The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1921-02-26

ed, are delivered by rail- every sat
urday at Camp Dix, New Jersey.
The soldiers, the girls, and all 9TH
ers concerned hope that these weekly
importations can be not only contin-
ued, but increased. For there are
some 10000 soldiers at Camp Dix,
and they bank the gymnasium ten
deep when the girls arrive, each seek
ing what is so hard for an enlisted
man far from home to get-the com
partnership of a nice girl.
This movement to supply the army
with girls is a new thing, and 1t is in
a critical stage. The work is being
carried on through an army organi-
zation known as the bureau of wo-
mems relations. This bureau estab-
fishes 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 a woman whose
duty 1t is to provide the men with
entertainment by giving dances and
parties. The soldiers may bring
! their women friends and relations, IL
they have any, and if not. the hostess
provides the girls. The work is i'm
mensely popular with the men and
also with their commanding officers.
Generals Wood. Edwards and many
others have endorsed the work, and
ever called it indispensable.
Their endorsements are needed be-
cause the work cannot go on unless
Congress appropriates at least $780,
600 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 prop
uganda to convince Congress and the
| people that this bureau of women's
relations, which is now being carried
on with leftover wartime contribu-
lions, ought to be made a permanent
part of the army. And their propa-
ganda brings out some interesting
facts about u ~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
leading the work, is that our present
army is an army of boys, who have
enlisted for the purpose of getting an
education. There are exceptions, of
course. The veteran "hard-boiled"
is still a figure in the army. But the
great majority of the enlisted men
are boys from 10 to 22 years of age
who have been attracted by the wide
ly advertised educational opportuni-
ties 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 van education in mechani-
cal 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
represented by Miss Phipps-is that
in advertising itself as an educational
opportunity, and thereby getting the
services of a lot of ambitious young
men of the most formative age, the
the army has assumed a new and
heavy responsibility. Those boys are
going to be what the army makes
them. And probably no one will
deny that the kind of feminine So
ciety they enjoy is one important fac
tor in their making.
The commanding officers, while
fully aware Of this large, humani-
tartan view of the subject, are COM
PEELED to consider the practical phase
of the matter first. They are pri-
marily concerned with the effect OF
al AOotCoo WOih Ou tut morale Oh
their commands, and it is from this |
standpoint that they endorse it. Work
of this kind, both during the war and
since, has shown that II soldiers are
provided with a normal social life
an opportunity to associate with girls
at dances and other gatherings un-
der proper supervision-two great |
military evils are markedly reduced.
These two great evils are venereal
disease and absence without leave.
The soldier who falls into feminine
company of a sort which endangers
his health often does so because it is !