Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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YORKVILLE ENQUIRER. l m grist's sons, publishers, f 3- 4fantilg |teppei( i <^or th$ promotion 0jf th$ political, ?oi;ia!, ^ri^Itur.al and Commeiirial Interests ojf th$ |eo^. | TERMs?Si^coPYEiivrciNwANCE ^^BLISHE^T855 YORK, S. C. FRIDAY. JANUARY 24, 1919^ NO. f ~ ~" " ^ I*- nlnl/ iAoo mo/In I V W P A In tVia *? SERVICE OF THE SNIPER Must Be Patient, Brave and an Ex pen sooi | POSITION OF VERY GREAT DANGER L, Various Tricks Ar? Used in Drawing Fire of the Enemy?They Go at Their Work in a Business-Like Man' ner and Take What Comes Without Complaint. By Sergeant R. J. McSwinney, a Canadian Instructor at Camp Dlx, in the American Magazine. The sniper is a mysterious person of whom you read much? and know little. You do not dream how important he is to the armies. For two years I was a sniper, and I do not hesitate to say that it is one of the most exciting and responsible positions any soldier can All. Hidden in bushes, in shell holes, in trained houses, the sniper lies for hours at a time, motionless, every faculty in a deadly vigilance. Hp He must have an eye of a hawk, the patience of a Job, and an inexhaustible ingenuity. For on his alertness and his p swiftness of action depend the lives, sometimes, of scores of his fellow soldiers. . At Vimy Ridge one of our snipers was advancing in front of our assaulting lines watching for German machine guns, snipers, or anything that could endanger our advance. Suddenly he spotted a machine gun and its crew in an abandoned gun pit barely a hundred yards in front of him. Snow was on the ground and our infantry was Just coming over the cre9t of the ridge, their khaki-clad forms sharply silhouted against the sky line- They were an ideal target which could not possibly have been missed. Another second and the German gunners would press the button and begin playing a devil's tattoo up and down that line. At the same instant that the sniper discovered the ambush the Germans nio-ht of him. He heard a shout, noticed a second's confusion among the Huns, and then saw the gun swing around in his direction. The sniper, however, had been trained to coolness, quickness and implacable accuracy. Framing the scowling face of the Hun behind the cross hairs of his gun-sight, his rifle cracked, and the tense face vanished into the pit. Another took its place almost immediately, but the sniper's rifle spat again, and the gun had another vacancy in its crew: Again and aKa/n the sniper's rifle spoke, until it had wiped out the whole of the venomous nsst. Had his first bullet beer the frac* he himself would have been killed, as sure as fate. And what is more than that his failure would have cost the r lives of more than two hundred and fifty other men. In addition, the whole advance might have been held up at that point, and no one knows now many more lives might have been sacrificed. This incident is an illustration of the enormous responsibility the sniper carries. But our work is not always so dramatic as in this case. Much of the time is just patient, patient, patient watching and waiting for the lightning ' chance which we must not miss. You cannot conceive how different it is from the dash over the top, the mad rush with the bayonet. You must never waste a shot. But you must never miss oneIt must be remembered that every inch of our trenches, every corner of our positions, was always under the observation of high-powered German glasses. Therefore a sniper's first duty was to find himself a place of concealment. Carefully hidden, a sniper could work almost untold damage to the enemy. If any repairing of trenches took place, if supplies were being brought up to the front lines, the sniper could put a stop to it. I remember that once two German snipers forced a considerable body of our men to give up some of the ground they had just taken. Our fellows were prevented from digging in, sand-bagging, or strengthening their positions in any way, because every time one of us made a move, a sniper's rifle cracked out In the end we were forced to retire. Just because of those two men. M The popular theory that snipers make frequent use cf trees for con coaling themselves is a mistake. In open warefare trees are useful to afford p. rapid survey of the ground to be crossed, and may be used for a few shots before advancing, farther, but in trench warfare it is out of the question. This is because, mainly, there are no trees worthy of the name. Shrapnel will strip a tree as bare as a telegraph pole in a few seconds. Besides, a tree is a hard position to get to and irom unat-r we of the enemy, and ready access to a position is a valuable consideration. Therefore, in preference to trees, we look for shell holes, folds in the ground, or any natural unevenness that is well concealed by nature. We always study the back ground, of course, to make sure that the light, or the color of the ground and vegetation, will not reveal the outlines of our figures. Whenever possible, we choose an elevated position so that we can look down on the enemy. We never get on top of a hill, however, for then the sky line would reveal our figures or Bw our posts. Ruins of houses are useful. though we have to be careful lest brick dust fly up when we shoot, and attract the attention of an observer. Shell holes and abandoned trenches were probably the best positions. It was not hard to convert them into hiding J ?U1a/4 ?