The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-17
TREAT 'EM WELL !. SLOGAN FOR OUR
 SOLDIERS ABROAD No Army in History Has Had Such Comforts as
 the Americans
THOUSANDS LOOK
 OUT FOR WELFARE
Everything Humanly Possible Is Pro- vided for Their Comfort and Happiness Even While
 Under Fire

l Paris, October .-(Correspondence of I the Associated Press )-"Treat em | rough is the slogan of the United States tank units, referring to the enemy. but ! Treat 'em well" is the motto in regard l to the American expeditionary forces. Never in history have fighting men. on 1 foreign service been treated so human ! ly as have the soldiers and marines of General Pershings crusaders. Never l have such tremendous projects been un- l dertaken to surround the fighting men with the best home influences as have | been brought to high perfection in con- nection with American soldiers and ma rines in France. With many other out worn theories, the old idea that men had to be deprived of every human comfort | in order to develop them into good fight | CTS, has gone by the board
 | Napoleon's Old Guard never relaxed at [ the movies. Washingtons men at Val I ley Forge had no warm huts in which | to gather socially. Unselfish~~men and women never accompanied Wellington's i grenadiers into battle to give them hot 1 drinks or bar chocolate with which to l stay their hunger. Grants and Lees l armies never were provided with tons l of athletic paraphernalia or with high 1 class vaudeville and other entertainment while campaigning. If entertainment, education, recreation, athletics, religious solace and hundred creature comforts l had been supplied his men, sherman might not have been so sweeping in his statement Pershings force has all these l advantages.
 ] Tn addition to all the provision made | by the government American soldiers l and marines receive through seven rec 1 | forts and considerations which remind a fighter that his country's people have | him constantly in their thoughts.
 1 Take a modern big battle, for instance, 1 When American soldiers go into action the uniformed field workers of the Young Mems Christian association Knights of l Columbus and Salvation Army go with I them, distributing bar chocolate, cookies and other small, handy eatables, which I may tide the boys over if they pursue I the enemy so rapidly that the field kitch- | ems cannot keep up to them. As the l Americans went in to clear the St Mihiel salient the Y. M. c. A. alone distributed 1 to them 19 motor truckloads of choco- l late, cookies and tobacco, following it up l through the battle with thousands of gal Ions of hot drinks. Army airplanes dis tributed thousands of packages of to- bacco and cigarettes for the Knights of Columbus to front line fighters out of reach of pedestrian workers The Sal vation lasses distributed thousands of doughnuts and pies throughout the fight ing
 Strange as it may seem, American
 soldiers in action have time to snatch a glance at the news and demand it I daily The Young Mems Christian
 association. Knights of Columbus, and Salvation Army workers distributed
 millions of Paris editions of American tx.n 4 I. l. Mihiel and Chateau Thierry engage ments. To the men on rest or in hos pitals and even to those in the 1 trenches, these workers furnished tons of magazines and books supplied by the American Library association. In the "huts maintained in the war zone by the Young Mems Christian l association, Knights of Columbus and l Salvation Army the soldiers find phys
 ical mental and spiritual relaxation
 or refreshment in the form of sociabil- ity, entertainment, reading, writing,
 religious guidance.
 Theatrical entertainment is fur
 nished for soldiers by routing first
 class American entertainers over "ehe
 hut circuit as we'll as arranging ama-
 teur shows. The best, newest movies
 are shown at the Young Mems Chris.
 tian associations and Knights of CoE
 umbus' huts. The JeJwish Welfare
 board, which does similar service in
 home training camps will put in hut
 service in France where it will not
 overlap the existing hut services.
 complete educational system has
 been furnished by the Young Mems
 Christian association for every man.
 from illiterates to those capable of
 grasping a professional or technical
 course. Rest areas at famous seaside
 or mountain resorts of France give
 the fighters a complete rest every three months. Throughout the war
 zone the 'Y" furnishes tons of ath-
 letic apparatus and hundreds of physi-
 cal directors to develop wholesome
 sports.
 While the soldiers are in America
 they have the additional benefits fur
 nished by the War Camp Community service which surrounds camps with
 hospitality obtaining for soldiers and sailors invitations to private homes, to public entertainments and private par
 ties, which arouses civic responsible ity to remove from communities all vii
 cious or profiteering elements which
 preyed on armies in other generations.
 Information booths. low priced hotel
 accommodations, theatre tickets and
 athletic contests are provided.
 A place where soldier can meet his
 mother, wife, sister or sweetheart as
 in their own living room is the best
 contribution made in home training
 camps by the Young Women's Chris tian association and National Catholic War council with their hostess houses,
 In France this organization does for
 the American women war workers, nurses, telephone operators and the
 French women intuition workers . service similar to that and one for men
 by the other agencies. The purpose
 of all this is to keep American fighters normal, human Americans while in
 creasing their fighting efficiency--to
 take to them the best influences oi
 the American home.