Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-03-15
GIRLS TO THE i RESCUE. /: CT.
Young Ladies' Make Life Bearable
for Uncle Sans Soldiers.
BRAND new FEATURE FOR The ARMY +


Small Army Of Girls Comes to Camp
Dix Weekly, to Help. Entertain Lone
some Lads-keeps the. Boys Out of
Mischief. ',s,."sh.a .:-tc;.,,.
BY Frederick J, Haskin. - ..
Washington. D: c., Feb. 24.GTwo
hundred and fifty pretty girls. properly
chaperoned, are, delivered by rail every
Saturday night at Camp Dix. New
Jersey. - 5i''is.'': =. .'1''i .>!lt''-.t. -
The soldiers; the girls and all others
concerned hope that these weekly i'm
portations can be not only continued.
but increased. For there are, some TO- :
900 soldiers at Camp Dix. and they
bank the gymnasium ten deep when
the girls arrive, each seeking what is
so hard for an enlisted man far from
home to get-the c9mpanionship Of a
nice girl.
This movement to, supply the army
with girls Is a new thing, and 1t Is In
critical stage. The work Is being
carried on through the army organiZa-
tion known as. the Bureau Of Womcns
Relations. This bureau establishes
club, or perhaps several Of them, in
each of the camps which are occupied
by our standing army. Each club Is in
charge Of woman whose duty it is to
provide the men with entertainment by
giving dances and parties. The soldiers
may bring their women friends and
relations, If they have anY,7 and if not
the hostess provides the girls. The
work is immensely popular with the
men and also with their commanding
officers. Generals Wood, Edwards and
many others have indorsed the work,
and even called It Indispensable.
Their Endorsements are needed, be-
cause the work cannot go on unless
congress appropriates at least $780,
900 for the purpose. 1t Is a small
amount, but small items are just the
ones that congress likes to .prune out
Of an appropriation bill. Hence the
army is conducting a vigorous propa-
,ganda to convince congress and the
people that this Bureau Of Womens
Relations, which is now being carried
on with leftover wartime contribu-
tons, ought to be made a permanent
part of the army. And treir propa-
ganda brings out some interesting facts
about our peace time army; and about
Soldiers and girls.
F., A Student ARMY :.
The first fact pointed out by Miss
Phillips, who is one Of the wdmen lead
ing the work, is that our present army
is an army of boys, who have enlisted
FOR the purpose Of getting an educa-
|: ton. There ARE exceptions l6f course.
The veteran "hard boilef r. Fs still a
figure in the army. But the great ma
'jority Of the enlisted men are boys
from nineteen to twenty two years of
age, who have been attracted by the
widely advertised educational opportu-
mites which the army is now Offering.
These, in a word, are boys of college
age, who could not afford a college
education, and have joined the army
Instead. Many Of them are young men
who want education in mechanical and
engineering lines. Many Of them are
young immigrants who want to learn
the language and the history Of their
new country.
The point made by the army as rep
resented by Miss Phillips----is that In
advertising itself as an educational op-
portunity and thereby getting the SER
vices Of lot of ambitious young men
Of the more formative age. the army
has assumed a new and heavy respon-
sibility. Those boys are going to be
what the army makes them And prob
ably no one will deny that the. kind Of
feminine society they enjoy Is one i'm
portant factor in their making.
1.-THE commanding officers. while fully
aware of this large. humanitarian view
OF the subject, are compelled to con-
slider the practical phase of the matter
first. They are primarily concerned
with the effect Of this hostess work on
the morale of their commands, and 1t
is from this standpoint that they in
dorse it. Work of this kind, both dur
ing the war and since, has shown that
If soldiers are provided with a normal
social life-an opportunity to associate
with girls at dances and other gather
lngs under proper supervision-two
great military evils are markedly re-
duced. These two great evils are ven
ereal disease and absence without
leave. The soldier who falls into
feminine company Of sort which en-
dangers his health often does so be-
cause it is the only kind of feminine
company he can find. And the soldier