The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1917-11-29
schools to suffocation in their eager
ness to learn to read and write.

ness to learn to read and write.
This war, in our judgment, will do
more to solve the much mooted race
question than anything that has trans
pired since the days of the rebellion.
Take a million young colored men and
give them military discipline, educa-
ton and training and then send them
back among their home folks and their
power for uplift among their own peo-
pie can not be estimated.
On Sunday we visited a colored
company's barracks. The lower floor
was empty and hearing earnest voices
in the bunk room upstair we quietly
stole to the room above and found it
crowded with colored soldiers engaged
in an old-fashioned negro prayer
meeting. A stalwart black, evidently
an exhorter, led in prayer. Calling
into requisition our former training as
court reporter, we "took" his pray
er as accurately as we could. Type
cannot express his earnestness, the
quaintness of his dialect or the dulcet
sweetness of his voice. 1t ran like
this:
ooh, Lawd God of de cullohd folkses
and de white folkses, look down in
compassion of dis bunch of niggahs
here assembled.
"Forgib dem deir cussedness, DER
develment and unrighteousness. Make
dem good and if dat KANT be did make
dem good as YOU kin.
ooh, Lawd, God bless de cullohd
folkses we left behind us in dear old
Alabam whar de wahm winds blow.
Bless de old folkses and de little
chilluns. Put it into de hahts of
desc sojers to send dem big paint of
deir wages to dem so dey will not
suffer for close, bacon and COIN pone
and not spend DER cash shooting craps
nor on desc silly Iowa niggah gals
who make sleeps eyes at cherry Gull
lohd boy in UNIFORM, and nh. blessed
Lawd we speshially beseech DE TO
bless, look aftah, and care fob the
young cullohd ladies we lief behind US
in deah ole Alabam and keep dem
steadfas to DER sojer lubbers while we
is absent in lie flesh. Don't let dose
insignificant, no-accounts, stay-at-
home niggah slackers done cut us
out; Dou knowest how friv'lous,
fidgity, Eighty, flippity-foppity and
flirtatious young niggah gals is, Lawd
give dem sense and if dey won't take
it glib der daddies and mammies
strong aims to whale sence into dem.
eve tank de, oh Lawd dat dou hast
brung us outen de mire and set Our
foots on de high places. We tank de
for bringin US here where We hab
good shoeses, soxes, pantses, coatses,
hatses, wahm underwear ard tree
squah meals cherry day and beytah
wages dan we cher got pefoh.
eve specially tank de for de Y. M
c. A. dat so faithfully looks aftah Duh
bodies and soils. Open de hahts Of all
de cullohd folkses and de white folk.
ses by dy grace and pry open der
pocket books wild de leveh of dy
divine powell dat dis great wohk for
the salvation of souls and de glory Of
God may go on, not only tru dis wah
but till de end oh time.
ooh, Lawd, we pray, BELIEF and hope
dat dis is de great red letter day for
hoped fob and prayed fob,
since de days of our bondage. De
scales hab fallen from our eyes and
we see visions. We hab put away
childish tings and hab become men.
eve realize oh, Lawd God dat many
oh us may nevah come back, dat many
of US may fall in battle or be stricken
by disease, but help us blessed Lawd,
to realize dat as de deah Lord Jesus
gave his life to save men from sin it
is a God-blessed privilege for por
niggah to glib his life to save men
from tyranny and oppression and
grant oh, Lawd dat many of us may
retuhn aftah de wah, back to dear, ole
Alabam to become Moses to lead Duh
cullohd brethren and sisterin out of
de Egypt of idleness, poverty, ignor-
ance and vice into de blessed Caanan
of industry, comfort knowledge and
"We tank de or, Lawd, dat dou hast
been wild US so far on our way, DIV
watch care was ober us in de steam
cabs bat brought us to dis place, we
feel dat Dou are wild us here, still be
wild US. in our near coming voyage cross
de wild ocean on de journey we soon
hope to take. Confound and dunn
found dose damned Dutch ,submer-
sables dat will be lying in wait to
our destruction and make
dem helpless so to do.
"Be wild US in de trenches and help
us to put up good fife for Gawd and
man. Impress on the min of each
cullohd sojer dat it is heap bettah to
die ftin than to starve to death IN a
Dutch prison.
ooh Lawd Dou knowest niggah
don't like to fife speshially wild guns,
Dou knowest niggah is afraid Of a