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Feb. ZU.
AT THE DAY’S BEGINNING
BY JOHN TIMOTHY STONE.
The day before us is a long one, filled with all kind of appointments
and involved problems. And then aside from known duties there are the
unknown demands; aside from the regular activities there are the ir
regular ones; aside from the scheduled appointments there are the un
expected interruptions which may involve all kinds of adjustments. But
before this day is entered upon, before a letter is opened, a conversation
is held or a thought is given to the immediate duties that press for at
tention, there must be the pause for thought, in the quiet place of inti
mate friendship with the Unseen, so that poise, tact, humility and power
may blend. This is our verse: |
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee,
because he trusteth in thee.” #
The very density of life's forest seems to make the light clearer
as one looks through the vistas converging in this triumphant verse.
These three vistas are the Calmness of the Soul, the Stability of the
Mind, the Confidence of the Heart. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace; whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” The
calm of a well-poised life, the soul that is quiet and controlled —how much
it means to one whose life is beset with all kinds of perplexities and ir
regularities. No confusion, disorder, unpleasantness, irritability, mis
understanding, criticism or even bitterness can ruffle the surface or dis
turb the underlying peace. Beneath life’s "upper ocean” there is “peace
ful stilness.” *Life is poised; the temper is controlled, the judgement is
quickened; words are not spoken hastily. There is a consciousness of
peace, of devotion to a great cause, of the reality of a great, indwelling
. divine life. There is joy; the quiet joy that is not manifested in hilarity,
but is richer for its very silent and unforced expression. This poised
life has power, not because it depends upon itself, but because it is
spiritually fibered and sinewed by this indwelling presence of the divine.
And all this, too, amid the jangle of human activities, only with the
same old human nature dominated by a soul kept by the Almighty.
No fear for the future terrifies; no anxiety for the morrow depresses;
there is no hesitating approach to duty; our life is kept in the strength of
a perfect peace. r
Through our second vista, the sun seems to be shining even more
brightly. Mental stability—"whose mind is stayed on thee.” Mental
steadfastness, sometimes inexplainable, sometimes almost mystical;
rooted in confidence, belief in the Unseen, assurance of the wisdom of a
loving and ever faithful God; an abiding sense of divine leadership, of
following the divine, realizing the fullness of the promise, “In all thy
ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy paths;” a loving of the law
of God —"for great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall
trouble them.” The mtnd, although hastening on in earnest purpose,
with exact focus, is nevertheless sensitively alive to divine help, ready
for minute obedience. It is a mind that leads to action without hesita
tion.
Turning now to the third vista, where the light is shining brightest
of all. Confidence of the heart makes brilliant the shadowed path. The
heart believes because it loves, because it trusteth in Him. “He that
spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him freely give us all things?” He is the supreme possession.
The other vistas seem now still brighter as we turn to them. The
peaceful soul, the stable mind, the confident heart, unite their vistas' of
light in one great common center where the love of God and the love of
man blend in undimmed radiance. All discouraging doubts are gone,
all depressing anxieties dispelled. What a life motto! What a text!
What a power! “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”
And now we turn to the duties of the day. Before we know it they
are put behind us. We reach ever onward; nothing seems to disturb,
nothing to trouble. Distresses and Perplexities all work somehow to for
ward God’s great infinite plan. And if there be left at the day's end an
unfinished task, there remain the calmness of soul, stability of mind, the
loving confidence in the heart, which assures one that “the Lord hath
set apart him that is godly for himself,” and all is well.
