The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-11-25

OF all the myriads who, since the
days of Phoeuicia. have sailed the blue
and compelling a story of its winds
and waters and ways as Doctor Luke's
narrative of the voyage and shipwreck
which he shared with the Apostle
Paul and their companion, Arts
tarchus, of Thessalonica It has often
been declared that this dramatic tale
gives US the best picture of ancient
maritime methods that has come
down from the period of classical his
tory, which all centers in the Mediter-
ranean. So the next best thing to
Mediterranean Yoyage"perhaps a bet
ter experience for most of us-is a
careful. intelligent reading of the
greatest marine story of all time.
Doctor Luke was a star reporter.
Let US pause to honor this brilliant,
tan1ty and history are so immeasur-
ably indebted. He wrote the thing as
he saw it. And he had seeing eyes.
minimizing persons often speak dis
paragingly of the newspaper repor-
tiers; forgetting that the daily opinion
ana action of the world is based large
~ upon the painstaking fidelity and
Veraclty OF the men who find out facts
and present them fearlessly. There is
place for the philosopher, of course:
but he only follows after the humble
men who, day after day, in season
and cut, despite obstacles of which
Inc world knows nothing, dig out the
significant facts of the worlds change
fuI life. Doctor Luke belonged to a.
soedly Fellowship and to an honor
able profession.
Human Interest" Touches.
one clear difference between what
are caIed learned publications" and
dalIy newspapers is that the former
are dry and stupid with small sense
OF proportion. One periodical that
comes TO me devotes pages to the use
OF dlaerl1cal mark in the extant of
manuscripts of a dead oriental Ian
suage- 1t is never readable because
II is never human. The newspaper. on
the contrary, with all its faults, throbs
with the red blood of real life. This
Journalistic quality of importing the
human interest touch was possessed
by Doctor Luke in rare degree.
IN this one chapter he portrays, in
luminous word or line, Julian the
centurian--even giving his regiment,
hke a painstaking reporter; Aris-
tarehus, who was included in the mar
rator's we" the thrifty and ineom-
petent master of the boat; the Stacker
sailors, who tried to abandon ship I'M
der the pretext of service; the Roman
soldiers, men Of action, cutting away
the sailors means of escape; and,
most of all, Paul, depicted in quota
ton and in action, the hero of the
great adventure.
With all of a good reporters pas
sion for detail, Doctor Luke so wrote
his story that any reader can check
1t up on the map in the back of the
Bible; if it were appearing today in a
newspaper it would be accompanied
by map or chart. He did not digress
into non essentials, else he would have
done some flowery writing upon the
rock harbor and the vaulted streets
and bazaars of picturesque old Sidon;
and he would have reminisced about
Cyprus as the home of BarnabaS and
John and Mark. But he restrained
himself even, in dealing with Crete, a
place the apostolic party did not love.
The same restraint appears in his pow
erful description of the storm, recall
ing Stevenson's dictum that the only
art is to omit
"Once Upon Time p. a Man"
A man is only as much of a man
as he proves himself In emergency
and adversely. Any ship is good in
fair weather. Civilizations routine
and machinery make it possible for
the weak and the strong, the noble
and the contemplate, to move along
on an even plane, indistinguishable. !
It takes storms and strain to test |
character. As the war revealed es- |
sential worth, and drew g deep and |
1neradicable line between the slack |
ers and the servers, SO the calamities |
which overlook the ship conveying |
the Roman soldiers and their prison. |
ers quickly made clear who was the |
soul aboard.
Opportunities do not make great |
ness; they only reveal it. What we |
are in crisis is an unwilling of what |
we have been in our innermost be- |
ing. The hero's deed is but the ex- |
preston of the hero'S heart. If Paul |
had not steadfastly played the man
n h ~
STUDIES; if he had not met the COM
mon days events masterfuIly. he
would not have risen to the great
heights which he attained when the |
naked souls of the men of all hurri-
can and danger stripped bare ranks.
Luke's long and absorbing story,
which comprises the twenLy-seventh
chapter Of the Book of the Acts, must
be read and reread to get the setting
and sequence of events. Essentially, 4,
t Is the narrative of how d man rose
ABOVE circumstances and stood serene l.
n the presence of panic and in the
lace OF death. That man Paul was a I
fearless nero, as well as neartening
saint; king among men, because /
the slave of Jesus Christ"
The Ship Versus the Folks.
Real light upon one of the greatest
Of our days issues is shed by this
thrilling adventure of the sto1m-buf-
teted ship. 1t embodies the clamor-
ous question of property versus peo-
pie; of material rights in relation to
human rights. The ships captain
abetted somewhat by the Roman Of
fetal, was all for seeking the welfare
If the ship; Paul could cheerfuIIy or
Ter all the cargo thrown overheard,
and all the gear; and could see the
stout craft splintered on the rocks,
with no serious concern, so long as the
men were saved. And that is Chris
.ianity'S verdict upon our present
acute Industrial and economic prob
lens. If the welfare of people is kept
first, all other considerations will in
time fall into their due place.
Early in 1918, shortly after I ha6
lefrs perturbed Russia, I CHANGED to
meet Mr.. Cyrus McCormick-head of
the International Harvester company,
whom had seen almost a year be-
fore in Siberia. He was full of ques-