Republican farmer., 1918-03-08
PALATIAL CLUB
IN LONDON FOR
US. OFFICERS

London, March 4.-(Correspondence
of The Associated Press. 1.-THE newest
and most attractive home in London
for American officers is called the
American Officers Inn and stands in
Cavendish Square. one of the moe+
fashionable residential districts of the
English metropolis. The Inn. which is
operated by the American Y. NJ. c. A.
is directly across the square from the
american consul generals office The
Inn was formerly occupied by Sir H.
II. Raphael, member, of Parliament.
who was. on the point of selling it
when he heard that the Americans
wanted it and generously turned it
over to them.
The Inn, which is four-story typi-
cal English town house with large
rooms and high ceilings, was formally
opened by Ambassador Walter Hines
Page the other day when it was in
spected by several hundred of the
leading Americans in England, and
others. These included Viscount
Bryce, formerly British ambassador at
Washington; the Earl of Haddon, the
Countess of Reading, wife of the new
special ambassador to the United
States, Lady Randolph Churchill, Ma
jo~Genera1 Bartlett, in command of
the American forces in England, and
others widely known on both sides of
the Atlantic. A feature was the at
tendance of a group of veterans of
the American Civil War, now living
in England.
no ho- a%+ f,1-,
nished by the American Y. NJ. C. A.
The walls are hung with series of
paintings lent by John Lane, nephew
of Sir Hugh Lane, the art collector
who was lost with the Lusitania.
The Inn, which combines all the adj
vantages of a first-class club, with
dining room, billiard room, library, tea
room and about 40 bedrooms, is being
managed by committee of American
women, including Lady Ward, daugh-
ter of the late American Ambassador,
Whitelaw Reid, Mrs. Spender Clay,
Mrs. Cecil Higgins and Mrs. E. c.
Carter. They are assisted by about
100 women, mostly Americans who
are giving up part of their time
usually devoted to other war work.
Greeting visitors at the door is Miss
Vivian North of New York, who man
ages to squeeze in a few hours from
her hospital work to do this and run
the elevator. Just inside the door at
the registration desk sits Mrs. Allen
Nichols, already called Little Mother"
by the Americans. Mrs. Nichols is an
American who has been supervising
welfare work among munition work.
ers at Coventry Her duties CORE
spond to those of a chief clerk behind
a hotel desk and she is a virtual en-
cyclopedia of information of things
that Americans want to know about
London. Working alternately with
her is Miss Doris Robson, a niece Of
Countess Reading, who has been
working on the land until a few days
ago
Mrs. spender Clay, who came from
Philadelphia and is the wife of a
Lieutenant Colonel in the British
Army in France, is general superin-
tendent at the Inn. She is the only
one to wear the green-grey uniform
of the expeditioanry force Of the
American Y. N. c. Y.
Pretty pinafores of chintz, designed
by a prominent American woman, are
worn by the numerous American and
English women volunteers who come
in to take several tours of duty each
day. These women the majority of
whom are widely known in society on
both sides of the Atlantic, submit to
sort of discipline most cheerfully.
I Those assigned to the Inn put IN a
regular routine of duty and none has
/ been known to be tardy. One force
relieves another and the work is car
riod o0 without INTERRUPTION.