OCR Text |
Show tOopy for Ttala Department Supplied hj the American Lesion News Service.) TO ORGANIZE ALL CHAPLAINS Father O'Connor of Cincinnati As-lumcs As-lumcs Task to Increase Member, ship of the American Legion. Fattier William P. O'Connor of Cincinnati, Cin-cinnati, national chaplain of the Ani-er- lean Legion, refuses re-fuses to admit tltat the duties of his office are con-j con-j fined to the de-i de-i livermg of an in-$ in-$ vocation at the Legion national convention. In ao cordance with thii belief, Fathe-T O'Connor has as-! as-! strmed the task of I organizing all war Father O'Connor. aplams ln an effort to gam new members for the Legion. William P. O'Connor Is a fighting type, and his thirty-three years are full of Interesting experience. Born tn Dayton, O., he attended the public and parochial schools and vras gradu-Bted gradu-Bted from St. Mary's college, now the University of Dayton, ln 1908. He was graduated from St. Mary's seminary sem-inary and ordained in 1913, when he accepted an appointment as pastor of a church in Urbana, O. He was serving there in July, 1917, when he became chaplain of an Ohio National Guard organization which later became the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Field artillery of the Thirty-seventh division. He sailed with this organization for France in June, 1918. The ship, before completing complet-ing the voyage, rammed a German submarine which later was sunk by . destroyers. Father O'Connor served with his organization or-ganization in the Baccarat sector and later at St. Mlhiel, the Meuse-Argonne and ln Belgium. After the armistice he proved his versatility by arranging for the production of "The Tassing Show of the A, E. F." one of the best soldier shows presented overseas. The national chaplain obtained firsthand first-hand Information In regard to the feelings of newly discharged veterans when he served for n time with national na-tional headquarters of the American Red Cross. Later he became pastor of a church at Jamestown, O.. and subsequently was transferred to his present charge, the church of St. Vincent Vin-cent de Paul in Cincinnati. He served as a member of the Legion's Le-gion's national ceremonials committee In 1921, which drew up the ..-eremo-nlals which have been used by all Legion posts. In all clashes of religions relig-ions creeds and dogmas, Father O'Connor O'Con-nor has been noted for his marked liberality and toleration. ROUNDS UP LEGION MEMBERS W, A. Stevens, Commander of Pes Moines (la.) Post, Promises to Have Largest Organization. Any man who can go out and get 200 members to auything. even t)- American Legion, ,. Is worthy of at- i tention. W. A. Ktevtns, newly elected coimuan der of the Legion post of Des Moines, Iu., has the credit fur get-' get-' ting one-tenth u the 2.000 members of his 0rgnui7.11-tlon, 0rgnui7.11-tlon, the- second largest post Ln the h7 V'V V A I t - Ay 1 country. v A stcvcr,t During the war Stevens v.tu a sergeant In the One Hundred and Ninth Ammunition train of the Thirty-fourth iilvi-i!on. lie spent 11 months at Camp O'ly, N. 51., r.nd later went overseas. He has pledged himself to make hir post the largest In the country and to lead It In participation par-ticipation In civic nT.iIrs. Praises the Legion. Phil D. Swir.!.:, a monibtr of the house of ropp'sentath es fr.mi California, has Issued a statement I'l-aisisg the American Amer-ican l.Vgion for its work V conducting American Education weak. "As water will rise no higher than Its source, so our republic will prove no wiser than the electorate from which it draws its authority and inspiration," Congressman Congress-man Swing Mated. "II nee. the all importance im-portance i f young th:ii every ;iorsun adinl.'.ed 1i j.rutk'Ipati.Mi in our j,'iveni-nient j,'iveni-nient i.'dhvjs th- necessary educatu:i to be abb; to understand the problems which con'.'r nit our l! t i o: j ami to contribute con-tribute his bit toward tl:cir iatWIitcut solution. This applies with ; itil toice ; o the .;A e-1 ru as v. ell as to the immnili.