as
been little short of a miracle of finance to carry out such an enormous
programme of work at a total cost of only about one-third of the cost to
Britain alone of a single day of war. We have always been short of
money, have always had a big overdraft at the bank, and that largely
because we have had to finance a huge business concern without capital.
Our war fund has been secured partly as a result of skilful
advertising, partly through personal solicitation and in response to
postal appeals. Flag Days and Hut Weeks also proved valuable agencies
for raising money. The full-page Y.M.C.A. advertisements in _The Times_
and other papers were something quite new in religious and social work
advertising, though the method has since been widely adopted by other
organisations.

Many touching stories are told concerning gifts to the war fund, gifts,
many of which have not been secured as a result of cleverly drawn
advertisements, but because the contributors have been touched directly
or indirectly by the work itself. A boy wrote home from Flanders, 'Tell
Dad if he has any money to spare to give it to the Y.M.C.A. as a
thankoffering for what they are doing for us chaps out here.' One of our
centres had been nearly destroyed by a Zeppelin bomb. It was rebuilt
and the day came for the reopening. A lady was present and expressed
herself thus: 'I wanted to be here to-day, if only to thank you for what
your Association has done for my boy. When the war broke out,' said she,
'he went to the Crystal Palace for his training, and found the Y.M.C.A.
there an inestimable boon. He was sent to Blandford to complete his
training, and the Y.M.C.A. was there. He was drafted out to Gallipoli,
and to his amazement he found the Y.M.C.A. on the Peninsula. He was
wounded and sent to Suez, where once more the Y.M.C.A. was a great help
to him, and yesterday,' she continued, 'I received a letter from him
from Alexandria saying he was convalescent, and spending the whole of
his spare time in the central building of the Association.' It is that
personal touch that has made the appeal of the Red Triangle one of the
most popular appeals of the war.

A lady called one day with a novel suggestion. She had been reading a
statement attributed to the Kaiser, in which the All Highest is alleged
to have said that if the worst came to the worst every dog and cat in
Germany would be armed in defence of the Fatherland. 'If the dogs and
cats of Germany are going