The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-12-07
WHITE TO ROTARY
EmpOria Editor in Stirring Adj
dress on War.
Topekans VIII Endorse Notes
of Officers in Need.

( William Allen White. who has been
turning things upside down in Kansas
for years. adopted a new oratorlcal
style at the annual dinner of the Ro-
tarv club last night. The Emporia
editor and author, whose presence at
! tracted the largest crowd that ever at
/ tended a Rotary feast, gave speech
| address talk-Sermon all in one. And
| Just to prove to the listening clergy
men that the instinct of the neWspa-
pers is to tell the story first and then
go into detail Bill White spent ten
minutes preaching his sermon-h1s de-
auctions from what he had witnessed
/ in Europe. Then he pulled up MS
/ chair, propped one foot on 1t, took a
/ drink of water and told his war story
White, last night, before rather
critical crowd. lived up to all the quail
lifications of a genuine humor1st. Ills
depletion of the situations. once serl-
! Gus but now comical, encountered by
/ himself and Henry Allen at the battle
front. was a scream. In his own in
dividual copyrighted way, the Empo-
rian kept the audience yelling for
more. 1t was one of the very best
war talks ever heard in Topeka.
I'VE are not fighting barbarians
| The Germans do not commit individ-
ual acts of cruelty. They are ruthless
as a barbarian Yet that ruthlessness
is scientific, military"
| Such was the description of Amer
! ica's enemies given by Mr.. White.
White described the scientific ruth
lessness. First, there was the inva-
sion of Belgium, ruthless yet military.
| There is an agreement to protect hos
pitfalls. Modern surgery has made
casualties few in number, providing
surgeons may reach a wounded man
a short time after he has been shot.
The Germans realized that too many
wounded men were returning to the
trenches. They began bombing hos
pitfalls, located near the trenches.
TT was scientific, military" said
White. I'VE are fighting keen, scien-
tific men who will do anything to win
the war and believe implicitly in the
state and will do anything with a clear
conscience that will aid them
His humorous description of the ex-
perie1ce he and Henry Allen went
thru under shell fire kept the audi
ence in an uproar.
Finally our guide suggested that
| things were getting a little warm and
we had better return" said White.
I'VE agreed with him. Feeling under
obligations to the nan who had led
us to the front, 1 decided to recipro-
cate and led the way back from the
! danger zone. This is, 1 would have
done so hadn't Henry outdistanced
me-
White described the unity of
thought and action in Germany, the
! self sacrifice of every citizen for the
Estate and the military. Autocracy has
made this possible in Germany, he de-
| clared- Patriotism can only make it
l ssible in America, he told the audi
ence. To win the war America must
make sacrifices equal to that of the
Germans.
Concluding his address White in
vited questions from the Rotarians.
His quick answers to these questions
added spice to an interesting evening.
On motion of Robert Stone, the Ro-
tary club voted to instruct President
Henry Bennett to indorse the note of
every officer, a graduate of a training
camp, for the amount necessary to
equip him for service abroad. Stone
motion followed a speech by Lieut..
Guy GaScoigne in which he described
the object of the Fort Sheridan aSee-
citation Approximately $65, 900 had
been raised among the students there
| France. This sum was not sufficient
owing to the fact that IS per cent of
I the graduates had been ordered to go
direct to France. Hence, the need of
more funds. Another motion by Stone
asked the board of directors of the
Chamber of Commerce to indorse the
training camp association.
Fred Voiland paid tribute to the
honor roll of members of the club in
the nations service, Capt T. j. Strick-
Ter, Capt. Joseph c. Wilson, Lieut.. F.
A. Myers, Lieut.. Carl C. Younggreen,
Lieut. George T. McDermott and Phil
Billiard.
A number of graduates from the
Fort Sheridan school were present