The Gem worker and the Idaho labor herald. (Boise, Idaho) 1914-1917, 1914-12-31
WHERE IS HELL?

WHERE is HELL?
By Major II WI Barber Weiser-
Signal)
Since the advent Of Christ we have
been taught 70 believe that hell i the |
worst punishment that can be inflicted /
upon an erring people.
1T may be 50, but the hell Of Europe |
casts shadow Of doubt.
Men whose vocation IN life Is the
redemption Of souls are warning US
against tie terrors Of hell
Yet DIR brothers across the seas
are plunged into maeistrom Of de-
struction which puts even hell itself
to shame.
The hell Of biblical conception isl
pictured as a place Of torment, in
habited by the souls Of sinners toll
whom the gates OF heaven are closed
The hell of Europe is a furnace Of
destruction for the good and the bad,
the innocentand the guilty, for women
and children and babes Of day.
AS the devil wields his fork over
the denizens OF the fiery pit SO do the
kings and emperors of Europe WELD
the sword of compulsion over the
heads OF their subjects and force them
into>thc Jaws OF an earthly hell
The patriotic spirit which permeats
every human breast has taught us to
respond to the call Of country, whether
that call be just or not
And that national spirit has per-
mitted the rulers of the old world to
launch a contest ofblood and iron and
destruction which is shaking the very
world to its foundation, and which
may even yet involve every civilized
nation Of the globe.
Have we two hells?
Or has the hell of tradition been
transformed from the regions OF
Satan to the blood soaked battle6elds
OF Europe3
We are solemnly warned to repent
of our sins or suffer the eternal tor
ments. of hell.
Be it even so.
But what OF this hell on earth?
What is the mighty engines OF de-
struction which are devastating fair
land and sweeping a once enlightened
people into the presence Of their
Makers
What OF the changing Of an area oil
civilization into congested mass Of
struggling, snarling, destroying hui
man beings bent solely upon the an
initiation OF one anothera
What OF the tremendous explosives
hurled into cities and destroying sol
diers and civilians alille2
What of the terrible bombs dropped
from the war hounds of the air into
the midst of innocent and helpless:
women and children, taking the live.
God babe men to protect and cherish
What of the explosives lurking. il
the bosom of the seas and perils the
existence of ships loaded with non
combatants7
What of the broken and grief strick.
en- women and young girls who mus
toll in the fields that men may have
bread while doing their utmost to OBJ
literate the human race?
What of the widows and orphans
who must suffer through life because
war has robbed them Of protector
What of the helpless babes who arc
dying Of starvation because armies ii
the fields must have milk which other
wise would mean life to the little ones
What Of the manned who must &c
through life warped and twisted with
pain2
What of the gaping holes in human
breasts, Of limbs torn from their
sockets. of mangled forms which ever
a merciful death refuses to release
from their agonies?
What Of the millions Of aged and in.
firm dependents who must face star
walton before this hell has run it,
: curse?
What is hell9 Where is hell?
Whatever It is-whatever it may b,
hell is hell. but this he'll of Europ,
is one he'll Of hell.
E