Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1918-10-24
THE WESTERN
FRONT AT HOME

Earn and give. For a year the young
people OF America have been coached
In thrift. Instead OF the old problem
In the arithmetic book. "If Mary's
mother gave her three apples. Jane
gave her two, and she ate one, how
nlaIAs would she have?" the third grade
girl is now sent to the blackboard To
solve. How many Thrift stamps at
% cents apiece will Mary own ut the
end OF II months IL she saves 10 cents
a week ?"
The girl In the grade above her Ia
learning In her arithmetic lesson how
many Thrift stamps it takes to buy the
yarn for 500 helmets for the soldiers
la France. Still farther on the eighth
grader il told to figure in terms of War
Savings stamps how much it costs to
supply regiment OF Uncle Sans men
with shelter tents.
And now the Earn and Give club OF
the younger girls Of the Young Wom-
ems Christian association is organ
tEed 10 turn those Thrift lessons into
giving. The children OF America have
been turning in pennies and nickles
and pastihg green stamp on their
Thrift card. The Earn and Give club
can now use some OF those cards and
War Savings stamps in their campaign
among the younger people for the
united war fund.
This fall when the war council OF
the Z. w. c. A. made plans for the
1913 war drive, IL included In its pro-
gram the rule that no young girls un-
der eighteen can do any soliciting
on the streets or otherwise. They can
give, but they can only give by earn
Ing. Consequently In order to cO-or-
dfnate the efforts OF the girls in all the
districts over the country, the Earn
and Give club is enrolling members
and has given out an estimate of IS
apiece 10 be eHrned for the war fund
campaign By the American girls who
SILL count their age In teens. Five
dollars apiece from the younger girls
OF the country will mean that the ma
don as q whole will All It's charitable
) organizs tions' war chest
Some high school girl I'm New York
Gty is xDing to earn her SIS by shining
her own shoes instead Of stopping at
the Greek stand on her way to school
and by making her own sandwiches for
her noon lunch. Out In Iowa the girl
who has been spending lj cents plus
war tax for a movie three nights a
week is goigg TO draw line through
4 ffpf Ia fa bfS avpnnt whom fboro 10
an especially good bill. More than one
girl ptans 10 clean all her own gloves
this winter and TO salvage all the pa
per and collections OF Junk about the
ha1aa (which should be sold to the junk
maa to be worked over into some pro-
ductive Industry The girls in their
teens Are going to earn instead OF
ssk others for the money. They are to
sacrifice and give in their own names
aud Older women will make the public
requests for money elsewhere.
Many Of the girls who are waiting
to Join the Earn and Give club are al
ready Patriotic leaguers. and they have
isarned several practical lessons In the
thrift that VIII make them effective
members OF the new club by their con-
serystisa Of fruits and vegetables.
They have canned aad picked. Now
when the end Of summer brings the
beginning OF school they will change
thetx thrift into winter thrift and be
GIN aaYiHg their IS for the Y. W. C. A.
war fnnd.
wherever You Are Is the Western
Front" Ia the slogan which the Earn
and Give club has adopted. Anna, one
w1ry thirteen year-ofd daughter Of New
XOrk's East side, who WAS one OF the
1rst and youngest members to join the
campaign ut New York settlement
hoase, had to have 1t explained TO her
that instead OF western front meaning
fight and light meaning fists, the west
tern front means work and work means
save la order to give.
The girl who jOiiA the Earn and
Give. club will discover that In con-
junction with her working and saving
10 order that her club will furnish it's
quota OF the money that Is going TO
help the girls like herself In France
and Belgium, she will also find numer-
0us ways In the community to help the
war that she had never dreamed Of.
She will see that all the fruit pits and
ztooeS that can be saved from her own
dining table and from those OF her
nsfghbors, are dropped into the little
red barrel at the corner, In order that
the carbon which the seeds contain can
be used In making charcoal for the
American soldiers aas rnasks. She Will
save all the tin foil that she sees for
the Red Cross. She will help collect
clothing for the French and Belgium
orphans and perhaps send them some
OF her own.
School girls In India, children from
saualid, dingy homes, with absolutely
no spending money, gave last year to
Belgian and Armenian relies when
they themselves were not getting
enough TO eat They gave up their
meat once a week for the Beigians.
though they only had 1t twice a week
themselves, and for the Armenians
they set aside the handful OF fresh
grain that otherwise each girl would
have ground In her own little stone
mill Both contributions, from all the
girls in one inissiOnary's school,
amounted only To $5 d month. But If
was q tremendous sacrifice, their
Teacher writes, although Joyous one.
1t actually meant less bread each day,
and once q week meal OF dry bread
and water. This was done by 50 girls
from fhe u1asnest homes In the world