The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1918-05-09

gets acquainted win the NUT ne IL use
II every time he gets chance.
BY the same token not = cent that is
given toward the Y. M. c. A. or the
K. of c. can be III spent. The Red
Cross for their strained bodies; the Y.
M. c. A. and the X. Of {. for their
strained characters.
Ny impressions Of the effect that war
time surroundings may have upon hu-
man beings arc not pleasant. ! have
been kneedeep in war, and | know II in
all its aspects; and II | had son who
was leaving for the front today !
would say to him:
my boyl Fight as hard as you can
and do not risk your life in foolhardi-
ness but, above all, cling more tightly
to your ideals and your code than you
do to life itself, You are facing the
supreme test of your personal character.
II you lose, il would be better for you
to die"
Isn't the slaughter terrible1'
Worse Things Than Slaughter.
Everybody who returns to the United
States from the war in Europe is asked
this question, trite as It seems.
My answer must always be:
Dying and killing are not the most
horrible things that war brings to a
man, woman or child. In Europe you
see worse things than dying or killing.
Worse things happen to folk than being
killed or crippled
The first dead men l saw In the war,
back in those early and oldtime days
in Belgium. struck me as having been
uselessly murdered, and the sight left
a baleful impression on my mind for a
time To my surprise, however, soon
beheld such sights without emotion.
But there was one sight--one manifes-
tation OF the horrors OF war--that !
coud not acctistom myself to view with
out a mental shudder. This was the
sight of vast bodies of men marching
or camping.
Morals Fall Apart.
There they were, men of family, Of
business, OF ideals, OF religion, all
brought down to the same level-sll
alike. Like barrels whose hoops have
been removed, these men,. individually,
in their lives and ip/ their characters
might have fallen apart since the bind
ing support OF their home environment
has been taken away from round about
them.
To be turned into such man is
worse than death, and among thinking
men in the seven armies that | saw at
close range | often found soldiers and
officers who realized what personal ef-
forts they must make to hang onto their
own personalities. There are penalties
Just short OF death for men In the
various armies who sicken of being
unthinking men animals and try to find
a way out Of their plight by suicide
who stick their heads above the
trenches or who wound themselves with
their own rifles. Hang onto yourself"
is the best advice a father can give his
soldier son.
idea May Last In After Life.
II is worse than death for a man to
get into his head the idea that he has
the right to kill. Such an IDEA de-
stroys his value as a citizen and heads
him toward the gibbet. Yet this idea is
fastening itself in the minds Of thous-
ands Of the thoughtless in Europe. On
battlefield killing may not be murder I;
but when a man takes the killing idea
into his private fife and uses 1t as a
solution OF his personal and private
difficulties, he might better be killed
in war and have il over with.
The other day in London. a soldier,
home on leave OF absence from the
'front.' tried in vain to take an afternoon
nap. He shouted from his window TO
a group of women and children in the
courtyard that their jabbering and
laughing were not to his liking. They
jeered at him. The soldier took a hand
bomb from his pack, the sort that he
had thrown in the trenches by the
hundred with intent to kill, and tossed
1t into the courtyard. He killed three
people.
Sheer Desire to Kin.
] once carried 4 Russian rifle--whieh
an Austrian officer had presented to
me as a token Of Austrian proves in
the capture of Prremysl-into q little
hotel 10 the town Of Alt Sandec, where
a dozen minor Austrian officers we're
sitting at a table. They viewed the
trophy with excited and somewhat
jublant interest. Then one officer
drew Russian rifle cartridge from
his pocket, placed II in the rifle. raised
the weapon and, deliberately pointing il
at the white-haired Jewish proprietor
Of the hotel, who stood some twenty
feet distant, pulled the trigger. The
bullet missed the old man, but II was a
close call. The room filled with powder
smoke, which rose slowly to the ceiling.
Powder has two different smells.
As police reporter ] have gone into
rooms in various American cities where
murder or suicide has been done, and |
know the scent of powder under such
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