The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-02-22
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HxsKIN. Director.
Washington, D. @,
THE SOLDIER AND HIS GIRL

THE SOLDIER AND HIS GIRL.
1 Washington, D. c., Feb. 1.-two
hundred and fifty pretty girls. prop
erly chaperoned, are delivered y>rail
every Saturday at Camp Dix, New Jer-
sey.
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
5000 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
nice girl.
This movement to supply the army
| with girls is new thing. and it is in a
critical stage. The work is being car
ried on thru an army organization
known as the bureau OF women's re-
lationS. This bureau establishes a
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 entertain
ment by giving dances and parties.
The soldiers may bring their women
friends and relations If they have any,
and if not the hostess provides the
girls. The work is immensely popu-
lar with the men and also with their
commanding officers. Generals Wood.
Edwards and many others have en-
dorsed 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. It is 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 women's
relations. which is now being carried
on with leftover wartime contribu-
tons, ought to be made permanent
part of the army And their propa-
ganda brings out some interesting
facts about our peace time army, and
about soldiers and girls.
A Student Army.
The first fact pointed out by Miss
Phipps, who is one of the women 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, of course.
The veteran "hard-boiled' is still a
figure in the army. But the great ma :
tority of the enlisted men are boys
from 10 to % years Of age, who have
DCCh dtll dCASQ Dy the widely aQEer-
used educational opportunities 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
g1neering 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
| represented by Miss Phipps-is that in
advertising itself as an educational op-
portun1ty, and thereby getting the
services of a lot of ambitious young
men of the most formative age, the
army mas assumed a new and heavy
responsibility. Those boys are going
to be what the army makes them.
the kind of feminine society they en-
JOY is one important factor in their
| making.
The commanding officers, while
fuliy aware of this large, humanitarian
view or the subject, are compelled to
consider the practical phase Of the
matter first. They are primarily con-
cerned with the effect of this hostess
work on the morale of their com
mands. and it is from this standpoint
that they endorse it. Work of this
kind both during the war and since
hdS SIIOWH CI1dC IL soldiers are pro-
vtded with normal social life-an
| opportunity to associate with girls at
dances and other gatherings under
proper supervision-two great mill
\ tary evils are markedly reduced. These
| two great evils are venereal disease
and absence without leave. The SOL
der who falls into feminine company
of sort which endangers his health
often does so because it is the only
kind of feminine company he can find
And the soldier who runs away from
camp without leave usually does so be-
cause he can no longer endure the
monotony and unnaturslness of a So
cial life in which a lot of men are
herded together without women.
Social Life Saves Money.
The hard-headed practical execu-
! esses and dances and all that sort OF
/ thing because they save money in hos
pital costs and in time lost by men
| thru apacitation and absence. The
argument which has been made by
/ some DIRECTORS that our soldiers should
not be coddled and that pink teas are
| not necessary for fighting men, seems
| to them irrelevant. They do not care
whether you call it coddling or not, as
long as the result is a gain in practical
| efficiency.
At Camp Dix, in addition to estab-
fishing hostess house and importing
a bevy of girl every Saturday from
Philadelphia, and smaller bevies on
| other days from neighboring towns
the bureau has also arranged a unique
club in Philadelphia for men from
! Camp Dix who are on leave. In this
| they have been assisted by several
women prominent in Philadelphia So
| ciety. Mrs. George w. Drexel has
taken charge of the work and Mrs
Hapgood has given a large residence
to be the home of the club. This club
is capable of taking care of from so to
| 100 men, which is about all the en-
| listed men that are to be found in
Philadelphia from Camp Dix at a
given time. These men certainly are
coddled if you want to call It that, to
judge by all reports. CHARTERED in one
of the finest residences of the city
they are taken to dances, movies and
| the theater; they are introduced to
pretty girls; they are. in a word, treat
| ed sueStS h0Isa Marty