The Monticellonian., 1918-01-04

l few miles of their borders made di-
 rect appeal to the business imagina- | ton! Think of the millions of pounds of supplies to be sold to the canton ments Think of the thousands of dol lars of soldiers money to be spent In the nearest townl The prospect was dazzling. Every community that sought an army cantonment sought it on this basis of financial good to the town, and when the sites were announced there was jubilation in the 16 towns selected-joy over the prospect of easy money. But today these Is towns have
 very different conception of sol diers' cantonment. They kpow that it brings responsibility as we'll as money. They have found that their own town standards must be improved
 Millions Spent by Communities.
 More than three million dollars Is being spent in these communities to provide conveniences for the soldiers. And every cent of that money has been raised in the towns themselves. The soldier wants good eating places, good moving-pieture theaters with attractive programs, well-managed pool rooms, and places where he can rest and write and read. Some of the community work done by the little towns would put a big town to shame. Gettysburg, Pa. Is town of only 1000 people, and it will have this population increased by 12.000 soldiers. It has fitted up two big, centrally located recreation rooms with pool tables, reading and writing materials, and music. The col lege there has turned over its athletic field to the soldiers with tennis courts, baseball diamonds, running track, gym nasium, and a hall for dances, enter tainments, and movies. There was no swimming pool for the soldiers. The citizens raised $500 and built a dam in a nearby stream. Junction City and Manhattan, Kan, are even smaller. They raised 5000 for a soldiers club in Manhattan and $S,S00 for another one in Junction City. The school play grounds ad college athletic field were turned over to the soldiers. Then sanitary survey of the city was made, classes in French provided, and finally these typical small American towns did typical American thing-famlies invited individual soldiers to dine with them in their homes.
 Training camp experts have found that when the soldier first comes to a community the people of that con- munity can be classified in three groups; known as the sentimental, avaricious and the resentful. Many of the sentimental are women, naturally. They flock around the youth in uni- form, persuade him that he is hero, and thrust upon him attentions which quickly spoil him. They break down his self-respect, pauperizing and giving him false ideas of his own family. There are sentimental men who do him as much harm; men of greater means than his own, who entertain him in ways that give him false ideas of life with which to go back home.
 Soldier Makes His Own Way.
 The avaricious group is made up of practical citizens, who exploit the sol dier by overcharging and cheating him and appealing to his baser desires. The resentful group Is made up of people who hate the idea of war. To them the soldier personifies war, and they take 1t out maliciously on the innocent kid brother who is doing his bit the best he knows how, and who Is ten times the man and the citizen that these busybodies imagine themselves to be. But when the soldier comes he makes his own way. He is clean, moral, strong, and enthusiastic. He has his work and his play in camp, and looks to the town only for reasonable amount of amusement of some other kind. The experts who organize the soldiers play also organize the town. They show the people that this boy in uniform Is still human being entitled to human ties-friends, church, fra ternal groups, the companionship of good women. He Is neither to be pat ronized nor sighted, pauperized or ex- plotted. He was a civilian yesterday, and he will be tomorrow better civil ian for his military training and the service he has rendered his country. Even the resentful group changes. They see that opposition to the soldier must surely react upon their community. If they evade their responsibility to him the result will be broken homes. vice, disease, brutalization, and lower com munity standards. If they meet the responsibility by constructive commun- ity effort they protect themselves and the soldier and benefit their com munity.