The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1919-03-13
! ,os.Rrror-cnrp SNAPSHOT

goed deal ~ experience sfth e"t'@
welfare WORK ever suffer froTn coca
ssonal gusts II doubt. wonder y
they have ever visited What has beer
much advertised ms "sanatoripfn
for refugee children, and have found !
Hifuply tlg, plain, mons. too-elear
boarding houa0 where medical care
aocs not extend even TO the matter Of
a toothbrush per child wonder u
before the war, they ever stepped int
an institution that Was supposed &c
spread light over large industrial
community and found the organiEa'
ton No taken up with eard-ea,aiogucs
percentages and plotted charts that
there was no strength left for any
thing else. know well enough that
such dishcariening cases are found
only about once in fifty times, but
can't help asking myself occasionally
about an institution that ] haven !
seen, els this one Of the for,y-nine rea
ones. or is IL the one that is partly
bluff"
Yet II would b. putting the matter
altogether inaccurately to say j had
the slightest idea that the Y. NJ. I. a
work in France was partly blufi. No
!, was rather that, having had some
experience with the apparently inevi'
table sowness and vast Of effort IN
all large and complicated organiza'
tons. | wondered where the waste oil
effort in Y work came in. and no"
much Il affected the results achieved
by It's singularly mixed personnel. Al
least that is what imagine was in my
mind. At the time merely thought
wanted to 20 and get some actual
first-hand impressions OF active !
work with the soldiers, gathered just
anywhere in the field, and not on
personally conducted tour, aceompan-
led by high officer of the organiza-
ton who would know just what TO
show me and what to hide. ! wanted
the sort of glimpse that you get OF
a neighbor's housekeeping when you
open her door on a Monday morning
and step into her house. And my pur-
pose in writing this article is to take
you along with me. The Y. NJ. {. A.
has become such national institution,
we all have right TO open its door
and step In.
The first step is in the big, many
roomed Paris Bureau, startling like a
New York Office with its innumerable
whirring typcwriters and its clean
shaver, keen-eyed American men, who
waste no time on formalities. Here,
looking at big map on wall, they
tell YOU confidently that such and such
Association work is being done at
Iaguy--(of course | don't give the
real names) and beyond that city, GER
tain other canteen work at Villers-ie-
Petit. and smaller villages scattered
about II. A neat itinerary is made out
for you, you get your precious saul
conduit made to match this, and start
on the morning train. In my case
had as companion an Association
worker, very quiet and business-like IN
her gray uniform, neither young nor
not young, neither beautiful nor the
contrary, just serious American
woman, who might have been my Sis
ter or cousin, and yours.
We found Lagny Except for diverse
trenches dug in the parks and streets)
the same quiet little city It was when
the Germans were no nearer than
Scissors. Contrary to the idea OF the
Paris Office there was no Y work to be
seen there at all. At least a close and
somewhat prolonged search showed
nothing. | began to feel certain latent
doubts stirring to life. Finally we dis
covered an unpicturesque Y Office and
distributing center, with powerful
looking middle-aged man in charge,
the sort Of man who looks as though
he were somebody. He turned out to
have had all sorts Of experiences with
social welfare work in Turkey and
Armenia and TO have had adventures
enough to stock dime noval. ! was
pleased 10 note that he was too busy
10 give much attention to casual visit
ors, or to show that involuntary relief
in a break in the monotony which men
who are in any degree marking time
cannot help revealing. He certainly
was no, marking time, but gave the
impression Of man running with all
his might to keep up with very rapid
procession. He was writing hard, con-
sulting a big map with little flags on
Il, and moving eefetain cards about on
his desk. Apparently he was endeav-
oring to keep track of where the
ccnters were and where to send sup
plies-a rather formidable undertake
ing.
He stopped long enough to Indicate
20 us tina. the Paris office was highly
;nacrnra.e about the location of Y