THE WHY OF THE W Y 



>> 



SOMEWHERE in the woods of France a big husky 

 young American was swinging his ax with a vim 

 which sent the music of his strokes echoing through 

 the forest. He was many miles back from any firing 

 line but he was working as if a regiment of Germans 

 were about to fall upon him and his life depended on 

 how many trees 

 he could fell 

 before they 

 made the at- 

 tack. 



He was a 

 member of a 

 Forestry Regi- 

 ment which had 

 begun its won- 

 derful work in 

 France. It was 

 getting dusk. 



"Sam, I 

 guess we'll call 

 it a day now," 

 said his su- 

 perior officer. 



"All right, 

 lieutenant," re- 

 pl i ed Sam. 

 "But if it's all 

 the same to 

 you, lieutenant, 

 I'd like to work 

 a little longer. 

 I think I can 

 clean up quite 

 a bit yet be- 

 fore it gets too 

 dark to see. I 

 understand that 

 some of this 

 1 u m ber we're 

 cutting is go- 

 ing into one of 

 the new Y. M. 

 C. A. buildings 



over at , 



and that they 



Y. M. C. A. workers distribute food and supplies to soldiers in advanced positions, carrying supplies five 

 miles through trenches under fire. The front cover of this issue of American Forestry was inspired by 

 this photograph, which is an actual picture of the exterior of a Y. M. C. A. canteen dug-out, 

 only 150 yards from the Boche lines. 



want to get it 

 up as quick as 

 they can. 



"You know, 



lieutenant," he continued, "I'm from way out almost in 

 the back woods and I had never even heard of the 

 Y. M. C. A., or the "Y," as the boys call it, until I got 

 in the army. But I remember there was a Y. M. C. A. 

 man with his Red Triangle on his sleeve passing out 

 cakes of chocolate and cigarettes at the station when we 



WORKING UNDER FIRE 



were starting off to embark; and I remember that there 

 were some of those same fellows on the dock when we 

 landed in France, and one of them said to me: 'What 

 state are you from ?' and when I said 'California,' he said, 

 'Why, that's my state, too.' I tell you it helped to have 

 a friendly word like that and made me feel sort of home- 



like. I had 

 been feeling 

 kind of blue. 

 And then I re- 

 member seeing 

 those 'Y' men 

 along the way 

 as we came 

 out here ; and 

 they were al- 

 ways doing 

 some thing to 

 help somebody, 

 it seemed to 

 me. 



"That is why 

 I want to help 

 them, lieuten- 

 ant. They need 

 the lumber for 

 their huts and 

 other buildings, 

 and if I can do 

 a little to help 

 them get their 

 build ings up 

 quicker, I want 

 to do it, if it is 

 all right with 

 you, Sir." 



"Well, Sam," 

 replied the 

 young lieuten- 

 a n t , as he 

 thought with 

 distant eyes of 

 t h e far-flung 

 line in the 

 United States 

 and France 

 over which the 

 Y. M. C. A. 

 had its messen- 

 gers of good 

 cheer stretched, "if you want to work a while longer, go 

 to it ; and more power to your arm." 



"Thank you, Sir," smiled Sam, as he touched his 

 forehead in salute. 



And that is why the merry blows of the American 

 forester's ax were heard in that particular stretch of 



situated 



591 



