Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1919-04-03
FUNNY MOTIONS
ABOUT Y.M.C.A.
The Canteen Produces q Strange
Crop of Fables--Ludicrous
Misunderstanding.

A. into world prominence. Because o.
this prominence. constant question
have arisen with reference to it j
the minds of the uniformed an
some most ludicrous statements have
Eeen passed about.
For instance, we have 1t on til
word OF a good friend, former secre
tary of the Y. M. c. A, that soldie.
i'll one of the southern camps cam.
to him to express his appreciation c.
all that the, Y had done for him, ant
said that be was doing all he coulC
to help the "Y." Some one asked him
what ne was doing. and his reply wa.
that he bought all his postage stamps
there, and it developed that he really
thought the Y. M. c. A. made profit
from the sale of postage stamps
which they sold in such enormous
quantities to the soldiers as a matter
Of convenience.
Another ridiculousN assertion on the
part of men who have come in con-
tact with the Y. M. c. A. for the first
time, emanates from overseas, and
we hear the statement, in all serious
ness by somebody who processes to
know, that the Y. M. C. A. is making
a great deal of money from its can
teen and is even over-charging the
soldiers. Of course, the story would
hot be complete without inventing
some way of utilizing these alleged
large earnings from the canteen. In
some cases the story goes that the
local Y. Nj. c. AS back home receive
the profits from the canteen, in other
cases the story has been solemnly
passed about that the Y. M. G. A. was
a great stock corporation and that
it's stock was paying big dividends,
OF account of the canteen earnings.
The inventor of the story did not, of
course, understand the difference be-
tween a voluntary religious corpora
ton and stock corporation for bust
ness purposes.
On the ether aid some of the folks
back home have contributed to the
first Y. NJ. G. A. drive, expecting that
the Y. ". c. A. gave away everything
the solder needed, failing to realize
that the sums contributed to Y. III. G.
A war work If used in that way
would DE but proveTbial drop in the
bucket. The Y. NJ c. A. did give
away vast quantities Of supplies,
such as tobacco, hot cocoa, chocolate,
etc, TO men in the front line trenches
and those coming back from battle,
but the great bulk of the money, con-,
tributed was used for the wonderful
service program of the Y. M. c. A,
The canteen received none of this
money, that department being han
Gled entirely for the government on
borrowed capital on fat cost turn
over basis, as convenience to the
men who could not get those supplies
in any other way.
Another strange statement was to
the effect that ''Y" secretaries did not
brave the dangers of the front line but
stayed safely in the rear. OF course
they were in the rear, because that
was wnere most of our army was
They were, however, in the front line
and We. over Inc tsp with our boys.
Witness the hazards that have over
talscn some of our own New England
men. Remember the story of Edward
Sherman of West Roxbury, who
served in the >Y". outfit of the Second
Division. who saw his bunkie, James
/ Birchby, given his orders 10 go West
by a machine gun bullet Sherman,
himself, sampled two kinds of gas.
and lay in hospital for weeks. Harry
Chacn Of iy,fr
| turned from France with the marks of
cEhaustirg service and exposure to
| the acids of war in his face. 1t was
| arsenic gas that almost finished his
career as a "Y" secretary. In the
| October drive he was driven back by
she'll fire from taking supplies to an
! ether secretary who was killed in
the same drive. Voorhees, of Hart
| ford came home to die of his wounds
Scion Borglum of Connecticut, and
eleven other 'Y" men received the
Croix de Guerre. and two more were
cited for that decoration. Henry
Smith of Beverly. Mass, was badly
wounded on October 16; Rev. Joel
Metcalf of Winchester, Mass, with
tire 3rd Division, was gassed the
same day. We wonder where these
"Y" secretaries met up" with the
bullets, gas. and shells If not in the
danger zone.
Perhaps the funniest part of all
these ludicrous misunderstanding is
the fact that some Of o6r most intelli-
gent people here at home, hear them
| accept them without question and
pass them on.
This is funny world.