Show hotel caters exclusively to servicemen and their families C 4 aa oneff one of the most unusual hotels in the nation is located in tri washington agton D C where despite nightly sellouts sell outs accommodations are provided tar far below OPA ceiling prices it Is the united nations service enter center C formerly the capitol park hotel now under the exclusive management of the recreation services of ithe the war W r hospitality con committee th the a only hotel in the united states taken over completely for this purpose it Is perhaps the largest cin canteen in the world for servicemen of all the united nations and Is operated as a voluntary community project along modern modem health and sanitation lines the united nations center has everything from its own newspaper flags abreast to a free nursery tor for children of traveling servicemen washington D C to Is such a hub tor for the armed services that the canteen de despite spite the hotels size was forced to take over an adjoining school house converting it into room for more beds a total of available sleeping accommodations nightly the huge center was officially opened october 27 1941 1943 aull and there has been 0 a virtual sellout sell out oat ot of accommodations since it Is the only canteen that accepts the wives and families of servicemen as well as those hose in uniform no reservations are accepted first come first served this Is true of both officers and enlisted men just recently the th visiting serviceman was honored he was petty officer ac stanley wick lur lun landof idof dof boston mass stationed at the naval air base patuxent river md has own police force 0 I 1 actually it looks like the headquarters of the general staff except that 74 former employees of the capitol park hotel are still working there as members of the canteen staff everything that occurs at the canteen must be approved by the military district of washington and the potomac river naval command A 24 hour duty Is maintained by the shore patrol the canteens own police forcel force 1 though much of the canteens varied accommodations aru aro free some services er vices are rendered on a cost basis Is which astounds the average A i I 1 0 o i N 4 m f typical guests at the center are petty officer ao 30 stanley wickland of boston and his wife when wickland come in the door he was told that he was the one millionth serviceman to register at the hotel the wick lands are shown resting in a corner of the nursery where they have put seven bobby to bed washington civilian this Is ig true of laundry service clothes dryers washing machines valet shops barber shops and the he impressive cafeterias the cafeterias are tremendous projects in themselves there are two one each for officers and ad enlisted men miss rochelle Z ken dell dall of dallas texas is the canteens food expert and nutritionist pointing out that the most modern and sanitary methods of food catering had been employed there she said every governmental stress on basic nutritious foods has been observed by us as has the general governmental theme of utmost sanitation during this wartime crisis we have for example employed single service paper eating and drinking utensils almost exclusively in place of ob obsolete soletie and sanitarily inadequate dishwashing equipment thus avoiding the possible danger of transmission of disease from mouth to mouth via poorly washed common eating and drinking utensils more than paper cups weekly are used nursery Is godsend god send to mothers the free nursery at the canteen according to mrs luther gulick the nursery chairman Is a godsend god send to mothers and children traveling through washington employing two registered nurses on an eight hour shift ea each c h and one child educator or oi psycho psychologist psychology logi st the nursery operates 24 hours a day there are 60 volunteers in this department part ment alone all having passed an intensive course in child care before acceptance since its opening 2568 children have been cared for with the average between 9 and 12 months of age the youngest guest of the nursery was a IB 16 day old infanta but most unusual Is the nurs erys baby ferry command this Is a group of uniformed women who roam the cites union station a block away and route weary mothers and children to the canteen should a child or mother be b e III both army and navy dispensaries dispensa ries in the city are on call tor for emergencies apparently nothing has been left to chance in this greatest of all canteens it Is a mighty institution that has grown out of this war and is a living testimonial of the home fronts contribution to the war effort in general and to the serviceman and his family in particular |