The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1918-08-29
MRS. ELLIS TAKES
CHEER TO MEN

Edith Knight Holmes u the Oregon
iaEl
As high and inspiring as the lofty
spruce trees of the country in which
she makes her rounds. are the ideals
ard standards If Mrs. Jean Morris Eli
lIs AS practical and as human as the
BOYS who are her especial friends are
the messages she brings 20 all VINO
hear her She's the mother of the
spruce belt and rightly termed. for
she mas the great mother heart and
the good common sense that Is essen
tial 20 the makeup of the real mother
From spruce camp 10 spruce camp
Mrs. Ellis goes IN her little old Ford
and TO the mills and out-of-the-Way
places wherever any of the Loo. 600
men of the spruce division are to be
found M large numbers or IN small
groups, 1t matters not To her She
carries her message Of man building,
character building hope, cheer. patri-
otlsm. No road is too rocky. no trail
too steep and no night too dark and
stormy # she feels that she must 20
on to tell the boys how important is
their army at home, the army here
that is To save the army over there.
the army that is to provide the air
planes that eventually shall bomb out
the enemy of progress and right.
For % years Mrs Ellis has been a
lecturer and when the war came along
and she had given up her son. Lieut..
Lester NJ. Ellis, to fight with the al
( lies, she wanted to go overseas, but
was denied that privilege because she
wore the service button. And then She
found that through the \. NJ. c. A..
she could go to the boys here and be
every bit as helpful as she could be in
France ''No, could be more help
ful, she said and she started on her
journeying.
First she had cabled to London and
asked if she might do vocational guild
, anee work among the returned crippled
soldiers and then she had wanted to 90
to France, but the officials said mo,
and it remained for the duty nearest at
hand TO be the real call for the woman
who wanted to do her part.
Social hygiene and character build
ing have been her pet topics, but She
hasn't preached ''at' the boys far
from it. She has been an ideal mother
to the whole lot. There are hundreds
Of boys who have called her blessed
Next to seeing and hearing from their
own mothers they say has been the
pleasure they have felt in meeting
1.-THE mother of the spruce belt. The
battalions at home she regards as Just
as great as the battalons abroad. She
knows the Importance of the ones in
France, too, for her own son is there.
Mrs Ellis Is womanly woman. She
dresses IN good taste and is most at
tractiVe with fresh girIlsh complex
ion, though she is grandmother, and
a good figure. But she's born noun
taineer, lives in log cabin somewhere
between Hood River and The Dalles,
and takes perfect delight in being
among her beloved spruce trees when
there storm ON and the wind rushes
through the branches, and to her it
sings a song of victory for the allies,
victory that her boys Of the spruce dl-
vision shall make possible.
Il love the spruce trees and | make
the boys love them and I'm sure
make them love their work, . said
Mrs. Ellis as she chatted over her eX-
perences.
1t was good to hear her tell of a
meeting in Aberdeen where the Lib
erty Legion" was organized "by the
girls, of the girls and for the girls, to
be of good influence among the men as
well as among the sister members. 1t
was entertaining to hear her describe
her trip on mountain trail where she
pot stuck in the mud and it took six
privates and a lieutenant to get her
and her little car out. If ten minutes
interview can be so good, how infinite
ly fine must be the message when she
stands before a great throng of young
men banded together as the army here
to back up and save the army there
and the great cause of democracy