Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1918-09-05
MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
GUESTS AT HOSTESS HOUS

W. Eo1o TsoO IIOOoE
How Camp Dodge Hostess House
has served the home folks" of the
boys In training there and the boys
themselves, is shown by the descrip-
ton of the first seven months Of its
existence, given by Miss Adele Seyle,
directing hostess. That the, Camp
Dodge Hostess House, is only one of
the 101 Hostess Houses erected or
about to be erected in the army
camps of the country at the request
of their commanding officers by the
National War Work Council of the
Y. w. c. A., is pointed out by Miss
Seyle.
Just the number of fathers. moth
ers, wives, sweethearts, sisters and
friends of boys in the cantonment
who have gotten into touch with
their soldiers thru the Hostess House
telephone. have waited for them in
the great homelike living room of
this building and visited with them
on its pleasant porches or before it's
glowing fire, it is impossible to de-
termine, according to Miss Seyle, just
how many women and girls have
used the dressing room. rest room and
checking facilities of the house, is
also not known, altho they probably
run into the hundreds of thousands.
But during the first seven months,
1900 people have been served in
the cafeteria. Thru July the cafe
lteria served as many as 1880 people
day and no less than 1900 a day.
/ The ice cream bill alone, for July,
, totGled over $4,000.
Altho guests are kept in the house
ever night only in emergencies and
at government request. $50 people
have been accommodated i'll this
manner. Most of these were moth
ers of boys seriously i'll at the base
hospital, a few of whom were able
/ to reach the death beds of their sons
only because they had been allowed
to stay within the cantonment over
night. The emergency room, which
is equipped with hospital facilities,
received one young mother and six
months old baby one night at IL
! O'Clock. in a pouring rain, took in one
grief Frustrated mother whose son
| had just died at the base hospital,
served many women and men as well
who had tainted or suffered minor
accidents. Another room in the
Hostess House which has been put to
good use is the nursery, which is
equipped with small beds and chit
fonier full of baby clothes. Hun
dreds of wee sons and daughters OF
soldiers have slept peacefully here
while their mothers had a quiet chat
or happy meal once more with
"daddie."
During the moving of the SSth di-
vision, countless goodbyes were said
within the walls of the Hostess
House. Fathers and mothers who had
perhaps come thousands of miles for
a few minutes with their sons, were
permitted to have those last few min
utes in homelike surroundings The
long distance telephone booths were
also kept busy with farewells. Many
a night the Hostess House kept open
Ions after it's 10 o'clock closing hrur
n order that some relatives Of sol
diers who had arrived late from a
great distance might have a pleasant
place in which to spend their last
moments with him or that a long dis
lance telephone call might come thru
and enable departing soldier to
send last goodbye over the wire to
his girl in some little town in Iowa.
One old couple arriving with big
basket of homemade goodies for
their boy found that he had left just
a few hours earlier, and after being
gently told the hard news by the
hostess in charge were cheered and
comforted and given their lunch with
hot coffee from the cafeteria at a
little table by the fire.
While the Hostess House is main
tanned by the Y. w. G. A. primarily
for visiting relatives and friends OF
soldiers. it seems to fill a great need
with the soldiers themselves. They
, drop in continually to make use of
the comfortable chairs, the piano,
victrola, magazines and fireplace, to
get a cup of coffee and piece of
/ homemade pie. or to chat with the
I hostess and get touch of home at
mOsphere.