Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1917-11-22
the o,coNNoR LECTURES.

the 0'c0NNoR LECTURES.
Trooper A. HI. O'Connor of the
Kings Guards, who served %
in the trenches, gave two
lectures here yesterday. The aft
ernoon meeting was for men only
and the Christian church was
filled with men who came to hear
Of the atrocities the Germans are
committing. Mr.. O'Connor gave
them a talk, not a lecture, and
brought out many things which
cannot be read in the newspapers.
He has absolute proof of all he
says and offers $4,000 to anyone
who will disprove his statements.
He told of the horrors of war in
a way which made all men pres
ent realize just what we are fight
ing for and against. He did not
mince words in any respect and
if there were any present who are
favoring the kaiser in this gigan-
tic struggle, they must have felt
small and cheap when they
heard Mr.. O'Connor.
At the evening meeting many
were turned away on account of
lack of room. Not only were all
the seats and extra chairs filled,
but all the available standing
room was taken up, but not a per-
son was seen to leave until after
the last words had fallen from his
lips. No one seemed to get tired
standing and many said they
could have listened to him much
longer without firing. The eve
ming talk was rapid fire and a
person had to keep his wits about
him to catch all that was said.
Mr.. O'Connor is not an orator in
the accepted sense of the word,
but he has an earnestness that
impresses one from the first. He
knows his subject and wants to
tell it in his own way. The pic
lures he painted were not beauti-
full by any means, but they are
sure true to nature, as can be
verified by reading the newspa-
Ipers almost any day. Germany is
conducting the war i'm a more bar
barrie manner than the American
Indian ever thought OF doing.
They do not respect international
law nor the chiyalric rights of
women and children. He tells OF
many revolving scenes of little
children three and four years old
being crucified to doors and trees
with bayonet run through their
bodies. This happened not only
once, but many times, so it can
mot he saia to De the result 81 d
mad impulse, but it is following
along lines mapped out by the
general staff.
The tribute to the Red Gross
which Mr.. O'Connor gave was
touching in the extreme, and no
doubt gave many a different idea
of the work This noble organiza-
tion is doing.
There is no doubt that Mr.
|O'Connor's talks are doing a great
deal to awaken the American peo-
pie to realization OF the terrible
conflict we are now engaged in
and he also is showing them thai
any Americans taken prisoner
can expect no mercy at the hands
of his captors. When America
gets fighting mad we do not be-
lieve there is any nation on earth
who wants to go to the mat will
her, but until we do get mad We
are entirely too easy going with
our enemies.
The local Red Cross chapter
realized a neat sum from the lee
lures, as they were given one-hal.
of the total collections, the Other
half going to Mr.. O'Connor. The
people should feel grateful to tn,
various churches for giving uI
their services on Sunday and de
voting all of the talents toward
making such meeting a success
The Christian church people glad
ly threw open their church after
noon and evening for, Mr.. O'Con
nor, and those responsible 70
getting him here wish to thanl
all who helped in making the tw'
meetings such success.