The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-06-21
FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT
hymns AND THE COMPLETE DE
Bd7ERO ERANKED TO IRNr POSTS.

OF Military Information. The idea was that
therc Is u great deal % military Information.
especally as to tho changes and movements
IN foreign armies and nayics. that tho officers
Of our own 2jOOO should have Tho Division
OF Military Information was to disseminate
these interesting and important facts. The
whole army approved OF the plan. and waited
with interest tho first nstallmcnt OF informa-
ton. iow days ago the commandant OF one
post not many miles from Now York 1larbor
found on his desk n small package with tho
frank Of tho now division on 1t. Ho tore 1t
open eagerly and found within fifteen cards.
fyc inches long by three inches wide.
on the ono sido Of this card was n poem. on
ti,iod tho Battle Prayer-l9Jl." Here arc the
frst four lines:
ION Lord. with thee 10 Death and Lifsi
To Theo We humbly pray;
Be with us in tho battle strife
Oh shield our lives to-day"
Tho roem was signed John B. Ketchum. and
a litto further down was line. setting
forth that tho United States Army
Aid Association" OF 81 Nassau street.
Now York. was responsible for the print
ing and Publishing OF tho crystn!lized
ariatus OF Mr. Kctchum. On tho other
eido OF tho card was bit OF prose. entitled
tho Soldiers Prayer" 1t was very good
pIayer so tho commandnnt's adjutant said
after no had read it under orders from his
superior 1t contained no horesies no sugges-
ton that tho Scriptures might DO Grant. or
that pr larkhurst was model OF tho Chris
MINT Ito dev-thunderr" said the com;
mnn!nnt. What sort, OF information is this
What s got the dhD l. tn tSat n
81 ISL and his prayer written heaven knows
few days later tho commnndant. still
worrying over the queer influx OF military In
fY Of was r'nSt eHSs from ehe
mysterious United States Army Aid Aesocia-
ton. John J.. kclrhuni. secretary; mis- Com
plete Del alter" was sent, So he learned. to DO
added 10 tho post library. for the benefit OF the
mental apparatus OF the private soldier. It
% OF tnrk nH HHaps It " set Forth number Of
Interesting questions for debate WIN lnstruc
Among these questions wcrc:
who is Of the greatest nenoa. to his country the
ws1r'IT s stntesnnm Gr ims F"et .ou.,
Is capital punishment a:propsr way to prevent
Which has hcen Of the sre,es, benefit to the world
h %. m sHsng or N p5nsf rT Ssapls,
The commandment hestrred himself to the
solving of this mystery. nnd somewhere or
other his Gdlutnnt rescued from the dust OF an
per called Tho Army Chnpain."' published
81 this same United states Army Ala Society.
the post Il few months before. had been re-
cciveG and filed. 1t announced itself as a
monthly magazine, and was full OF iniorma-
thiry-four in the United states. 1t also had
good deal about John l. kctchum. information
OF II personal nature. such as mono but John
i. Ketchum would be likely TO know or to caro-
to road There We're number of paragraphs
er;.l Biographical sketches of obscure persons
who seemed to have been very good sort OF
people. but not remarkable enough to interest
the private soldier.
For instance. among the Post Echoes" there
was this:
Chaplain and Mrs. Ritner have been enjoying visit.
In ms senior year at the Manual Training school in
.ns s ss s.sssa D9 aps a ss
f%r, i,naehESs AtiaGai to see revival G OF the
Private C!ausy
The commandment. after examining this pa;
sIsnyi Wv ws 1ne to recall hSt he nad
alton once before Away buck in 1867 he had
been .rarayzcd by, receiving from tho associa-
tos Eenuplic;" This Visitation and the visl-
tation u the Army Chaplain" and the vista,
were tho only occasions in which tho United
States Army Aid Association had given any
aid or comfort to the 81! men OF his post. ., :.
such an association as that which puzzled the
commandment 1t is Astounding in printed
tive John b. Ketchum. small. middle-uged
nan OF pleasant appearance. writer OK
verses, publisher. a benevolent association:
active person with salary according to tho
report Of tho Treasurer OF tho aid association.
OF something less than $1,000 year.
Mr.. ketchum was ready and willing yester-
day to explain al about his mid association.
Mr.; Kea..ehums exrlana,ions are hest set forth
Jean Soldier" This request Cor subscriptions
is addressed to the. benevolent and tho
patriotic" 1t sets forth that tho objects Of
the association are the promotion Of the re-
ligious. moral and intellectual interests OF the
sending through the mails OF supplies OF moral
and religious teahing matter. the co6nerating
with Post .harnins and other Interested per-
sons in every effort Tor tho morale Of the SER
vice" 1t also appears that Mr. ketchum has
q bill which he wishes Congress to pass that
with better pay. In fact this dissertation
eyer since It's organization in 1893. with Mr.
GS on 1hen as N.Y. meGIs"ry nj nG9n
81 the soldier. to induce him to read sundry
tracts. pamphlets. and srrceds. 10, put within
his reach tho 'Comulcte nehatcr. "Plato's Re-
public. and the Army Chaplain For these
purposes II COLLECTS subscriptions from tho
genera public. Tho last statement 81 tho
Treasurer As printed in tho Army Chaplain"
this remarkable showing '''''~'
Cash received from md So o5o
Cash paid Tor MISCELLANEOUS books periodicals.
Cash paid for sa!aries, correspondence, and mel
uehlas.'...'..,.''-'. 1870
Thus it costs Sl.i3O to do 81 1902 worth Of
goo.. unless the good done in supporting John
j. krtchum and allowing him and the thirty
four army chaplnins to ,ell about themselves
and their families in typo be put on the other
side OF tho account. lie association pays
nothing for POSTAGE for its printed matter. rs
tho War Department has given 1t u frank.
When il is considered that M krtch ms So
rfrty has been in existence since lSh', tho
amazing growth from no money ut all thirty
two years ago 10 S3.'J2 year now shows how
valuable II "hnrity the ASSOCIATION l.. 1t must
also b" n"nIbrrrd ,lilt the society has 100
army posts n its Held.
An ARMY officer talking n out it yesterday.
said: This association j. OF no account ut
oil. il il seldom heard from, and. when 1t is
heard from th"Tc is nothing IN it. T!c United
States army does not need an aid association.
and ran Imagine Y'!at tlis nam ketchum Is
about. Tho government proTiics the soldiers
with current literature and with libraries. |
have never seen anything RON this aid ASSOC
citation that any soldier would read unless no
were compeile'l. And God forbid that should
comncl any pt my men to read he Army
Chaulain' tho 'cOmpletrr DICTATOR
Ivory once in w.,l" r,nui ody scts ont
to lit up the soldier. or To- make him piuilS OF
clever, or to Undue" him 10 out smoking, or
quit chewing. or uuil drirkIng. Tho soldier Is
well cared Tor. Intelligent. clean, con!ouahi'.
and rs cont"ntc ~ any a!nrrr lie has good
food good clothes. and good Jay. Tho money
that cr"luI"uT people give 10 these efforts is
simply wasted"
Among tho reading matter which tho Asso-