The Washington herald., 1911-06-04

Plenty Of men do attend church." Mr.
Smith answered. However. your ques-
tion Is often asked by editorial and other
writer's. The men are In the pews all
right, but they are hidden from view be-
hind the big hats Of the women. A re-
porter sticks his head into church door.
sees an ocean OF millinery and says: oh.
fudge: everybody here Is q woman 1
am talking sense. Big hats loaded with
feathers and flowers are responsible for
a good many nervous editorials on the
alleged refusal of American men to at
tend church. The men are there, as I
have said. but they are covered up.
still, more men would be active In
religious matters II they were given
something to do. Most men are unwilling
to walk into church Sunday morning.
hear q sermon and two or three hymns
and then walk out The peril that threat
ems sinner and the reward that awaits
saint after death are no longer per-
suasive. Mans own destiny does not
alarm or encourage him very much. He
takes a broader and better view of re-
ligion and unconsciously subtracts him
self from the doom that Is certain or the
pleasures that are assured. That he is
a worm, he does not deny, but just the
same he would rather be at work than to
hear warnings or promises concerning
himself.
Every normal man wants to be useful.
in business as well as In religion. That
10 the fine quality Of human nature. Not
long ago I was present at a banquet in
q $250.0o0 church. Three hundred men
were at long tables. Many speeches were
heard. About quitting time I was called
to say word. I didn't want to talk,
but hoped to leave something behind
that would be remembered. SO asked
each man what he was doing in the
church. found seventeen jobs-ten Of
them sickly jobs, such as ushering, TAX
Ing up the collections, and SO on. More
than seventeen men were working, you
understand, but at only seventeen Diff
ferent kinds Of employment.
Will Work at Manly Job<.
If 1t were necessary said. to dig
an artesian well 500 feet deep under a.
corner Of this church-a strenuous task,
by the way-and only you men could do
It. the we'll would be dug. You would
hurry home from your shops, stores, AMI
offices. change your clothes. and eagerly
go to work. But I went on to say, the
well, as you see. is only an illustration.
There are plenty of workers In every
charch. That Is the point to what am
saying. Find them Jobs, manly Jobs, and
volunteers will step out from the line, as
they do In war, and pledge their strength
and lives to the service
As to Fred B. Smith. personally, there
are few religious characters in the
world so intense. unique, and interest
Ing. He was born on q wild farm west
OF Davenport, in Iowa Emigrants In
their covered wagons were guided over
the prairie by an oak tree that had
Fought its way through the wild grass
and the winds into q gnarled and heroic
maturity. The elder Smith took . farm
In the vicinity. and little village slow
ly gathered around the tree.
worked here and there" Fred b.
Smith said to me. "and obtained money
with which to pay my expenses Tor two
years at the University Of iowa. Then
tho wave struck US and We were carried
into South Dakota Ny father and
brother obtained homesteads. After sI
year at the university there. bousht
10 acres Of land and built sod house.
Then ! was married. expected to Be
. farmer ~ my ute Il drovGbt bQWsd