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VOICES OF YOUTH
Our ‘Baylor 'President —Dr, S. P. Brooks.
By Alva N. Turner.
1 like our president;
For he's a plain big hearted man
Who knows me every time we meet,
Though I may be across the street;
His pleasant ways do all they can
To hide the glaring fact from me
That I’m not half as great as he.
I like our president;
For he is interested in us —
I mean the Baylor girls and boys:
Our progress yields him many joys;
This he is given to discuss
At chapel hour, while on his face
His manly sympathies we trace.
I like our president;
For he believes in you and me,
And if we add to tasks well done
Some games that bubble o’er with fun
This he is highly pleased to see;
His practiced precepts yield a plan
To make a strong, well rounded man.
Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
n *
With Our Correspondents.
“\NHKT SHALL I RENDER?”
Ralph L. Meeks, a bright boy of fifteen who lives
at Homer, Ga., has touched my heart very much
by his beautiful, generous letter, “A Hero of Today.”
Modesty suggests not to publish such a personal trib
ute in my own paper, but gratitude forces me to
let Ralph speak, especially since this letter was
written for the ‘‘Hero Contest” many weeks ago
and was misplaced. If there has been anything in
my life worthy of example to others it all came from
the Master and I lay every trophy at his feet.
A HERO OF TODAY.
A few years ago there was living on a Georgia farm
a young man whose life so far had been about like
that of many farmer boys. He had been thinking
of his future life, perhaps, and had decided to enter
college the next fall, so that he might fight the bat
tles of life more successfully. But before that time
came he was the victim of a sad accident, and had
to take his bed, unable to get up or move from it
and with no prospects of ever being able to do so.
Place yourself in his place. What would you have
done? Would you, thus cut down when the tender
leaves of hope were just beginning to bud, have writ
ten letters and poems so full of cheerfulness and joy
that hearts all over our Southland which had been
sad, should be made glad, and that lives which had
been full of darkness and despair should now be
filled with sunshine and hopefulness? That hardly
begins to tell what this young hero did. But a life
like that was not to be so crushed. A mind and
heart like his could not be so blighted. And, so we
see him after years of pain, not freed from it, but
enabled to at last take a part in college life, and
then we see him face the world with an education.
He becomes more and more useful to man and to
God’s cause, and, though he cannot walk without
crutches, he has thrilled thousands of hearts and
brought hundreds to Christ. We see him every
where fighting always for the right and against the
wrong; we see him lecturing with such eloquence
and pleading with such earnestness that all with
whom he comes in contact are moved to higher and
better things. He is now in the magnificent church
in the city and again in some rural community; now
in a wonderful revival and again in a great school
or college lending inspiration to hundreds of young
students. He has helped many young women to go
to college who had no other means of going, and has
thus done the world an inestimable amount of good,
for who can guess the value of the life of one of
these? ‘‘The half has not yet been told.” We can
never tell nor imagine the half of the usefulness of
this hero, who has given us this great paper, The
Golden Age; this page for young people, and all
the inspiration it brings. Wouldn’t it be fitting for
him to be called the greatest hero of all? I think
he is, and you will, I have no doubt, think likewise
when you have counted over a few of his works.
He is ‘‘Earnest Willie,” as some of you know him,
or, as the world knows him, Mr. William D. Upshaw,
of Georgia. With best wishes for our hero, his
paper, and his young friends, I am,
Homer, Ga. RALPH L. MEEKS.
The Golden Age for May 9, 1907.
WE’LL BE MEN AND WOMEN TOMORROW.
Dear Boys and Girls: —My brother takes your pa
per and I enjoy reading the cousins’ letters. In
fact, I think The Golden Age a treat from beginning
to end. Our Editor shows so much interest in the
young people that we should show our apprecia
tion by writing our best thoughts. Dear Cousins,
we should never be ashamed to confess Christ as
our Savior and never fear to confess his name. I
am just a young girl of fifteen years, and I am in
terested about the way young people live. We must
remember that w r e shall have to fill our parents’
places and will we fill them better or worse than
they? Everyone has a calling in life, and we should
try to fill our place and not think only of getting
honor to ourselves, but to the Master and His cause.
We must not let the riches and deceptions of this
world engage our minds, but let righteousness be
our first thought. We that have professed Christ our
Savior should abstain from the evils of this world
and try to exert our influence for good, for we are
all wielding an influence, either good or bad, over
those around us. As to whiskey drinking, I think
it one of the greatest evils of our land. Boys, if
you wish to exert a good influence, do not let your
lips be defiled with the vile stuff, and beg those
around you to let it alone. I will welcome the day
when intoxicating drinks are put out of our land.
J. Bartlett Kelly, as for myself I hope to become a
great writer some day, for surely the pen is mightier
than the sword. Our writings will live long years
after we are dead. As this is my first letter, I will
close, asking you all to pray for me that I may
exert a good influence over the world. With love to
‘‘Brother Willie” and the cousins. Your new
cousin, PEARLE.
Cumming, Ga., Route 3, Box 21.
Pearle, we are glad to welcome to our page any
boy or girl who thinks such thoughts as you do, and
rejoices to give them to the world. Truly, the boys
and girls who write for the Voices of Youth, must
be the men and women of tomorrow. Get ready!
AN ANTI-CIGARETTE LEAGUE.
