The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-05

Conn.,, who Is spending the holidays with his parents on Fourteenth ave- nue, south, and will return to finish out the remainder of his four-year en- hstment.
 was the first American woman in Chateau Thierry. During the German drive which was stopped at the Marne the ''Y' lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies which had been assembled where they would be most needed. During all these engage ments of the spring and summer, the review states. the "Y" workers gave away to the men in action more than S1,000,0o0 worth of smokes and sweets, hot drinks and other comforts. Supply trucks were used as ambulances ana the "Y" stretcher bearer drill proved its value in actual practice.
 At St. Mihiel the history written by the 'Y' on the Marne was repeated and again in the Argonne forest the Red Triangle was in the advanced posts say sthe report. John Sherman Hoyt vice chairman of the Y. M. C. A. war work council, who was on the ground at the time. states in his contribution to the review of the year that 700 workers and 14o trucks were assigned to this area and operated successful ly in the face of great difficulties As an instance of the efficiency, the review mentions the agreement made with the Red Cross, by which duplica- tion of service was avoided and the Red Cross assumed responsibility for the entire war service programme in the hospitals, the "" confining it's ef- forts to providing for the welfare of the men who were not invalided. This work, from figures furnished by the | ,f-x,. szr. carried on in more than 1900 huts and about 400 other buildings, hotels, thea tres and leave area resorts.
 The Y. NJ. c. A. now operates seven distinct leave areas in France. The sol |. dier on leave may take his choice o1 mountain, country or seashore resorts Facilities for accommodating tens oi thousands of men at one time are op- erated. In these leave resorts as ir the camps and trenches the "Y" pro- vides the home, club. church, theatre and school. Except for occasional re- duced priced vaudeville performances in the leave areas all the service is without charge to the men, says the review.
 Motion picture entertainment accord ing to the reports, has been given with out cost to an extent that the ""Y' es- inmates could be duplicated in this
 
 of $4.000,000. This is based on the operations of an average month during which 5000 shows were given to a turn stiIe count of 5,9S2,000 men from the American and allied armies. Nearly 90 theatrical companies, recruited in the United States, were sent overseas by the Y. M. c. A. to entertain the sol diers and the men were encouraged to develop amateur entertainments among fhaTnG al coaches were sent to France, hun dreds of one-act plays were loaned to the men for their shows and costumes without number were supplied.
 In athletic sports the records of the
 Y state that the soldiers had the use of nearly H,000,000 worth of sport equip ment and entered into great mass ath- letic games under the leadership of sev- eral hundred sports directors That this programme will continue during the win- ter is shown by the shipment Of athletic supplies valued at $1z2,O during No- vember, 191S
 An activity which was not on the 'Y'' programme at all one year ago has now become it's most important function. Under the direction of the Y. M. c. A. army educational commission hundreds of thousands of soldiers are to have school facilities during the period of oc-
 
 spondence courses will play an impor- tant part in the system. The most ele. ! mentary subjects will be taught and mer mechanically qualified will be admitted to French and English universities. | Nearly all of the activities which have I been set up in the American forces arr ] to be found in the French and Italian l armies. At the request of the militar, l and civil authorities of France and Italy " | system to include the poilu and the fight
 ing men of Italy. AS this old year goe out the ''Y' is supervising the operatio, 1 of 1600 Foyers du Soldat in France ant | with a nucleus of American workers il 1 Italy has set up a chain of hundreds O | Case del Soldato. "Y' workers hav | served in Mesopotamia, in Saloniki, il ] the Portuguese army, among the Chin ese labor battalions and in Russia.
 The work in the home camps has bee1 "at the peak" for more than a year l Nearly 5000 workers are in the hom l camps and cantonments. but for tn I greater number of them their war serv ice is nearing the end. On the othe l hand, industries whose war production has been accelerated by the programm of the Y. M. c. A. are demanding a con tinuation of this service during tn l period of reconstruction.
 It has been the boast of the Y. M. c | A. that the Red Triangle went every where with the army except over tn l top. The review declares that for month 1 the troop train or troop ship that ha 1 not had a ''Y' man to serve the boy 1 has been the exception. Arrangement have been made to have 'Y" secretarie return to America with the units t which they were attached during tn fighting and occupation periods. Flo three months after being mustered ou l the soldiers are to have full membershil privileges in the local Y. M. c. A. with | out cost. Finally, it is announced tha l the war programme of the ''Y'' will D continued as long as there is a uniforme' unit overseas or in the demobilizatio cal mos.