The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-06-06

Nineteen-year-old Tony, of Lorain,
Ohio, wanted to enlist. He wished to
do this partly because he wanted to
serve his adopted country, but chiefly
because he was tired of being the
main support of family of five. He
knew little of the causes of war and
less about it's perils, but his heart
was all for adventure. Bright and
early one morning he set out for
Cleveland, where he imagined that he
might join the army without being
detected.
A week later weeping Italian
mother entered the little room of the
Americanization Information Bureau
in the old county court house in
Cleveland. She had her daughter
with her, girl of IA. They were
looking for Tony. In their extremity
some one had advised them to go to
this information office. The mother
could speak no English, but the girl
| acted as interpreter, and, bit by bit,
! they explained their difficulty to the
! young woman at the desk. A tele-
phone call to the army recruiting
station revealed the fact that Tony
had enlisted in the tank service and
had left for Columbus two days be-
fore. 1t was impossible to recall
him; he couTd not be released, and
the mother was feartbroken.
| Then the desk assistant explained
| that the outlook was not so black
| after ALL According to the allow
ance plan of the government, Tony's
mother was entitled to a monthly al
lowance of SIS from him and $50
from the government, total of $45,
which, with the earnings of the other
members of the family, would keep
them going. This put new face on
| the whole transa ction, and the woman
and girl were further comforted by
| the assurance that the information
/ office would help in making the neces-
sary arrangements. When they were
told that everything had been set
tied the two forlorn pilgrims went
back to Lorain in a vastly relieved
| frame of mind.
! This is a typical case of the plight
in which many immigrants have
| found themselves since the entrance
| of America into the war. Strangers
in a strange land, they are not IA
| miliar with the selective service and
war-risk insurance laws, and can not
| even speak and read the language in
which those acts are written. The
information and aid which is being
furnished to them by the war infor-
nation bureaus throughout the
country is bringing them into con-
tact with the greatest event in mod
ern history Without the help of
these offices they would be, in many
cases, completely out of it.
Tho Cleveland Bureau.
Cleveland, Ohio, was the first city
to establish such an information Of
fee for foreigners. The Cleveland
bureau has been going for nearly
year. Its headquarters are centrally
located, and are open daily, except
Sunday, from to 5, and three even
ings in the week besides. From two
to five paid workers have been en-
ployed constantly, and there has been
a large force of volunteer assistants
to help them.
| Cleveland felt the need of an Amer
licanization bureau earlier than most
cities because it has the biggest per-
Icentage of foreign population of all
the large American centers. The lat,
est statistics show that about three
fourths of Cleveland's population are
either foreign born or of foreign pa.
rentage Eight principal nationalities
are representation ltal-
ians, Yiddish, Slovaks, Hungarians,
ILithuanians, Polish, and Ruthenians.
Three Interpreters have been con-
nected with the bureau almost all the
time---a Pole, a Russian, and Hun
garian. Of the 230 volunteer workers
who have given their services from
time to time, a number of them have
been able to speak fiuently one or
more of the languages.
Soon after the outbreak of the war
it became abvious that there would
have to be some sort of clearing house
of information for immigrants. Sew
eral people interested in social work
thought of the scheme at the same
time. 1t was, therefore, a sort of
composite inspiration. The result of
, all the deliberations was the so-called
Americanization Committee of the
Mayors Advisory War Committee. 1t
Immediately opened the main office
, which has been already described and
which has now attracted the atten-
ton of social workers all over the
country.
The draft has occasioned most of
the appeals for help. Of the 1929 re-
quests for such assistance, 1883 were
for aid in filling out the question
naires The rest were for general in
formation about the meaning Of the
: law itself.
Could Not Speak English.
A peculiar case recently came t.
the attention of the bureau. An at
torney reported to one of the work
ers the strange condition of a non
English speaking foreigner who had
been for several weeks in Jail. He
exchanged no words with anyone
seemed to be utterly abandoned an6
= without hope, and had impressed tbs
attorney as the incarnation of despair
An Interpreter from the information
. office visited him in the jail, fount
that he was a Croatian, and, being
able to speak his own language, Sc
cured his story. 1t was very simple
He had registered, but had under
stood that nothing more was neces
= sary. Failing to obey the summon:
: to camp he was arrested and, bein=
unable to give any satisfactory &C
n count of himself, was jailed as a de
i serter AS soon as his story wa:
c told to the Federal officials he wa:
e quickly released and started in th'
: proper direction. He almost over
e whelmed the interpreter with hi
: gratitude and expressed the warmes
s appreciation for that information of
: flee (which helps you when you ar
= in +ro,ISoIe