The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-11-11
OUR BIG CHANCE.

citizens will have an opportunity 20 contribute "
a cause that will become historic, and that will
surely make possible the comfort of the soldiers
and sailors than any other fund which has ever
been raised or ever will be raised.
The reason for this is that the Victory drive is
launched at the hour of the worlds greatest cri-
els. It is at time when organized work is need
cd as # has never been needed before, and when
morale is necessary as it has never been before.
Anyone who heard Thomas Skeyhill, poet and
sneaker Yesterday and last night tell of the hor-
rors of Gallipoli, and of the assuaging of those
horrors by the organized effort of war workers,
can but feel that the American people will carry
the Victory drive over the top drive has
ever been carried.
This may be the last opportunity will have
to give to these associations. It may be the
last drive that will be made, to raise fund for
those s1uxuries' they enjoy, simple pleasures,
costing little, but in the end, demanding great
sum to assure our boys of the veriest trifles OF
pleasure and comfort.
When one heard this soldier-poet speaking of
what those men had endured under the burning
sun and in the frozen trench, when he told OF the
unspeakable suffering of the agonies of pain, OF
the death in life suffered by him and such as
he, when they saw his high courage, his bub-
bling humor, his broad spirit which held no hate,
determined spirit, which would crush Prussian-
ISM his conviction that we must and would make
all things possible there,-it was easy to be-
lieve that this drive could be put in one
week.
But S65, 100000 is a tremendous sum-. 1t can
not be raised easily. 1t will not be raised with
out sacrifice. We must sacrifice, as they are
sacrificing.
AS this brave young Australian has said,-this
is not only soldiers war. 1t is a civilians war,
too. Why should we not sacrifice? How can we
do anything but sacrifice, and in this way give
these organizations the money to work with.
For they cannot do that work without money.
And unless they do the work. we cannot hope to
maintain the morale.
The morale of the American army has been a
wonderful thing. 1t must be maintained 1t
will be maintained, if all do part.
Pensacola will not fail. Of that sure.
She has never failed in any single campaign
since this war started. She has done some ire
mendous some vital things. And she will do the
same in this.
But let this not be begging campaign. Let us
give for the love of giving. Let us remember
those boys over there flesh of our flesh, Ameri-
can born and bred, carrying the Stars and Stripes
Ito Victory.
This war is not over yet, by any means. The
days of reconstruction will be hard. They will
demand of the their best, and they will de-
mand no less of US.
War or peace, we shall need this fund for the
work that is before us. 1t is not much that we
can do. We can not lie wounded and bleeding on
the beach at Gapoli, without aid of any kind,
suffering the agonies of hell. We cannot lie in
Ia dirty transport, i'll unto death, wounded in body
and sick in mind, praying for release in death;
we cannot lie in prison, half starved, vermin in
Tested; we cannot spend freezing nights the
Alps; we cannot march, hot and thirsty, through
desert sands; we cannot "le in Flanders fields
where peoples blow, between the crosses, on
ROW.
But we can stake up the torch and hold it
high" We can and we will. We can be as brave
las the bravest. We can go without what we
want, we can even go without what we need,-
why not? That is what those boys doing.
What would we think of them if they deserted,
at the last moment? With what scorn and con-
tumely would we greet them?
! Then will they not have the same right to
greet us so, if desert them at the last minute,
| if we fail them, just as they have made victory
possible?
| But that scorn and that contumely will never
be ours They are ours and are theirs land
we shall go over the top with colors flying as we