<o rrnf wall places, ann mey vnauicu u*? iv ..x... out into No Man's Land when necessary. Also, one usually found a lot of | rubbish, tin cans, old shoes and so or all of which were very useful in concealing our loophole. By piling such refuse cunningly around our position you can cover a wide area with your fire, and, even if your general location is discovered, it is next to impossible for anyone to spot the particular cranny from which you are firing. It was by tricks of this sort we' triad to fool Heinie. Another one was to hang small pieces of colored cloth 1 or rags from sand bags on the barbed wire near our post, but well clear of It. Blowing in the wind, the rag tended to distract the attention of the Hun from our own position, for nothing catches the eye quicker than movement and contrasting colors. Just as he was 1 about to shoot, this rag would sway 1 "with the breeze and attract the eye: i he would lose time examining the object and finding out what it was. be- i sides unsettling his aim. Fritz, of '< course, uses similar "wheezes." At ^ one time he brought out colored sand N bags reds, greens, purples, every con- ^ ceivable color to use on his posts, ' and looking at a bit of his parapet was like being at an exhibition of futurist or cubist patterns. We snipers also learned that anything with whic h the Hun was familiar could be used to deceive him. We discovered, for example, that if we put an old shoe on the edge of a shell hole or a trench, and left it there for three or four days, t e Germans would not even waste bullets on it. They would think it was just an old shoe and not bother with it. Then about the fourth day, we would carefully remove the heel of the shoe, conceal the muzzle of a rifle in the opening thus made and shoot through it. Time and again, we had the Germans running around in circles, tryirg to figure out the location of our snipera Instead of thinking of the obvious and familiar thing, they sought the new and complex. We expended much more ingenuity however, in getting a shot at Fritz than in making themselves safe from his bullets. On or off duty, we were always planning some new way to make Fritz lift his head above the top of the trench. And when we had made him do ths, we must unfailingly get him. Tha : is what we are picked and trained for to observe sharply and shoot quickly. But we can't shoot at what we can't see. Se we use every possible device to cause the enemy to i show himself. < Of all the m. thods used, the most 1 successful are triose based on human nature. For instance, everyone is cur- 'i ious, and the Hun is no exception to 1 the rule. Therefore, to puzzle him, to i arouse his curiosity we would send up 1 little colored paper balloons. The wind i would carry them toward the German 1 trenches, and Fritz would poke up his i head to see what "new thing-" was j coming toward him. In the same way, ] whenever we put up signs or posted i notices in No Man's Land, Fritz would < take a chance and lift his head an inch i or so to read what was on them. i Allied victories on other fronts, or ] interesting news, which we knew was withheld from the German soldiers, i was the basis of most of the placards, s We also learned from prisoners that t whenever anything unusually funny ^ or interesting was posted the Huns t P? i milfc?tfl tnlrt .n ? look at the sign. Acc*6rdingly, we ( tried to be as orginal as possible. 1 Our ingenuity was always directed i more at the German sniper, however, ? than at the ordinary soldiers in their s trenches, because snipers were much \ more of a menace to our own men. t so much on curiosity as on their anxiety < Our tricks to get them were based not I to shoot. When a rifle is fired, it 1 gives off a wisp of smoke or gas, and by watching sharply through tele- j scopes we could sometimes discover in i this way the location of the Hun i sniper. Therefore, to araw his fire, we j used such things as a dummy head, t made from papier mache, wearing a j trench helmet and perhaps even having i a cigarette in its mouth. This dummy s was very realistic, and when we lifted ? the head very slowly over the top of i tne trencn r ruz inougm w?w vnv ? our men cautiousjy taking a look, and t fired at it. s When he did sc. the head had to be < lowered very cleverly, in imitation < of our man ducking, or falling dead, i for if the enemy sniper suspected that f a dummy had been used he would at i once decamp. i Dummies and mitation periscopes i were also much used by both the Ger- ] mans and ourselves, because if you i could trap the other fellow into shooting at it, the alignment of the holes i made by his bullets would give you 1 a very close idea of the location of the i place from which the shot was fired. J Another scheme was to construct a < dummy loophole and to hang loosely, immediately behind the aperture, a 1 large piece of white paper. The breeze ] swayed the paper, and as the white < surface approached the opening it gave < the appearance of light shining through < from behind: as the paper .receded < everything appeared black in the aper- 1 ture. This gave a very realistic im- . pression of a man at watch through i it and blocking out the light, and 1 stepping away, allowing the light to 1 shine through again. i There were many times however, 1 when the Hun snipers were so careful 1 that our'efforts to draw their fire failed completely. Our men were being ( picked off. We knew that a sniper had . got a commanding position over us. Yet, in spite of all our devices, we j could not locate his hide closely enough , to get him out of it. When this happened, if we were losing so many men that headquarters complained about it, , we were forced to the desperate meas- , ure to giving Fritz the target he loved best of all a human one! I mean that to draw his fire, one of the snipers would deliberately expose , himself, giving the Hun a fair mark, while his own partner watched for the gas from the rifle. The man who took the chance vol- j unteered for the job. knowing well what kind of a proposition he was up against, and he did it deliberately, for the sake of the whole garrison and of the trench. There were no heroics, ( no farewells, just, 'We'll fix him, Bill! You stay here (in the post) and watch him." Then, going up the trencn a nitle way, Bill's part ler deliberately exposed himself head and shoulders until Fritz had fired. Sometimes Fritz missed, but not often. In any event, the sacrifice was never unfruitful, and , the German sniper never lived to gloat long over his "good" shot. . Do not think, however, that the 'sniping game was a one-sided amuse. 