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Show TH'E MIDVALE JOURNAL Page Two Friday, July 5, 1929 BUSINESS ANI) RELIGION RIVALS By REV. DR. R. W. SOCKMAN, New York (Methodist). T • HE three institutions which were improved by Christianity so mankind could profit from them, property, business and the. home, are the same ones which in modern times have fssened the church's in:fl.uence. The solution is not for the church to seek to take the eyes of men from these three practical institutions and turn them toward heaven, but to demonstrate that the triumvirate can be enjoyed much more if religion is added to them. Before the time of Jesus Christ property, business and the home were such hard, exacting institutions, taking so much from the rodividual, that little part remained for him to give to religion. Then came Christianity and humanized these institutions. Christianity made men trust one another, and the institution of credit and banking which sup;, ports our modern economic world was evolved. As a result busine:;s has become a fRscinating game. It hae become a rival of religion not because it places on a man so much drudgery he has no time for the church, but " because of its pleasant lure. In the Fhst century the home was a disagreeable, tyrannical institution. Women were slaves. Christ lifted women up and started the movement whie:h has resulted in the fact that now they are our spiritual comrades. The modern home, with all its defects, has far more potentiality for culture and religion than the home in any other age. But because our homes are su r:h pleasant, engrossing places they detract from our willingness to attend church. This generation is tolerant of everything because it favors nothing, opposes nothing, believes in nothing. ' The luxuries, conveniences and advantages given by modern business, wealth and the home have deprived the native-born American of vigor and initiative. By ELMO SCOTT WATSON .....--.ULY 15 and 16 of this year mark the sesquicentennial of <>De of the most brilliant victories in the Revolution, a . . .- . . feat of arms which not only greatly heartened the patriots in the struggle for Uberty and gave the British a healthy regard for their opponents but also gave to the victor a nickname which has endured to this day. For 1t was Gen. Anthony Wayne of "fiery heart and cool, clear brain" who .....-.. . "marched by night with his plckerJ command and stormed Stony Point with sword in hand'' on July 15·16, 1779, and from that time on be was known by the adoring soldiery of the Continental army as "Mad Anthony." That nickname was true so far as 1t retlected his daredevil courage. But It was not true so far as it suggested recklessness and lack of caution. His later career as a cool and wary commander of the forces sent against the trickiest of enemies, the Indians of the Old Northwest, proved that, :tor afti!r the famous Battle of Fallen Timbers, west·bound emigrants 1loating down the Ohlo sang: J Wayne, Anthony Wayne! Free Is the river from source to mouth Free are the streams ot the North and' South. Praise to Anthony Wayne! Wayne's capture of Stony Point was the high· spot of the year 1779. During that summer Wash· lngton and Clinton, tht opposing commanders, were warily watching each other near New York. Some time before that the Americans bad begun the erection of a fort at Stpny Point on the Bud· son. Stony Point was a bold promontory, reach· ing out half a mile Into the river from the rocky, wooded shorellne and at lts greatest height about 150 feet above the water. It was an Important position because it guarded King's ferry, which crossed the Hudson to Verplanck ':.~ Point on the east side and which was a Hnk In the .American line of communications between New Eng· llmd and Washington's former position In New Jersey. Before the Americans could complete the fort, however, Clinton captured the place and finished the job himself. Inland Stony Point sloped down to a treacherous swamp and to protect this ap· proach two lines of abattls were constructed. On the summit the British mounted seven or eight batteries with communlcatlng trenches and rUle-pits, and they also fortified a natural stone bastian on the east where a government light· house now stands. The place was garrisoned lwitb the Seventeenth regiment of British In· ~fantry under Lieut. Col. HPnry Johnson, a grenadier company of the Seventy-first regiment, some Tories, and a number of artillerymen to man the guns, about 600 In all. They called It ••Little Gibraltar,. and believed that it could not be captured. Soon after thls Clinton began sending