South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-08-19
WHAT IS DESTINY
Of SOLDIER BOYS?
Learned and Interesting Dis
course Given by Dr.. {. B.
Parker Sunday.

yesterday morning. the nature OF /
which absorbed the close attention /
Of his congregation. His theme was (
the larger life that is coming TO the /
world as a self remuneration Of men (
and women today The foregoing. /
he said. is true of the BOYS who /
come back from the war and for /
those who sacrifice but are not /
called 10 the colors. But what Of |
the youth who like Allen Seeger. /
dream Of the rendezvous with death f.
at some disputed barricade.' and (
find il as he did at midnight in /
some flaming town or in the grey +.
dawn on shell swept No Mans F.
land >" the speaker asked. Here .
is the lad who lives in muddy F.
trenches. suffers from vermin. is .
racked by pneumonia and finally /
dies impaled on a barbed wire en- I
tanglement What does he get out /
of it, We have all thought Of that |
at times. It may be said with a /
French author i'm the trenches who |
wrote in response to an inquiry Is
70 how he Jared in the trenches: He !
slept in mud. bathed i'm blood and .
his soul was in the stars 1t may
be said" continued the speaker. ,
that one crowded hour OF glorious /
life is worth an age without a name, 1
but this is all that can be said: If /
we are right in our estimate Of the |
real issue OF the war this boy gave 1
his life for God.
What Has God for Soldier?
. ]
This is a vital question in European
homes today and will concern u
soon Jobs question. IF a man die
shall he live again2' is being asked
by agonized parents not for them
selves but on behalf OF the BOYS who
made, perhaps unprepared. the
great sacrifice in this crusade. What
is the destiny OF our slain soldier
boys? This question is discussed /
with avidiity in English papers and /
magazines. The. idea is being ad-
vanced and often carried by clergy
men into homes Of mourning that
the evil OF life is cancelled by one
supreme act of sacrifice at the end
Of IT, The poem Jim Bludso' from
the pen of John Hay, American
statesman and literateur. is very
popular over there jim was a
steamboat engineer on the Missis-
sippi rough. Goddess and evil in
life. Hay sums up his creed in the
following lines:
To treat his engine we'll:
Never 70 be assed on the river:
To mind the pilots bell
And if ever the Prairie Belle took
fire
A thousand times he swore-
He'd hold the nozzle agin the bank
TIL the last saloot's ashore
"One night during race the boat
caught fire and true 70 his covenant
Jim held the nozzle agin the bank
and persisted at his post, though all
on board were saved:
He weren't no saint-but at jedg- I
ment
ia run my chance with Jim
Long side by some pious gentlemen
That wouldn't shook hands with
him.
He seen his duty-a dead-sure thing
And went for It, thar and then.
And Christ clint going 10 be too
hard
on a man who died for men,
An Appealing Sentiment
There is an appeal in this poem
that captures the imagination But
it savors too much OF the theology
Of the 18th century that centered
on the idea that a man could pur-
chase his salvation by the merits Of
his own good works I think that
John OXenham. the poet laureate
Of this war. sounds saner. wiser
note in his Ballad Of Jim Bax-
ter Jim was a wild soldier lad
who in the discharge OF high duty
fell into the hands Of the Germans
and was crucified.
D." When Jim came TO he found HIM
self
Nailed to a cross OF wood.
Just like the Christs you find out
there
on every country road.
tie wondered duly If he'd died
And so become a Christ.
Perhaps. he thought. all men are
1hrlStS.
When they are crucihed'
As he unused he saw a vision OF
the Great White Comrade who is
50 real 20 wounded soldiers.
" His face was wondrous pitiful
But still more wondrous sweet:
And Jim saw holes just like his ow5
IN his white hands and feet.
But His look--it was that won Jim's 4
heart
II was so wondrous sweet
Christ said the dying man once
more
With accent reverent.
He had never said II so before.
But NJ knew now what Christ
meant
Thomas Tiplady the army chap
lain who has seen so much service /
with the British army at the front. |
says in one OF his books. When the l
soldiers march into the trenches ro