'merit. The Huns were just as anxious to get our snipers as we were to lo- ( cate theirs, and they were wily cusses. One never knew when he might ] fall into one of their traps, and they had many schemes to work on us.'j They were particularly fond of concentrating on a small sector of our front and using a converging Are. When one of our snipers thought he had spotted a Fritz and fired at his loophole, bullets immediately crashed Into his position from several different directions, maybe three or four hundred yards on either flank. Such shots were very hard to trace. These are some of the tricks and schemes used by Allied and Hun snipers. They were very valuable in our work. Yet there is one quality which every sniper must possess, without which these devices would be useless. That quality Is patience. There are days and days when snipers must keep their ceaseless watch without fretting a, good shot at their enemy. Sometimes a sniper will fix his eyes on a likely spot for hours without seeing anything at which to shoot. When his ;hance finally comes, however, he gets tils man. One morning, just about dawn. I kept my sights lined on a faint wisp if smoke floating from the Hun parapet for more than a half-hour before t got my shot. It was a great strain pn my eyes and at moments I felt like driving it up for a more promising field pf observation. Suspecting, however, that this smoke came from the bowl pf a sentry's pipe, and hoping that before he went off duty he would take i last look over the parapet, I kept my gun trained and my eyes on that spot. Sure enough, at last he put up lis head, and I got him. Lack of patience in a sniper may result in his own death. When he engaged in a duel with a Hun sniper ooth of them were likely to cease Bring after a while, each waiting for the other to make some move. The pontest then became one of patience, md the one who had tne most patience could usually get a shot at the >ne with the least, for the impatient man, unable to await the other, would make some movement which would show a part of his body for a second >r two, and the other one would get tiim. Patience is doubly necessary for the reason that a sniper rarely gets more :han one shot at the same place- Seeing a low spot in the enemy's trench, the sniper figured that he might be ible to get a Hun who failed to stoop low when passing along the trench, ind he kept his gun trained to that spot. If he got his man, he succeeded. But if he only kicked up dust, or shot i bullet past Fritz's ear, he ruined his :hance of another shot; for Fritz, be,ng no fool, put up a sign warning the men to keep their heads down when passing that particular spot. In picking or training snipers, we :est their patience carefully. One way ve do it is by having a target, usually i dummy head, behind a brick wall. Phe candidate for a sniper's job then akes his position two or three hunI it m?li aydy^jMhpalts tor the tar* jet to appear. We may hold it back or fifteen minutes or two hours. When 4. j " - -ara Tiro /?>, the man to t uuco , t?v ? mvv... .... tee what he does. If he is patient, cool ind possesses nerves of iron, he waits mtil he can get a good shot at the arget. If he is of the other type, ex:itable, nervous and impatient, he )lazes away the second he sees the lead, and probably misses it. We also test a man's patience and lowers of observation by asking him to eport the things which happen at the ,'ront or in the enemy's trench for the period of an hour. If he is patient, he ;urns in a full, detailed report- If impatient, his report for the first few ninutes is good, but the rest of it is (cattered and lacking, showing his inibility to concentrate for any lengthy period. It is not, however, only of patience ind of scheming that the sniper is conrtantly thinking; there is the rifle, his learest possession. On it and on its leadly telescopic sight the sniper lavshes as much care as a mother on her irst born. No one may touch it or use t under pain of fearful abuse ana terrible retribution. He is always cleanng, polishing and oiling it. Soqie snipers, 1 believe, even sleep with their rifles and call them by pet names. Snipers always work in pairs one man using the telescope and observing, the other doing the shooting. They ire, of course, equally good marksmen and they alternate in their duties in srder to avoid eye and nerve strain. As they eat, sleep, and fight together, they naturally become the closest of pals. And yet this friendship is never jvident in their language to each olh?r. A stranger, in fact, would need no sxcuse for taking them to be mortal enemies, for their affection takes the form of horribly vituperative language. A soldier hates to display emotion of any kind before his pals, but his feelings must have some outlet, so, rather than make a fuss over a comrade's narrow escape, his partner, who may have been quite jarred at the incident, falls back On abuse. My partner must have been terriblycut up on?e, judging from the depth and wealth of his subsequent language. We had