out raid· lng parties which ravaged the countryside for miles around. ThereuPQil Washington deter· mined to try to capture Stony Point, not only to put a stop to the raids but also as a dramatic gesture to show Clinton that, despite his appar· ent advantage in the maneuvering thus far, the Continental army was stlll a forl!e to be reckoned with. He resolved to carry Stony Point by storm In a night attack and the m11.n he selected for the job was the one man who could most likely suc· ceed, Gen . .Anthony Wayne, a brigadier In com· mand of the Pennsylvania line. Wayne had proved his mettle In several bat· ties, notably at Monmouth. He was distinctly an "assault commander." He believed that the .Americans were accustomed to put too much reliance upon their rUles and their marksmanship, and Baron Von Steuben had found him a ready convert to the value of the bayonet. Be Is said to have remar~d once that he would rather lead men with bayonets and one charge of pow· der than men with forty charges and no bayonets. He was also a strict disciplinarian and a firm believer in the value of smart uniforms and well·kei>t equipment for maintaining the morale ot the soldiers he commanded. In fact, his earliest nickname was "Dandy Wayne." In preparation for the attack on Stony Point Washington had recently formed his light In· 'fantry into a separate brigade and W8.$ ready to !give this command ·to Wayne. According to the ,story, Washington asked Wayne lf he would ac· eept the job of storming Stony Point. "I'll storm bell, General, It you wlll plan It," was Wayne's ·reply, whereupon Wa!!hlngton, with a quiet smile, ,replied, "Perhaps we'd better try Stony Point first." So the two men began planning the cap. ture of that place. For several days before the proposed attack .American scouts had been operating around • all they could about Stony Point, seeking to learn !the garrison, cutting ofr farm supplies thnt were .going Into the fort .and preventing the British, so far as possible, from obtaining any lnforma· tlon about the movements of the Continental forces. UPQn Washington's orders, all of the dogs for three miles around the fort were prl;yatel;r killed so that tbey could not SQund CO-OPERATION WILL HELP F ARM~R By ARTHUR M. HYDE, Secretary of Agriculture. Co-operative organi7.ations can win ground for agriculture wh' b can be consolid~ted and held. Legislation alone cannot answer the farmers' problems. After all that may be done by sympathetic legislation there will always be much that must be done by the farmers themselves. In business, in civic affairs and in religion, co-operation has achieved respectability as in nearly every field of human endeavor, yet when the question is raised to its application to agriculture it is a subject of criti- . ClSm. t************-K-*******·X·******-Y.'****f ~ **:1: = * * * ** *** *** * **~ ** ** ~ * ~ * *~ *** ~ = *~ !* Mad Anthony Wayne His sword blade &'leams and his eyelicht beams, And never ~rlan~d either In vain; Uke the ocean tide at our head b" tido!s, Tbe fearleu Mad Anthony Wayne! B&D&' I banz! the dfles aro. Dawn falls the startled f.,.., CHORUS And many a redcoat here tonlcht, The Continentals ac:omin&', Shall nev"r meet the blaze of the broad sunlight, That shine• on the morrow morning. Was e'er a chief of his speech so bri.,f, Who utters his wishes ao plain? Ere he •peaks a word the orders are beard From the eyes of Mad Anthony Wayne! Aim I Fire I exclaim his eyes; B&D&' I bang I each cun replies. CHORUS II Ia best to fall at our caunt~•a cell, If we must leave this lifetime of pain: And who would shrink from the perilous brink When led by Mad Anthony Wayne? Ran I Tan I the bugle• sound, Our forces fill the ground. ., CHORUS Let them farm their ranks in firm phalamrlt will melt at our rifle-ball rain; Every shot must tell on a redcoat well, Or we anger Mad Anthony WayDe, Tramp! Tramp! away they go• Now retreats the beaten foe. rn~~ (From "Sound Off !"