The Pleasant Canteen, Or
Post Exchange, The Soldiers' Club-Room, Was Established, Where
The Men Could Go To Relieve The Monotony Of Their Lives.
With the abolition of whiskey, the tone of the post improved
greatly; the men were contented with a glass
Of beer or light
wine, the canteen was well managed, so the profits went back into
the company messes in the shape of luxuries heretofore unknown;
billiards and reading-rooms were established; and from that time
on, the canteen came to be regarded in the army as a most
excellent institution. The men gained in self-respect; the
canteen provided them with a place where they could go and take a
bite of lunch, read, chat, smoke, or play games with their own
chosen friends, and escape the lonesomeness of the barracks.
But, alas! this condition of things was not destined to endure,
for the women of the various Temperance societies, in their
mistaken zeal and woeful ignorance of the soldiers' life,
succeeded in influencing legislation to such an extent that the
canteen, in its turn, was abolished; with what dire results, we
of the army all know.
Those estimable women of the W. C. T. U. thought to do good to
the army, no doubt, but through their pitiful ignorance of the
soldiers' needs they have done him an incalculable harm.
Let them stay by their lectures and their clubs, I say, and their
other amusements; let them exercise their good influences nearer
home, with a class of people whose conditions are understood by
them, where they can, no doubt, do worlds of good.
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