located a sniper who was firing from behind a steel plate, and had not made much of an impression upon him. In fact, all we had done was to reveal our own position, as we discovered when one of his shots hit the bayonet boss of my rifle, peppering my face with tiny fragments of the bullet. I was not hurt, but a quarter of an inch one way or the other would have done for me. My partner, thinking I had "gone west," treated me to a beautiful volley of abuse when he discovered that I was safe- I accepted it as it was meant delicate camouflage for his real feelings. Abuse, however, was not confined to the ranks of our own men. You should have heard some of the remarks exchanged across N'o Man's Land where the distance between trenches permitted of shouting! The most interesting ones were told of a German sniper who used a well-protected and concealed position in front of his own trenches for a considerable period before he was moved. This man became known to several of the Canadian divisions as "The Man in the Cage," and he was a source of great annoyance to every unit that ever took over that sector. He speaks English perfectly, having lived in the states, and he used to greet us with. "Good morning:, Cantick! How are you to-day? Did you get any breakfast this morning?" This referred to rumors of food storage. He asked us if any of us knew New York. PARADE OF THE BLUE || | H '' , - $ ' SkSSS ' '' ^+4^"'' > ? JK(K^vSK9B^ jmlioJkJ8&&? >^txS^sngp^y:- . . VTXBtf PfL few#^ I'urt of the welcome extended the grand parade of the bluejackets. Th Fifth avenue. Meantime,"of course, he was diligently clipping our hair wheil he got the chance. We used to answer in kind, hold up loaves of bread on our bayonets and say we were not reduced to eating "Koppz" butter. He told us what the Germans would do when they got London and Canada, and we detailed somje of our plans for the sacking of Berlin. I didn't know what became of him. We didn't get him. $ On one occasion four snipers w'ere advancing considerably ahead of the infantry during an attack, when one of our "infantry contact" planes was damaged and seen to fall about, slkty ""-J? '?< '""it nf The nviators were stunned by their fall. Seeing them, eight Germans leaped from their trenches and dashed toward the machine, hoping to complete its destruction and to capture its guns and pers. ?! 1 Our sniping officer sized up the fit- 1 uation in a flash. "I'll beat them to 1 it!" he cried, and dashed forward. Had ' he not done so we could probably have picked off the advancing Huns. as it was, our.pfflceg masked our fygpr > We couldn't shoot, DUt we could shout, ! giving him all the encouragement we could. He reached the machine d few yards ahead of the Fritzes and opened up on them with the Lewis gun from the plane at point-blank range. He j wiped the whole eight of them out, and saved the aviator, to say nothing of the machine guns and maps. This act later earned him the military . cross. J Again, at Gallipoli the snipers dis- ( played remarkable ingenuity in cover ing the withdrawal of embarking troops. In the parapet of the trenches were fixed a number of' old rifles pointed in the direction of the enemy. To the trigger of each rifle was attached a string, which, passing through the : Mng-swivel, had an empty can suspended from its loose end. Immediately above each of these empty cans was placed a larger one, containing a gallon of water. Holes of different sizes were punched in the bottoms of the upper cans so the water would flow from the upper into the lower cans, which were suspended-from the triggers of the rifles. ? As soon as the embarkation of the troops had begun, the snipers pulled out the plugs from the holes in the cans and withdrew. Thereafter, as soon as a surncient amount or waici had passed from the upper can into the lower one to overcome the pressure of the trigger (from Ave to seven pounds), the rifle was automatically fired. The different sizes of the holes allowed the water to flow more rapidly into some of the cans than into others, so that the rifles were not all fired simultaneously, thus giving the Turks the impression that our trenches were still occupied a long time after they had been actually evacuated. Things that Mr. Bryan Has Stood For. The Boston Herald after admitting that to William Jennings Bryan is due the credit of carrying his party and the nation over acceptance of the popular election of the United States senators, and conceding that his muchridiculed grape* juice policy has now been nationally indorsed, goes on to sav tKn* Ufvon fnrthnh nccrp/] tVlf? fodfiftll tax, making1 peculiarly bitter drives against Mr. Justice Shiras, whose ' changed vote had thrown out the leg- i islation along this line in the Wilson , Bill in the Cleveland administration," and concludes by asking' "What else has Bryan stood for?" Well, for one 1 thing, he has stood against militarism j in the United States, and, not so long ago, was ridiculed for taking the position that if the country ever needed defenders, millions of them would i spring from the ground. How nearly < he was right is exemplified in the de- , mobilization problem now confronting the government. It was easier, appar- * ently, to get defenders into the ranks < than it is to get them back to their ( homes. Christian Science Monitor. Foiling the Germans. There have } been some wonderful tales told of the , way in which men in occupied dis- ( tricts have escaped detection by the , Germans. To the ineenuitv and cour- . ago of countrywomen many British, French and Belgians owe their lives or their liberty. There is the case of that ' British Hussar who, in the Mons re- < treat, managed to escape capture by ( hiding in a