The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-08-30
War and Navy Exhibits at Big
Free Fair This Year.
Work of Fosdick Commission
Illustrated in Paintings.
SHOWS REGENERATION OF MEN
The Evolution of a Soldiers
Amusements Portrayed.
Government Exposition To Be
Housed in Special Building.

Washington, Aug. 30.-An exhibit
depicting how the recreational facili-
ties of the army and navy camps and
adjacent communities have been or
ganized for the soldiers and sailors in
training has been specially prepared
by the commissions on training camp
activities of the war and navy depart
ments for exposition at state fairs this
fall in conjunction with displays of the
department of agriculture and the
committee on public information. The
exhibit will be shown at the State
Free fair, which will be held in To-
peka from September to IA,
By photographs, charts and paint
ings the exhibit portrays how the
training camp commissions are direct
ing theatrical entertainment, athletics,
mass singing, club life, educational
courses and other forms of recreation
within the military camps, and how
hospitality has been organized in the
| outlying cities for the men on leave. 1t
also shows the work that is being
done in this direction by the Y. M. c.
A, the Y. w. c. A, the Knights of
Columbus, the Jewish Welfare board,
the American Library association and
the War Camp Community service, or
CARNATIONS which have been correlat-
ed under the Training Camp commits
sions in common ministry to the men
in the service.
ducl 114IuDitS.
The illustrations and print describ-
ing the camp activities have been ar
ranged by panels-eight in all-which
trace the history of the Training Camp
commissions from their creation
shortly after the outbreak of the war
to the present day. The first panel
deals with the conditions along the
Mexican border in 1915 when war with
Mexico was momentarily expected
There, no we'll ordered system of re-
creation and relaxation, was provided
for the men.
For the most part, the saloon and
the red-Hght district were their chief
sources of amusement and the conse-
quences were oft-times disastrous 1t
was here that the need for regulated
recreation in the military camps pre-
sented itself and ultimately brought
about the organization of the training
camp commissions.
The panels that follow are In
striking contrast. The second one
contains the message of President Will
son to families with sons in the sery-
| zee which says in part that mo army
ana navy ever before assembled have
had more conscientious and pains
taking thought given to the protection
and stimulation of it's mental, moral
and physical manhood The presi-
dents message is illustrated by a copy
of a painting by Helene Wood These
My Boys which shows the solicitude
of Uncle Sam for his fighters both on
land and sea-
Panels three and four describe the
theatrical entertainment, athletics and
mass singing in the camps, the activi-
| ties which are carried on thru direct
| representatives of the training camu
| commissions. There are pictures of
the Liberty theaters which have been
established in the principal canton
ments, and pictures of soldiers and
lows CT,
hundreds at a time. One of the pho
tographs shows group of soldiers
entering a Liberty theater with their
open books of "smileage" in their
/ hands. "Smileage" is the term ap-
piled to the coupons that the soldiers
use for admission to the Liberty thea
ter in lieu of cash.
War Relief Work.
The work conducted by the Y. NJ c.
! A, the Knights of Columbus, the Y
w. C. A, the Jewish welfare board
and the American Library association.
under the direction of the training
camp commission, is shown in the
fifth and sixth panels Photographs
! show the huts recreational buildings
canteens, hostess houses and libraries
that these organizations have estab-
| lished in camps and naval stations an
, over the country.
What has been done by the war
! camp community service to organize
| the recreational and social facilities in
the cities and towns in the vicinity of
war camps for the soldiers and sailors
| on leave is told in panel seven. This
| work is intimately related to the work
! of the law enforcement division of
the training camp commission which
| is described in panel eight. This
division also operates outside the
camps enforcing federal laws pertain
| ing to the suppression of vice and
the prohibition of the sale of liquor to
men in uniform. THRU its efforts red
| light districts in over eighty-five cities
have been abolished, bootlegging has
been reduced to minimum. and the