The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1917-12-07
SPEAKERS APPEAL FOR
THE ARMY Y. M. c. A.

| He told of the way IN which ms dis
trict had met the call for funds, and
how much success they achieved. He
spoke feelingly of the devotion to the
cause OF his old mother, who during
the campaign had fallen and broken
| her elbow, but who had kept the fam
ily from telegraphing him until he
had finished the campaign and raised
more than the maximum quota for
the district.
He said Americas treasure was
her boys and with them her heart and
wealth should go also. Any man who
withholds anything necessary to win
this war has no right to be called an
J American citizen, and for him who
neglects to back up the boys who go
to the front in every way, for such
there is not hell hot enough All
you who stay behind think of that.
He spoke of the great need for an
army Y. M. C. A. from experience,
telling how in the Spanish-American
war he had served with men from
Marietta, who could testify as to the
truth of his words. He called the
names of Boston and Brumby and
Roberts and Youngblood with whom
he had served as witnesses to his
words. He said this relationship
gave him the right to speak plainly
here, for he felt at home in the home
of these men.
Georgia is one of the few states
behind with it's quota for the great
war Y. M. C. A. work. With excep-
ton of Athens district every one in
the state is behind it's minimum
quota Do we love our boys less than
the people of Ohio or New York?
No. thousand times no! We have
just simply failed to organize prop
erly. He spoke of the Y. M c. A.
general organization, of how the Red
Cross had borrowed the Y. M. c. A.
national secretary, Frederick Ward,
to help in the organization of the
Red Cross.
This was holy and righteous
one against educated brutes. If we
fail to win American liberty and
freedom is gone and we might as well
close the doors of our churches, and
be prepared to submit to the rule of
militaristic and maddened despots of
Reverting to the Spanish-American
war he said there were only few
boys killed in battle, but thousands
returned to their homes ruined by
excuses and immortality There was
no Y NJ. C. A. with that army, none
at Tampa, which was as far as his
company got, and the Y. M. c. A.
might have saved those boys. He
read letter from John r. Northcutt
as to the good done by the Y. NJ. C.
"A. at the training camp at Fort Nc
Pkerson, and it closed with the
thought thdt "if such good can be
done in training camp here, what
might not be accomplished at the
'front.'"
The Y NJ c. A. has made the con-
dition of the present army a paradise
as compared with the conditions pre-
vailing in the old army so far as
gambling and immortality are con-
cerned.
The British have turned over the
first care of the wounded to the Y
NJ. c. A. centers just behind the firing
lines. There are ATS of these sta
tons, and rows of painted stakes
from ''No Mans Land lead back to
the Y. M. C. A. dugouts, so it is easy
to find the way. The work of John
R. Mott before our country entered
the war secured from Germany the
permission for Y. M, c. A. men to
go to the prisons and now prison sec
retaries cheer and sustain those in
prison camps.
He related the heroic action of the
Canadians at Vimy Ridge and how a
Y. M. C. A. man went among the men
at the front in the hottest fire and
distributed hot chocolate and spoke
cheering words without thought of
self.
The men in uniform in the audi
ence were called on for testimony as
| to the value of the army Y. M. c. A.
to the men in the camps, and num-
Der of them arose and responded
freely. All those in the audience
having sons or husbands or brothers
in the service were asked to hold up
hands, and many hands went up.
After singing Throw Out the Life
Line" and prayer of dismissal, a
large part of the audience remained
to effect an organization for the act