wood and, after many days and many adventures, was hidden by two Belgian peasant women in their ' cottage. Little by little he assumed the i air and appearance of a peasant of the , neighborhood, and passed muster e en with the Germans. Then there is the storv of the treasurer of a French town who .was hidden by his wife in the garden for three years. As town . treasurer the Germans were very anxious to catch him and obtain his books, but the French wife was too much for I them, and it was only when the Germans had gone, bag and baggage, that , the town treasurer emerged with his books.?Christian Science Monitor. IACKETS IN NEW YORK I d< returning navy at New York was the ln e sailors are here seen moving down 2j Ls Alphabetical War Prose. tli For The Yorkville Enquirer. ^ A for America, the home of the brave- ^ B for Belgium that suffered to save. ^ C for courage that won the war. D for draft of rich and poor. E for England's mighty fleet F for France, where nation's meet. u] G for Germany, the first to hit. H for Hun, that hit the grit. b? I for Italy, with the pope in Rome. J for Japan, taking care of her own. ^ K for kaiser, that left his throne. m L for labor and loyalty shown. at M for money for Liberty loan. N for navies that sail the sea. m O for oceans, open and free. ^ P for peace from war and strifeQ for quick to flght for right. ^ R for Russia's revolting step. S for soldiers full of pep. T for Turkey, from Moslem's free. [J for U-boats that pirate the sea. M V for victory over fiendish might. *o W for Woodrow Wilson, for Justice and right. ^ Y for Y. M. C; A., headquarters for . ' lie -- nPWH ^" ; "a i nt 7j?for Zion, the home of the Jews. M ?Alph L. Neely- *q{ GOV. COOPER INAUGURATED. b> ur Simple Ceremonies on th? Front Por- en tico of the Capitol. , w At four minutes after 1 o'clock Tues- lej lay afternoon Robert A. Cooper, of A. Laurens, succeeded Richard I. Man-|th ling, of Sumter, as governor of South th Carolina- . sa In conformity with Governor Coop- fo jr's desire, the inaugural exercises to- w< lay were characterized by democratic ha simplicity. The oath of office was a*'- no ninistered by his lifelong friend ani' former fellow townsman, Associated pa Justice R. C. Watts, of the surpreme th :ourt of South Carolina, and the pray?r was offered by his pastor, Rev. A. sis H. Templeman, D. D., of .Laurens. ca Following' the ministering of the to >ath of office Governor Cooper deliver- do ?d his inaugural address, which was ju generally commended as being con- ly iucive to a spirit of political harmony to ind general co-operation of endeavor lei among all the .people of the state. The to! Keynote of the address was education- gi il advancement and the administra- ca tion of all the laws of the state in the fr< spirit of their enactment and in accord with the intent of the constitu- M, tion and the statutes. ag He said that he would deal with the 'n legislative department with perfect :andor, and it would find him as ready th to receive as to offer suggestions. He mi 3aid that the program which he out- til lines would entail additional appro- ed prlations, and that his educational he program would probably call for the do largest amount ever expended in one no year for the public schools, but that dii when the tax-payers received adequate w< returns upon their investment, ana nu the future citizenship of the state was ua it stake, that it was a matter of sa largest public duty, as well as of di< aconomy. Bi Governor Cooper spoke for nearly A. in hour and was liberally applauded t>y an assemblage which represented by a very walk of life in South Carolina ta! ind every section of the state. ca In beginning his address he refer- ini red to the righteous ending of the war, sa md said that no legislature which had to ?vor assembled in the state was con- wt fronted with greater opportunities, or cu ?raver responsibilities than those which th .'ace us today. ce; He recommended an act providing for a minimum school term of seven ga months and a state-wide compulsory pa ..?1?~ nf .-ill children ar 'CnOOl niivnuaiKc <<? ? - between the ages of eight and 14 years ca luring the minimum school term. Ad- Ri jquate pay for teachers and school of- an :ials was stressed in this connection. ' He outlined at some length his po- afl dtion upon the question of taxation, w< recommending an executive budget an similar to that in force in Virginia, the dp total amount to he apportioned to the to various countries according to taxable so tvealth. go The inaugural exercises today do- he parted from the usual procedure, in ne that they were held on the front por- be iico of the state capital. In previous wi rears the governors-elect took oath of ml ofllee before the general assembly in ha dio hall of the house of represen- soi tntives. Mi kl gr The Price of Peace. Magistrate qu 'Great Scott, officer, how did these go men come to he so badly bruised and Wittered up?" sti Officer 'Please, your honor, they Inj ivere discussing the peace settlement." fa Baltimore American. I ov ieasure uf the r. m. i. a. ; i ecord of tbe Organization Sub|ect, to Criticism ; iCLUDED MANY UNFIT WORKERS; , ome of the Incompetent Ones Thought < They Were Conferring a Privilege 2 Charged the Dough-Boys Exorbitant * Prices Some Were Capable, But Moet of Them Were Not. r Returned soldiers have dropped f lough criticism of the workings of the t . M. C. A. to make a drastic investiga- ( on necessary. I>r. Mott has promised i tis, but before his report appears, a t ng letter from the front, written by f dwin Ll James to the New York Times 1 leds much light on the vexed ques- 1 on. His letter is dated from Coblenz 1 id he reports Mr. George W. Per- r ins, the finance