the leaves are come and gone upon the trees, that half million will be side by side with Pershing's handful at the front. Long before that time another half million will have left their work and play for the bustle of the camps.

More and more the war comes homes to us. The battle-line, that cutting edge in France, is not a remote and alien thing; it is becoming, it has become our flesh and blood. It is "closer to us than breathing and dearer than hands and feet." Vibrant currents of sensation and energy pass from us to it and from it to us. The nerves of our whole being

begin to throb in it.

More and more the war comes home. It is no longer "the stranger that is within our gates." It imperatively demands admittance to our inmost thought.

"These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine in 1775, and the words leap fresh into our hearts to-day. Where is the man so dull that he cannot see it? Departures, sinkings, casualty lists, thrusts from unexpected quarters, reverses, disasters, new loans, new labors, new sacrifices we shall know them all.

-

And we shall meet them as France has met them? It is impossible that we should flinch. To that high call to dedicate to the cause of liberty and right our lives and fortunes, everything that we have and everything that we are," we shall respond.

66

The War and the Schools

By C. H. Thurber.

Courtesy of the Author and of Ginn and Company, Publishers.

WHEN will this war be won? To that question, often on our lips and always in our hearts, a distinguished Englishman has answered, "In 1935.” That means, of course, that after the tumult and the shouting die, after the sacrifices have been offered on the altar of Moloch, this war will really be won by the nations that emerge from the conflict with the best assets in men and women. And these men and women are the boys and girls now in our schools.

Our country entered this world conflict with clean hands and a pure heart, if ever a nation so entered upon a war. The immediate task before us is to prevent the triumph by force of a type of government and a theory of life in which we do not believe. We are addressing ourselves loyally, unflinchingly, to this stupendous, all-engrossing task. We believe that it is of supreme importance to the future of mankind that this task be well and thoroughly accomplished, that the result will be more than worth the staggering cost.

In the background, nurturing the great reserves of humanity on which the future must be built, stand the schools, never so important, never so indispensable as now. The biggest of all conservation projects, the conservation of our boys and

girls, has, in the main, been turned over to the schools. The responsibility thus placed upon them would be appalling if it were not so tremendously inspiring. It challenges every man and woman engaged in school work to higher endeavor; it forces them to draw on hitherto unknown reservoirs of enthusiasm and of strength; it brightens ideals that had been dulled by routine and it sets up new ideals of surpassing splendor. Never in the world's history could a man or woman say with nobler pride "I am a teacher."

The Service Flag

By F. P. Venable, University of North Carolina.

A SPLENDID Custom has sprung up all over our land in these war times. In front of hundreds of thousands of homes, business offices, churches and factories flags float proudly and on these flags are stars- a star for each one who has gone into service for his country. They are called service flags and each home is proud of its hero stars, though the hearts left behind may be heavy with unshed

tears.

ers.

What are you doing? This is no time for slackHave you seen husband, son, brother, answer to the call and there is no call for you? Perhaps no one of your kin has been called and you claim exemption on account of your age, or physical dis ability, or dependents. There are millions of homes without the flags and the hero stars but those who live in there dare not be content. If there is a

spark of love of country, aye, of love of humanity in you, it will not let you rest at ease while others bear the burdens and do the work.

There is no age nor disability exemption in the service that you can render and it lies right at your door. Get busy, find your job and put your strength and heart into it, or be ashamed all the rest of your life by the knowledge that when the call came you were a slacker and held back and failed.

By gifts or work you can help in the glorious things being done by the Red Cross or the Y. M. C. A. Learn about these things. Your heart will be thrilled as never before. It is the embodiment of Christianity, the very spirit of the Master himself at work in the camp, on the battle field, in the desolated homes, that suffering may be lessened, lives saved, broken hearts healed, humanity uplifted and the wounds of this stricken world healed.

By economy and thrift you can join in the saving and that is good. You will have to do this anyhow as the times grow harder. But if it is only for yourself and your hoarding then God have mercy on your poor weakened soul and may he touch your heart so that you also learn the grace of living. You will not have far to look to find the needs. Keeping the commandments will never get you to Heaven. The only way is through a heart so loving that it gladly strips itself to relieve the sufferings of the world.

Give to your country. Give first its just dues. Declare your taxes honestly and pay them. Out

of your savings buy Liberty Bonds, or Saving Certificates, or Thrift Stamps. Some of these are in reach of even a child. And this money helps to feed and clothe our boys who are offering the supreme sacrifice of life itself. And, God willing, each gift helps to hasten the time when our boys can come back to us, and the sun will shine, and our homes be safe, and the world once more a place for happiness and peace.

Our country is looking with a gaze which follows you and pierces to the heart: its finger points straight at you and the voice says: "This means you, you, you. Make no mistake about it. I want you."

The New Patriotism

By Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War.

THESE are great days for the world—the greatest days of which we have any record. We are engaged in the most colossal of all wars, for the noblest of all aims. In every part of the earth men are struggling for universal freedom and universal peace, against the powers of military conquest and armed tyranny. In our long, slow rise of progress toward liberty and justice for all mankind, we have come to this world-wide crisis and joined the issue of battle with the backward thrust of barbarism.

The boys and girls of America who are too young to put on the uniform of the soldier or of the nurse have still a great duty to perform in the struggle. It is for them that the fight is being made. Into