say that clean box
ing was the only kind that went with
the crowd that night. No rough
stuff, no fouls, and no pink gabfest
from the contestants.
The next green building was mine.
Malmberg was there, waiting for me.
Would l, kindly and courageously,b be
the judge of the contest, the referee
of the exhibition? Would l sit down
front there, and judicially and i'm
partially put the laurel On the brow
of or F? Said to myself, remem-
bering the time l umpired a game of
baseball on corner lot or one inn
ing of it, to be exact), Il wouldest
fain put away this honor in favor of
huskier SOUL
had to bolt for train before the
vaudeville contest was half over, land
that providentially let me out on the
referee stuff. I have a pleasant i'm
preston of the entertainers 1 did see
and hear. Some of them were pro-
fessionals; some were semi-profes-
sionals; but they all showed a keen
perception Of what was wanted;
quantity, volume, sentiment, and
quick action. confess that, at times,
wasn't thinking about what was 60
ing On, on the stage. My thoughts
were running along this wise:
What on earth would these boys
be doing if they couldn't have a place
like this to work off their high pres
sure of spirits? Where could they
go? 1t is true that Camp Upton is