The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1918-09-12

Recs5stioa 20 Morrow County Dreftees
Monday evening, Sept. 2, by Lena
Smell ShErrte, County School Superin-
teatfent-
When 1 was requested to make
talk this evening i very reluctantly
consented to do SO. First Because
l am not public speaker and
second, SO much has been written
and said about the subject assigned
to me, that of Woman's Work in the
War, thought l could say but little
that would be of interest.
/ have the reputation at the Court
House of being a great talker, but
you know at is the empty kettle
that rattles." However, not wishing
to be called Stacker when l return
| to my work tomorrow morning, l
am here and hope l may at least be
able to say a word of encourage
ment to the mothers, wives, sisters
and other relatives of these soldiers,
to whom we must soon say goodbye
Every American is called to the
colors There can be no honorable
exemption Old and young, frail and
strong, poor and rich are all alike
bound TO take some place among
them that serve for the honor of the
nation and the liberty of men.
You have heard the question
Moses put to the sons OF Reuben?
Shall Jour brethern go TO the war
and shall you sit here? These sons
of Reuben were scheming for their
own prosperity while their country
uien prepared to fight the battle for
Jehovah.
They paid dearly for their selfish
cowardiee. Their hOnored positions
among the tribes were lost. No
Reubenite Is celebrated in the fur
Their history of Israel.
| Today our government is calling
all the people of America to unite
their strength and their resources
against the destroyers of the worlds
Ireace. Shall we heed the call or
shall we nestle in snug comfort
while our neighbors and friends face
the dangers, endure the privations,
and fight the battles, that we may
thave land fit to live in?
Not alone upon the men but upon
the women also rests heayey re-
Isponsibility. This responsibility we
are assuming with a will, with de-
termination and with cheerfulness.
We cannot but feel sorrowful but we
must not allow the clouds to hang
about us and make our lives and
the lives of those around US gloomy
Gloom breeds only decay. Sunshine
breeds life and strength. We must
lIsmile and In so doing cheer our
aeighbor.
Our loved ones are going and we
are proud of this fact. Proud to
know we can make this sacrifice a
sacrifice necessarily peculiar to wo-
men. Surely there is no cause for
tears but rather for rejoicing that
! your husband or your son did not
( fail when the time came.
In a little book sent to the office
to be given to the eighth grade
/ pupils for a lesson in Civil Govern
| ment, we find this statement:
Every soldier and sailor woult
like to leave four things with his
family when he enters the service OF
1 the country. The first of these foul
things is morale, the very same grl
| and cheerfulness which the mar
himself needs when he is at thu
| front or on shipboard, the pluck, thu
| courage, the ability to do for one
self. the initiative, the self-relianc
l that people have in mind when the!
say that this or that person, this o
that family, is made of the rlgh
Z stuff"
Il Morale is a spiritual quality. |
is not a thing to be given in
moment and at will to the folks a
home. either by the man himself o
by any body else. 1t comes dow
, through the generations, is born
. with the souls of those who have il
and is then nourished and strength
! ened by wholesome family lif'
: 1t exists in nearly everybody, /
some in such small degree as scarcel
I to be recognizable; in others IN 'pc
) abundance that no crisis seems to b
Z great enough to daunt them. tn
! morale of an individual or a house
I hold can be strengthened and pre-
4 tected Just as the morale of the arm
Z and navy can be strengthened an
= protected and this is part OF woman
( work, so we have the Home Servlt
7 of the Red Cross.
I The three other things which tt
7 soldier or the sailor would like
Z leave with his family-and whio
7 many men are able to, leave-al
I friends, credit and money. Frient
4 in such number and variety that T
] matter in what perplexity the fami
I may find itself there will be son
! one who can supply just the rigl
! sort of advice, friends in every pr
! fession and business, friends WI