ENGLAND'S ANSWER TO THE CALL
were provided with everything required for writing. The writing facilities were the great attraction in the early days to many men who enjoyed the peace and quiet, instead of the racket of the usual places provided for them. As time went on, they began to take an interest in the Monitor, the periodicals, and finally in the textbook, in a way in which perhaps they might never have done except for the opportunity thus given to them.
The result of this first venture so far exceeded anticipation that the Committee were encouraged to make a second attempt, and on July 26, 1916, similar rooms at Bedford were opened, to be followed at varying intervals by others at Aldershot, Dover and Chatham.
BEDFORD
Bedford, which is a residential and educational town, and which had, until that time, been considered famous for its orderliness, suddenly found itself converted into a military center. All available houses were taken as billets for soldiers, and several large camps outside the town had come into existence. In the early summer of 1917, the division which had been in Bedford since the opening of the Room was moved away, and the town became a large training center for the Royal Engineers and also for the Flying Corps. In addition to these, another division was moved in, and there was great activity.
With the opening of the Room the men streamed in in batches of five or six, many of them recruits still in civilian clothes. The news went quickly round the billets that the Christian Scientists had opened a room
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