Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-05
Y. M. c. A. is HOME
FOR THE SOLDIERS
Organizations Work Goes From
Cantonments to the
Firing Line
By FRANKLIN R. G. FOX


TTNQUEsTIoNABLY one OF the most
~ notable features OF the great world
war is the work OF the Young Mems
Christian Association. All the Allied Gov
ernments. the Vatican, army officers and
soldiers. diplomats and clergymen Of all
denominations have welcomed the associa-
tlon work as a godsend in this terrific age
Of bloodshed
! The association has become the very life
Of our army cantonments, and today Is
playing an all-important and vitality essen
tial part in military training and morale
Far from being "slackers," the Y. M. c.
A. field secretaries should be commissioned
officers. They are officers in every sense
of the word. They are rlsking their lives
I daily on European battlefelds. Several al
ready have been killed. One, at least, has
received the British military medal for
bravery in action. And in our own army
cantonments more than 5000 Of these up
right and courageous young men are looked
TO daily by American sold .ers for advice,
courage and assistance.
Prominent and pubic.spirited Phiadel-
phians are intensely aroused over a crit.
Y. NJ c. A. workers are "slackers.' They
say the Colonel's only excuse is that he
erred because not informed of existing
conditions" That any one should so have
misinformed him is considered unpardon-
able. OF course, many persons who are
behind the times still think the Y. NJ. c. A.
nothing more than prayer-meeting or
ganization. 1t is high time that some of
the following truths should sink home and
sink deep.
II your son, brother or sweetheart in the
American army is captured by the Ger
mans the Young Mems Christian Associa-
tion is the only existing agency by which
you will be able to communicate with him.
The associations official representative i'm
Berlin--an American citzen-is the only
American officially recognized by the Ger
man Government. lie still is at his post.
The Y. NJ. c. A. has established small uni
versites in all the prisoners camps. 1t is
helping nightly to teach and cheer the
men. 1t is feeding the soldiers in the
trenches 1t is supplying them with food
to be used only in case they are wounded in
"No Mans Land" 1t has brought real
atmosphere of home to the "Sammees" in
France and to our own boys in the army
Cantonments.
Helps Men to Write Home
lneSe are IaCtS. Inc association is sup
plying paper, envelopes and stamps for the
men to write home from every army camp
in this country md in France. Better still,
the secretaries are urging the men to write
If you have son in the service, you will
know what this means.
When the men arrived at Camp Dix |
Wrightstown, they were seen trying to
write on paper hattened against window
panes boxes beds and even on the ground
They had no writing facilities. The Govern
ment supplies none. The association now
has nine huts. besides an auditorium and
headquarters at Camp DIX. From one hut
alone 5000 letters for the folks back
home" were posted in one day. All facili- |
ties are supplied free of charge Stamps |
are sold The secretaries themselves col |
lect the mail and see that letters are sent. |
If you have a son or relative in the service, !
you will realize the all-importance of that |
one cog of the gigantic machine Of the
association.
An army official said only recently that !
If the Y. NJ. G. a. succeeded in getting the |
boys to write home, its whole existence |
would be more than justified. At Camp |
Dix the association distributes more than |
100000 sheets of writing paper monthly |
One Y. NJ. c. A. shipment sent from |
Brooklyn-and it wa2 only one Of many
contained the following: Two hundred |
thousand envelopes, 100000 sheets writ
ing paper. 10000 pounds sugar, 600 pack |
ages Of biscuits, 10000 packages of chew |
ing gum, 10 folding organs, 100 moving |
picture machines. 100 talking machines, |
$4,000 records, 100000 needles, $1,000 sets
checkers, meat condensed milk baseball |
bats, gloves, basebals, tobacco typewriters |
magazines ink and other things in count
less variety.
In every cantonment the Y. NJ c. A. |
"huts," in their quaint green paint, spell |
home for the soldiers in every sense of the |
word. They live in them all their spare |
time. There are 400 "huts" scattered |
throughout the various army cantonments |
and 200 more have been ordered. They are |
found in France, England, Germany, Rus
sia, Italy, and there are more than forty
along the River Nile. "
Although called "huts," these are better
tn IN palaces in the soldiers eyes They
are large and roomy, with big freplaces /
in each, books, magazines, chairs galore,
not to mention long writing tables. The |
men can smoke to their hearts content
Movies are given every other night or so. |
Then there are band concerts and singing |
which fairly shakes the roof from the |
building
The men do not sing hymns except oc-
casiona!ly They sing rousing war songs |
Able secretaries are leaders. Everything |
seems to be given over to the comfort of |
the men. 1t was Planned to have one hut |
for every 5000 men in cantonments, but |
the huts proved so popular that many more |
had to be ordered.
Work Right at Firing Line
No effort is made to make conversions"
among the soldiers. The huts are abso- |
lutely nonsectarian. All faiths are welcome |
and intermngle On Sundays Catholic.
Protestant and Jewish services have been |
held in the same hut
There always is something on" at night |
entertainments of all kinds. On "stunt |
night" everybody gets up to do something. |
These are great treat. When one realizes |
that AFT ar mess thara is uothgns, -. a.. -,