ng hour of the canteen had passed. Lectures, moving pictures, and
concerts were followed by straight religious meetings, with lasting
results. The cooperation of the Bishop, clergy, and chaplains, helped
to relate permanently these results to the Church.

As soon as the commanding officers saw the value of this work, they
began to cooperate and insisted upon its being carried on in every
camp. In the great maneuvers at Dacca, Callan was invited to Bengal to
run the institutional work for the troops at the expense of the
government, which he did with striking results. Each success made the
work known to a widening circle of officers and men.

When the war broke out, Callan and Carter approached the Viceroy and
Commander-in-Chief to ask if they could serve the Indian Army as it was
to start as an expeditionary force to France. Since the Mutiny of
1857, with its religious superstition and prejudice about the greased
cartridges, etc., no Christian work had been permitted in the Indian
Army. Finally, however, permission was given to the Association to
begin work with the troops before embarkation. Upon arrival in Bombay,
our secretaries called upon the Commanding Officer, who had wired to
the General at Headquarters to know what he could do to hold his
discontented troops together in the flooded and crowded quarters about
the docks. The general had just wired, "Consult the Y M C A and ask
them to send for their army department." He had known of Callan's work
at Bangalore, Dacca, and other centers, and believed it would supply
just the missing link with the dissatisfied men. When our secretaries
called, the Colonel had just received the telegram and was prepared to
give them a chance to see what they could do for the troops.

Within twenty-four hours a work was organized which kept the sepoys
occupied for all their leisure time. Football and hockey and outdoor
athletics, excursions down the harbor, sea bathing, lectures, and
entertainments were soon in full swing. This was the first work of the
kind ever done for the Indian Army. So instantly and obviously
invaluable did it become that the Commanding Officer insisted that the
secretaries should accompany the troops on the long and much dreaded
trip to France, which was a bold and untried venture for Indian
soldiers.

It was a historic event when that great fleet of some seventy-five
ships, the largest assembled since the Spanish Armada, freighted with
about 2