Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-10-31
FRANCIS |. BAILEY / (
WRITES OF,Y. N. c. A.
WORK At CAMP
SOLDIER BOYS AT WACO DE-
LIGHT IN CAMP GAMES AND
WHOLESOME INFLUENCE
Army Y. M. C. A.
Camp Macarthur, Tex,
October 10, 1917.


Dear Mr.. Angell
Your very welcome letter received
and sure was glad to get it; also the
card you sent some time ago of Camp
Prestoleach.
arrived here August "a and i'm
mediately began work among the
soldiers in Section A. They are
mostly Wisconsin boys and number
nearly eight thousand strong. You
can readily see that we are kept pret-
ty busy ministering to the wants Of
these men. Our building is 96x40
and isn't half large enough. At
night every available spot is filled
by those writing letters home. The
u. S. government truck collects the
mail here. Thousands of letters are
written every day on the free Y. M.
C. A. stationery. This is the only de-
cent place they have to write. Scores
of them are lined up for the station
cry. The men say we have the only
good drinking water in camp.
The days are quite warm here and
hundreds line up for a drink from our
bubbling fountain. They often come
in from the drill ground and trenches
during the day just for a good cool
drink
This is wonderful place to be and
| realize more every day the great
opportunities that arc ours. Never
was there a{greater opportunity for
service. Hukdreds have, crossed the
line for the Christian life. Vulgarity
and profanity, which was so common
in our buildings when we first opened
up, has become almost a thing of the
past. Many are joining our Bible
classes. The plan is one for each
company. We will endeavor to
Christianize the camp.
You will find enclosed program of
the dedication of our building. At
the dedication the commanding gen.
eral and several of this staff spoke.
They couldn't say enough in praise
for the good work the ''Y" is doing.
! They all are heavy donators. General
Boardman said his son was attending
the officers training camp at Fort
Sheridan, and that he always wrote to
| him on Y. M. c.. A. stationery. Gen.
eral Boardman toured Wisconsin and
helped to raise the $3,000,000 that
made it possible for all these splendid
buildings to be built. Many other Of
ficers did the same thing.
Some army officer located our Y. M.
c. A. building in sort of an out-of-
the-way place. The big chiefs have
made such hurrah that it is going
to be moved right into the center of
the encampment, making it handler
for all to get to the building. As it
is now it makes it hard for the officers
to get here. They said they would
help move the building. One gen
eral said he would give $40 toward it.
The men say "We don't know what
we would do if it wasn't for the "Y.''
Nothing else in camp to entertain a
fellow after a hard days drilling.
You sure are great to u.s." They are
fine to the Y. NJ. c. A. men. Every
morning they come and clean up
things in the building. They enjoy it.
We have movies, singing, phono-
graph. piano. boxing, wrestling stunts
by the men and anything that gives
/ them good clean amusement. There
is much talent among the men and
| they enjoy entertaining the rest on
our outdoor stage. Last night hun
dreds were here 20 the big boxing
contest. It's all in fun and no one
gets sore or pounded up.
The men have half an hour during
the day for recreative games. They
were lacking in good quickening
games, so the major has had me teacn
all the regiments new games that
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