The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1918-10-04
REAsoNINGs OF A ROOKIE.
Garry On"

about him for his final words the
story goes that all he managed to
say with his dying breath was Garry
on" This may or mey not have been
the origin of the famous phrase, but
it is worth mentioning that it is the
watch-word of the entire British
army to-day, and as sturdy Tommies
go about with their duties of the
twar, either in the trenches or back
behind the lines, it is a favorite say
ing with them, showing their SPLEEN
did spirit of cooperation and bull
dog tenacity to see the thing thru.
Many poems and articles have pos
sibly been written with these words
as a nucleus, but this is offered for
consideration.
When Tommy Atkins passes the
word down the line he asks for help
while at the same time giving en-
couragement. He lets it be known
that his heart is in the game but he
wants teamwork upon the part of
others as well. He wants to be sure
that the work is carried steadily on
| if it happens that he is thrown out.
He, does not want consideration for
| himself for his part in it at all. The
| thing that he wants most of all to
know is that his comrades will Gar
ry On" This phrase, used as it is,
! is perhaps peculiar to the British
army, but the spirit of the words is
more and more possessing the whole
allied forces. 1t might we'll become
the cry of the entire nations now at
war with the Hun.
For nearly three years America
stood by and saw the Hun almost
crush civilization under its iron heel,
but such is now no longer the case.
/ To-day we are aroused as never be-
fore and the cowardly German is be-
bginning to feel our strength quicker
| and more effectively than he had
ever dreamed Already our con
temptible" army is winning victories
and turning back the brutes with re-
markable speed and precision. At
the time when she was most needed,
America heard the call of humanity
and responded. Henceforth it be-
comes our privilege, not our duty, to
4 a. A1 iF1oit n
force without stint" The signifi-
canoe of the words strike the soldier
with all their force and we have rea-
son to believe he will acquit himself
nobly, if past occurrences are to
guide us, but what about the folks
black home" the civilians?
The words mean something to you
as we'll as to the ones in khaki.
Will you Garry On" over here, while
the boys Garry On" over there?
Quite true, you have gone over the
top" in everything your Uncle Sam
has asked you to DO, but upon you
| falls a double duty. 1t isn't enough
that you buy Liberty Bonds and War
Savings Stamps and support the Red
Cross and Y. M. c. A. to your utmost
ability. 1t isn't enough that you
lend your efforts to keeping up the
morale of the soldiers and sailors
you have another duty besides this
one. You must not only keep alive
| the many things that go to make up
civilization, but you must see that it
| grows and keeps pace with the trend
| of modern times. You must fight
n-progressiveness just as hard as
you expect the Sammies to fight the
Hun. You must drive out individ-
ualism and materialism, bringing in
and encouraging the spirit of pro-
| gressiveness and cooperation, If you
would be as true to the boys over
there as you expect them to be to
you. 1t is your duty to see that
churches, schools and the many in
situations that contribute to human
| upllft and development, are not only
kept alive but are made to grow as
well. You must prepare this great
country of ours for the New Flu
ture" that is as surely to come after
the cessation of this awful catastro-
phe as sunshine follows storm. Past
records prove beyond doubt that the
| great nations of the future will be
the ones able to recover quickest
from the effects and influences of
the war. Will you have the spirit
that belonged to our ancestors i'm
mediately after the Revolutionary
War, to our own fathers and grand
fathers after the Civil War? Shall
our own sons return from the blood
soaked fields of Europe and find some
of the things here in our own land
that they have fought so valiantly to
crush? Shall they have p heritage
of greed, selfishness, sinfulness and
GOODNESS of mind and purpose? 1t
wasn't the case when the minute
| m on TafxIrnad boYan xxrao - 4r,a