World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian Associations
We visited one night the great tent generously given by the Viceroy for
the work of the territorials in Delhi. General Sir Percy Lake took the
chair and the men gathered in the large marquee for the meeting.
Sherwood Day, of Yale, had been in charge of this work during the
winter, providing a home for the men of the territorials in this
ancient Indian capital. A series of lectures by leading Indians served
to interpret Indian life and thought to these soldiers, who were seeing
at once the needs and greatness of the Indian Empire at first hand,
while leading Indian Christians of the type of Mr. K. T. Paul, Dr.
Datta, and Bishop Azariah told them the fascinating story of Indian
missions and the history of Christianity in Asia. A new sense of race
brotherhood is taking the place of the old antagonism and prejudice,
and Indian secretaries stationed with English Tommies have become
exceedingly popular with them.
From India as a base, the Association has gone forward with the
advancing columns into Mesopotamia and East Africa. As we cross the
Persian Gulf and follow the winding courses of the Tigris and the
Euphrates up into the heart of Mesopotamia, we find a group of
Princeton men and some sixty secretaries stationed here with the
troops, under Leonard Dixon of Canada. The men affectionately call him
the "padre"; anyone who has ever boxed with Dixon and felt the force of
his right, knows that he is a man who has both drive and "punch." The
troops in Mesopotamia have been fighting often under terrible
conditions, marching through ooze and slime, drinking the yellow
unfiltered water, decimated by the attacks both of sickness and of the
enemy. In summer the alkali dust lies four inches deep on the floors
of their tents, and the thermometer stands at 120 degrees in the sultry
shade. Dixon racked his brain to provide recreation and helpful
entertainment for these hard fighting men. A bioscope, competitive
concerts, a Christmas tree, a New Year's treat, football and hockey
tournaments, and entertainments of various kinds have been improvised
to make the men forget the awful hardship of the march and of the
battle. On Sunday the writing tables are full from dawn till dark and
tons of stationery have been used to keep these men in touch with their
distant homes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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