There are two divisions to the army. They used to be "The Zone of
Advance" and "The Zone of the Rear." Now they call the second division
"The Services of Supplies." All the men who are not in the actual
fighting belong to "The Services of Supplies."

"How many men does it take to keep one pilot in the machine flying out
over those waters to guard the transports in?" I asked the young ensign
in charge of a seaplane station.

"Twenty-eight," he replied. "There are twenty-eight men back of every
machine and every pilot."

The service that these men render, although it is hard for them to see
it, is just as real and just as heroic as the service of those in the
front lines. The boys in "The Services of Supplies" are eager to get
up front. I have had the joy of making them see in their huts and
camps that their service is supremely important.

One cannot tell what service is more important.

When I landed at Newport News, the first sound that I heard was the
machine-gun hammering of thousands of riveters building ships. I know
how vital that service is to the boys "over there." They could not
live without the ships.

Then I came from Newport News to Washington, on my way home, and we
entered that great city by night. The Capitol dome was flooded with
light. As I looked at it I said to myself: "To-day from this city
emanates the light of the world. The eyes of the whole of humanity are
turned toward this city. That lighted dome is symbol of all this."