Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-06

Wilson signed war resolution at 1913"
When this momentous announcement an.
peared today upon the Ledger bulleti,
boards the crowds stood silent The bulle
,ih meant that war tooth and nail was on,
put there was no cheering Instead a
SLOW satisfied smile spread over the faces
or the men and women and then MANY ,of
them turned and went their ways
1t was the same the city over No wild
enthusiasm, just grim, silent determination
no cheers. just a tightening of the Inns
Dig policeman phrased II just about right
as he read the announcement and then
turned to look over the crowd
Trouble ahead for somebody" said he
Il never knew 1t to fail, Take foreign
crowd. When they're silent they are harm.
less. It's when they jabber and shout we
look for trouble, Anglo-Saxons are differ
ent. While they yell and cheer and curse
they are harmless. IT'S when they sit quiet
and say nothing that we look for an ex-
plosion."
LIBERTY BELL SPEAKS
Just then. at Sixth and Chestnut streets
the big bell in independence Hall tolled
The crowd looked up and waited. Boom
boom, boom" - went the great bell. Men
shook their heads. There she goes :" said
one. That's war all right The Ger
mans can make up their minds what that
means"
Ii was a solemn moment. Several men
removed their hats and waited at respect
ful attention until the tolling ceased The
bell rang for half hour The suggestion
that fitting moment had arrived for
tocsin to sound from the shrine of liberty
had been made by the EVENING LEDGER
and formed of the most impressive
demonstrations of an eventful day.
Bell ringers who tolled the bell in the
state House tower were James J. McCon-
ville of 2510 North Howard street and Jo-
seph Forthomme, of 242 East Tioga street
The strokes of the big clapper were timed
one half minute apart by Frank Eckersberg
of 1945 Paethorp street
VOLUNTEERS. :"
Before the great bell had tolled more
than five minutes came an announcement
by a stalwart marine sergeant at the
recruiting station at Ledger Central He
was armed with a megaphone. THE Pres-
dent calls for volunteers" he cried. the
President calls for volunteers"
The tension was broken. sharp cheer
arose from the crowd-nnd then the dense
cluster of people fell silent again.
The first announcement Of the Presidents
call was read at Ledger Central.
At the request of the EVENING LEDGER
several Of the largest manufacturing plants
in the city blew their whistles for periods
of ten, fifteen and twenty minutes when
news of the Presidents proclamation be-
came known. The big siren on the plant
of the Midvale Steel Works awakened the
echoes for miles around in Nicetown: the
whistle on the roof of the main plant o,
| Henry Disston's Saw Works blew mighty
| blasts and responsive toots We're heard
from the plant of the Stetson Hat Com
pany and Cramps Ship Yard in kensington.
| In the clubs, the hotels and in public
gatherings the same quiet self-possesseC
attitude was manifested. The general feel.
| to ba honor AmeriC.I
had been vindicated. A big, hard job wa
ahead and there was no use fussing about
it,
| An added solemnity was given the hii'
| toric occasion by the fact that it was Cod
Friday, the day Of mourning in the Christian
| wear Throngs filled the Catholic. Episcop n
| anil many other churches, and even as tie
| great bell toled in the State House hun
| dreds of prayers were ascending invoking
| divine aid and guidance for America in its
! enterprise for civilization.
| Many were in deep religious MOOD. one
man before the bulletin board was deep in
| a. discussion of the significance of the day,
! He then turned to biblical injunctions, a I'd
said: 1--WE shouldn't fight. The Bible tells
| us 20 turn the other cheek
| That's all right" said another. "Af:er
you have turned your cheek you are not tx-
pec.ed to accept punch on the nose; the
! Bible does not insist upon that
RECRUITING RUSH
, Throughout the city recruiting became
, brisk when the news of the days develop
| ments spread. The announcements had
| :rought realization to the people that real
| war was on. A clergyman was one of those
| who enlisted at the call He was the Rev.
| Frank Valentine of the Episcopal Church.
| He hurried to the naval coast defense re-
serve station at the Naval Home and offered
| his services
| II want chance to do something for my
| country" he said to Commander Payne,
In charge of the station. Every true
Christian should rally to the colors, for ours
is the cause of Christianity and humanity
Mr. Valentine was told that there was no
provision for chaplains in the naval re-
serve.
IAN right" replied the Rev, Mr.. Valen-
tine. I'm going to enroll for some KIND OF
service anyway" He was enrolled as a
third-class yeoman, and will perform cler-
ical duty The new recruit was much un-
der weight weighing only 128, the require
ment being 1879 pounds. In his case, now
ever, the matter of weight requirement was
waived, ,u,
MIR. Valentine is a widely known biblical
translator. and makes his home WIN
George Long. superintendent OF lnasmucn
Mission, 1011 Locust street