Dear Brother Editor: Several weeks ago we had
the pleasure of reading a very interesting letter
from a young man whose name I cannot just at this
time recall, on the subject of that awful and de
grading habit of cigarette smoking. Surely it is
needless to say that as soon as I read it, the thought
came to me that about the wisest step the young
people of Georgia could take is to organize an ‘‘An
ti-Cigarette League.” Therefore I ask for space in
the Voices of Youth page to insert names of various
young Christian people of Georgia, and as soon as we
have a certain number of names on our list,
which will sufficiently represent us in each communi
ty, we will take steps to make it punishable for
anyone who has not reached the age of twenty-one
years to smoke cigarettes. I don’t think there
is a man or woman in Georgia who has children,
and especially boys, who would fail to take part
in this movement. Christian people have ever looked
upon this demoralizing and abominable habit since
it was first introduced into this country with sor
row and shame. It has been the starting point of
gamblers; it has been the direct cause of so many
hundred sallow-faced young men, and in many cases
it has been the means of filling many graves with
drunkards. Why? Because when a boy begins smok
ing cigarettes, he soon gets to the place where he
doesn’t care who sees him at it, and soon he is
doing something worse, and the habit grows faster
than the young man ever matures in life. lam going
to appeal to every young Christian in the state of
Georgia, and to the old people as well, to send their
names at once to The Golden Age, so that it will be
placed in its proper place in the space reserved, sig
nifying their willingness to protect the youth of our
state from this awful curse of cigarette smoking.
The habit of cigarette smoking with the boys under
the age of twenty-one years is exactly what the
influence of strong drink is to the man of age. Now,
Christian boys and girls of Georgia, rush your names
this week. Don’t put it off. Time and tide wait
for no man. Let us begin and begin now the work
and fight of the Anti-Cigarette League of Georgia.
I am, Sincerely yours,
PERRY TELLIE TAYLOR,
Thomasville, Ga.
Attending Norman Institute, Norman Park, Ga.
We are glad to publish the above letter as it sounds
a warning note that should be heard by every boy
in this state as well as everywhere else. We do
Conducted by
the 'Editor.
not see just at present how it would be practicable
for us to assist in organizing an Anti-Cigarette
League, but we do hope that this letter will have a
good effect by causing many of our young readers
to promise themselves faithfully never to smoke
the first cigarette. If the cigarette never enters your
lips, boys, you will never have the ‘‘cigarette habit”;
you will never be a cigarette fiend. Cigarette smoking
not only destroys the health and impairs the strength
of those who indulge in it, but there is now no doubt
that it weakens and destroys the moral stamina as
well. Be warned in time. It is easier not to learn
a habit than it is to unlearn it.
MAE MAY WIN A PIN.
Dear Mr. Upshaw: While looking through some
of my sister’s papers, I found an old number of
The Golden Age containing one of the pledges. I
have signed it. I am going to do my best in the
future for the advancement of the kingdom of heaven.
I should like to become a member of the American
Order of The Golden Age. I would be glad to have
several copies of The Golden Age, if you don’t mind
sending them to me. Will try to get subscribers
to your valuable paper, as I am very anxious to get
one of the pins. I have heard a great deal about your
Motton, “Let nothing discourage you —never give up.”
And can assure you that it has helped me in my
work at school as well as at home. Wishing you
much success in your work, I am your friend,
MAE SNEAD.
Thank you, Mae, for your cheering words and your
efforts to put The Golden Age into new homes. We
will gladly send sample copies to any of our boys
and girls who will write for them.
A NEW BROTHER.
Dear Brother Willie: Sometimes I feel the irre
sistible desire to write to you and our young people,
and I will now try to write you a letter. I hope to
see it in print. Your paper is a welcome visitor
in our home. I will never forget your visit to
Nail’s Creek Church. I was converted under your
preaching. Henry Horton wrote an excellent letter.
1 think it is more manly for a boy not to strike back
when some one else strikes him, but always return
good for evil. This is following Christ’s teaching.
Dear boys, I want to say a word to you: Ls you
want to make useful men in this world don’t ever
taste, touch or handle strong drink in any way. I
am glad that so many towns and cities in Georgia and
the south are getting rid of liquor. Don’t let any
one persuade you to “take a dram.” Let your motto
be, “Let nothing discourage you.” But keep striv
ing onward and upward. I think there is no
greater thing than to be a Christian. There is more
honor in that than anything else. I always will
lo' e “Earnest Willie” since his visit to Nail’s Creek.
I am glad to be called his brother in Christ, a?id
would be glad to be called his brother in The Golden
Age. I don’t think a better name could be given
him for he is so Earnest in trying to persuade sin
ners to accept Christ as their Savior and be saved.
We had a fine meeting in August. Brother Willie
assisted our pastor in the meeting and there were
forty-six additions to the church—forty-one by faith
and baptism and five by letter. I want all the Christ
ian people to pray for me that the Lord may give
me strength to give myself fully to him. I am striv
ing for an education and hope I may accomplish it.
I think it would be a great help to any one to have
an education if they will use it for good. I hope
Brother Willie will not think I have written too
much. Papa and mamma and I belong to the Bap
tist church at Nail’s Creek. We have preaching three
times a month. Brother J. H. Ayers preaches twice
a month and papa once a month. We have Sunday
school every Sunday. Prof. G. G. Strange is my
teacher and he is fine. I close by asking a question:
What book in the Bible has only one chapter? With
best wishes to The Golden Age I remain your
new brother, OSCAR LOGAN.
P. S. I would love to correspond with Henry Hor
ton, my address is Homer, Ga., Route 2.
Nothing else can bring just that joy and thanks
giving to a Christian heart as the assurance of hav
ing been used to lead a soul to Christ. This makes
Oscar Logan doubly welcome among our band of boys
and girls. I would wish that every boy and girl
who is a church member would try faithfully to
lead others to the Christian life, while helping those
who are already Christians to be brave and true.
Dear old Nail’s Creek Church will always be a
happy memory,