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Raven Wing, Photographic Study by Emma B. Freeman to Illustrate the Blanket of Fate, See Page 15

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WANT to illustrate what I in the Civil War as the "Christian

I mean by an emergency agency

and then point out what the progressive Association man aspires to make of the Y. M. C. A. The world has called on the Association in many an emergency. It was

Commission." It was with the Japanese Army all through the war with Russia. It was in every camp and naval station in the war with Spain. Since then, it has been in every camp and naval station of the regular army

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and navy as a permanent agency. It has been one of the greatest factors of Democracy in the far East, where it is the clearing house of inter-denominational activities. It is today working wonders in the new-born nation of Europe.

In the last war it was drafted to meet the greatest emergency in the lives of men that the world has yet known. The men needed entertainment. The answer of the Association has been 56,724,000 feet of movie film overseas in a single month; 10,743 miles of itenough each month to reach from New York to Sydney, Australia. enough for 9,354 movie shows, which would have cost the boys $1,000,000 over here, but which was free over there. This is in addition to thoussands of vaudeville shows by the best artists. It is only an incident in the big program.

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These men in the army and navy were the best instruments to maintain

morale at home. The "Y" kept them constantly reminded of the home letters. The "Y" shipped enough letter paper to Europe to reach three times around the earth. 305,290,631 sheets of letter paper have been supplied to the A. E. F. alone.

The men wanted a chance to play. The "Y" supplied the A. E. F. with 152,776 baseball bats. The "Y" supplied them with 640,420 baseballs, all free; enough to supply the National and American leagues, using five balls per game, for 103 years. The "Y" supplied them with 74,474 footballs, 96,890 playground balls, 20,405 basketballs, and 15,171 pairs of boxing gloves, all at a cost of $1,630,000 and all free. Association trained athletic directors went over to stimulate programs and help in directing sports.

The men needed a warm place for recreation, writing, reading and entertainment. The "Y" provided 3,356 such places for the A. E. F. and Al

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lied Armies. Sometimes for a single brigade it was necessary to have several such places in a month because of the movements of the brigade. Seven portable sawmills helped turn out the lumber needed. The coal used cost from $70 to $100 per ton.

The "Y" from the first has planned to meet the emergency needs of men in transit. The importance to morale of the first journey to the camps was apparent; so a "Y" secretary was put on every troop train. There is at least one "Y" man with every troop train now, for the men who are coming home. Since July, 1917, the "Y" has manned 6,662 troop trains carrying a total of 3,906,000 soldiers covering 6,600,000 miles. Every troop train has been supplied with stationery, reading material, music and games, always free.

Since March 4, 1918, 1,381 "Y" secretaries have sailed on 971 sailings of troop ships. They have supplied to

these transports $630,574 worth of complete equipment for free use in transit. 2,750,000 men have been served on ocean transports. Until the signing of the Armistice, November 11th, the "Y" was the only organization to have representatives permanently assigned to army transports. This does not take into consideration the great huts at Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburg, and other transfer centers. At Hoboken, the great port of embarkation and debarkation, six buildings are used by the "Y," five rented, and one the largest "Y" hut in America. In April, alone, these huts at Hoboken served 276,100 men. This and work like this, shows how the Young Men's Christian Association meets the emergency calls.

The Association movement was established by a young draper's clerk in London to meet the social and spiritual emergency in the lives of a small group of his fellow clerks, who were

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