Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-06-21
GLIMPSE OF LIFE
AT CAMP DEVENS
Some Odd Sidelights of Y. M, c. A.
Work There


CNotes sent 10 The Register by
Prof. Henry w. LNercBce, Of the His
terry Department al Niddlebmy cell
lcgc ehO is noe acting as EduraioH-
al director Of ], w. {, 4, aork at
camp Degem)
"Can you send telegram herei"
lie was Italian, wore the o, u. uni,
form, and stood before the desk in Y.
M {, A, Hut 20 at Camp Devens,
mo-" | replied, but you might
phone II to the Western Union"
81 no telephone" he said despairing-
ly, OF course he couldn't, could bare
ly understand his near,Engish across
the counter
"l'll do it for you" | suggested, and
lac eagerly agreed, showing me the
telegram he wished to answer, 1t was
from his father, and said that this boys
brother was very sick, apparently about
10 die and was pleading to see him
once more before the end
"My sergeant say must get telegram
from doctor or he no give me pass, You
telegram my father that" Evidently
this sergeant had been bullalocd before
and was taking no chances; but the
emergency reused revolt in the for
cignerS soul He must go home to his
dying brother, pass or no pass,
III he no give me pass, damn il, |
SO anyhow, | dunno how in he'll they
get me in this draft | no born in this
country, and ! no been made American.
Damn IT, II they no let me so home now
by God dessert
This case suggests one of the fifty
seven varieties OF service that the Y, NJ.
[, a, is rendering 10 the new national |
army, Giovanni Martinello did not
dessert" He will soon learn to speak
read, and write English, to prize Ameri. /
can citizenship, and to be a Christian;
or at least, he will be dangerously ex-
posed to each of these benefits.
Another illustrative case came up the
other night in our hut, A keen-eyed
secretary spied soldier, a swarthy .
foreign boy, obviously in distress sit
ting down beside him on a bench he
soon drew from him, with some lin
linguistic aid from an interpreter friend,
the simple story of his woe, Married
about a year ago, he and his wife
tagged 49, were able to live by his daily
wage until the draft took him and left
her with only about SIP a month, all
that remained of his army pay after de-
duction had been made for his insur-
ance and for the support of an aged
mother in the old country. In about two
months the wife was to become
mother, unless perchance she starved
to death sooner. Meanwhile her des-
pairing husband was likely to be sent
over to France, unless perchance he
deserted sooner, to save the lives of
his wife and babe. To put this case into
the hands of the Red Cross for invest-
CATION and relief was a bit of service
not very difficult, but vastly important
to the parties most concerned; it was
probably worth at least one soldier to
the national army
Until day before yesterday | never ,
realized fully what a social handicap II
the Stammerer was to endure A young ,
soldier, a college graduate, whose habit ,
1t was to speak spasmodically and in r
volleys, fingered long before the coun. =
|
that is, | did; he contributed vocal =
explosion now and then. began to
wonder which of us would wear out =
first. Suddenly my gravity was almost +
by this slow-fuse, T. N. T.
word-bomb; >
"(Pause of 30 seconds Would you :
mind telephoning my girl ID seconds /,
that | didn't have time to call her up, / =
80 seconds but that I'd like to take n
her to the dance tonight (pause, per- "
'piration, and anxious waiting to OBJ r.
serve how | reacted to the camou-
iage.)" .
He went to the dance that night r
and | had one more bit of evidence =
that the Y. M, c. A. is an indispen- a
sable adjunct to an army in training. 2
Henry w. Lawrence, Jr. h