Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-10-13

nitelY more than a business Organiza-
tion-it represents to the American
soldier and sailor, the American home,
the American church, the American
school and college, the American Ii
brary and reading room, the American
theater, concert hall and movie"
the American athletic and recreation
club---in short, it is the embodiment
of every wholesome American activity
from which, but for the Y. NJ. c. A..
the soldier or sailor would be alien
| ated, barred.
The Red Cross tends those who have
been knocked out of the game: the n.
NJ. c. A. keeps men fit for the game.
Ii is the great builder of morale
1t tones up our fighters physically,
mentally, spiritually, Its mission is to
enhance the mems health and happi-
ness.
What General Pershing Says,
How well it is fulfilling its gigan-
tie task is testified by General Per-
shing. who declares that 100000 men
and the Y, NJ. c. A. are worth more
than 10000 men without the Y NJ.
F.! c. A. Given an army of 1000 GOO men,
| the Y. NJ. c. A. Given an army of
1900. 900 men, the Y. M. c, A. will
| to our fighting forces
| Every contribution, therefore, to the
| Y, NJ. G. A. is tantamount % adding
another soldier 10 the battle line. Ev-
| cry contribution, consequently, direct.
| ly helps to shorten the war.
General Pershing knew what he
was doing when he asked the Y. M.
| c. A. to take over the army canteens.
Experience, on the Mexican border,
had taught him the efficiency of this
| organization, He felt confident that
the work, difficult, complicated, oft
en- disCouraging though it might be,
| would be handled skillfully, tactfu)-
| ~ and unwastefully by the Y. M. G.
| A.
Why Y. VI. C. \. Took Over Canteen.
Also, Geaeral Pershing, being a
| fighter and being in France to com"
mand fighters, wanted to have every
man possible on the firing line,
pounding the Germans back to be-
You'd the Rhine.
| If he could avoid il, he wanted to
have none of his men serving sodas
OF candies or crackers behind hum
dreds of counters. He very properly
figured that, by turning over the
army country stores to non-fighters,
he could strengthen his battle line.
That briefly. was the wherefore
and the whyfore of General PERISH
ing's general order of September 6,
1917, officially authorizing the Y. NJ.
C. A, Ito establish exchanges for the
American troops in France these ex-
changes not to be limited to areas
Il Mt
to be ::pushed as far to the front as
military operations permit in order
that such comforts and conveniences
as they afford may reach the soldiers
in the more advanced positions where
they are most needed
There Was Some Confusion.
At first, very naturally, there was
some confusion some misunder-
standing and doubtless some ground
for grumbling. 1t took a little time,
for instance, to establish uniformity
in the matter of pricesx Also, because
things were distributed free to men
busily engaged in fighting right in
front trenches, the impression was
gathered by many men that the Y.
M. G. A. was to charge nothing for
any of its supplies in any canteen, an
assumption that was, of course, wholly
unwarranted.
While it is eminently proper to
succor in every possible way men who
are in the midst of battle it is not the
desire of General Pershing or any
other military authority that goods
be given away indiscriminately to the
soldiers.
Goods sold at Cost Minus Freight.
incidentally, the y. NJ. C. A. now
sells its tobacco to the men at just
what it pays for it wholesale. In 9TH
err words, since August /, 1918, the
"Y" has met army quartermaster
prices. This entails loss of several
million dollars a year, but it gives
the boys Bull Durham at Az cents,
Fatimas at 91a cents and other
brands at lower prices than are paid
in Oshkosh, San Francisco or New
York.
The size of the orders placed by
the Y. NJ. c. A. take away ones
breath.
Some Recent Supply Orders.
One recent order was for 800, -O00,-
900 sheets Of letter paper, equal to
three sheets for every man, woman
triangle daily mail has a greater cir
culation, so to speak, than any daily
newspaper on earth--and no publ
cation has readers one-tenth as eager
and interested as those who receive
the million or more letters day from
our oversee boys.
The Y. NJ. c. A, might be called
the line Of communication between
every city and hamlet in America and
the European battle front A Inc
of communication that reaches and
touches the heart of almost every
human being throughout this coun-
try. line of communication every
bit as necessary for maintaining the
efficiency OF our troops as any mill
tary line of communication ever es-
tablished.
just n Few Cookies.
Another recent order was for $50
carloads of cookies, enough to give
every adult and child in America
eight cookies with some $1,000. 900
to spare. Another order was for 93,.
100000 sticks of chewing gum, or
fifty pieces for every American SOL
der in France.
At one clip, 112,500,O00 bars of
chocolate We're contracted for, some
thing over so bars for every dough-
| boy.
Think, also, of single order for
| 100000 jars of Jam and marmalade!
just Something to Smoke.
| As for tobacco the requirements
aggregate something like 1900 900 ci-
! CARS and 200.000,000 cigarettes every
/ month Not long ago n contract was