Shakespeare under fire

It was in a Y. M. C. A. hut in a "little hole in France." E. H. Sothern, the famous actor, was doing a scene from Hamlet before a soldier audience.

"Oh, what a rash and bloody deed was this!" he was saying.

Like an echo to his words came the piercing call of the bugle as a signal of an air raid. The lights flashed out.

From the dark, the colonel's voice rang out, "Let's have a light! We can have an air raid every evening, but we can't often hear Mr. Sothern. If he doesn't mind, we should like to have him go on.

Of course Mr. Sothern did not mind. One small light was snapped on, and the actor continued to the end.

They give up both time and money for this great work

Mr. Sothern or other players like him get little or no salary for working the great Y. M. C. A. circuit in France. Yet there is a large and increasing number of our best known artists who are cheerfully undergoing unusual hardships in order to bring wholesome cheer and amusements to our boys in khaki whereever they go.

But the "flashlight circuit" of the Y. M. C. A. is only a small part of the work done by this organization. One of the dispatches from Europe recently tells of boys in khaki playing billiards in gas masks in a Y. M. C. A. hut.

When the battle is hottest and the wounded begin to filter back through the lines, some of them--hit by a shell or shot through an arm or shoulder--are able to stumble back alone toward the dressing stations between the lines.

Here the Y. M. C. A. man comes to his aid; a sip of coffee, a careful arm under his shoulder to help him, a renewal of his first aid bandage. In this way the Red Triangle has saved the lives of thousands of men.

General Pershing has officially designated the Y. M. C. A. to operate the post exchanges for the entire army. It is also the only organization authorized to exhibit "movies" to the soldiers.

Lord Northcliffe recently said: "Without the Y. M. C. A. we could not win the war." Whatever it costs to maintain this important work, it must not fail for lack of support by those who stay behind.

Seven allied activities, all endorsed by the Government are combined in the United War Work Campaign, with the budgets distributed as follows: Young Mens Christian Association $100,000,000, Y. W. C. A. $15,000,000, National Catholic War Council (including the work of the Knights of Columbus and special war activities for women $30,000,000, Jewish Welfare Board $3,500,000, American Library Association $3,500,000, War Camp Community Service $15,000,000, Salvation Army $3,500,000.

Contributed through Div. of Advertising. U. S. Govt. Com. on Public Information