a a "Y" man failed to
"measure up" but we know that on the whole our Y. M. C. A. in North
Russia with us, did great service.

To get a fair and succinct story, we wrote to Mr. Crawford Wheeler,
whose statement follows. He was the Chief Secretary in the North Russia
area. The first paragraph is really a letter of transmissal, but we
approve its sentiment and commend its manly straightforwardness to our
comrades and the general reader:

"This is written purely from memory. I haven't a scrap of material at
hand and I have hurried in order that you might have the stuff promptly.
Please indicate, in case you use this material, that it is not based on
records,--for I cannot vouch for all the figures. However, in the main,
the outline is right. I wish the "Y" might have a really good chapter in
your book, for I always have felt, with many of the other boys in our
service, that we are condemned back here for the sins of others. If the
"Y" in North Russia was not a fairly effective organization which went
right to the front and stayed there, then a lot of officers and men in
the 339th poured slush in my ears. Were it not for the rather
unfortunate place which a "Y" man occupies back here, none of us would
seek even an iota of praise, for in comparison with the rest of you, we
deserve none; but I'm sure you understand the circumstances which impel
me to insert the foregoing plea, 'Justice where justice is due.' That's
all.

"The Y. M. C. A. shared the lot of the American North Russian
Expeditionary Force as an isolated fighting command from the day it
landed until the last soldier left Archangel. It shared in the successes
and the failures of the expedition. It contributed something now and
then to the welfare and comfort and even to the lives of the American
and Allied troops both at the front and in the base camps. It made a
record which only the testimony of those who were part of the expedition
is qualified to estimate.

"When the American soldiers of the 339th Infantry landed in Archangel on
September 5th, 1918, they found a "Y" in town ahead of them. The day
after the port was captured by allied forces early in August, Allen
Craig of the American Y. M. C. A. had secured a spacious building in the
heart of the city for use as a "Y" hut. With very little equipment he
managed to set up a cocoa and biscuit stand and a reading and writing
room and the hall of the building was opened for band concerts and
athletic nights. It