Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-06-15

who wish them while tea Is being
| served near by can learn more in ~
minutes than they might learn in 10
years at their home churches. The men
to whom they speak of soul welfare are
likely to listen with keen appreciation,
for frequently mems souls are passing
in the very trenches which they have
Just left and to which they must return
even as they talk.
II know fighting men who think the
! Y. M. G. a. as essential as ammunition
to the winning of the war. Hundreds
OF British churches have sent their pas
tors to the firing line. n there is an
ways The congregation which has done
SO Gill in some way keep up church
work during the absence Of the minis
ter.
Taking Friends to Wounded Dear Ones.
mot the least important work done
by the Y. NJ. G. A. is that which it
has undertaken of escorting and car
ing for the friends of desperately
wounded men who go to the front hos
pitfalls to see their dear ones, some
times to find them dying or v dead.
| When an official notice is sem to a
family that one or more of it's members
are to be permitted to visit the front
for such a melancholy purpose, the
Y. NJ. G. A. is simultaneously notified.
when the relatives arrive in France
the organization at once takes care Of
them and usually sees to it that they
are comfortable on the trip across the
channel. 1t may be that we may have
to motor them for as much as 100 miles
from the coast port to the place where
their dear one is lying, and we regard
them as our guests, supplying them
even with lodgings at our hostels dur-
ing n whole of their stay in France
In other words, we are the liaison
officers who orange the meetings be-
tween the wounded and their friends. 1t
is sometimes a heartrending task, but
1T is n which We are not glad
to perform.
Il think it is safe to say that there
new is a time when less than = $50
friends of wounded men are staying
at u hOstels In France. Many have
reached their loved ones just in time
to say farewell. One father arrived
When we thought he would be too late
and was taken to his boys bedside
after h lad had become unconscious.
But the oun of the loved voice
reused the sufferer and he raised him
self in bed. to u amazement, crying
Hello. dad!' His father took him in
his arms just in time to keep him from
A|AAAAAo CNSN AROtk III plklOW OGdus
almost as many women as men
have crossed to France in our care on
such missions. Mothers, sisters. wives
and sweathearts are OF every boat
which goes over the channel. escorted
by. our organization. And not all such
visits end tragically. Often they are
the means of bracing wounded men and
bringing them back to the desire to
live. No organization other than the
7. M. G. A. would do the work Of look
ing after relatives visiting the war zone
quite as we'll as we can.
"One word more about the purely re-
ligious work. Among those engaged
in it are h celebrated evengel-
lists In the country. John MacNeill
Gypsy Smith. Sherwood Eddy. a Yale
man. OF whom I have spoken before.
n many others work with us. Thous-
ands OF clergymen go into our huts to
perform the routine work of helpers.
serving coffee. for example, sweeping
floors. preaching the faith by service as
Well as by word OF mouth.
are held every evening in
to come are welcome il they get there
early. Usually more try to attend the
prayers n can get in. Sometimes
more stand outside than can be crowd
ed underneath the roof. In the midst
OF h hurly-buriy of the life just back
of the line h seven minutes OF still
ness which we have introduced aa a
regular feature Of these services in the
huts do wonders for strained nerves
n racked souls.
The war roll which extends alleg-
lance beyond that which every soldier
of the British army feels for Kine
George to King Jesus has been signed
by $50. 900 men,"
Copyright. 1917. by Edward Marshall
Syndicate. Inc