Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-10-23
A BIT OF HOME
WITHIN THE CAMP

| Stars ana stripes, Wnlcn must soon
be taken in as 1t is nearly sunset, and
another flag bearing a little triangle
of blue and the letters Y. w. G. A.
1t is a fall afternoon and the air is a
bit sharp. Through the front windows
of the house the woman approaching
| up the walk can see the cheerful glow
| of an open fireplace. There is the
sound of piano and some one is
| singing.
The woman, who is slight and young
and tired-looking. puts her heavy suit
case down on the walk and shifts the
baby she is carrying to the other arm.
| She listens minute, then picks up the
| luggage and walks bravely up to the
front door. Some one has heard her
coming and is there to meet her. Some
| one always is in places like this. The
door is thrown open and a kind wom-
ans voice says: "Oh, do come in and
rest Let me take the baby" The
| baby is passed over and the stranger,
worn from long journey, tired and
| sad, is given the welcome which only
| the Y. w. C. A. hostesses know how to
give.
She explains that she has come to
| see John before he leaves for the
! front. She has been saving her money
| for travelling expenses, and has come
| to surprise him. John has never seen
| the baby, and now maybe he never
| will, for she has discovered that John
has just left on a two days furlough
| train back to her home Johns fur
Tough will have expired and he will be
on his way back to camp. The little
4 mother does not know how to meet the
situation and tears Of fatigue and dis
appointment begin to flow.
well. that's too bad" says the SYM
| pathetic Y. w. @. A. worker. "But
cheer up. You can just stay here for
couple of days Well send a wire
to John at the first place his train
stops and tell him to take the next
train back. He can enjoy his furlough
here"
This is done and the little family
| has glorious day Of it.
The Young Women's Christian asso-
citation has established 90 hostess
houses of this character for American
soldiers and sailors and their families.
In this brief bulletin of news lies one
of the most potent factors in the win
ming of this war. Our boys are fight
| ing for their homes. The Y. w. 9. A.
with it's hostess work in this country
and in France is helping to keep the
ideal of American home life con-
stantly before the men who are pro-
tecting it. These men had to go away
from their individual homes, but there
Is a home which follows them-a place
where they can go when they are Off
There is room in every Y. w. c. A.
hostess house with real fireplace in
it and domestic hearth. There are
chairs with cushions on them; the
china is not of the iron-bound bucket
variety necessary in camps; and best
of all, the boys say, there are nice
women to talk to. No boy In camp
would hesitate to ask his mother or
sister or the girl he thinks most of to
meet him at Y. w. G. A. house, for
he knows that the women she will see
there are of the right kind. The very
real, honey place near each camp au-
thorized by the war department and
| presided over by dignified and refined
women, has served very largely to dis
| courage the other type of woman and
keep her away from the men she for
merly preyed upon.
The Y. w. G. A. houses are not es-
tablished with any view to marking
class lines, however, although many of
the hostesses who assist led lives Of
greatest ease and luxury before the
war. Democracy rules at the sign of
the little Blue Triangle.
A story is told of great merchants
wife whose individual fortune mounts
| to the million mark. This lazy Is a
member of one of the Y. w. G. A. COM
mittees, and on one occasion she was
helping in the cafeteria of hostess
house at the Great Lakes naval train
ing station. A little shopgirl who had
day off" from her work in the base
ment of the great store owned by the
Y. w. @. A. workers husband, and who
had come to see her sailor brother, was
in State street hurry for service.
She sharply ordered the merchants
wife to ''look alive with these forks,
grille"
The lady addressed as "girlie" quite
humbly saw to 1t that the pile of forks
was replenished. Then she went over
and talked to the girl, helped her to
locate her brother and sent her away
happy. The shopgirl never knew that
she had been talking to her employers
wife.
There are two hostess houses at the
Great Lakes station, and 1t is won
derful sight to see the crowds of wom-
en- relatives and friends Of the sailors
who throng to them on the Wednesday
drill afternoons. From 1000 to 5000
persons a day are cared for In the
cafeterias, and the nurseries are full