East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1918-11-11

all day beside a man, feeling my heart lust
break listening to him as he speaks words
of love and messages of deepest tenderness
in his dying fever to those far off across the
seas whom he thinks to be right up near his
stretcher-bed. And then man who has
been blinded wants me to hold one of his
hands; another poor lad sobs out his life,
his head in my arms, crying for his mother
as you and cried for ours when were were
lonely; and / guide the hands of another
a big boy, torn and shattered by shell, as
he writes good-by to his sweetheart and
tells her God will bring them together
again"
What do we know of such things as these
we in America? What do we know Of the
horror of the rain-soaked trench at night,
with the shells flying overhead like bats out
of hell? What do we know of the gnawing
cramp of hunger or the hideous wrench of
agonizing wounds? Our eyes have not seen
the human wreckage of the battlefield, our
ears have not heard its awful cries. Our
lips have not yet touched the cup. Our
meatless days, our wheatless meals, our
good ladies knitting-would we dare look
onone poor crumpled form in Flanders field
and call these things giving? Not if we
are men. If our fields had been plowed by
murdefous guns, If, our cities had been loot
ed, razed, and ruined, if our men>had been
crucified and shot, if our mothers, wives,
and daughters had been dragged, like the
women of Lille by gray-clad demons to
slavery, then we would be able to speak
language of sacrifice we do not yet know
or even dimly understand. Then would we
have learned something of the courage of
Christ when he refused the SIMPLIFYING
drink upon the cross, and faced suffering
yes, welcomed and greeted it, as very end
and aim of life. aas9ylsa
1t is splendid thing to give billions to
war that war may cease. 1t is thrice bless
ed to give to these magnificent and merci-
full organizations that have been formed not
to take life, but to save it, not to give wounds
but to bind them up, not to spread disaster
and blasting death, but to dispense good
cheer and kindness and knowledge and
comfort and brotherly love among our own
boys.
1t is privilege to give to this great cause
when for the first time in history Jew,
Protestant, and Catholic are sinking the bit
ter differences of centuries, when prejudi-
ces are sweeping out like ash in furnace
winds, and creeds are cOmmingling in the
final gold of truth. This cause is, indeed,
His cause and each dollar we give is given
into the very treasury of Heaven.
If for moment, far from the peril and
sudden death of the trenches, we, are tempt
ed to shrink from our new sacrifices we have
but to look around about us to remember
our duty, for already in our streets the
crutch tells its simple story and carries its
mute appeal to the heart; already our con-
sciences are challenged by the eloquence of
the empty sleeve; already we are faced by
the outward evidences Of these our boys
who have laid not merely money, but life
and body themselves upon the altar.
Fathers and Mothers Of Americal Your
sons need warm hearts to father them and
hands to sustain them; they
iced every comfort, every care, every pro-
ectiOn that money can buy and love pro-
Tide. Were peace declared tomorrow they
would need them even more, if possible,
uring the trying months when they are
Waiting to return to you 1t is your own
lesh and blood that is calling you AS YOU
herish American manhood, and in the
anne Of God who gives victory to the right,
nswer the call.