Newspaper Page Text
i L SECOND
MAIN NEWS
~ SECTION
Y. M. C. A. at Home and Overseas Doing a Great Work
/
. ——
By WINNIE FREEMAN,
8o much has been said about the
Y. M. C. A. and its war work at home
and overseas that I welcomed with
particular zest the opportunity to un
earth from the great volume.of talk
something of the TRUTH of what the
war work council of the Y. M. C. A.
is doing, and to give it as best I could
to the thousands of mothers in Geor
gia who have boys in the service at
home and abroad, and who know that
to the Y. M. C, A. thelir boys are look
ing for guidance in many directions.
My personal investigations have
been confined to work in the camps
around Atlanta. For the wurk over
seas we must, of necessity, take the
word of men who have been across
and who know from observation and
experience what is being done. From
these we might select the biggest
American in France today and see
what he has to say about the work of
the Y. M. C. A. overseas.
Listen to this from the pen of Gen
eral Pershing himself, entirely unso
licited:
“Give me 900 men who have a Y.
M. C. A. rather than 1,000 men who
have none, and I will have better
fighters every time.”
Pershing Knows.
That statement is contained in a
lette - sent by General Pershing to Y.
M. C. A. headquarters in America.
And certainly General Pershing
knows. That's quite some boost, I'll
say—to have the man in charge of all
the American expeditionary forces in
France say that the Y. M. C. A,
through its work at home and over
seas, is adding 10 per cent to the effi
ciency of the men. Of course, it takes
men—hundreds of them—to do this
work. But the seoretaries overseas
are men who have taken up the 7. M.
C. A. work at a great sacrifice and
purely as a patriotic measure. These
secretaries receive no salaries. They
are allowed maintenance and a rea
sonable allowance is made for the
support of their families where they
bave them. e
But to begin at the begining. Let's
take the boy from the time he joins
the army and follow him through his
military career just as far as the Y.
M. C. A. follows him. And to do this
it will be necessary to accompany him
from the station where he first
boards the train for his entrance into
military life on through his training
at home and abroad; Into the
trenches, and often into “Ne Man’s
Land” itself.
When a draft train of any propor
tions leaves for Jamp, you'll usually
find the “Y"” man there. He talks with
the men of the new life awalting
them. He tells them of conditlons
they will face at the camp. He forti
fies the boy against the shock that
might be occasioned by a sudden
transportation from civilian to mili
tary life. And he tells him that when
things go bad, when he feels that he's
“out of luck,” to hunt up the Red
Triangle hut, and tell the "Y" man
about his troubles. And it's usually
the case that the first thing a new
_ soldier does when he gets out of quar
antine following his entrance inte
camp is to hunt up the Y. M. C. A
hut and make the acquaintance of the
“Y" secretary. i
Work at Camp Gordon.
Let's take the work at Camp Gor
don as a concrete example of what is
being done in the camps. Out there
the Y. M. C. A. has in bperation fif
teen Red Triangle huts, and another;
is just being completed. |
In each of these huts you'll find an
educational secretary, a social necre-i
tary, a physical director, a rellgiouy
director, a movie director and other
men absolutely necessary to the prop- ‘
er performance of the work. |
Maybe you've thought that some of
these Y. M. C. A. jobs were pretty
soft. Maybe you've thought it would
be something of a cinch to wear a
nice new uniform with a red triangle
on the sleeve, and deal out “religious
talk” to the boys who are training to
face the Hun., I'll admit that I had
something of that idea myself. But
that was before I knew that those
men are on duty from 6 o'clock in the
morning until midnight—all the time,
in fact, with the exception of 24 hours’
leave each week. The sgecretary of
each hut spends his entire time there.
day and night, with the exception of'
the 24 hours' leave each week. The
hut is open at all times to the boys.
And the secretary must be ready at
all times to receive the confidences of
the boys, to lift them out of them
selves, to entertain them and to sug
gest remedies for troubles when they
arise. Wouldn't call that such a soft
snap, would you?
But the Y. M. C. A, secretaries look
upon it, not as a cinch, perhaps but
as a great privilege, Because, except
for the Y. M. C. A, those men would
have been deprived of the privilege
of actively #erving Uncle Sam in thlni
great war. Maybe they don't look it
always, but you'll find that in practi
cally every instance the Y secretary
{s physically unfit for service and,
when he is in the draft age, he has
been placed in deferred classification
because of physical disabliities. |
Appearances Deceptive.
