The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-12-06
"TAKE CARE OF
YOUR DAUGHTER'
Conditions Brought About by the Con-
centration of Soldiers Necessitates
Attention on the Part
of Parents.

(By Amelia Josephine Burr of The
Vigilantes.l
i We hear much about the moral men
ace to community caused by the neigh.
borhood of large camp. 1t is unhap.
PLY true. The purveyors and practition.
ers of organized vice are on the alert for
such opportunities. But that danger is
not the greatest Conscious and inten-
tional lawlessness may be met and
fought with the weapons of law; but
there is a subtler and therefore greater
! danger that requires more Imagination
to meet and more delicacy to combat,
because it is dealing with an evil which
has its roots in virtue.
A large camp was established near a
New England city. OF course it became
the central point of interest for all the
neighborbood, and on visiting days the
young girls of high-school age focked
there with especial zest-such girls as
one knows well, with the warm, selfish
ignorant, curious heart of youth beating
high under the all but absent blouse and
the eager, joyous young feet tottering in
their gay silly shoes upon the eternal
quest. One of the girls, on a summer
evening, saw handsome officer standing
alone, and summoned all her daring
Aren't You awfully lonesomey' she
asked
Thank you, we would be ii we had
time, no doubt" he answered, pleasantly.
but we are usually too busy to think
much about our feelings"
Don't you want to walk with me?"
Are you going home 2" She nodded.
Then ! will take you there"
They walked together to her home, she |
in great triumph at having secured so
an escort. When they reached |
the house, the officer expressed wish to |
meet her father and mother What he I
had to say to them was very brief and !
was a decided surprise to the girl.
For Gods sake, take care of your
daughter. ] am trying to keep my boys T
straight, but girls like this make it diff
ficult..n
A cruel saying? Yes, cruel as sur
geon's knife. True? Yes, true as the
story Itself, which ends here; | do not
know the sequel. The condition exists,
and we must face it. There are many i
boys in the army wel.schooled against
open vice, but defenseless against the
most insidious of temptations the
that does not advertise itself
Is one,
Do you believe that child was for
moment guilty in thought when she !
poke to the officer, though she used the )
treet girls formulag Try to get her I
tide of the little drama that might so
asily have been tragedy-that so /
ften has. The soldiers calling has al |
Ways been invested with a glamour of
omance in feminine eyes; and the pres /
mt world condition, while exposing the Q
orror and evil of war as never before, a
as paradoxically rather augmented than L
sssened the admiration for the individ- t
al soldier. The mantle of the Crusader
upon him-each of these boys in khaki g
young st. George. arrayed against 5
he dragon in a supreme war against t
ar. With our minds resolutely fixed
pom righteous and enduring peace, to- 8
ay in America the soldier is hero more Ii
nan ever before What is more natural o
5 result than heightened interest
nd generous desire to make the last
avs of our boys on this soil as happy b
! possibleg N
Youth is so sure of the integrity of its Il
vn motives, so sure of it's own strength; al
nd the youth of our day is so sure of its h,
vn wisdom. Not without excuse. Ig- al
Drance has no armor so invincible as Fl
acknowledge. Our young girls, through ii
score of channels, know all the wicked W
'ss of the world by sight and by name. us