Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-24
Y WORKER TELLS
OF LIFE ABROAD
Miss Minerva Hepford Writes
From France of Apprecia-
ton of Men For Service

Miss Minerva Hepford, member
of the Market Square Presbyterian
church and the choir, and also one
of the city schoolteachers, has been
doing secretarial work for the Y. Nj.
c. a. abroad for some time past. She
writes most interestingly to the Rev.
George Edward Hawes, from Gren-
oble, in the French Alps. where she
has been stationed. She says:
II have actually been IN the serv-
ice for six months and am wearing
the silver triangle on my sleeve.
We enjoy now the reputation
OF having the best Y in France ana
I'm proud to be associated with it,
our wet Canteen' Is an important
feature of the work and has won
hlgh praise from all our guests. in
cluding the buck private and brig
adler general. Permissionaires were
sent into this area, at the rate of
about l.2O0 week, principally from
the Sixth (sightseeing), Seventy
eighth CLtghtningo and Eighty
Hrst CWildcat) divisions, although
we had groups from many others. l
guess we've had guests from every
branch of service, of every rank, and
some times, when serving, the line
was so continuous, we thought we
were feeding tho whole A. +. F.
We've served between 500 and 1000
day. | wish YOU could have
walked into the Wet Canteen this
Easter morning, with it's beautiful
decorations of palms, green's and
beautiful flowers, put there by Mr..
johnson, the head of the Wet as a
surprise to us all. 1t surpassed any
thing ever done before in the area
and the men were delighted. There
were large dishes of colored eggs on
every table and we served an e'abo-
rate breakfast For the luncheon that
day we had so many good things. in
Guiding roast turkey. that the men
groaned because they coludn't have
some of everything. I served all the
morning except for one hour when |
attended service. The men were so
appreciative of everything. The two
red letter days of my life in Grenoble
are Christmas and Easter. I can
never forget them. At Christ
mas we had n thirty foot tree beau
| tifully trimmed and on Christmas
Eve after the grand march, a real
| live Santa Claus gave every man a
present. | played for the Christmas
morning service and can never for
get how beautifully the men sang
the hymns. DR.. Charles Young. OF
Berkley, Cal, made the address on
Jesus as King There is so
much talent in the Army and wheth-
er they sing or play the men are
always ready to respond to any call
Chaplain Murray and the Rev
Claude Black now have charge OF
religious work in this area.
Distinguished Speakers
Besides those connected with the
Y in Grenoble, we have had some
distinguished c,ergymen speak,
among them Bishop Charles Brent,
of the Episcopal church and Bishops
Anderson and Henderson, of the
Methodist church. Our men seem
deeply interested and appreciative of
the religious services. You
have doubtless read of the oppor-
tunity given our men of attending
the English and French universities
while the Army is held in France.
About 400 are attending the Uni
versity of Grenoble, the oldest in
France and dating back to 1929. The
Y cares for these students as well
as providing for the permissionaires
6. but some OF the Y workers will re-
main to look after the interests OF
the students till the end of June.
have asked to remain, for Grenoble is
| beautiful just now. The mountains
are glorious and there are lovely
parks throughout the city with beau
tiful trees well kept and much OF
rustic simplicity. am very
busy and greatly interested in the
work. 7 had the privilege of visiting
the City of LYON and recently went
ny auto to Ciambery and AK les
Bains, the famous summer resort by
the largest and most beautiful lake
/ in France. I've visited many
60 athedrals-the Norte Dame and
| Madelaine of Paris. st. Paul's and
Westminster Abbey in London and
others of lesser fame but for com
| nlete warmth. comfort and worship
nv heart always turns to Market
! Square. This he's been a
wonderful and delightful experience
to me and 7 thank my friends who
made ii nossihle for me to come, and
7 sincerely hope I've served accept
/ a blV"