The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-11-22
THE SONG OF
BY Sam Clark

The influence of music is in all our lives. 1t regulates or march
and countermarch, our stroll up the church aisle, our last trip with
some friend whom we take to the cemetery. We eat to ii, we dance
to it, and there are times when We worship it The twilight n a
country village where some ambitious student runs the scale of the
cornet will larry us bank hundred of miles and set our feet firm
ly upon the ground of our boyhoodas W follow the old village band
The grand pipe organ IN ne athedr or temple VIII make us
bow our heads and seek to get closer to the Power o High.
is one class which makes the he uts of all beat in unison. 1t is
the mneful bass drum. "Methinks' we can e the reader smile
at this assertion. Yet it is true. We stepped out of a popular
flee to burn a bit Of midnight oil; it was chilly and W e dug NJ
hands deep into the pockets and settled our head comfortably
into the big collar of our ulster. Our thoughts may have been a
million miles away, and yet a $ we sauntered down the street we
became conscious that u footsteps beat upon the pavement in
timely unison with a bass drum. AS w neared the corner the
sweet clear tones OF a womans voice foated out o meet u.s. We
have heard the diva sing from the footlights to the soft accomp
animent of a score of orchestral parts, but her voice does not
reach that acclaim in the heart that the clear voice OF tn bon
neted girl does who stands upon the street corner in the wind
insnirod music II v" van 10 yu ~ talk ~ +be ueaventv
Choir. But the old bass drum is the inspired music and it carries
it's tuneful message to every heart. Where in all the world is
port in the bass drum? Can you imagine Mary Garden or shu-
mann-Heink singing to the accompaniment of a bass drum? No,
it is only the Jealous lassie of the Salvation Army who carries
her music into the hearts of the tired, the weary and the home
less and friendless, and brings mon and women nearer and nearer
to the religion where they first learned t Isl Now Lay Me
Down to Sleep"
my. comes from the heart of that wonderful worker for good, the
humble soldier in the army of omnipotenee' leading the way to-
ward Peace and Purity-toward better lives.
1t is such a practical religigion, this plan of work of the Sal
walton Army. It treats the Christian religion a al absolute de-
mocracy. None are too low to be saved, none are too high. The
recruit takes his place in the work by the side of the other re
cruit. One may be interate and needing the story of the lowly
Nazarene for the first time, and the other may be the collegian
who has drifed away into the desert of life and become lost.
The Salvation Army gathers these children together. 1t makes a
place for them. They ae no longer homeless, no longer friend
less. Material guidance and help is offered as well as spiritual
The dereict with his toes sticking out OF his snow-soaked shoes,
unshaven and thinly garbed, finds q Joyous welcome there, for
the story of the Booths has proven that in many a poor wander
81 broken and disheartened. was found the material which later
led thousands of other wanderers into lives of usefulness as well
as lives of integrity
The Salvation Army plan is the only plan where every occu-
pant Of a pew stands on a equ Nty-there is no Lazarus and
NO hives NO millionaire and no mendicant. 1t is the only system
where the pennness and hungry receive FIRST attention. 1t IS the
one Mace where the erring girl is helped to turn her back upon
mistakes of the mast and only reHan them as miserable lessons.
II ia the only grea religious org Hnization teaching that everything
is in the future nothing in the past 1t Is rounded upon the
sweetest hope in the world, the promise that comes down through
the centuries as the greatest gift OF all time.
IT thousands of cities tonight and upon thousands of street
corners the message of the Savo" Will be given to listening null
titudes and yer who STOPS and listens has gained some
thing that he has probably pass d by for years. And IN each Of
these corners the bass drum and the sweet singer send their mel
ody along the streets and make the most hardened OF US pause
in spirt at least in u mad rush toward the profitess and the
purposeless.
The bass drum and untutored singer teach US that there is
something grand and glorious in the hearts o those who go out
and work that others may be brought into n better life.