The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1918-07-13
a''Y.M.c.A. HUT IS
Their HANG OUT
7Yanks Travel Many Miles to.
Spend Evening In the
Club.
SOMEBODY ALWAYS ON JOB
~, Guy" Can BE Depended Upon TO
Get Move on In EmergencyMen
Made TO Feel Perfectly Free
and Unrestrained.

Set On I'm knefoe hcy.-Meh I'm
Made to Feel Perfectly Free
and unrestrained.
BY CLARENCE BURLINGTON KEEL.
4 LAND.
Paris. Thirty sailors Off an Ameri-
can war vessel hired q motor truck and
drove nine miles to get to the Z. M. "a.
"a. club in a famous French city. i ask
ed them why. s~s
Because It's q regular hangout,' one
of them said, and another added, @Be-
cause you get white bread with butter
on 1t, and eggs fried on both sides and
coffee with piano accompaniment =
AS soon as broke into the place I
found why. men would ride nine miles
on truck to loaf there from eight iun-
TIL eleven. Is. 4 If
1t wasn't the sort Of place folks in
the United States imagine a 7. M. @.
a. to be. 1t was a sWelteringly hot
night, and the broad front steps were
lined from end to end with men in
khaki and men in navy blue. They
were gassing and smoking until the
place looked as If the captain had
ordered a smoke screen to help him
through the submarine zone.
From the street you could hear q
piano doing business and q lot more.
men In uniform bowling, Joan OF:
Arc" If the mothers of these boys
could have heard that racket their
hearts would have dropped off q pound
OF weight and increased their beat by
ten to the second. They sang as II,
they were glad to be alive. s.
5.zi Right on the Job. gG
And then somebody busted up the
game. a sailorman came inland made
the announcement that the driver Of
their truck refused to take them back
to quarters again, and It was q walk
OF nine niles on a hot night or a
stretch In the brig for them. Gloom
descended. Then somebody turned.
around and beloved, s'Where's one Of
them Y guys?' ,.as @:ss
A .'Y" guy happened to be on the
spot and in a second he was surround
ed, not by a crowd of men who were
angry or in a mood to demand some
thing, but by fellows who were mighty
courteous in an unpleasant situa ton.
That was something worth remarling,
and it made you sort Of glad to be
around. s r .$ u ",
They put the thing up to the -"
guy and one fellow said sort Of bash
full like, Eve don't want to act like we.
was putin this up to you. 'Tain't
your fault, but. Es5
It was apparent they had gotten the
idea somehow that you could depend
on ayr guyto get move on him, and
the e'Y" guy allowed as much.
"Sure, it's up to u.s." he said, that's
why we're here"
Inside Of twenty minutes he was
back with a big truck with a red tri-
angle on the side Of it. He tucked the
thirty sailormen into It and off they
went to keep their appointment with
their boss. 33..
That, quite likely, Is one reason why
they rode nine miles to spend an eve
ming in the Y. M. @. A., because they
knew somebody was on the job.
Like You Owned the Place. zss
Another reason is that you don't have
to knock, show a ticket, wiggle your
first finger or roll over and play dead
to get in. You just walk in like you
were there to foreclose a first mort
gage on the place. &
VIZ, -, -g1,,,,, 1r,a1ly +hrnuoh fho Front
door you don't run into a lecture hall,
though there is one upstairs, and the
oder that comes to your nose isn't the
odor Of sanctity. It's the smell of
fried eggs. The cafeteria is the first
thing you meet, and If you are wise
you get acquainted with it and stay
acquainted while you are in this To-
cality, for it Is the best and cheapest
place to eat in town. know because
I tried several.
The most impressive thing about it
is the complete absence Of an osten-
tatious welcome. You just help your
self and nobody says a word. You
wander In and eat and wipe your
mouth on your sleeve and hike upstairs
to mess around on piano Or write
letter or play billiards, or to do as
you doggone please. You are free.
To be able to make a huge number Of
men feel perfectly free and unrestrain-
ed and at home is quite some little ac-
complishment. / haven't had time to
find out how It is done, but the next
time have party at my house I'm
going to try 1t on. It's the real thing
in hospitality.
SURPRISE FOR CHURCH FOLKS