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Show Buck Privates Waltz With a Real Princess & & " rf Yankee Doughboys Have Time of Their Lives QUrlLf SL0f ""T? Wng Ameasm soldiers P1 tne Y. M. C. A. at Aix-les-Bains. Left to right, ny lX Ta!unrS,f ,T Wrenn, Prince Marie, Queen Marie, Beatrice, infanta of Spain; Miss Ken neay, lady In waiting. Standing (at left), John B. Howarth of Detroit and Colonel Samuel Keber , , , ( N f Queen Looks On and Approves Ap-proves Sport at the Y. M. C. A. Special to The Tribune. AIX-LES-BAIXS, June '21. For a buck private to waltz with a princess and exchange confidences confi-dences with a queen may seem a bit like fiction, but it surely looks as if the world had been made safe for democracy, if not so seclusive for royalty. roy-alty. It all happened at Aix-les-Bains when .u il!cen of Kumania, her daughter, the Princess Marie; tho queen's sister, the mtanta Beatrice of Spain; Miss Kennedy, lady in waiting, and General -tsuiliiet of tho Kumanian general staff came to Aix recently to inspect the work being done by the Y. M. C. A. for the American soldiers there. " ' Not only did the athletic director put the lanks through their paces and explain to the royal partv the intricacies intrica-cies of American sports, but during the dance that followed the games the youthful Princess Marie danced with th doughboys, and better still, enjoyed en-joyed the experience, while her mother, the queen, looked on with approval and chatted with the soldiers who gathered around. Permitted to "Break In." The regular danco rule prevailed the soldiers being permitted to "break in and seize a partner whenever the nmsue was mown so many a young Yank was given the pleasure of dancing danc-ing at least a few minutes with a real princess of royal blood. A good-looiung soldier started off with the Princess Marie, and it didn't take his buddies long to learn who was on tho floor. When the whistle blew, permitting the break, there was a scramble that nearly swept tho vouug woman off her feet. She was niW.zlnS for a moment, until she realized the system, then she yielded to the spirit of the game. One boy preempted her by right of priority, and she danced merrily away until the next toot of the whistle, the the rush was even greater than before. The princess took it all in good part, although it is doubtful if " er princess was so danced with before. be-fore. rieasure Is Expressed. The queen expressed great pleasure over the day with the American soldiers. sol-diers. During the "rough-house" games which Athletic Director Chester G. Murphy of Portland put on for the I entertainment of the royal partv the j queen displayed the greatest interest, I especially in tho indoor baseball game, ' which a very young and greatly embarrassed embar-rassed soldier explained to her. Blindfold Blind-fold boxing, and a new game which the boys dubbed "bcaucoup cognac zigzag," zig-zag," and which is all the name implies, im-plies, created much merriment for the queen and her staff. There was no false glamor thrown over the "Y" program that the queen i saw at Aix. It was a typical day 's activities. Of course, the building liad its faco washed, so to speak, but so far as the entertainment of tho soldiers sol-diers was concerned, she saw only what the " Y " does every day. The dancing, the outdoor games, the deck tennis, the ping-pong, the canteen, the movies, tho theater, tho little garden tea parties par-ties for the boys and girls were exactlv like those available every day. Message From Queen. "I think your Y. At C. A. wonderful," wonder-ful," she said; "so splendidly organized. organ-ized. The result of your work is amazing. amaz-ing. It gives a substitute for the public pub-lic house, and it gives the boys a chance to find wholesome pleasures'" Before leaving Aix the queen wrote in the guestbook the following message: mes-sage: "In your returning soldiers lies the hope of your country. The spirit, self-sacrifice self-sacrifice and devotion you have shown in helping to solve the great worid problem will spur you on, and any difficulty dif-ficulty you may be called on to face in America will be met and mastered; and when you are in your own beautiful beauti-ful land, think sometimes of us who are not so fortunate, but whose hearts will never forget your help in time of need. ' ' |