Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-01-24

home and conducted pink teas, made
Chautauqua speeches, or in, some in
stances, kept on driving trucks.
The damage was done the Y. NJ. C
A. by those hundreds Of secretaries
who maintained a condescending atti-
tude toward the soldiers and whose
every act was done as a favor to tine
American fighting men. 1t is mighty
hard to set down in a few words just
what this situation was. In its net
effect one must bear in mind that one
silly Y. M. c. A. man would counter
act the good work of dozen capable
Y. M. c. A. men.
But let us take an instance l wit
messed Of four dough-boys who walked
five and a half hlometers in the rain
to buy some cigarettes from Y. M
C. A. canteen and got there ten min
utes after six o'clock. six being closing
time for the Y. M. C. A. man. He re-
fused to sell them cigarettes because
1t was after hours and they had to walk
back five and half kilometers-eleven
kilometers (seven miles) in all-in the
rain and without their cigarettes.
Those lads were sore and their COM
rades to whom they reported were
sore.
II have seen dozens Of times Y. M
C. A. man refuse to sell matches to
soldiers because they did not have the
right change and he did not have It
1 once asked Y. M. c. A. man why
he did not just give some soldiers
three cents worth Of matches. He
replied that If he did he would have to
make 1t out of his salary, and he could
not do that.
There Is another instance Of bat
talon marching back from the front
line and because 1t was raining and
dark the men did not reach their bill
letting area until eleven o'clock. Now
the Y. NJ. C. A man closed up at ten
o'clock, and when soldiers, wet and
tired and cold; asked for some hot
coffee this Y. M. G. A. man refused to
get up and serve 1t. With that bat
TALON was former college football
star. He has one eye and was a big
advertising man In New York before
the war.
HE found that Y. M. C. A. secre-
tary and told him IL he didn't turn out
and make that coffee quickly he would
have his block knocked off. The tired
battalion got it's coffee and registered
love for one Y. NJ. c. A. man and hate
for another. But ask you, which Y. M.
c. A. man do you think they remem-
bered? .
"I have heard hundreds of times this
answer when soldiers asked for some
thing at q canteen: Well, maybe, I
guess 1 can accommodate you That
one reply by Y. NJ. c. A. men is full
of meaning. It means that hundreds
of them adopted the attitude that their
serving soldiers was privilege for
the soldiers and not privilege for the
Y. NJ. c. A. - =
81 do not for one minute wishtto
convey the, ,sinpgessiof thdS dii - ~;
g R g, sEss,s; 4 sss s
efficient, and lovable men, who have
shared dangers and hardships with
dough boys, and who are loved and
are respected for their good work.
There are many Of these, but their good
work has been damned by smaller
number of fools the Y. NJ. c. A. sent
to France"
According to the dough boys way Of
looking at the Y. NJ. c. AS work for
the moral welfare of the soldiers, "the
army is no reformatory and war Is no
school picnic" and he himself
Is competent to look after his own
moral welfare in such time as he has
at his own disposal aside from fight
ing Germans.
Let me illustrate what I mean by
saying that at Mr.. Perkins dinner
fully one-half of the conversation of
Y. NJ. C. A. leaders was taken UP with
a discussion of protecting men from
evils which beset the young men in
leaves areas. Now, the dough-boy be-
lieves he is a pretty good fellow moral
ly, spiritually and physically, and the
evidence all indicates he Is right. Ours
is the healthiest army In the world,
and the scarcity of disease Is regarded
as phenomenal. The American SOL
dier is we'll behaved, can take care Of
himself, and does not look kindly upon
being wet-nursed when he gets leave.
There is something to be done to
help the lads on leave, but too much
done in this direction sometimes mess
es up the reformation program. To
this, one has but to under
stand the average American between
twenty and thirty. When he goes to
town on leave he appreciates moving
pictures to go to, and will enjoy it
unless he is told he must go to
moving picture and must not go any
where else.
I'm it's endeavors the Y. M. c. A.
was sincere in good intentions, yet
did not add to it's popularity with the
masses of soldiers. There was an un-
fortunate factor in this work, and that
was the behavior of some Y. NJ. c. A.
men in cities in France.
Let me explain what mean by say
ing that one day in August sat with
an army captain in front Of cafe in
Paris and of ten Y. NJ. c. A. secretar-
les who passed six were with women.
There were others seated about drink
ing with women. This particular cap
tain was in Paris for the first time, had
been several weeks in the lines, and
had got permission to come to Paris
after much effort. What he saw of