Mansfield mirror., 1918-11-21
A BIT OF HOME
WITHIN The CAMP


Outside are hanging the Augs-the
Stars and Stripes. which must soon
be taken In as Il Is nearly sunset, and
another iiag bearing Il little triangle
Of blue and the letters Y. W. c. A.
II Is Il 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 plano and some one Is
singing.
The woman, who Is slight and young
and tireti.looking. puts her heavy snit.
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 kind wom-
ans voice says: "Oh. do come In ami
rest. Let me take the baby" The
baby is PASSED over and the stranger.
worn from II long journey. tired and
sad, IS given the welcome which only
the Y. W. (. A. hoStesscS 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, anh now maybe he never
will, for she has discovered that John
has Just left On Il two days furlough
TO surprise her. Before she could get
Il train back to her home Johns fur
Tough will have expired and lie will be
,on his way back to camp. The little
mother does not know how to meet the
situation and tears of fatigue and dis.
appointment begin to flow.
'Wcll, that's too bad" says the SYM
pathetic Y. W. {. A. worker. but
cheer up. You can just stay here for
n couple Of days. Wen send Il wire
10 John at the first place his train
stops .and tell him to take tle next
train back. lie can enjoy his furlorsh
here"
This is done and the little family
has a glorious day of it.
The Young Women's Christian nsSo-
citation has established 81 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. c. 4.
with Its hostess work in this country
ind 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 home which follows them-a place
\ where they can 60 when they are or
duty and meet their families and rest.
| There Is a room In every y. W. {. A.
hostess house with real fireplace in
| It and n domestic hearth. There are
! chairs with cushions on them; the
china IL not Of the iron.b0und bucket
variety necessary in camps; and best
J VI Vie poSo 'i'aS 'hS INV
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 ut Y. w. c. A. house, for
! he knows that the women she will see
there are Of the right kind. The very
| fact that II Is known that there Is
real, honey place near each camp au-
thorlzed 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. c. A. houses are not es-
tabllshed 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 a great merchants
wife whose individual fortune mounts
to the million mark. This lady Is a
/ member OF one Of the Y. W. c. 4. 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 shopglrl who had
day off" from her work In the base
ment Of the grent store owned by the
Y. W. c. A. workers husband. and who
had come to see her sailor brother, was
in a State street hurry for service.
She sharply ordered the merchants
wife TO "iOok alive with these forks.
grille"
The lady addressed as "girlle" 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 Mt the
Great Lakes station, and it Is Il won
derful sight to see the crowds Of WON
en- relatives and friends Of the sailors
who thrOng to them on the Wednesday
drill afternoons. From 1000 TO 5000
persons day are cared for In the
cafeterias, and the nurseries are full
Of sailor babies, whose mothers can
leave them there safely while they are
on the grounds.
In addition to the hostess house
work In this country the Y. W. e. A.
has established the famous Hotel Pc
tr0grad In Paris as n center for tran
sient women war workers overseas.
There are also many .fOyers or rccrea-
ton centers IN France where girl mu.
uitlOns workers, signal corps girls and
others are refreshed and frightened
by association with the play lenders