chairman of the or- 1 miz&tion, on the ground with money ' > spend, but also with an anxious heart s >rer the dissatisfaction with earlier isbursements. He has been told, < tys Mr. James, "that there is no ? oubt that the Y. M. C- A. was chock- * ill of good intentions, but that its 1 ireer with the American Expedition- * ry force had been lavishly mis man- t jed." Mr. James divides this charge 1 ito three~ixurts: "First, mismanage- * ent of the canteens; secondly, un- * rtunate selection of much of its per>nnel and, thirdly, overmuch care for 1 le moral welfare of the American 1 >ugh-boy." In an article published c l The Literary Digest on November ' I, we gave extracts from a pamphlet * sued by the Y. M. C. A. setting forth c ime of the reasons why its policy was I jcessarily different from the "every- c ting free" of the Knights of Colum- S js. Mr. James presents the same I ndamental facts with the added color a ' the soldiers' reactions: ? "It Is idle to try to express in a few 1 ords what has been the matter with .? V II n A Ttn t ic l iu. /v. x uj yicaciii uuja;^ arity is an outgrowth of many fac- 8 >rs. If I .were asked to set forth the ^ ggest factors in making the unpleas- b it reputation the Y. M..C. A. now has 1' rer here I would say, first, manage- f ent of canteens; secondly,'unfortun- c e selection of much of its personnel, ^ id thirdly, overmuch care for the oral welfare of the American dough- a >y. ' 't: "Let us take the matter of canteens. 8 r course, it to true that the army 0 iked the Y. M. C. A. to take over the ? jiteens. Disregarding opinions as to 0 e wisdom of that procedure, the Y. 8 . C. A. found itself with the canteen t b on its hands. In accepting that ^ b the Y. M. C. A. made its big miske. And this is why the dough-boy ? is never been able to understand why C > should pay fancy priced ?t th4 Jp* ^ . C. A. canteen when he has read e millions given to the'Y. M. ,C. A. 8 r his folks back home. d "For the Y. M. C. A. it was and is a ifortunate ihat the dough-boy is not 1 dowed with a judicial temperament. * ere he so endowed he would doubt- n js weigh carefully that the Y. M. Q. t< had to pay big shipping freights, at the Y. M. C. A. had to pay rents, '< at the Y. M. C. A. had to pay many tl laries, bigger than the dough-boy got ? r fighting Uncle Sam's battles. He S >uld consider all these things if he h .d the judicial temperament. But n t having It, he has said: a " 'Why the duce should we have to h y big prices for those things when e money is given the Y. M. C. A.?' a "Now the Y. M. C. A. sets forth per- ^ itently that nowhere in its publicity mpaign did it say that it was going a use money raised to give things to 6 ugh-boys. Yet the conclusion seems stifled that it did not set forth plain- B enough that things were to be sold dough-boys, because in countless e :ters from home dough-boys were h Id of how parents and friends had a ven money to the Y. M. C. A. so that a nteen supplies would go quickly and d ?ely to fighting men. h "Judging from this net result, the Y. b . C. A. drive publicity was not maned in that it left a wrong impression h certain quarters. d "The Y. M. C. A. was not alone in e is mistake. The Red Cross also u ide it in its posters showing a beau- 81 'ul Red Cross nurse lifting a wound- 1 soldier from the field of battle to ti r protecting breast. Now, the P ugh-boy knows perfectly well that u Ited Cross nurse lifts wounded sol- " ers from the field of battle, that a w >unded man never sees a Red Cross irse until he gets back to some evac- ^ .tion or base hospital. And that self- d me poster in the hands of the sol- nr er has hurt the. Red Cross seriously. f< it that is beside discussing Y. M. C. w canteens. n "It is well known and admitted now the Y. M. C. A. that It made amis- 1' ke by charging too high prices at a nteens. It made the mistake of buy- P ? cigarettes from an army commis- i< ry and taking them across the street T a canteen and charging twice what i* us paid at the commissary. When it ^ t its prices the Y. M. C. A. hoped b at criticism of its canteens would b ase, but it did not. a "I think the Y. M. C. A. as an ornization iSientitled to a lot of sym- tl thy over this canteen question. The tl my expected that it would charge at fi nteen prices, and that was natural. 'c< it it was dealing with a condition d not with a theory." C Transportation difficulties naturally ^ feet the Y. M. C. A., as its supplies v> >uld have to give precedence to food d ammunition for the troops, but the fs ^appointed dough-boy was not apt ci reason about the matter, and 'some if Idlers branded the Y. M. C. A. as no e od when the Y. M. C. A. could not si 1 r\ Uoalf " TVi a onaot inn af nnronn _ n I links' up with the canteen question si cause much of the dissatisfaction th canteens came from unwise ad- tl inistration of them. Great changes b ve been made in the Y. M. C. A. per- h nnel in the last few months, reports e< p. James, saying also that "Mr. Perns points out that in the beginning a el eat many men had to be found b ilckly and it was difficult to get all t< od men." Going on: a "I agree with Mr. Perkins that that g itement is probably true, but it be- tl g truo by no means changes the ti :t that the Y. M. C. A. had some men b er there who should have stayed w 1UII1U iuiu WllUUVtVU |/*un who, imouv Chautauqua speeches, or In, some In- < dances, kept on driving trucks. Tho damage was done the Y. M. C. ? K. by those hundreds of secretaries i vho maintained a condescending atti- 1 ude toward the soldiers and whose < ?very act was done as a favor to the 1 American fighting men. It is mighty l lard to set down in a few words just I vhr.t this situation was. In its net < >ffect one must