In. one of the Red Triangle huts at
Camp Gordon, when I was looking
around out there, I saw a perfectly
wonderful lnokmf man-—looked like
an A-1 physical specimen ~—und—-l‘
don't mind admitting it now- -1 felt
fust a little twitch of disgust to see
him in the uniform of the Y. M, C. A.
“What's the matter with that
man?’ 1 asked the attendant, “Why
isn't he in the gervice?"”
And whenever you feel like making
«ome little sneering remark about any
map you see in the uniform of the
Y M. C. A, he he ever #o healthy
Jooking, why, T hope you'll just re
member how I must have felt when
{he attepdant replied, something like
TEWS showing the varied activities of the Y. M. C, A. along war wark lines. Above
V at left, carrying the soldier boys’ mail from the Camp Gordon postoffice to the, vari
ous distributing stations. Above at right, a typical scene at Gordon, playing basket
ball on a ““‘Y’’ court. Below at left, an entertainment at a ‘‘Y’’ .auditorium at Camp Gor
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this, and not make the remark-—or
even think it:
“That man!” he exclaimed. ‘“Well,
there’'s nothing that would tickle him
more than to get in the front-line
trenches, but he can't. He has an
artificial leg.”
I'm just telling that little incident
to show how we misjudge sometimes
-—especially in these war times when
every heart is torn with sympathy
for someone very near and dear, who
is fighting in France. “You can't
always sometimes tell,” as someone
has aptly said. So it's a good Mea
just to leave the whole proposition up
to President Wilson and General
Crowder and General Pershing—and
to the men themselves.
Doun’'t you ever believe that any
physically perfect man is going to be
found around a Y. M. C. A, hut, lord
ing it over the soldier bovs. Chances
are ninety-nine to nothing that ev.ry
time that Y. M. C. A, secrotary looks
at a soldier he feels a tightening of
his heart strings because the most
he can do is to help other soldlers,
when he wants so very much to ve
one himself,
General Sage's View.
Here's what Brigadier General W,
H. Sage, commanding officer at Camp
Gordon, thinks about the work of the
Y. M. C. A, thera, In a letter to Dr
John R. Mott, of Y. M. C. A. head
quarters, he says:
“It is perhaps unnecessary for me
to state a fact which is known locally
s 0 well, but for the purpose of record
I desire to advise you of the splendid
work being performed by the Y. ,‘.
C. A. at this camp. The alministra™
tive staff has quickly grasped the ne
cessity of intensive work required for
replacement troops, and are co-oper
ating in every way for the attainment
of a high standard of morale.
“I might specifically mention the
interest. shown angd help given in the
religious thought and ideals, educa
tion. -athletics, amusements, mass
e x———— A N
——g—— A S
)‘i l/\ ' /"‘ m
“I“_J!ll‘ll‘!lbr THIMN K
v . X'Nfivvg PARER m FU mA Q. _______..._-_____—-:—*
e ———————— — e .e, ———p——e e B =
singing and {aflous social activities,
in all of which the Y. M. C. A. is most
:atlghctorlly leading and participat
ng."
That's boost No.” 2 for the Y. M.
C. A.—the first from General Persh
ing about the work overseas, and the
second from General Sage about the
work at home, I'm just putting these
tkings before you because everybody
in America who has a relative or
friend in the service and who is giv
ing out of his pocketbook for the sup
port of the Y. M. C. A. war work
should know gsomething definite about
the work being done. And after all,
it's this official stuff that counts. No
matter what you “may hear” or what
“they” say, when a man like General
Pershing or General Sage comes out
and says a thing is mighty fine, well,
it's abrolutely certain that it's mighty
fine. And that's all there is to it.
Details of Work.
