The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-11-20
Home On The Firing Line

Ex-President Taft says: we
should feel proud of the Y. M. {. A.
work so ably directed. Are We 60
ing to be backward in giving our
men the nearest thing they can get
to a Christian home On the firing
Nne?" A home on the firing line.
When the poet wrote Home, Sweet
Home" he surely must have had
more peaceful surroundings than
this.
There could be no such a thing as
a home where lien draw their guns
and bayonets Oh their fellow men
and fight until death ends the strug-
gle. But there is an organization
that places a hut near the scene OF
battle, and that organization is the
Y. NJ. C. A.
Very soon the boys who left here
with Company q and the ether men
from Dorchester county who have en-
tered different branches of the ser
vice will be engaged in the terrible
conflict that modern warfare calls
for. Admission is learning the use of
the gas mask, and the bayonet, and
before many months elapse these sol
dieEs will be putting into practice
the training they are receiving in
camp
Following the trip to the old coun-
try. the. next cry. will be .'':On to the
trenches" and then the severe wea-
ther will begin to make inroads on
their health and the shell of the enc
my will impair their lives. Standing
! in. trenches, with mud past the
: 'knees is a common thing for the AL
lies, and before the present winter
ends our Cambridge boys may be
standing side by side with the
Frenchmen. Englishmen and Italians.
:tf a Cambridge boy, tired, cold
and mud-stained, the blood oozing
out of the newly inflicted wounds,
knocked at your door, how gladly
you would extend to him welcome
to come into your home and enjoy
!. the warmth; the place offered. With
tender hands you would comfort and
.feed him. You would do this in your
home, and you should be very thank
full that America has an organization
! which ministers to your boys at the
! front where it is impossible for you
: tesfollow them.
Our boys will give their lives to
make Cambridge and Dorchester
county safe for democracy in order
that you may live happily and I'M
molested. They will make the SUI
preme sacrifice to preserve you;
would you withhold from them the
only influences that are homelike?
What will you sacrifice to give them
a. touch Of home love and cheer, to
help keep the home fires burning in
their hearts?
Ex-President Roosevelt, in speak
ing of the Y. M. c. A, says: What
this movement has done in Europe
Is: really remarkable, and now our
citizens Should aid them to do work
Of the same type for our own troops. !"
These words, from the mouth of a
man who has given freely of his
time. his money and his sons, show
his knowledge of the noble work be-
ing accomplished in these homes
near the firing line.
Gypsy Smith, with. whom the
church-going people of the country
are acquainted, has placed his ap-
-DEovaa on the work done by the Y. M.
G. A., by making the following state
ment: 1.-THE criticism of those who
say that while the Y. M. C. A. is do
Ing great social work, it is doing
very little spiritual, is not fair. The
workers are constantly engaged in
spiritual work, as everything they
are doing is means to that end. In
deed, the Association has accom-
plished far bigger spiritual work
than we dreamed"
Friends, will you refuse to give to
Trustworthy cause, or will you give
grudgingly and meagerly? This is
no small affair; it is universal in
its scope. The campaign to raise
Dorchester's quota, $4,000, has been
extended another week Shall we
say we are unable to give? Shall we
say we have given all We have? Shall
we refuse in any way, or give an
amount which does not represent
the way we have prospered? No.
1t is too early in the game for us
to make these excuses. We have
given. but it is only the beginning.
Dorchester has just stepped over the
Threshold into the vestibule of the
crisis. We must give to the Y Nj. C.
A. and the Red Cross Cociety; we
must subscribe TO more Liberty Loan