bear In mind that one illly Y. M. C. A. man would counterict the good work of a dozen capable f. M. C. A. men. "But let us tAke an Instance I wltlessed of four dough-boys who walked Ive and a half kilometers in the rain o buy some cigrarettes from a Y. M. 2. A. canteen and got there ten mlnltos after six o'clock, six being closing ime for the Y. M. C. A. man. He reused to sell them cigarettes because t was after hours and they had to walk >ack five and a half kilometers eleven tilometers (seven miles) in all in the ain and without their cigarettes. Those lads were sore and their comades to whom they reported were iore. "I have seen dozens of times a Y. M. 2. A. man refuse to sell matches to loldiers because they did not have the ight change and he did not have itonce asked a Y. M. C. A. man why le did not just give some soldiers hree cents' worth of matches. He -eplled that If he did he would have to nake it out of his salary, and he could /1a tvint p "There is another Instance of a bat- t alion marching: back from the front c ine and because it was raining and t lark the men did not reach their blleting area until eleven o'clock. Now i he Y. M. C. A. man closed up at ten a >'clock, and when soldiers, wet and r ired and cold; asked for some hot a ?ffee this Y, M. C. A. man refused to t ret up and serve it With that bat- c alion was a former college football a itar. He has one eye and was a big 1 idvertletng man in New York before 1 he war. a "He found that Y. M. C. A. secre- f ary and told him if he didn't turn out. 1 .nd make that coffee quickly he would I lave his block knocked off. The tired t (attalion got its coffee and registered ove for one Y. M. C. A. man and hate 1 or another. But I ask you, which Y. M. a V A. man do you think they remem- a >ered? , c "I have heard hundreds of times this f .nswer when soldiers asked for some- t hing at a canteen: 'Well, maybe, I g uess I can accommodate you.' That 1 ne neply by Y. M. C. A. men is full r f meaning. It means that hundreds t f them adopted the attitude that their r erving soldiers was a privilege for a he soldiers and not a privilege for the t r. M. C. A. ^ fflclent, and lovable men, who hav< d ha bed dangers and hardships with a ?ugh-boys, and who are loved and c re respected for their good wont, 'here are many of these, but their good rork has been damned by a smaller ^ umber of fools the Y, M. C, A. sent 0 France." . According to the dough-boy's way of joking at the Y. M. C. A.'s work for lie moral welfare of the soldiers, "the rmy is no reformatory and war is no unday-school picnic," and he himself ^ 1 competent to look after his own loral welfare in such time as he has t his own disposal aside from flghtlg Germans. r< "Let me illustrate what I mean by lying that at Mr. Perkirt's dinner ally one-half of the conversation of P '. M. C. A. leaders was taken up with discussion of protecting men from vlls which beset the young men in javes areas. Now, the dough-boy bewon h?? is a nrettv good fellow moral- . r, spiritually and physically, and the " vjdence all indicates he is right. Ours i the healthiest army in the world, nd the scarcity of disease is regarded s phenomenal. The American sol- a ier is well behaved, can take care of 8 imself, and does not look kindly upon r eing wet-nursed when he gets leave. 8 "There is something to be ddne to elp the lads on leave, but too much v one in this direction sometimes mess- a a up the reformation program. To 8 nderstand this, one has but to undertand the average American between * wenty and thirty. When he goes to !>wn on leave he appreciates moving ? ictures to go to, and will enjoy it? ' nloss he is told he must go to a } loving picture and must not go anyrhere else. "In its endeavors the Y. M. C. A. ^ ras sincere in good intentions, yet id not add to its popularity with the S' lasses of soldiers. There was an unirtunate factor in this work, and that " ras the behavior of some Y. M. C. A. len in cities in France. "Let me explain what I mean by say- " lg that one day in August I sat with . n army captain in front of a cafe in e< aris and of ten Y. M. C. A. secretar>s who passed six were with women, here were others seated about drinklg with women. This particular cap- t? lin was in Paris for the first time, had een several weeks in the lines, and p ad got permission to come to Paris s] TX7V* i + ho qq \%j of iter Jiiucu cuui i. it uub uv w. M. C. A. men while he was seated Q lere with me in front of that cafe more ^ lan counteracted all the good work of tl ilthful Y. M. C. A. workers with his ompany." If these are mistakes that the Y. M. n A. has seen and tried to rectify, Ir. James predicts that it is on the 11 ray to making another: "I heal* on all sides predictions of b lilure for the Y. M. C. A. educational b impalgn. What the dough-boy wants a t a ticket home and not a college a| rvnrso nn ihp banks of the Rhine. De r>ite what he ought to want, he does P ot want to spend spare hours in ? :hool, and that is all there is to it. ^ "Now, the entertainment feature of n le Y. M. C. A. work has been its 01 P est. What there has been of this p as been good and has been appreciat [J by the soldiers. . "If the Y. M. C. A. had confined its 1> (Tort to entertainments it would have " een a huge success. Theatrical ;ams which have brought happiness jJ nd light to the soldiers' idle hours n ive the Y. M. C. A. its chief claim to teir consideration. And in recogni- ( on of this the organization is now a ending every effort to enlarge this ork. It It one popular activity of the 0 * M, v. au viav rtJilC IIV.