New Britain herald., 1918-08-27

buy the articles which the soldier may buy or not as he chooses and which he is usually able to pay for.
 Transportation Problems Many.
 The '. M. C. A. work extends over SO much of France and has assum ed such proportions that a large and ef- 1icient transportation system is requi. site. The French railways are natur- ally taxed to the limit of their capac- ity by military eNigenCieS The Y. M C. A. can therefore depend only part ly upon them for transpOrta ton. In order to be sure that the far-flung huts are regularly supplied with the various necessaries, the Y. M. C. A. maintains a fleet of about 200 trucks and automobiles. Their aggregate value is close to s3OO,0OO. An hours travel on any road in France is rare without encountering one of these camlons laden with pianos, phono- graphs, books post exchange supplied stereopticons, and so on, stubbornly digging their ways through mud or dust that the huts may not for even a day be lacking in any of their requi- sites.
 | The word hut requires consider able use of the imagination It may l be a cellar in a hillside, a dark cham Der in huge cave or chalk quarry, a tent in some little camp in a forest, a thoroughly equipped hotel in city, a large public building. or even a MiddleAge chateau. Wherever it is it is the leisure time center for the men for practically everything. Iii hrary, writing room, theater, social hall, moving picture show, nome" club, game room. church-the hut fills a multitude of needs and plays a multiplicity of roles. Tn addition to the 500 serving the American forces in France. there are some $50 '. NJ. C. As called Foyers du Soldat for the French army.
 While the hut may be any shelter that is handy and the use of which can be begged, borrowed or bought, by far the largest number of huts in France are ones built by the associa- tiOn according to the plans and speci- fications designed by Y. M. C. A. archi- tects. There are two types of such buildings. The so-called type A hut , is a single structure, 144X3O feet. The cost of erecting it including the neces- sary tables and benches, is about 60,- 900 francs.
 
 senting an outlay of 10000 francs This type of hut measures 15Ox90 feet Both the type A and B huts are wood- en structures.
 , In addition to the two huts deve1- Oped by the Y. M C. A. to fit it's own peculiar uses the association in many instances utilizes Adrian barracks" a type of building long familiar in the war zone and adaptable to many uses. This structure, also built of wood, costs about 10000 francs.
 Tents Frequently Used.
 Tn still other places, especially where lumber is not obtainable and it's scarcity often amounts almost to fam ine-the French abri tent is used to house the y. M. C. A. The abl,i tent is doubled-lined canvas. It's cost is from 5000 to 1000 francs. In the smaller units of troops an ordinary camp tent is often used by the ~ Once finished the hut has to be fitted and equipped. More than q thousand different articles-parapher- nala of all kinds from tacks and ham merS to a motion picture machine or a stereopticon-are required. Piano, photograph, flags chairs, brooms ba- sins, towels Bibles, percOlatOrs, games, IODdCcO-cutIefS, kDlNSS, lOIkS, spoons blanket, blotters, stoves-the list goes on and On
 No one knows exactly how many pianos and phonographs are at this moment in use by the Y. N C. A. in France-the kindly local citizens have given or loaned so many--but one would be conservative in placing the number of pianos at 800 and the num- Der of phonographs still larger Music Is one or the saving graceS of our army and innmncrable musical organ iZatiOnS have been started among the 1 soldiers spontaneously as well as by the | asSOciat ton. At one of the larger aViu- l tiOn camps, for instance, an OrcheS- tru of seventy pieces. conducted by an 1 experienced New York city director 1 furnishes music of surprisingly high 1 quality, while all over France numer- ous mandolin clubs, glee clubs and l jazz bands experiment on their com 1 radeS in the huts.
 The rival of the musical entertain : ment is the moving picture, and today l the '. M (. A. in France maintains l a corps of skilled operators in charge l of 100 machines, valued at almost ] $40, ,0Ou. and over 2 million feet of film. 1 the yalue of which Is about S50,0Q0. ; Innuu ersb1e stereopticons and the l best quality Of lantern slides obtain 1