the accommodation of soldiers on leave in the city. She
was seen recently serving tea behind the counter in the Association hut
to the happy Tommies who had come back strained and tired from the
front to "Blighty" once more. The Princess Victoria has been most
tireless in opening Y M C A huts, and has given unsparingly of her time
and effort for the men.

No one has been more appreciative than the military authorities
themselves. Lord Roberts, four days before his death, wrote expressing
his appreciation of the work being accomplished. His secretary adds:
"He hears on all sides nothing but praise for what the Y M C A is doing
at the camps." Lord Kitchener, who had inspected the huts of the
Association in England, France, and Egypt, wrote: "From the first the Y
M C A gained my confidence, and now I find they have earned my
admiration and gratitude." Mr. Asquith, when Prime Minister, after
visiting the Association huts and attending the religious meetings
said: "The Y M C A is the greatest thing in Europe." Lloyd George, the
present Premier, said recently: "I congratulate the Y M C A. Wherever
I go I hear nothing but good of the work they are doing throughout the
country, and we owe them a very deep debt of gratitude."

[1] In addition to the existing work at Bangalore, Maymyo, and Poona,
Association privileges have been provided for soldiers in Lahore,
Delhi, Multan, Forozepore, Jhansi, Lucknow, Mhow, Trimulgherry,
Jubbulpore, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Ahmednagar, Rangoon, Dalhousie,
Naini Tal, Karachi, Allahabad, and Jutogh.

CHAPTER V

LIFE IN A BASE CAMP

The man who inaugurated Y M C A army work in France was Joseph Callan.
In 1903 he became a secretary of the International Committee in
Allahabad, North India, and later in Colombo. Ten years ago in
Bangalore he began his wonderful work for soldiers, which, in time, was
to set the pace and furnish the standard for the Association work of
the present war.

When the British troops were out in camp, Callan opened his big Y M C A
tent and beat the army canteen in open competition, so that at the end
of the maneuvers the contractors had to haul back much of the liquor
unsold. While the canteen was being drained of men, Callan was running
a full show almost every evening. He had powerful arc lights placed
over the athletic field, and night after night tournaments were played
off, company against company, regiment against regiment, until the
closi