World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian Associations
6. The Y M C A is the center of his _recreation_, and his entertainment
bureau. Under the leadership of Miss Lena Ashwell and scores of
others, concerts and entertainment parties have been organized and have
toured continuously in France, Great Britain, Egypt, and the more
distant camps. The six artists of each party are received with
tremendous enthusiasm and become the fast friends of Tommy Atkins. One
writes: "Last time the party came here the press of men waiting on the
verandah to go into the second performance was so great that our brand
new verandah collapsed with the sound of a bomb explosion! Luckily the
mass was so tightly packed that they fell through in a solid heap; no
one was hurt, and all were able to enjoy the concert thoroughly."
7. It is the soldier's _bank_, and his _postoffice_. We were in one
hut alone where more than fifteen thousand dollars were on deposit in
the savings bank. The sale of stamps in this hut amounts to fifteen
hundred dollars a month, and of postal orders for the remittance of
money home to more than four thousand dollars. Every week an average
of 28,000 letters are written and posted in this one room, while
thousands more are received and handed to the men.
8. The Association is the soldier's _friend_ and tourist guide, while
he is visiting London, Paris, or the other great cities. In some
places one table is set apart where a chaplain or secretary is always
on duty to help the soldiers make their wills, find out their trains to
London, answer their questions, or give them the friendly help they
need.
The Y M C A stands by the soldier to the last and even after he falls.
After the boy has fought his last fight and lies wounded or crippled or
dying in the hospital in France, it meets his parents and relatives and
provides for their entire stay in the country. Each relative of the
wounded proceeding to France receives printed instructions from the War
Office that the Y M C A will meet all the boats and provide
transportation and accommodations for all who need it while at the
front. Our friend, Mr. Geddes, broke down as he tried to tell us how
he and his wife had been met on the lonely shores of France by the Y M
C A secretary and motored quickly to the bedside of their dying son,
only to find that they were just too late. The funeral was arranged,
even to the providing of flowers. The last ministry was performed for
the young man away from home and for the loved ones left behind, under
the triangle that will forevermore be red.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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