But to give in a little more detall
something of the work being done at
Camp Gordon—-and what lls being
done at Camp Gordon is being done
at every other camp in the Southeast
and the entire country,
Educational work is earried on in
every Y. M, C, A. hut at Camp Gor
don. To increase the efficiency of the
soldiers and sallors for the immediate
task of wlnnln% the war and to pre
pare them for better social relation
ships after the war are the two prin
cipal objects of the educational war
work of the Y. M, C, A, Military ex
perts have ruled that the Dbetter
equipped a man Is mentally. as well
as otherwise, the Dbetter wsoldier he
makes. The selective service revealed
an astounding prevalence of illiteracy
among the young men of military age
in this country. To correct this con
dition the Y. M. C. A, is conducting
Engligsh classes, reading and writing
for 30,000 illiterates, as well as 40,000
foreign-born soldiers. At the same
time at least §O,OOO soldiers in train
ing are receiving French instruction
ATLANTA, GA.,, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1918
by the conversational method.
All of these branches of study are
Leing conducted in the Red Triangle
huts at Camp Gordon, the educational
secretary being in charge of the work.
There are about 2300 educational
secretaries and six department secre
taries in the Y. M, C, A, educatsomu
work in American cantonments. In
addition to the regular instruction, a
geries of lectures are given by noted
educational authorities in the various
camps. In spite of great obstacles,
the educational work is continued
while American troops are in transit
to European battle fronts. On board
transports the lectures are continued,
with motion pictures, stereopticors
views and class studies—mathematics,
English and foreign languages.
The Social Secretary.
The social secretary In each hut is
everything that the title implies. It's
up to him to keep the hoys enter
tained. Mo or three evenings a waeek
he has what the soldiers call “stunt
rights,” when entertainments are
given for the soldiers. The perform
ers are soldiers too-—for the most
part professional theat fcal men, who
lave given up their former profes
dlons to take up that of soldiering.
There are movies “everal evenings a
week—all the best films
TrLen there's the physical director,
who looks after all the athleties and
co-operates with the representatives
of the Fosdick commission in promot
ing games and athletics among the
boys.
The religious director—-and there's
one in every hut-—conducts Bible
classes, Sunday echool classes, visits
the sick and does a thousand and one
other things that nobody ever knows
about perhaps but the director him
self and the soldier for whom the
service {s performed.
Then there's the everyday sort of
atmosphere you'll find around the hut
~the kind of scene you see when
there's nothing speclal doing, when
don. Below, at right, soldiers who are passing through Atlanta lined up at the Y. M. C. A.
building on Luckie street for a plunge in the big pool before resuming their long journey
to embarkation ports. In the circle in center, a soldier boy far from home and mother re
ceiving some much needed attention from a ‘‘Y Mother’’ in a hut in England. ;
the boys just sort of drop In to rest
or write or something. You'll see a
lot of them lined up at desks around
the building, writing. They're in all
probability writing to “mother.” Be
cause that's one thing the Y. M. C. A.
secretary urges—every soldier |is
vrged to write to his mother or near
est relative at least once a week. To
encou:age this work, “Home Writing”
Night has been instituted at Camp
Gordon and other cantonments. And
on these home-writing nights the sec
retaries are kept busy giving oug sta
tionery and pens and jencils and en
velopes, lLots of the boys, too, have
their mail sent to them at the “Y"
hut, and the Y. M. C. A. wagons are
loaded down every morning when they
start the daily delivery.
When the Boy Leaves.
Then when the boy is ready to leave
for overseas there are lots of things
te can't take with him, bat that he
doesn't like to throw away, Who steps
into fill the breach? The “Y" man.
He gathers up all the little Kkeeps
sakes and the exira clothing and
werything and sends them back
home, with a kind little note, telling
what a good soldier the son was, and
wishing all %inds of good luck for
him and his family.
The Y. M. C, A, Is operating three
huts at Fert McPherson, including
one at Camp Jesup. The directors at
the hospital are kept pretty busy,
visiting the sick boys. and reading to
them, and telling them funny storles,
and writing letters back home for
them, besides seeing that the huts at
all times are kept attractive and In
erest'ng for the boys who are suffi
clertly convalescent to avall them
selves of their privileges.
The same work that {s being done
among the white soldiers is being
done for the negro troops. There are
Y. M. C, A. huts at Camp Gordon for
the negrpes, with negro secretaries in
chlrg’.
J. W, Evans is general secretary at
Camp Gordon, and all the Y. M. C. A.
wo:k is under his supervision. C. E.
Hawkins is general secretary at Fort
McPherson.
Through the good offices of the Y.
