Show row ember tiie vic boj boi s this incident happened cd very 1 recently at the naval in training ain i ina sta tion lion at goat island in san fran i r tt cisco bay fifteen hundred rook ics acs lads w who ho had just arrived at thc jhc station were surrounding a 1 sailor perched on a box distri distribute but ing mail the boat had just ar or 1 rived and the mail was being hand T ed out As the names of the sail ft I 1 ore ors were called the lads would step up and receive rece iv the letter later addre addressed shed tot to them heni it a fascinating sight the sailor distributing the mail m ail bi would call out a name and ind im mediately would come a reply and a willing willin fi hand backed 1 by 0 a happy mile jimile would reach a out U I 1 a and n d take the letter then the lad would walk away his face fairly beaming he seek a quiet f spot and read and sometimes refi read the letter so it continued for 15 minutes 1 until the crowd waa was pretty well thinned out all around were sailors intently reading some had a smil smile on their faces others looked more serious and there vas was one lad who wh sobbed as if his beatt would break bad news que questioned his chum poor old gone sobbed the lad in reply the folks say that he cat a thing after I 1 left and they found him sunday back of the barn dead the last letter had been distributed to its owner and the postman had departed but there still lingered a dozen or more boys with long face faces and serious mein mein they were the lads for whom ther was no letter it meant a whole lot to those boys to her r from home it would han hae e lifted a heavy load from their hearts to have received juat one line from someone that cared they felt 1 l in their boyish way that no one ove thought of them they were despondent spon dent and in a frame of mind that meant disaster to tu them then there went among them a se secretary of the navy navay Y M C A he knew what the matter was he ile had seen incidents like this before and he knew what to do with a cheery smile and a word ord of good will he went to them individually and invited them to share in the L entertainment at the tie asWin association tion building that ei evening ening and they went boyish minds easily adjust thenis eles to conditions dit ions they forgot the thoughtlessness of the folice fol at hone imme and entered into the spirit of the evening all of which carries its lesson keep in touch with your boy the home influence is the strongest W tie he has to keep him morally straight when it fails the Y NI C A can sometimes reach out and save the day |