The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-07-15

i Not denying mYSet cefldii ulp"i
! interest in international affairs, l con-
fess keen disappointment was suffered
when | found myself unable to accept Tex
Richards invitation to witness the little
/ fstic argument between Carpenter and
| Dempsey at Jersey City two weeks ago.
+ But this has now all been assuaged. l
Imade up for it yesterday by attending for
/ three full hours the Summer school for
: the Womens Foreign Missionary socl-
cites at Mortified. | made the trip all
! by-my-lonesome, for, curiOusly enough,
/ few of my male friends fell i'll with the
/ plan; and that, in part, is why this
| chronicle has to be written, to tell them
what they missed.
| The juxtaposition of ideas in the fore.
| going paragraph is in no sense intended
| to liken the congress of missionary Wo-
men to the crowd that filled the ring
side stadium. 1t is of course. only by
gross contrast that the two things can
be associated at ALL But the admission
| is here frankly made that when, yeSter-
| day. in the midst of the opening prayer,
| took my seat among nearly thousand
women gathered in the Moody auditor
| ium. my first conscious thought was TO
Cused on that prize fight | thought OF
| had received. with columns of newspaper
| sporting dope" that would have reached
around the world: | recalled how Mr.. Ir-
vim Cobb and some 700 other writer's
were on hand to do justice to that battle
| of the century" | unused of the fevered
passion with which they afterward wrote,
and of how millions of readers followed
Etheir extravagant pictures of the four
round fight.
As against that great international
pugilistic event, / weighed the import
and the support of the wOmen'S assembly
at Mortified. Around me was a little
sea of wOmen'S faces, sober minds, modest
and of high purpose, gathered for an in
ternatiOnal event" of which the newspa-
pers give sCant notice and as for the re
porting of it. appearances were that l
was about the only male observer present.
The obligation weighs heavily but l
assume it lightly. These dos days are
not conducive to hard thinking, and be
SIDES, | must confess. that prior to this
essay. my interest in foreign missions had
been close to nil. As a boy l can re
member that the Foreign Mission Circle
sometimes met at mothers house, but
from that day to this there had been
lack of knowledge as To what it was all
about. When. after the big meeting yes
terday. | moved about the corridors.
of Ignorance IncOgnitO, | felt like the
two young fellows who. in TcnnySon'S
''Princess' intrudcd upon the sacred pre-
cinctS of the Ladies' Institute Like them,
| was in disguise. For in one pocket
carried cOnSpicuouSly a copy of the mis-
sionary text book (while hidden in the
other | clutched a package of Peter
SChuyIer's odd Moments" which l was
aching to enjoy)
The corridors of the Auditorium re-
minded me of the last National auto show
/ attended ia New York or a printing eX-
hibit at the Worlds Fair. so profuse was
the litcrature of all kinds. However dull
the subject of foreign missions may be
to the uninspired. it is certainly given n
colorful and uptodate attractiyeneSs by
the innumerable books posters, leaflets
and cards with which a score of tables
in the corridors, the ante-rOOmS and the
book shop are stacked. 1t represents
some fine specimens of the Art Preserva-
tive, and aS much of it was free | accu-
mulated enough missionary tracts to last
me until the millennium. | stood for u
few moments and watched Miss LeaviS,
agent for the committee on United Study
of Foreign Missions. take in a barrel of
money for the sale of a recent missionary
report on China. for hymnals and other
works Long after the ephemeral re
ports of the Dempsey Knockout have gone
I" seed. this literature of missions will
flourish and 90 on, spreading the gospel
Of international good will.
VvI,a -tr;1-;vo +L;,o oI.,,+ .bo J,r %