-Soldier Soli&' I compiled bJ Edward Arthur Dolph and published by the c...mopolitan Book COI'pCII'IItiaa.) ~ ~ ** ~* * ** ** *** *** *~ ** * ** *~ * ** **~ ~ ~ * = : *~ ** *****~~************************ the alarm when the march on the fort began. During this time Wayne was constantly getting valuable Information about the garrison from Pompey, the negro slave of Captain Lamb, a patriot who lived on a small fruit farm near the post. Pompey was sent to the fort to sell strawberries to the soldiers and he became a welcome dally visitor. One day he Informed the British that It was "corn-hoein' time" and that his mas· ter would not allow him to visit the fort any more in the daytime. So they arranged for him to make his visits at night and each time gave him the countersign for the following night so that he could pass the guard. Wayne decided to make the attempt on the night of July 15. On the morning of July 14 his light Infantry battalions were ordered out for an inspection, all to be "fresh shaved and well powdered" with rations and full I'!QUi[lment. After Inspection they were ordered to march south and they proceeded to Fort Montgomery, then turned west and went through the pass between Bear So well had mountain and Torn mountain. Wayne concealed his plans that his men them· selves did not know what their objective was until they went Into camp that night ah<>ut eight o'clock on a farm a mile and a half below Stony Point. They were then told the object of their march and the plan of attack outlined. The force of some 1,200 men was to be divided into two as· saulting columns, with Wayne himself leading the one on the right and Colonel Febiger, a Dane who had joined the patriot cause, leading the left. There was not to be a musket loaded In either column and if a man attempted to load hig piece and fire, the officer nearest him was to kill him Instantly. "Mad Anthor.y'' wus going to put the bayonet to test. In the center was a :;~mall force led by Major l\Im·free with lon\led muskets who were to return the fire of the British to d~>ceive the enemy into bPlieving thu t the main danger was In the front and centPr of their W<·rks while the two "silent columns" rush l'orward for their grim business. A force of 15(l men·, commanded by Lieut. Col. Fleury, a French officer, and 1\lajer Posey, formed the van of Wnyue's eolunm and a body of 100 men under llnjor Stewart preceded Febiger's force. In the advance of each of these was a "forlorn hope" of twenty men each, Le<! by Lieu· tenants Knox and Gibbons. They were to sacrifice their Jives It need be to retnove the abattis through which the two columns were to rush to the attack. Pompey, who had f<.>arned that the countersign for that night was to be '"l'he fort is our own I" not only told Wayne that fact but volunteered to guide the Americans and he went ahead with two stout soldiers, disguised as farmers. At about half past eleyen that night the Amer· leans advanced to the attack. l·~ach wore In hill! hat something white so that friend might be dis tinguished from foe In the darkness. PompeJ and his two companions were halted by the first two sentinels and while be engag-ed them In conversation his companions seized them and gagged them. However, they found the causeway flooded und the water doeper than they had expected. A British sentry heard a splash in the water and opened tire, which was immediately returned by l\lurfree's men, as bad been planned. This brought the British commander down to the center, as it was intended to do. Immediately the two assaulting forces swept forward. The "forlorn hopes" rushed upon the nbattis alld tore a way through them, one party losing eighteen of its twenty men In doing so. Through these or>enings poured the Americans and, although the garrison was bewildered at first, they lmmefllotely opened a plunging fire of ~~:rape s;tot from the cannon on the bastions, which however, overshot their mark. Sweeping forward under a storm ot musketry, to which the only response was the clash of steel as Wayne's men drove their bayonets home when the fight came to close quarters, the Americans sprang upon the walls of the fort, shouting the countersign which had become their watchword for the nlght-"The fort is our own! The fort Is our own!" Colonel 'fijleury was the first man over the ramparts and with his own hands be lowered the British flag. Convinced that resistance was useless, th~> British began Their commander, surrendering In squads. Johnson, returning from the slope where he had been drawn !ly the fire of Murfree's men .fmme· dlutely surrendered to F~biger. So well time·l had been the movements of the two columns that they were only a few minutE's apart in reach· lng the middle of the fort. And so !!Wift and successful had been the attack that sleepy-eyed British soldiers wl.'re still tumbling out of their barracks when the Americans were In full pos· session of the fort. During the brief fighting at the Inner abattls Wayne was strua.k down by a musket shot which grazed his head. With the blood streaming down bls face and thinking that be has received his death wound, he cried "Carry me Into the fort and let me die at the head of the column." Ills aides picked him up, hastily bandaged rJs wound and carried him over the ramparts on their shoul· ders while he waved his men on with his gwor<l. Fcbiger was woundci in the face, Captain Selden was shot in the side and Captain Phelps, Lieu· tenant Palmer and Ensi;.m Hall were also wound· ed. The British loss was 63 killed, 70 woundi!d and ()43 t:\ken prisoner. At daybrPak the guns of tile fort WPre turnffi upon the British ships in the river an<l they Pt once cut their cables ami droppl'd down the llndson, carrying the message of disaster to Olin· ton. It was a much different lllessa.