Semi-weekly herald., 1914-11-02
WHERE IS HELL,
lBy Major F. W. Barber.l

(By Major F. w. Barber.)
Since the advent of Christ we have
been taught to believe that hell is the
worst punishment that can be inflict-
ed upon an erring people.
1t may be so, but the hell Of Eu-
rope casts shadow Of doubt.
Men whose vocation in life Il the
redemption of souls are warning us
against the terrors of hell.
Yet our brothers across the seas
are plunged into maelstrom Of de-
struction which puts even hell itself
to shame.
The hell of biblical conception il
pictured as place of torment, inhabi-
ted by the souls of sinners to whom
the gates of heaven are closed.
The hell Of Europe is a furnace
Of destruction for the good and the
bed, the innocent and 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 the jaws Of an earthly hell.
The patriotic spirit which per-
meates every human breast has
taught us to respond to the call Of
country, whether that call be just or
not.
And this national spirit has per-
mitted the rulers Of the old world
to launch contest of blood 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
transferred from the regions of Sa-
tan to the blood-soaked battlefields
of Europe?
We are solemnly warned to repent
of our sins or suffer the eternal tor
ments of hell.
Be il even so. But what Of this
hell on earth?
What of the mighty engines Of
destruction which are devastating a
fair land and sweeping a once enlight-
ened people into the presence of their
Maker?
What of the changing of an area Of
civilization into congested mass OF
struggling, snarling, destroying hu-
man beings bent solely upon the an
Inhalation of one another?
What of the tremendous explosives
hurled into cities and destroying SOL
diers and civilians alike?
What of the terrible bombs drop
ped from the warhounds of the air
into the midst of innocent and help
less women and children, taking the
lives which God bade men to protect
and cherish?
What of the explosives lurking in
the bosom of the seas and periling
the existence of ships loaded with
non-combatants?
What of the broken and grief
stricken women and young girls who
must toll in the fields that men may
have bread while doing their utmost
to obliterate the human race?
What of the widows and orphans
who must suffer through life be-
cause war has robbed them of pro-
tector?
What Of the helpless babes who are
dying of starvation because armies
in the field must have the milk which
otherwise would mean life to the lit
tie ones?
What of the manned who must go
through life warped and twisted with
pain?
What OF the gaping holes in human
breasts, of limbs torn from their sock
lets, of mangled forms which even
merciful death refuses to release from
their agonies?
What CT the millions of aged and
infrm dependents who must face
starvation before this hell has run its
course?
What is hell? WHERE is HELL7
Whatever it is-wherever it may
be-hell is hell, but this hell of Eu-
rope is one hell of hell.