Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-08-23
MINISTER'S At The FRONT
Find Lots Of Religion But Not Much
Piety.
where Big Men DO GREAT Things
Many Preeoneeived Notions Have to
be Abandoned-More Often Than
Otherwise Things Must be Accept
ed as They are Rather Than as It
Looks Like They Ought to Be.
Literary Digest.

,'irrr yIurn who 20 TO france III lh'
Y N e. \. forces lind that the wal
makes swift work of many oi 'icii
u,,.cuucc,y-d notions. Their expert
ruc,. should be- Il help 10 their anxious
brethren who stay at home ana wa'ch
events from arar. The one whom We
uuutrd last week from the Norlh-
western Christian Advocate CChica-
uOJ will conccivably find all his AIM
i.iIrs over the use Of tobacco among
th, soldiers and their fOndncSs lor
boxiug- matches allaycd by the cX-
prricncc oil one Oi his Initiated itiio"
workers. Actual contact with wound :
ed men returning from the front line
worked the change in tins one III
about "A half second. we are tOld hS
Mr.. Fred Is. Shipp, the treasurer ana
general field secretary OF the \. NJ
G.. 4. war work council III France, VINO
has lust returned from a years iab"i
there. Warning is given To congrcSa-
tions that they must he ready to marx
the changes wrought i'll their pastors
whom they have released Tor service
"oycr there" and not be SHOCKED
thrr,.tv. For among the soldiers these
men have found the finest religious
spirit you could imagine. hut mo
particular picty." Mr.. Shipp gives In
the New York Times Magazine con-
crete instance of the change thus
h.. .ls.rkp
front:
"I remember particularly one
preacher who came to France win
the belief that he would save lot oi
the soldiers from the tobacco evil.
Ills personal feelings against tobacco
were so strong that he felt himself un-
able To sell the weed in one OF our
r;Lntccns. This was not discovered
until the Clergyman had been put IN
charge. Of q hut Immediately behind
the lines.
one night there was considerable
infantry activity in this sector. Al
dawn the walking cases among th'
wounded began returning to res,
station far behind the " hut. par
tv of twelve or thirteen under II SER
grant stopped at tn" hut.
THE secretary clergyman saw
wounded men returning from the
trenches for the first time. They said
they were broke ard asked for
chocolate. lie gave 1t to them. He
asked them il they wanted anything
else.
"Thc sergeant told him that the
only other thing they needed was
cigarettes. They needed them badly
. There was a supply in the hut. tn"
tobacco clergyman hesitatcd for
about one half second. Then his pro-
gramm" for saving men from nicotin
went 10y the board. He passed ci-
parcttcs around to each Of In"
wounded men. They departed for the
rear.
"ln Il few minutes another group
came along. They. too, needed some
thing TO smoke. Once more hc ahan-
,ioned his principles. y third group
apm.nrc,l. Again the cigarettes were
distributed.
"Ry this time the clergyman dis
covered that his supply of matches
WAS practically exhausted. The
fourth batch OF visitors completely
consumed IL.
For the rest of the day this cru
sidcr against tobacco found himself
doing the only thing that would en-
able him To look his wounded coun-
trymvn in the eye as they stopped ut
the hut tor rest. lie kept cigarette
glowing III his own lips all day long
so that each hoy would be able To get
Il light"
About 30 per cent of the " 500 \.
NJ &. \. workers now in France ;rU
said To hc clrrgymcn. and one OF them
found his former cognomrn OF "Rcv-
rrrnd" changed to "Gyp the BLOOD.
He began work in France as Il truck
driver, ;tS the association needed such
when ne arrived. and he gained his
new subriquct i'll just the field that
his confrcrr of the Advocate deplores:
while he w;ls driving-it was soon
after our men had begun to arrive in
F'rlncr-hc learned that the soldiers
were Il hit uneasy as to what kind OF
help the y. NJ. {. y. was going to
give them. They feared downpour
Of preachers and nightly hymn sing
ing. one truck driver whom he met
WAS particularly pcssimistic. He was
also. unfortunately. much opposed to
the idea OF having clcrgymen help
him and his comrades. He expressed
his distastr for them terscly and pro-
fancly. II was u little too much for
't;yp the Blood He informed the
other truck driver that he was a
Clergyman and that he was about to
show him that maybe the breed had
something good in them after ALL He
convinced the complaining gentleman
that one OF them WAS an excellent
pugilist IT least,
They tell me the fight was cork
had admitted that perhaps he'd been
a hit h,lsty with his remarks, the
arrny's estimation OF the clerical war
workers went up surprisingly. Today,
OF course. the Y. NJ. &. a. men and
the soldiers are such chums that any
one who would make such a disparag-
ing remark as did the truck driver
would get 4 thHshing from his fell
lows long before the aggrieved minis
ter could reach him.
Every clergyman we have in
France is working every waking min
ute. Their enthusiasm Is unbounded
and their utter unselfishness in help
ing the men under fire has resulted
In our having casualties greater In
proportion than those Of the army
"On the Toul front there is a Bap-
tist clergyman working az a hut Sec
rotary who. during one long stretch
OF activity. could never find time tC
police or clean his hut except wher