The sun., 1918-10-22
ARMIES IN FRANCE
TO Be VAST SCHOOL
Men Will BE Trained in Peace
Fine Vacations Behind
the Front.
TO DEMOBILIzE SLOWLY
AT Least 1000 Teachers Will
Be Sent Abroad After
Peace Is Declared.

Life for the soldier IN France IL not
the top" Lots Of people think II Is. but
they're wong. The great majority Of our
army IL eamped down all through
France. a. far south as the Mediter-
ranean. doing all kinds Of construction
work, or in some camps just marking
time tili that particular batch of men
Is wanted by Pershtng somewhere else.
They. tell story Of one regiment that
was doing such humdrum work at Brest
that when one Of the number was sent
200 miles nearer the front they hung
out q service Gag in his honor
II follows that these men get awfully
bored in their of hours; also they have
time to worry about their individual
futures And 10 Uncle Sam, realisins
the necessity for keeping his fighters
happy and coDtehted and also not wish
ing them to be put at q disa dvantage
when they return home through having
given several Of the years of their youth
TO their country. is preparing to start a
great big public school system In France.
Subjects will run all the way from
elementary English to the higher mathe-
rnAtics, with college courses in French
and English universities for those who
can qualify. and vocational training and
all other pedagogical trimmings. The
greater part OF these plans are for the
long period of rehabilitation that will
come wlfen the war ends. but they will
be set going right now. and In fact
classes are already organized and study
ing ia progressing as well as II can with
the great shortage Of teachers and text
books.
school nays 10 Follow Peace.
So John Erskine. professor of English
at Columbia University and now chair
man Of the Army Educational Commits
sion, is over here from France to render
the home shortage OF teachers more
acute by taking away at least 1000 of
our best high school and college men TO
serve the lads at the front. And he says
the Government Is going to have them
II 1t has to draft them. but he thinks
they are going to be patriotic enough to
enlist. The 2.0o0 are wanted mostly for
administrative work, as most Of the
teachers will be drawn from the army.
which In rich In young college men
Decentralization will take at least q
DR.. Erskine said yesterday at Y. N. c. A.
headquarters, 347 Madison avenue (the
Y. NJ. c. A. has thus far conducted
classes for the soldiers. and the Army
Educational Commission was formed by
Pershing out of Y. NJ. c. A. materially.
I'VE shall not begin to bring our armies
home till peace Is declared. and they
win be brought. back much ,mose slowly
than they are being sent. Also as long as
there are. disfurbancea hi Austria or
anywhere We must sit there and watch.
Uncle Sam intends that the men who
walt and watch shalt put In the time
preparing to take their places in civil
life over here.
The soldiers are thinking more and
more soberly. They hear OF the changes
and readjustments in the United States
and they get real blue wondering what
their part will be when they get home.
This shows In the books that soldiers
write for to the mail order and sales
branch OF the Y. NJ. C. A. department Of
books in Paris In one week we were
asked for BOOKS on complete bookkeep-
ing, plane and solid geometry drug
gardening, shorthand. bridge building
plant and spherical trigonometry. archi-
tectural gardening. forestry and alge-
bra. Greek Erammars. electrical hand
books and copy books for penmanship
classea were also sought.
IF we'd start a class IN Sapscrit In
one OF the huts the fellows would come
and make a try at learning II. because
30 far from home and with nothing to
do In their of hours their minds are
eager for employment"
So far in the classes that are running
IN the camps French is the most popu-
lar study. There are 100000 regis
trahts for that. and 30 well have soms