Bisbee daily review., 1919-02-09
BIsBEE DAILY REVIEW SUNDAY, FEBRUARY g. 1s1s
Leaders of Pehings Fighting M C. A.
 Investigation Proves Efficiency France

1IG X IOVSO | found myself each day of my travel. among friends, who facilitated my work and gave me their impression: of the work the Y. M. c. 4. was car rying on.
 ] can say without reservation
 that among all the army officers
 and men whom | met in France
 and with whom l talked, did
 not hear one criticism of a seri-
 ous or fundamental nature in re-
 gard to the work, the methods.
 the management or the efficiency
 of the Y. M. c. A. or its represent
 tatiSes; and such minor criti-
 cisms as heard were easily
 answered or explained. These
 minor criticisms were so far
 oVershadowed by the great
 weight of approval that they did
 not seem to me to be worthy or
 serious consideration. In most
 instances they were proven to be
 without foundation; for instance,
 in discussing the work of the
 'Y'' with me, general in com
 mand of division then engaged
 in the combat area, said that he
 felt the "T' men had 'falIen
 down" in not getting supplies up
 to his troops in the front lines.
 This criticism was immediately
 answered by his own chief of
 staff, who was a party to the
 conversation and who accepted
 the entire responsibility for the
 failure of the ''T" men to bring
 forward their supplies promptly,
 because he himself had been ab-
 scluteIy unable to furnish the
 necessary transportation which
 the director of the ''Y'' work had
 repeatedly and urgently asked
 for.
 A Memorial Service
 The first and most outstanding i'm pression which 1 received of the work of the Red Triangle in France was in its universal nature The ''Y'' man and his activities were abos- lutely ubiquitous. Wherever the American soldiers were found, the Red Triangle was in evidence. It seemed extraordinary to me that the activities of the institution could have been so extended and the ground so fully occupied in such short time. When l walked down the gang plank from the ship which carried me over, saw the "" sign and a splendidly equipped canteen before 1 had taken 1n crn r,T France l was scarcely for one hour out of sight of the Red Triangle I might add that I spent several days Tn England and the same statement could be made with equal truth of the work there. I travelled over 4OOO miles in France and not only did. I find the "Y' hut and the " Guy as the boys call him, literally every where in evidence and doing his ut most to contribute to the comfort and happiness of the boys, but everywhere went I saw the boys accepting and apparently enjoying the hospitality and entertainment offered, taking it as matter of course, to be sure, and in most instances taxing the accom- modations of the "" to the very limit.
 Evidence of High Approval
 Part of my mission was to. gather letters regarding the work and ef- fectiveness Of the Red Triangle The of all of these letters now have in my possession. Most of them have never been published and l sub init them herewith as evidence from the highest sources as to the charac- ter of the work which the Y. II. c. A. was doing. I wish to call attention to the fact that these were written during the latter part of August, 1918, or a little over two months be fore the signing of the armiStice, So that they cover the work of the Y. M. c. A not in its earlier stages, but after our troops had actually been engaged in combat for over three 
 Before submitting the letter of
 General Pershino, ! wish to state
 that this letter was written a
 few days before | had the
 pleasure of calling on General
 Pershing At that time, in ex-
 tended conversation, he ex-
 pressed himself to me in words
 of the highest praise and appre-
 ciation of the work which the Y.
 N. C. A. was doing among his
 troops.
 He voiced no word of criticism. whatever. though he referred to the dissatisfaction among the soldiers which had arisen at an earlier daSe regarding the prices charged by the ''Y" in their canteens. ~hich diff he stated, had been entirely cleared up. General PerShing's mes sage reads as follows;
 "A sense of obligation for the varied and useful service rendered to the army in France by the Young Mems Christian association prompts me to join in the appeal for its financial support. I have Opportun- ity to observe it's operations, meas ure the quality of it's personnel and mark it's beneficial influence upon our troops, and 1 wish unreServedly