Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-02-09
EYE WITNESS
DESCRIBES WAR
Y. M. c. A. WORKER, HERE AFTER
CONTRIBUTIONS, TELLS OF
GIGANTIC STRUGGLE.

witness. was unfolded to small audi
ence Tuesday night at the G. S. Harp
err home, 917 North Court street, by
Harry w. White, international secre-
tary of the Young Mems Christian as
sociation. He gave his hearers an un-
censored view of the struggle that has
engulfed the greater part Of the civil
lied world.
! The announced purpose OF MT.
Whites visit here was to arouse In OF
tumwans the desire to take advantage
Of what the speaker described as an
| unprecendented opportunity to be OF
service to fellow Christians and to
spread the gospel among the unbeilev-
ers of the orient. He made 1t PLAIN
that the work is non-partlsan ana Is
being carried on by nearly equal
forces in the lands Of the entente ana
In the lands Of the Teutonic alliance.
| Reformation Is On.
In the opinion of Mr. White, the
greatest moral and religious reforma-
ton the world has ever seen Is on IN
Europe. He says that from the firing
/ line to the f1reside the belief Is begin
ming to prevail that any victory which
is won must be righteous victory.
He, himself, heard soldiers praying for
divine guidance, not for their bullets,
but for their thoughts and their &C
lions in order that the war may be the
more quickly ended. He heard sol
diers of the allies praying as fervently
for their enemies as for themselves
and he had first hand information that
the same thing was occurring IN the
German trenches.
"In all Europe" he said, you can
not today find selfish man. The war
is cleansing and purifying the nations
of Europe. and in the retort of the war
the sins of selfishness, hatred and IN
tolerance are being burned on men
souls" He expressed the earnest wish
that the United States will not have TO
ioin in the war in order to have us
people benefit in the same way ne
noted with alarm and chagrln that
thus far this nation has shown no
tendency to become unselfish or eager
to he of service to those in need. He
has faith, however, that IL this nation
can he awakened to its Christian duty
and to the opportunity that presents
itself, it will develop power IN tins
sniritual world of men hitherto I'M
|
The Situation In india.
Mr. Whites particular field Of action
10 india and it is to India that he asked
his hearers to give their attention. AT
lahore, India. is Y. M. c. A. organi.
cation directed until last year oy an
Iowa man, J. J. Mcconnell OF Cedar
Rapids, son Of the superintendent OF
schools there. The Ottumwa Y M. u
A. has been giving certain sum an
nually towards the budget OF this sec.
retary. For various reasons, most OF
them due to the war. 1t has been DIM
cult to get money to carry on these
foreign branches of the Y. M. e. A.
and some thirty or forty OF them are
without funds to meet their budget.
Money must be raised or the work
abandoned, Mr.. White says. The speci'
fic reason for Mr.. Whites visit here
was to inspire Ottumwa to give more
freely so that the Y. NJ c. A. at Lahore
will not have to be abandoned.
Regarding the opportunity there for
spreading Christianity and lettering
the condition of millions upon millions
| of people. Mr.. White had the following
! to say:
| "The war has brought the west and
the east together as never before. The
commercial, political, social, moral and
religious awakening. apparent in India
even before the outbreak Of the war.
has been intensified hundredfold.
The thousands upon thousands Of In
dian soldiers who are in Europe learn
! ing western civilization and standards,
are furnishing the means for breaking
the she'll that has bound India for CEN
turtles. The Y. M. c. A. Is firmly es-
| tablished in India and it Is a force al
most beyond measure II It can but Sc
cure the finances necessary to render
all the service in its power.
'There never was time when
Christianity had so good an opportun-
ity to win the hearts Of midas mil
lions. The people there just hunger
for religion that is alive and real and
satisfying. Their various religions
fail to produce character and it is char
acter such as is engendered by the
Christian religion that makes real
progress possible.
"The men in the armies Of Europe
are grasping religion with sincerity
of purpose never before equalled. They
have come to see that they must be
for a righteous victory and 1t Is my
belief that the side which first gets
right with God will by that accom-
plishment attain sufficient power to
end the world war"
Mr.. White was somewhat cautious
in speaking of his observations on the
battlefelds Of Gallipoli and the deserts
of Egypt and the land east of the Suez
canal. He said that the Y. NJ. c. A.
workers are accorded unusual privf-
leges Tor their work which is greatly
appreciated
He recited some thrilling tales Of
the the fighting which he witnessed.
His audience stayed long after his
formal speech and piled him with
questions bearing on the war and var
ious phases of the charity work in con-
nection with the alienation Of the suf-
fering Of civilians.
Address Bearing Fruit
The address bore fruit today in the
launching OF plan, as yet in embry-
onic state, whereby Ottumwa shall
have representative in the field, pos
NJ NnrnnnaI1 tho CoSor po ni6S