The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-11-02
LOOKING UP TO CUBS.
George AIDES Advice to Young Men
from Fl to 81.


/ from Fl to 81.
Six months ago the new voters
were very much in the background
or off at the sides
| No man under 80 held a topnotch
executive position or had moved to
the front row of his profession. (.
Any man under 80 was likely to be
regarded by man well over 80 as a
bit pin-feathery and somewhat of
:, squab #aeA s8
The word thalf-baked' is much
!, favored by those who begin to feel
stiffening in. the joints
| just a few shifting moons, and now
!, the whole Nation is looking up in rev
| erence and admiration and dread at
our lads still in the twentiesl
The bank president is a pigby
alongside Of the first lieutenant.
| Elderly persons sit lonesomely In
clubs, feeling depressed and unwor-
| tbs.
| We have witnessed the transfgura-
| ton Of the cub.
I The very qualities which we ap-
praised SO lightly or regarded as
/ minor faults are now recognized as
1 the ingredients of heroism.
! We do not smile tolerantly at the
eager enthusiasm, the scorn of dang
| or. the cheerful optimism, and the
candid patriotism Of these coltish
youngsters. 44s
We look at them with eyes a bit
misty and say, Boys, you're great"
Many OF us are sitting in sheltered
corners, away from the first-hand ac-
tivities OF the war, trying to compre-
bend that thousands OF our boys are
now In France and thousands more
are going, and we have passed the
! long preamble of talk and come up
against the fiinty realities of shrapnel
| and hand grenadess .f4
How easy it is for man living in
q steam-heated apartment, sleeping
| ON a box mattress and just about
3,000 miles beyond the range of the
longest guns--how easy it is for him
to tell the boys to endure grlmly the
trench privations and then go over
| the top like whirlwind!
Are words of any account just
| now. AA
Shall we advise our soldiers to be
brave? Probably the French and
English instructors will urge them to
| be cautious
Shall we tell them to go out and
die for their country? That Is not
the prospectus. at ALL at all The
plan is for our boys to tame the Ger
| mans and then come home alive
| If we are to poster them with coun-
sell let ii be to the following effect:
"You are going to tackle the big
adventure of your life, but the
chances are that you will come out OF
it all right--not even nicked by
| wound. The Americans are bound TO
| get into action at the front. They
will share hard responsibilities with
! the English and Canadians and
| French 1t is grisly thing to check
| up on cold-blooded percentage basis
! bnt, from a view of the averages. we
believe that nineteen out OF every
twenty boys going to France will
heavy artillery spreads a more effeo-
tive curtain between the advancing
infantry and the enemy. You are GO
ing into a zone OF extreme risk, and
| to say that you will not be In peril
would be 20 take away in advance the
. glory OF your performance. But the
figures from Canada (which is a fair
example) indicate that you are not
! going to be trapped at sea, and that
only small percentage of your COM
rades are going to be put away by
the Germans, and there Is no need of
assuming that all the breaks OF luck
are going to be against you instead OF
for you. Therefore we count on Civ
| ing you welcome home
The training camps viii put you
! in readiness to fight After the fight
| ing is over you will find yourself up
| against the highly important duty OF
| going back TO your own people and
| resuming the normal home life.
Nearly every fighting man will have
a wife or sweetheart waiting for him.
| When she is countless miles away.
| don't overlook the fact that shs is
pulling for you and hoping for you
and longing for your return. When
1t comes time for you to return TO
| her, don't be ashamed to meet her.
Another tip, which no young fell
low should resent when 1t is offered
by an older man who has travelled in