The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-08

1 N oMEBoDY-a great writer, once IS said;
 T admire the Salvation Army be- cause they do things"
 And so do I admire this great organi- zation for this very same reason and somo others:
 admire the Salvation Army because it isn't afraid.
 I admire the Salvation Army because 1t holds out the right hand of fellowship to men and women whom other people wouldn't speak to; they wouldn't have the courage to.
 l admire the Salvation Army because it never hesitates; it acts
 I admire the Salvation Army because it has plainly shown that out of the scraps and debris of humanity, soul still lives, and if only a kind word, a gentle deed is done for some bleeding, heart-sore, wretched creature, the tide of the world turns back and new life is born.
 1 admire the Salvation Army because of the mistakes it makes and, of course, 1t makes mistakes like everybody else; the only people who don't make mis- takes are those who never do things and yet out of it's mistakes the Salvation Army marches on to glory, to the tune of "Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant and rises to heights unknown to the vast majority of mankind.
 I admire the Salvation Army because at the joyous Christmas season when all the world should be gay and bright, and yet ttcre are thousands who have noth- ing to contemplate with pleasure, noth- ing to anticipate, nothing to live for, these good soldiers of the cross bestir themselves and the "left-ovefs." the de- serted, the unfortunate, the crippled and the maimed are their very own; they are the good Samaritans to the poor and the needy-the Santa Claus who visits the tenement with his sleigh full of material blessings, as well as spiritual blessings.
 I was talking with Captain Nancy Maness the other day; I'm sure you know her; maybe not by name; she's the sweet est looking, the dearest and the most human little creature you ever saw un- derneath her little blue bonnet, there shines a face which has taken it's ra- diance from the sunlight, it's cheerful ness from the birds and flowers, it's sym pathy from the deep religious heart that beats within her loyal breast.
 I say you know Captain Maness, and I'm sure you do; she travels the byways and the hedges; she visits the sick and the lame; the halt and the blind; she's the friend of the "down and out" she knows more about the suffering of the poverty stricken in Birmingham today than all the rest of us put together; you've seen her at the open air meet inss of the Salvation Army, where Staff Captain Quirl is sending out the glad tidings of good things in a word of good cheer as the crowds gather about: Cap tain Maness is wonderful soldier and when she was telling me about the plans of the army for the Christmas dinner for no Y1nn an6h hnrx Ia oin To dime that will be dropped into the ket- ties between tomorrow, when the pot boiling begins, and Christmas eve, will mean so much to some poor family I mentally observed.
 'I admire the Salvation Army above everything else, for it's fine spirit of comradeship, of humanity, of sincerity. "Pve visited all over Birmingham within the past few weeks' Captain Ma | ness said, "and I've come in contact with | some of the most pathetic cases imagn 1 able; only the other day | went into certain building in this city where seven families live; the postman had left let
 ter there; would you believe me when l I tell you that not one member of those l seven families could read the address
 on the envelope and they waited for me
 to come to tell them who it was for? | Why it is something terrible; then how l can you expect such people to make more than a bare living for themselves and their children when they can neither 1 read nor writer" | Another place I visited" Captain Ma ness said, revealed a family of eight, all huddled up together in one room not one of the children had had a bite to eat | all that day or the day before; the | mother and father were both sick in bed | and the oldest child, so the food supply
 was cut off and there wasn't a chance for them unless the Salvation Army l helped them"
 I 'Where do I find these people?" she | repeated my question. That's our work;
 to seek them out, the worthy poor; some I of these come to me through the chl- 1 dren who attend our Sunday school on 1 the Sabbath afternoon; others come | through different sources; we are not l delegates to meet the delegates from l Memphis Nashville and Chattanooga at | Chattanooga on Sunday morning, so that on the way to Norfolk the matter may 1 be discussed and plans made for effec- | tive work.