M. C, A. each camp has its own paper,
there being 22 of these papers pub
lished in camps in the Southeastern
Department,
These papers, “Trench and Camp,”
“Afioat and Ashore” and “The Ma
rine,” are edited by Y. M. C. A. men,
and their columns are devoted to the
activities of the boys In the camps
served by them, and to other impor
tant war news,
The Atlanta Y. M. C. A, bullding
#tands out as an oasie to travel weary
soldiers, who are allowed to stop over
long enough for a plunge or a shower,
The privileges of the gym are also
open to them at all times,
Headquarters Here,
Southeastern headquarters for the
War Work Couneil of the Y. M. C. A.
are located in Atlanta, and the work
of seven States is supervised here.
8. A, Ackley is the executive secre
tary for the Southeast of the War
Work Council of the Y. M, C. A, ot
the United States. About & year and
a half ago he was pesigned by Dr.
John I, Mott, genaral gperetary of the
Nationa! War Work Council, to sur
vey the Southeastern military de
partment with o view to erecting the
first army and navy Y. M, C. A, huts.
Today these bulldings serve thou
sgands In every eantonment, A report
just prepared for the fiscal year from
July 1, 1917, to July 1, 1918, shows
that 38,866,800 wsoldiers vigited and
made use of the -huts in the South
wastern camps,
The task of operating this vast
chain of huts Involves the handling
of milllons of dollars in Atlanta-—the
hub of it all in the Boutheast--and
further involves the employment of a
great foree, clerical and supervisory.
While the city Y. M. C. A, of At
lanta and the War Work Council pf
the Southeast have a unitad purpose,
L{u-lr work necessarily calls for dis
tinct organization. One phase fastens
upon the city and its needs, the other
branch upon the soldier and the sailor,
Dr. W, W. Alexander is in charge
of the recruiting of secretaries for
army and navy Y. M. C. A, work in
the Southeast. A. M. Souby is edu
cational director and Dr. T. A. Wig
gington is religlous director., L. Por
ter Moore is publicity director. Mrs.
B, M. Boykin is in charge of the re
crulting of women. '
Local Y, Officials,
George Winship, Jr, 1s president of
the Y. M. C. A. of Atlanta, W, W, Orr
is vice president. Rutherford Lips
comb I 8 treasurer and J. K. Orr ia
chalrman of the finance committee,
W. L. Peel is chairman of the boara
of trustees; J. K. Ottley Ils secretary
and W. Woods White is treasurer
Other officers are W. L. Boyer, Jr.
acting gencral secretary of the At.
lanta Y. M. C. A.; F. N. Radcliffe,
carhler; A. K. Frankl'n, physieal di
rector, and James H. Grauel In charge
of boys' work.
The following statistical report,
showing the work of the ¥. M. C. A,
in the Southeastern Department for
one year, July, 1917, to July, 1018,
gives a vi¢y complete and compre
hensive Idea of what has been ac
complished along the various lines of
endeavor pursued in home camps:
Est. attendance at bulld«
INES vasescatsasensntssss SN BIRENG
Number letters written ... 32,880,002
Amt. money orders sold, $2,463,744.02
Number I€Ctures .....ocious 4,008
Attendance .......soevoeoe 1,291,248
Fducational classes ....... 64,812
Attondance .....e.vessooes 078,045
Books circulated .......... 764,710
Edueational clubs ......... 649
Attendunce . ...... ... 25,178
Number participating ..... 3,683360
Number spectators ........ 05,646,318
No. religious meetings ... . 16,468
ALLONARIOO - s svenessvonss 5064851
SECOND
MAIN NEWS
SECTION
Number Bible classes ....q 31,389
ALORORBEE v s iities innan 395,348
Scriptures distributed ..,.. 223,233
Personal Christian Inter-
VIOWE i ccishhasvhamin 167,688
Christians decisions ....... 43,
No. signing war roll ...... T 2,
No. entertainments ....... 8,190
ACLORARDOR o vasiossssvan &fl&m
No. motion picture shows.. 8,
Attendance .............~"% 40T
When the boys have completed their
home training and are ready to leave
camp for overseas, a Y. M. C. A, seo=
retary goes with them, one or twe
secretaries accompanying each troop
train. And on the transport going
acrosa who is It that keeps the
thoughts of the boys off of subma~
rines and tiings? Who keeps them
so well entertained that theylem
have time to think about unp!
things? Who boosts their spirits wi!
songs and words of good ch'&
Agaln, it's the “Y” man.