TANKS
»she history of the evolution of the tank
is one of difficulties repeatedly arising
and as often overcome. The committee
working upon Colonel Swinton's idea and
the small expert committee at the ad
miralty were engaged in research and ex
perminent until the call from France in
June, 1915. These various activities hav
ing been co-ordinated, the special com
mittee set up advised the War Office as
to the conditions to be laid down in con
structing the new weapon. Among other
things it had to be able to climb a five
foot rampart and cross a ten-foot ditch,
smash machine-gun emplacements, be im
pervious to close range and machine-gun
fire and conform to War Office standard
bridge and railway transport require
ments. Consequently it could neither be
too wide nor too heavy, and it had to be
small to decrease visibility. As the stress
and strain involved in traveling over
uneven ground, smashing trenches and
climbing walls was considered to appprox
imate to those endured by a ship labor
ing in a heavy sea, the ex-perimental
work was left in the hands of the ad
miralty committee. Shortly After Sir John
French’s appeal, the wooden model was
built and inspected by experts' and sol
diers who proposed various improvements.
Different machines by American and Brit
ish firms were experiemented with, but
either broke down completely when they
attempted to carry the armor and guns
or, if they-carried the armor and guns,
broke down in attempting to climb para
pets. Almost every singl detail in con
nection with the tank had its own diffi
culty. The engine to drive such a heavy
weight and such a complicated gearing
was a problem. Steering was another
problem. One by one they were over
come and in February, 1916, a complete
machine was inspected by Sir William
Robertson, various cabinet ministers, en
gineers and other evperts. It proved so
successful in its testa that an order for
50 was put in hand immediately. In July,
1916, the first of these arrived simultan
eously with its personnel at the training
camp.
A good deal had still to be done. The
idea was to train the crews so that any
man of them could steer, do repairs, fire
the guns or undertake aijy job required.
The tanks were wanted for the Somme
battle and the Work had to be done very
hurriedly, but nearly all the men event
ually sent out to France practically at
tained this high standard of all-round
efficiency. During the training the men
had not only to learn ail they required to
know, but had to become inured as much
as any seaman on board ship, to living
in a narrow compartment 13 feet long,
4 feet high and 9 or 10 feet wide with a
100-horsepower engine, two guns and sev
eral machine guns, ammunition and
equipment and three days’ food amid al
most unendurable noise and smell, and
unable to see anything except through a
few extremely narrow slits in the armor.
Two types of tank were handed over to
the heavy armored car section of the
machine gun corps on their arrival at the
camp in July. ‘‘Mr. Tank” or ‘‘Big
Willie,” carried two Hotchkiss.quick-fir
ing guns and several machine guns, while
the other carried machine guns only. As
orders were delivered new names were
TRENCH AND CAMP
adopted without a moment’s delay. A se
rious dispute'arose in one instance when
it was proposed to name one tank McKay,
several experts maintaining that the
spelling was McKie, and the name had fi
nally to be abandoned in favor of McTav
ish, no one being in doubt as to the spell
ing of that name.
For the tests and training, a life-size
model of an actual section of the battle
front in the west had been made with
trenches a mile long and two miles deep,
with 15 miles of communication trenches,
shell holes, mine machine gun emplace
ments, machine gun emplacements and
all the other adornments of this part of
the front as it existed in France. In
August a mimic battle on a large scale,
was carried out under the gaze of the ex
perts, who were so thoroughly satisfied
that they ordered 50 tanks to be sent im
mediately to France. On August 29th the
tanks disembarked at Havre and proceed
ed up country by road and rail to the bat-,
tie front.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S FAITH
A Christian at Heart.
That he was a Christian at heart, as
well as in form, and believed jn the ef
ficacy of the prayers and support of
Christian demoninations —let a few ex
tracts from his addresses verify: Leaving
his home at Springfield with a full —a
sorrowful appreciation of the awful re
sponsibility devolving upon him, surround
ed by a Christian community with whom
he had lived a quarter of a century, he
thus addressed them: "I now leave, not
knowing when or whether ever I may re
turn, with a task before me greater than
that which rested upon Washington.
Without the assistance of that Divine Be
ing who ever attended him, I cannot suc
ceed. With that assistance I cannot
fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with
me and remain with you and be every
where for good, let us confidently hope
that all wifi yet be well. To His care
commending you, as I hope in your pray
ers you will commend me, I bld you an
affectionate farewell."