~e from the <>ne which Wn.vne sent to Washington tellin;.! of his suc<"es::~. ''Our officers and nwn hehn vee! like ('linton men determined to he free," he ~aid. thpn mon~rl up the rive~ to tempt Wastllllb1:on In ltazardin;.! a hattie to hold Stony Point. \\'ashington Inspected the fot·t c~u.,..fully and decided that it would take at len~t UiOO men to holrl it, a foree wlli<:h he could not ~'pare. So after removing the cannon an<! destro~·ing th~ works, ht> took a wny stores and otlu~t · property to the value of $100,000 aud abandoned the post. ·l'iince \Vayne had demonstrated that this "Littl~ Gibraltn.r" was not impregna!Jie, its usefulnes·1 was at an end. agr~ulture, f~owned should be Why co-operation, when applied to upon, why staid and conservative business men who have co-opE•rated and are co-operating in many business, religious and civic enterprises should hold up their hands in horror, and allow a righteous dread to drown their souls, when farmers begin to work together, is past my limit of understanding. The object of corporate production and selling of industrial commodities is the same as the aim of co-operative marketing of agricultural · commodities-profit for the producers. The object of co-operatively promoting a civic ideal, or seeking justice for a class, is not distinguishable from seeking a fair price for agricultural products and promoting justice to the farmers of Am~rica as a class. PRESS BULWARK OF DEMOCRACY • By BRUCE BLIVEN, Editor The New Republic. • Good citizenship depends on a good press, anq._ true democracy caltl· not exist in the absence of an efficient press. Two recent'<fevelopments in the press I regard as dangerous-the rise of the tabloid and of the chain newspapers in which a tremendous amount of power is centered in one man. If the experiment of political democracy, which is still on trial, docs succeed, the press will have played a tremendous part. The press is and must be the eyes of the citizens in viewing the activities of the govern~ ment. The United States has the most honest press in the world, and the only other in the world at all comparable is that of Great Britain. The American press is not subsidized. If by subsidization is"'meant that it yields to sinister influences and is bought off, I say emphatically "no." The American government would never dream of such subordination, nor would the opposition dream of such a thing. We have partisan editors in political beliefs, but that ie because they have their own firm political convictions, and we can thank God for that. Press conditions in Europe are deplorable in that many newspapers are subsidized there. It is taken for granted in many places that ~W9· paper:! e:iist for some sinister purpose-either to be subsidized by the government or by individuals. SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS OVERDON·E By DR. WILLI Al\f KILPATRICK, T"ach.,rs' College, •Brooklyn. Religion, the Bible and custom are losing their grip on the new generation as accepted authorities of conduct. Voting, bobbed hair and short skirts are a few of the symbols of the new freedom. Former standards of e:onduct were ba!;ed on the Bible or the church or custom. Our youth are honest and alert. The demand is upon us to help them see the why of what is due, and, when they see, to help them to !earn to do it. Education must be thought of aF life. The school is the place w.l1crl life is to be found at its lwst. But the present school is too often quite ronter!t to sacrifice the present in a uouhtful hope of h~lping the.,future Too often, therefore, it manAges to get neither. '!'he school dol's not intelligently educ·ate. It over-emphn ·izes e~nn inations. In this respect the regents ~>ystem is a great evil. 'l'he wrong emphasis bas so uccloudecl thinking that most parents,. most teache:r:.!: and most eolleges fail to see what high-sdtuul education really shou!U be. And in this the college preparatory school is generally worse. So long as the emphasis is on preparing f~r examination, by just so much is education forgot, the kin« of education that really c..'Ounta. |
