The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-06-01


Harvey Genung, recitation by Miss
Leona Muchmore and an address by
the Rev. Oliver A. Curtis, D. D., of
Drew Theological Seminary.
DR.. Curtis address was the princi-
pal featuresof the evening. He spoke
on his experience as chaplain of the
troopship ST. Paul, and for an hour
and half held the audience spell
bound with interesting and exciting
events of the late war. In part he
said:
"The maner in which secured my
appointment is one of the most inter-
esting features of my short experience.
AS | have four months vacation
during the summer, concluded to de-
vote that time to work among the sol
diers and sailors if could get the OPP
portunity. Therefore / wrote Secre-
tary Long of the Navy and made ap-
plication for position as chaplain of
one of the cruisers. l received a very
courteous reply from Mr.. Long. He
thanked me for the application and
said he had placed it on file. Now,
that raised my hopes very high at
once, but concluded to see how many
other applications he had placed on
file i'll the same way and in a day or
two made the startling discovery that
over 1000 applications were ahead Of
mine. Consequently, saw that in
order to secure an appointment |
would have to do some very hard
work and even then might fail.
Learning that the st. Paul was to be
in New York on certain day | went
to that city to see if there was a
chance. | found that the chaplain of
that ship was i'll and could not be
taken on the next trip. But his pay
could not be stopped and so there
were innumerable difficulties in the
way of securing an appointment.
However, Capt. Sigsbee said he wanted
me- | received telegram from Rear
Admiral Crownishield, saying that /
could go, [ wanted to go. and
thought it would be all right then.
But Capt. Sigsbee would not take me
unless was regularly appointed. So
did some more telegraphing to
Washington and in the meantime made
preparations for going on that ship as
chaplain whether | received my APP
pointment or not. l sent my baggage
down there together with all my sup
plies of Bibles, Testatments. reading
matter, ETC., and had it all marked
chaplain of the st. Paul a" Then,
concluded if necessary at the last
moment, would get aboard some way
and keep out of sight until the ship
was at sea, when they could not get
rid of me unless was thrown over
board. But, happily, orders were
telegraphed from Washington to Capt.
Sigsbee about an hour and half be-
fore the boat sailed and so l went
without trouble.
&C. had many curious experiences on
the boat and found many different
ways of reaching people. For one
young man in the hospital, l wrote q
love letter to his sweetheart in Ohio.
1t was as good a letter as he could
have written himself, I'll warrant, and
it bro aght us together as nothing else
would have DONE The orderly, who
attended to my wants came to me one
day and said he had been converted.
| told him was glad of it and asked
him to give me his experiece He
said that some months before in Phil
adelphia he had been out of a position
and was very hard up. He did not
know what to do until friend told
him to pray for a job. He said he
prayed that night and the very next
day got the job on the St. Paul. AL
though he had been an infidel before
he then had some faith in God and
the efficacy of prayer. So, when he
came on the ship he thought he
would try praying again. This time
he got down on his knees and asked
God to give him the easiest job on
board and his prayer had been an
swered as he had been made orderly
to the chaplain, the only position on
the whole ship in which man did
not have to work.
"That is one mans idea of Chris
tianity and the efficacy of prayer. -
DR.. Curtis then spoke of the block
ade of Santiago and the part Admiral
Sampson took in it. why, to us who
were there and saw it,, he said,
"this controversy as to who won the
battle of Santiago is farce. There
was but one commander, one head,
one plan. Every order given was
SIMPSONS. The credit belongs to
him alone. 1t was the most marvel
lous blockade in the history of naval
warfare. 1t was as one sailor had
expressed it, more than daring, it
was damned audacity. But it won.
"Do you know what my observa-
tions have led me to believe? That
notwithstanding all that has been
said this nation is sound to the core
The Spanish-American War has proved
that. Some of us were beginning to
think that the rising generation of
young men was not as good as that
gone by. But when you see hundreds
of thousands of young men rushing to
arms at the country's call and hun
dreds of thousands more turned away
because there was no room for them
in the army, then you realize that the
spirit of '76 and 81 is the spirit of the
American nation today"
WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY.