Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-11-03

lowed at sea. The boys preferred the
shin to o,,d barber ,Ia, or on s FLYER where
nately, they made music themselves
helped by an officers or. two. and the
usual custom in the twilight about the
gather and Sing till darkness. They
started with songs and finished Will,
hymns.
Congregation near my room, and their
ordinary air of individual detachment
had lived more as separate human be-
inss than as men or citizens In the
mass. Each man seemed to stand apar,
from the crowd,-in the crowd. but not
OF 1t; and in chorus work they were
hearty rather than precise. They had
books of words without tunes. The
officers discovered the tunes. and the
competitions developed into small mu-
steal festivals.
Some choirs were very good. We,
there was nothing in the music line
il, it was in, the music line-to equal
perched high on u rata cowboy sing
ing "A cowboy song. y New Yorker in
the crowd, who had filled up an odd
of euphony. something between a
Broadway orchestra and the hiss Of q
What were the favoritc songs? Curl
ously, enough that song which is sup
posed here 70 be SO truly American
1ears o By way DoSn tnon ten
suwanco River" never heard sung
a e ahs osT in favor sS Mgie Of 'hS
Old Kentucky Home. and la) Poor
Old Je,f." These could always be guar
antced an enthusiastic rendering
First place, however, should be given
to The Long Trail" which appealed
strongly TO !he men coming from the
ture. Was there III their almost prim-
tive nature GIN the sense Of being un-
IHng r.snondnG to The Call Of the So mn-
known We're they young men dream
ing dreams? Over There s.! and What's
peated, but | only once heard "Tippc-
The hymns they liked best were
hymns which had direct reference to
"a future lifc shall We Gather at the
River" Nearer My God, to Thee"
~ Is rntND MIGHTY FORCE
As G slg n g%HE Ha G1minf we had
IinCtness Impossible TO the man at
home, war WEAKNESS creeping over see
mist does a mountain peak. the high
object our country set out TO attain.
T,siesT s Wna, Of r. soiaiers 81 }ns
everywhere that the United states is
bringing into this war Il mighty arma-
ment OF men and material. Is She
fate of civilization? Apart from the
doctrine OF force to the uttcrmoSt."
do her soldiers convey any other mes
sage TO the allies? L think they do.
They did TO MS.
II is evening in mid Atlantic. The
sun has nearly set, and the thin clouds
brighten to the color OF rose. The wa
ters are quiet. for there is no wind TO
stir them. but many ships in company
speed over their surface. steadily. re-
lcntlessly eastward bound. bearing
thousands of soldiers from the conti-
nent OF liberty to the continent where
liberty is AT stake.
Hundreds of the young men from
Texas assemble on our after deck. An
officer has climbed to the top of the
companion way from which TO make a
speech. The men follow his every word
IN silence. He says nothing about Bel
GUM, LouVainc or the LuSitania.
I'VE are going TO Europe to fight
against tyrannical power that would
enslavc the world.
, We are r the sons Of democracy go
freedom of mankind"
An ideal? Well it struck us who
were shipnates with these troops that
one of the chief contributions of
America to the cause or civilization
may be the restoration TO the timor-
Gus. among the allies of the ideal of
1914: The message of the American
soldier Is the message OF the -Amcri-
can President.