(UJ CA^U* tionary forces. "Of course, the Y. M. C. A. has done 1 great deal of good in Its huts, with real large rooms, which are generally veil filled. There have been many :ases of great expense to the organixa:ion, and I am inclined to believe that in summing up the work of the organization the soldier has not given mousrh credit to this branch of th? * U. C. A. work. He has rather looked lpon it as something his (oiks paid for ind to which, as a matter of course, ie has had a perfect right Perhaps Jj t was the unfortunate canteen In one md of these huts that hurt their repuatlon." On the day following the appearance >f Mr. James's article Dr. Mott speak* ng also through The Tlmee, shed nuch light on the financial status of >f the Y. M. C. A. He shows that he amount available for use Is not learly so large as supposed on account . jj >f subscriptions unpaid up to the pros* ;nt. Some of Mr. James's other points ire met in this way: "As for the criticism of the *Y' caneens, in all of them we brought down :he prices of all articles. As a result ve lost, up to October SI, about 1,800,>00 francs, and we expect heavier lossis for November and December when Jie reports or these months are at land. Beginning on the first of this nonth we started to sell In the caneens at the same prices charged in he army canteens, and we have an igreement with General Pershing hat, should there be any profit, all in:ome above outlay will be devoted x> the good of the men in the service. I "Point number two relates to the lereonnel. I want to express in the itrongest manner possible my agreenent, and the agreement to the entire issociatlon, with Mr. James's position hat mistakes have been made in the ihoice of certain workers, the same us he will freely admit has been done n all agencies called upon to recruit arge numbers of men and women on i sudden call to meet untried and difA.AM? ?TA VlA.FA MA AKI/^I* CI CI1L WUUltlUlU). ?? C UttVC UU a retaining in competent workers, and , for one, weed them out as soon as I tear of them. "In regard to the complaint that the* f. M. C. A. is devoting too much time aid effort to moral welfare work, Fd ay that if selfguarding the morals of >ur soldiers and sailors is a ground or criticism and unpopularity, then he Y. M. C. A. is really to plead ruilty. We are willing to await the ssue of time and the impartial judg- rient of American homee. We have oo much testimony from fathers, nothers, and from the men them-, elvee to have any doubt as to the flial issue. . "Mr. James refers to 'seeing a group ^ Uncharged, because that Is our policy nd practice. I Am 81ad to add the^ ases as these ha.ve been few." A Flu Bulletin That Affords Food for 'bought The following flu bulletin as been issued by the Equitable Life Lssurance society, an Institution which as very little interest In encouraging arelessness as to matters of KanUty "Why was the influenza epidemic ermitted to enter and spread irough our country? The answer Is simple one and it is especially commended to those who have been so . uick to hold our health authorities ^sponsible. It is this: "So far, science has been unable to rovide either a cure or the means of reventlng Influenza and pneumonia 1 spite of its earnest efforts to do so. "A committee of our foremost health xperls at a recent meeting of the meriran Public Health association, i Chicago has formally affirmed his fact They tell us that while leasures can be takeA that may In ome instances ward off this enemy nd that may relieve or retard its proress, yet serums and other alleged emedies are still in the experimental tage. "This deadly and elusive enemy Isited America as far back as lfil^ nd has come and gone many times Ince, leaving 'traces' for long periods. Vhy it should make its appearance in pidemic form almost simultaneously ri widely separated sections of the ountry shortly after - it assumed that orm, in Boston, why should it so sudenly rise to its highest peak of actvity and aS suddenly subside to & . tuch lower level, why it continues in vaves,' why its death rate was much igher in some cities where public asemblage was forbidden and masks orn, than in others nearby which took o such precautions, why it should ? uriously attack one city and only lildly afflict another nearby with lust denser and more 'exposed' popuition, are among the questions not asily answer." I Demands of tlie Newspaper men. Jlied and American press, at their leeting Thursday, unanimously adop?d the following resolution: First. It is essential to insure full ublicity for the peace negotiations. ,J9 Second. The official communique -j hould be as complete as possible. Third. In addition to thf communiuee full summaries of the day's prosed ings should be issued not necesirily for textual publication, but for ie guidance of the press. Fourth. There should be no intersrence with free intercourse between ie delegates and responsible jouralists. Fifth. Journalists should be perlitted to attend the formal session of ie conference. Sixth. It is recommended that there e equal Lreaiiiifiii m iiiv auiuu y the abolition of the censorship in ? II Allied countries. All except the French delegates also prreed to these recommendations. "First There should be direct reresentation of the press at the sittings f the peace conference. "Second. The press of each of the reat powers should be represented by ot less than five delegates, and each f the smaller powers who actively artlcipated in the war should be reresented proportionately." t^T All bad habits are formed gradualr, and good habits can be formed easy in the same way. tir Thomas Edison says it's easier to nprove machinery than to improve len. tar it takes a well balanced mind to ee both sides of a question. Often !me? we are so obsessed with our own elf-Interest that we cannot see the titer's self-interest. Jli Piu