To committees of the different church
es that came to the White House to give
expression of confidence to him, Mr. Lin
coln always very positively declared his
faith in God and invoked God’s blessing
on the churches. To Mrs. Gurney, the
wife of an eminent Quaker preacher, he
wrote: "1 am much indebted to the good
Christian people of the country for their
constant prayers and consolations.’
Believed in the Lord’s Day.
He went so far even as to differ with
those people who believed Sunday to
have been instituted for the “ease of
creation.” • Lincoln believed it was the
Lord’s Day. On November 18, 1862, he
promulgated the following military order:
‘The President desires and enjoins
the orderly observance of the Sabbath by
the officers and men in the military and
naval service, and a due regard for the
Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in
the army and navy be reduced to the
measure of strict necessity. The disci
pline and character of the national forces
should not suffer, nor the cause they de
fend be imperiled, by the profanation
of the day or name of the Most High.”
He Believed In the Bible and Divinity of
Christ,
To the colored men of Baltimore who
presented him with a Bible Mr. Lincoln
said: “In regard to the Great Book, 1
have only to say that it is the best gift
which God has given to man. All the good
from the Saviour of the world is commu
nicated in this book.” What an ex
quisite epitome of the inspiration of the
Scriptures and the Atonement!”
ATHLETIC TRAINING
FOR WAR AND PEACE
Can you chin yourself 15 times, jump
eight feet from a standing position; clear
a bar at an eight- of foui- feet two inches;
throw a 12-pound shot 33 feet; climb a 20-
foot rope in 15 seconds; dash 50 yards in
seven seconds or a mile in six minutes;
and life a 60-pound weigh over your head
with one hand or«it up from a supine po
sition with a 20-pound weight suspended
from the back of your head?
If you can do these stunts while dress
ed in a regulation army uniform or like
apparel, you nnedn’t spend sleepless
nights worrying about your physican con
dition, according to Capt. Heard F. Nelli
gan, athletic director at Camp Devens
where the 7%th division is stationed.
"Besides showing the excellent physical
condition of the soldiers, the tests demon
strated the value of a sound athletic
training in equipping a man for mi 1 itary
The House of Dorr
is for those who wish the better grades of things to
wear.
Trench Coats, Rain Coats, Jaeger Underwear,
Sweaters, Hosiery, Etc. . .. t -
Officers’ Uniforms Made in Our
Own Shop, $65.00 and $75.00.
August Dorr’s Sons
724 Broad Street
SOLDIERS!
YOU APPRECIATE GOOD FOOD,
PROPERLY PREPARED, DON’T YOU ?
AND THE BEST PART OF IT IS—
It Is Reasonably Priced!
You Serve Yourself Direct From Our Sanitary Steam
Tables—We Put the Money That We Would Ordinarily
Pay to Waiters into QUALITY, and You Are Doubly
Benefitted.
Accommodation For Two Hundred.
NO CROWDING. NO WAITING.
LIPOT’S CAFETERIA
851 BROAD STREET. AUGUSTA, GA.
Soldiers-Sailors
u DIARY ENGLISH-FRENCH M
H DICTIONARY H
_ Distributed by the k J
|| Augusta Herald ||
is COUPON SECURES If
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PRESENT THlSpTreheVo MAIL M
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service,” Capt. Nelligan stated. "When
some of these men came to camp they
could barely raise a 60-pound weight from
the ground let alone lifting it above the
head with one hand and they would be
gasping for breath after running a block.
But fresh air, clean living, nutritious food,
hard work, exercise and last but not
least, athletics, have brought about a
marvelous change and now the majority
of these men are almost perfect specimens
of American manhood.”
AN AMERICAN
Just today we chanced to meet
Down upon the busy street,
And I wondered whence he came.
What was once his nation's name
So I asked him, “Tell me true,
Are you Pole or Russian Jew,
English, Irish, German, Prussian,
Belgian, Spanish, Swiss, Moravian,
Dutch or Greek or Scandinavian?
Then he gave me his reply
As he raised his head up high,
"What I was is not To me
In this land of liberty.
In thy soul as man to man,
P am just American,” ■
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