Story of One Man.
%Listen to this story of the work of
a Y. M. C. A. man on board a trans
port, told by Captain George
Lynch, for 23 years highly
in educational wor§ throughout
Southeast and one of the South's
popular men, who, in the service o
the Y. M. C. A., has crossed the At
lantic three times on transports cas
rying American troops:
“The fear of the submarine seems
to lie in the uneasy mjnd of the
when they first leave the shores
America. And it is here that the
man has his first opportunity to serve.
It is up to him, if he is on to his job,
to dissipate fear, to implant some~
thing else in men's minds, something
that will remove that fear.
“One way of doing it is for the Y
man te inspect the ship with the ofs
ficers, to learn all the details of pro
visions that have been made for safe
ty. After this has been done, the ‘¥
man can tactfully round the hoys into
groups and explain it to them as he
has seen it. A
“Figst thing you know, the boys
have had infused into them ““.
pride in the ship's construction that
many of them actually hope that a
‘sub’ does show up so the ship can
take a crack at f{t.
“When you picture to them the
wonderful contrivances for safety
that make up the ship, they gsin
confidence from that, and instead of
anxfously peering out at sea for &
sub they become normal! and are
ready for recreation of some sort.
Fear Soon Dispelled.
“Convince them that the gunners
fore and aft are all old sailors, tralned
to shoot and hit a target eight out of
ten times, and before you know it the
boys are eager for a brush of some
snr‘i Why, in two days fear is prae
tically dispelled.
“The first day out men aren't in
clined to play games or write letters
home., It is then they are difficult
to manage. They stand out on deck,
their eyeballs aching from the efforts
to locate a sub.
“During the first day the ‘Y" man
can organize. In other words, he ia
able to mingle with the men, talk te
them and get a line on the boys whom
he may use for leaders. He is thl!
to chat with the sergeants and to ge
them to tell the men that there is no
danger whatever, and, in fact, there
seems to be little.
“The movie shows are a high form
of entertainment. The men love them.
One i 3 often given in the afternoon,
and probably another at night. There
are many other things that the Y’
man can do. He ecan arrange checker
tournaments, and the first thing one
krows there is intense rivalry.
“Reading is one of the greatest
comforts of the men. The American
Library Association furnishes the ¥,
M. C. A, 2,000 to 5000 books, and
these are distributed by the ‘Y’ man
the first day out.
“Letter writing to the home folk fs
another pastime on the ship that is
unriva'ed. On one trip more than
30,000 letters were written and were
taken back home on a ship returning.
The 'Y’ men not only encourage the
boys to write home, but aid them to
mall the letters so they will be mailed
on a ship returning. Through such
mailing they will reach home three
weeks earlier than if mailed at a post
office where they disembark.
“It is not infrequent that the sol
diers will individually come to the ‘¥*
man's stateroom, enter and close the
door behind him. They want to talk
heart to heart, and many a mother's
heart would jump with joy to hear the
sincere and open confessions of the
splendid boys.
“Within three days we had deliv.
ered to the mon On one voyage,
through special detalls, writing mate
riuls, pencils, books, Testaments, 80l
sheets, French wo=d slips, (runlpx
leaflets, games and the like.
“The men sent up a cheer for the
‘Y' man when they left the ship, and
the commanding officer penned &
beautiful tribute to the work of the
‘Y' gecretaries.”
Y Work Overseas.
Maybe you've often wondered what
the boys do on a transport
over, Captain Lynch gives a s
fair idea. And It doesn’'t so
bad, does it?
And now, about the work '
And, after all, that's what
most. Decause here at home we have
the various other war organizations
that work for the boys, but cver there
the Y. M. (. A, has the burden of the
whole thing.
And, in addition to its other acttvi
ties, the Y. M. C. A. overseas has
been called upon to manage the en
tire post exchange system fo'l,‘g‘l‘
Amerlcan expeditionury forees. i=
is the hugest single phase of all the
association's huge work. Gross sales
\ s
Continued on Page 3, Column 5,