Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-10-11

ganize classes in the common branches,
so that they may improve themselves
along those lines, make themselves
more useful to their country, and
brighten their own futures. The chap
lain frequently gives lectures to re-
cruits on discipline and the relation
of moral cleanliness to health and effi-
cheney. He keeps a record of all the
men as they come into the service, in
Guiding their name, home address,
next of kin, education. and other
items.
The chaplain's day includes plenty
of humorous Incidents. A fellow chap.
lain. now on duty at one of the base
hospitals, tells an amusing story of
talking to an Italian who had been re-
Gently injured. The man listened ut.
tentively, his great brown eyes fixed
on the chaplain's face. The padre did
not know that the injured man was an
italian and spoke little English,
though soldier Ia the United States
army. After suggesting little prayer
the chaplain added carelessly:
1T makes no great difference be.
tween us, but what Is your
creed?'
Religion In His Foot.
The injured man still looked ear
nestly upward. and the chaplain re.
peated his question. The soldier
caught only the questioning information
and flashed brilliant smile.
"Oh, eet ees In my foot u he said
in an explanatory tone. and immedl.
ately pulled back the covers Of the
bed, displaying a much bandaged limb
The chaplain must be a good mixer
This is especially necessary because
he Is much concerned with the recrea-
tional life of the men. He must be Gu
pable of participating actively In man
ly sports and of organizing such games
as will appeal to the tastes of all the
men. The social life Of the regiment
is one of his responsibilities. The
movies, the boxing matches the volley-
ball games, and the wrestling bouts
are all within his province. He writes
letters, too for men who are sick or
wounded. In case OF difficulty or
death II Is the chaplain who must I'm
part the message to the loved ones
who gave the man into service.
Because he has access to every one,
the chaplain becomes involved In many
delicate problems of conduct. l once
received rather pathetic note from
the mother of one of the men. asking
whether her boy was still at the post.
l happened to know that he was in the
guardhouse. l went to see the boy
and asked him why he had not writ
ten home. The whole story came out
Immediately. During his Christmas
furlough the soldier had married a
girl whom his mother did not approve
or, and. In fit of temper, his mother
had said she wished never to see
or hear from him again. Before the
conversation was over the chaplain
had persuaded the boy to write. Thus
the difficulty was smOothed over, and
difficulty smOothed over is chap
lain's duty done.
Go Over the Top.
So far have said nothing about the
work Of the chaplains in the field
which. for the present war, means
chiefly "over there" My own expe.
rience has not yet extended thither
but l can answer briefly some of the
questions that people ask. The query
Is OFTEN put to me: "Do chaplains 90
into the front-line trenches?" The
answer Is, yes, of course. Frequently
they go over the top with the men. A
chaplain's place is wherever his men
are. and when they are in danger he
Is. too. chaplain who is not willing,
II necessary, to lose his life In the per-
Torrance of his duties is false to his
trust and does not deserve his commits
sion. AS a matter of fact, many have
been killed. The mortality among
chapains on the western front has
been ms high as one day, which is a
high percentage when the small total
number of chaplains is considered.
The chaplain has this additional
test of nerve-that he Is obliged to 70
unarmed. BY the terms of the Geneva
convention chaplains are not permit
ted to carry arms. or course, In re-