The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1918-11-07
THE BLUE TRIANGLE
AT RUSSIA'S FRONT

The Blue Triangle clubroOms In /.
Petrograd were in half shadow. A /
few scattered candles flung CLEANS as
persistent and as vague as RUSsia's /
hope OF liberty. A hundred Russian /
girls and six young men were guests
of the first Young Women's Christian 1
association in all Russia. 1t was a
gala afternoon tea but it was dark /
because the winter days end at three /
O'Clock and there is a restriction on /
the use of candles and kerosene as /
well as of electricity.
The girls were making merry even /
in the gloom of winter, the twilight |
and the tragedy of war. One slender |
white-faced girl with purple-shadowed !
eyes was merTier than all the rest.
Her wit and ringing laugh were con-
tagious.
''SOnya is wonderful tonight" one
girl whispered to another as she
stirred gently into her tea the one
lump of sugar dOled out carefully for
the party. The Y. W. c. A secre-
taries had been saving the sugar for
mOnths-putting aside at each meal
one of the two Jumps served with the
coffee in the restaurant, that there
might be a bit of sweet for this first
party. There was no bread.
''Sonya is not drinking her tea"
her pale little admirer went on, yet
she tainted this morning at the fac
tory and the forewoman said she was
| hungry"
"We're all hungry" was the mo-
| notonous reply. cit wasn't that"
/ &I,o anG
! talk suddenly but the hush that fell
in the dimly lit room was as joyous as
/ the gaiety. One of Russia's greatest
singers stood by the piano and lifted
up her glorious voice filed with the
tears and heartbreak that people at
peace call thrills.
They went away early when the
music was dOne-these sad-eyed, half
starved little guests of the Blue Tri-
! engle-fOr danger turks in the dark
| of Petrograd streets, rObberies and
murders-sharp little by-products Of
| nations chaos and world at war.
Sonya fingered after the others
were gone. She was standing close
by the secretary-hostess' chair when
she turned from saying goodnight to
the last Sne of the other girls. The
laughter had died out of the girls
eyes and the gaiety from her voice.
''Will you give me 4 note to the
factory superintendent" she asked,
telling him I'm attending classes
here at night?" She spoke in French,
for she knew no English, and the sec
rotary, no Russian.
'Yes, if it will help you" The sec
I T,rr. y, n
note but she was curious. ''TeIl me
why"
IF he knows the girls are going to
night classes he won't put us on the
night shift He will let US work days
so we can come. Yesterday I asked
for the night shift. Today have
changed my mind"
The secretary wondered. SOnya
had not been in any of the classes.
Had the bright little party given her
an interest in the work of the associa-
+ ton? Had the friendliness of the
E American secretaries reached her?
Was it the music that had given her
an impetus to study toward something
beyond factory?
'What is it that interests you?" the
secretary asked her. You are not in
D any of the classes now, are you? What
s is it you want to take up?"
'sThis morning looked out the fac
tory window" and SOnya's voice re
! minded the secretary of the call of g
: night bird before q storm. Down in
= the courtyard was a crowd and three
men were killed. Killed by the pO
o Iice-the bolshevik police, while
: stood there and watched. They said
g they were anarchists. One was my
n brother. Another was my sweetheart
: 1 came here tonight to forget. But
cannot forget. Always I will remem
Der. I want nothing now but to car
= ry on their work, and to do that I mus
study and Learnt must learn English
and many other things. I want to g
e in all the classes. If the foreman a
the factory knows I do that. he vii
2 help. He will let me work days"
In the dark, the hunger, the cold
g and the terror of Petrograd, the BLU
Triangle is sending out its shining in
vitatfon to the bewildered women ant
II young girls of Russia. 1t is Offerini
a little oasis in the midst of tn
II chaos where they may come and res
and relax, play games, listen +
n music, study English, French. Stenog
% raphy, bookkeeping. or music, and a
% one tired girl expressed it, forget 70
the moment that they are in PetrC
grad. Most of the girls who gathe
at the sign of the Blue Triangle ar
- fbookkeepers and stenographers, bu
scattered among them are factor
girls, domestics. and girls who neve
&c have worked.
"Tn Petrograd and elsewhere
Russia" says Miss Clarissa Spence
world secretary Of the Y. W. G.
who started the work in Russia, ''girl
id formerly employed in government O.
fees come to US who have stTUc
- against the bolshevists- They're OF
of jobs. They're hungry. One gi
told me she couldn't take gymnasium
rs work 1t gave her such an appetite
ed But they refuse to return to work fl
of the bolSheviSts"
e. Miss Helen Ogden, one of the z Y
~ &c. A. secretaries who was forced
= leave Petrograd on account Of the &c
man advance, writes home that: SIT