Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-08
KEEPING THE SOLDIER HAPPY
WHILE ON HIS WAY ''OVER THERE
officials of Army and Navy and Y: NC. A
Work Out Program for Preventing
Homesickness Aboard TRANSPORTS.
BY WILLIAM G. SHEPHERD.

BY WILLIAM G. SHEPHERD.
when do we leave, de sea and git
onto de ocean?" asked worried
looking negro soldier on a transport
in mid-Atlantic.
why, man. we're on de ocean now.
jes' ez much ez we'll, ever be-" an
swered his partner.
: go on. Dis lis too smooth for de
ocean. Dis is the sea. I tell you"
The next day the season Of CLASSY
seas had gone. and a lively wind
whipped the Atlantic. 81. =
Didn't I tell you? Didn't tell
you?" said the negro soldier. II
knew sure we'd come to de ocean it
we kept on trayelin'."'
But it isn't only among the dark
the ocean prevails. Not one in a
thousand of the million and more
American boys in France today ever
crossed the ocean; literally hundreds
Of thousands of them never saw
either the Atlantic or the Pacific un-
til they came to the seacoast to take
ship for the war. Riding. crowded.
in a ship, on a strange ocean Is no
fun. :.
How to keep our hundreds OF
thousands Of boys happy and as COM
Portable as possible while they are
passing through the strange adven-
ture of getting to France is a task
that the Army, the Navy and the Y.
NJ. c. A. are working out. It's an I'M
PLACED trail they are following, but
each day. with new experiences and
new lessons. brings them nearer to
the mark.
|. Ten days on the ocean is a heavy
drag on soldier morale. How to get
into those ten ocean days pep. fun,
well as lots of drill, is no easy prob
lem to solve.
The Army men realized. as soon as
we began transporting troops to
France, that midocean strains on the
men might injure their morale con-
siderably and, perhaps, undo much
good work that had been previously
The Navy men, who supervise the
transport work. came to the same
realization, both as regards the troops
they transported and their own civil
Ian or merchant marine crews.
And thus the Y. N. C. A. was in
vited onto the ocean.
The "Y' had to pick its way care
fully.
At first, SO it appears. the work
was not without error.
What ssY'' Had to Learn.
Being human institution, the "Y''
had to find out, first, how not to do
the job. For instance, on several
ships happy-go-lueky type of seere-
tary tried the work. His wholesale
good mornings his stories. which
which were never Of the zippy. sort
that the men themselves had at their
tongue ends, and his attempts at
breezy good cheer all fell fiat. He
found himself in danger of being con-
sidered an excess cargo. On the other
hand, the Y. M. G. A. secretary who
felt that he was missionary ar opg
lot of wayward boys found himseif
left out in the cold. The -'Y" leader.
have discovered by this time in the
great war that q ~" man who isn't
liked by all the men with whom he
comes into contact had better be
called back home.
And now, after several months of
experimenting. the T N. C.. A. has
learned that service to the boys and
nothing but the best Of service Is
what is needed to make their work
efficient The secretary who goes on
each treopship to France keeps him
self in the background and only mon
who. can do. this are chosen for the
work. The 'FY" service may stand out,
but never the man who renders it.
For the first day or two the. .'Y''
man on transport quietly makes his
preparations; the novelty of being on
the ocean is claiming the fun atten-
ton of the thousands of American
boys abroad and sea sickness has not
hit them.
These preparations consist Of the
formation Of committee usually con-
g stistinE of the eomnandsr Of ths ship.