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Show WOMEN AND THE WAR ! T r By MRS. HENRY P. DAVISON fcAA&afcl Treasurer War Work Council National Board V. W. C. A. In an Illinois prnlrlo town Uvea u widow who Launders seventeen has- I kots of wash a WQH wcok and every j IPffnPflln n'B'lt tlinnl8 hearts of womon. To her camo ono ' ; Funston, Kansas, K. fc.y 'i learning to bo a BHrk?::i':' j tor begged her to 00,110 nml 600 'llln Bjflfcfeiag $1 sont to France. MkHMksU Tlio mother , opened tho tin Mr.. Davison blnk , whch ho had been hoarding hor dimes and Quarters against this day. The money was scarcely enough. Nevertheless ho started. Sho walked tho first elghioon mllci. Then her strongth gave out, and sho took a train. Sho did not know that visitors to Camp Funston stay in Junction City, eleven miles away. So sho got oft tho train at Fort Hlloy. An officer et hor right and sho reached Junction Junc-tion City after dark. Sotnohow she found a roomlng-houso. So mo ont. v Micro stole five dollars from her five" of tho precious dollars sho had earned over tho wnsh tub nml saved by walking. Terror-stricken, sho crept out of tho house whon no ono was looking. Later In tho night a soldier found her trembling Ik tho strcot, nnd took hor to tho rooms of tho Young Worn- ; en's Christian Association, rooms s-, which tho War Work Council had '' opened as a clcarlng-housa for trou bles. Tho poor frightened woman ." was put to bod, but sho was too ralsoraulo to sleep. Tho matron got up at daybreak, built a flro, and com- - forted hor. Tho son's commanding officer was reached by telonhono aarly in the morning, and tho boy camo to his mothor on tho first trolley-car ho could catch. , Th two spont long, low-voiced hours together, porhaps tho laBt jp. . hours they will havo this sldo of heaven. Every moment was as pro-clous pro-clous as a month had been last year. J.flt The old lady had still ono present JSf,' worry. Tho boy's bad cold might turn 'jBjj Into pneumonia If sho left him. But &L ho hed not money enough to stay HHL' another night and buy a ticket homo, ft RpV When tho matron told her that hor T'" J' . bod was7reo, alio broko down and (I' Br " cried and cried. 'fB? ' "I did not know thoro was o much f , pity loft In tho world," sho sobbod. She stayed till her boy's cold was c " better. Then sho went back to her ; seventeen wasblncs und her memo- h tics. j. Bocause of tho cortalnty of Just ',t- tuch cases as this was Governmental . sanction given to tho activities of the ' War Work Council of tho Y. W. C. A. j. ' Irom the Pacific to the Alantlo Ito h field extonds. Kvory atato In tho Union has Its mombors. Urgent an- . peals for help aro .Its cause and Its Inspiration. Women of every raco and creed are Its ward's. Tho Nsk of tho War Work Council Is tremendous. tremend-ous. Whon the United States entered the great war tho Young Women's Christian Association was, as always, working among womon. With tho call to m duties its members did not abund t their old responsibility Tho War Work Council was formed as an emergency mcasuro to tako caro of tho women who woro caught In somo of tho mazes of war, Just as tho paront organization has taken caro of them through many years of pcaco. Tho varied activities decided upon by tho War Work Council follow fol-low closoly tho needs of tho different differ-ent communities of the country. Secretaries Sec-retaries trained In the methods of tho organisation wcro sont out broadcast. They woro' Instructed to report to tho National Hoard of tho Young Women's Christian Associations Associa-tions In Now York the lines of work which could be best followed In the various localities. These secretaries work In close cooperation with ministers, min-isters, women's clubs, chambers of commerce, churches, military officials, and charltabto societies. Tho record rec-ord of a day's doings of a secretary .reads into a novel, an economla treatise, and a psychological essay all compressed Into a llne-a-day entry. A socrotary sont out by tho War Work Council must bo equal to any omorgoncy. Miss Lillian Hull at Chll-llcotho, Chll-llcotho, closo by Camp Shorman, hurrying hur-rying along tho street at nightfall camo upon a forlorn couplo. A Finnish Fin-nish soldier had found a Job for hie wlfo, so that sho niUht como on from Clovoland. Whon sho arrlvod sho was refused tho placo bocause sho spoke no English. Their money had been all spent on tho railroad fare, and tho soldlor was duo back at Camp. The situation was bad, Thanks to Miss Hull a Chllllcothlan housowlfo now has an Industrious and gratoful domestic, a soldlor Is happy, and a soldier's wlfo Is safe. Army folks ofton honoflt oven more directly from the secretaries' work in Bromorton, Washington, a secretary secre-tary was accosted on tho stroot by a sailor. Sho was a slcndor, woman, and ho had mistaken hor for a girl. "May I walk along with you?" he asked. "Suroly," she replied with maturo understanding and Intuition. "What Is tho matter? Aro you homesick?" Tho lad's 'story came out' with- a nuh. Yes, ho was homesick, so hopelessly, despairingly heartsick that ho was on tho vorgo of dosertlng. But this woman gave him gonulno sympathy and encouragement. Sho saved' him to bis country. From north, south, cast and west these pioneer secretaries sent in their reports. The uppalllng sizo of the undertaking was revealod to the War Work Council. Systematlzatlon of the work was tho first stop. Out of the multitudinous phases certain lines of work were revealod. (Continued ) J |