-.oii citUco. The Vnicrican Legion Le-gion is doing a suicndl 1 iiMce-tlme service by boosting Amucican Kdiicn. tlon wool;." AH SING CHING WINS FIRST Fourteen-Year-Old Boy of Hawaii j Takes Prize in Legion's National Essay Contest. Ah Sing Ching, of F.wa Oahu, Hawaii, n fourteen-year-old boy of i A -A launese extraction, extrac-tion, won first place in the Ainer lean Legion's national na-tional essay contest con-test on the subject, sub-ject, "How Can the American Le gion Best Serve the Nation?" Contest Con-test results were announced recently recent-ly by Garland W. I'owell, who Is the director or -Ah S'no Ching. , . , " the Legions na tional Americanism commission. Secoi:d prize In tle contest, which : was open to all schuol children between be-tween the ages of twelve uud eighteen, was awarded to Miss Pauline Virginia Chastain of Indianapolis. Joseph Gian-donato Gian-donato of Bridgeport, Conn., won third ; prise. Honorable mention was mude of the essays of Phillip J& Mosely of ; VVestlield, Mass., aJict Italph U. Sulli- ' van of Twin Harbors, Minn. The board of judges of the Legion contest was composed o! John J. Ti-gert, Ti-gert, United States commisf ioner of education ; Chancellor L. E. Brown of : New York City university, end S. S. McClure, the publisher. National prizes are first, ?750; seconc", $500, and the third, $2.a, the money to be used us scholarships in any university or . college. They were awarded by Han-ford Han-ford MacNider, of Mason City, la., who was national commander of the Legio" . 'ast year. "The fact that a boy of Chinese M scent in Hawaii won the essay contes testifies to the splendid work of Aniet , lcanism which Legion posts in Hawai : ore emphasizing," Mr. Powell stated 'The Hawaii department is to be cod gratulated on the development of i national winner in a contest in which more than 50,000 school children participated." par-ticipated." The text of Ah Sing Chlug's winning essay follows. "The American Legion, which Is composed of men and women who en-Gene en-Gene Haver, Vicksburg (Miss.) Young-during Young-during the war stands for unity, democracy, de-mocracy, peace and service to God and our country. "The slogan of our country Is, 'In union there Is strength," and It Is because be-cause of this unity, our country is eo strong, but during the World war, we found that we had Internal as well as external enemies. Bolshevism, communism and anarchy are as real enemies as any we had to fight overseas, over-seas, and much harder to conquer. "The American Legion can do a wonderful service to the country by encouraging a spirit of unity and cooperation, co-operation, and by teaching foreigners who come into the United States how to live under' a republican form ol government, and by helping them tc understand that ours is a government of the people, by the people, for th people and It shall not perish from the earth. Many foreigners come from countries where they have been oppressed op-pressed and they do not understand the word liberty, but think it is license to commit crimes. These people must bo tanglit and the American Legion can aid in doing this. "We learned at the beginning of tin World war that many of our own citizens citi-zens were uneducated, and that not nearly .enough money was being spent for schools. Here is a great work for the American Legion, to see that every child in the United States has a chance to be educated. What we want In our nation we must put in our schools, so the need for schools and well-trained teachers is very STcat. Night schools for the training of men and women who work during the clay help to educate edu-cate our citizens and those who wish to bscome citizens. The American Legion Le-gion is on the side of education, and we believe will make every eiTort to see that the schools of the United States rank first in (lie world and that every citizen has the opportunity for learning. "During tiie World wnr many of our soldiers were wounded and returned re-turned home, suffering from shell-shock, shell-shock, sick and unable to care for themselves. They fought in a great cause and deserve well of their country coun-try and, their comrades. The Legion enn give these returned veterans aid and comfort, and after they have sulilcientiy recovered help them to become be-come self-supporting. Many of them will be unable to follow the same occupation oc-cupation that they did before the war, but some kind of work can be found for them to do. The Legion should see thnt their comrades are always cared for. "The United States Is out n military nation and believes In wat" for defense and not for conquest. At the close of the war, our country asked for no land ind no indemnity. Not many months .ii.'. President Harding called a conference con-ference of the nations to discuss a m duclion of nnuk-s and armament. T j American L-.-gion c;m aid by fostering and encouraging por."e and good will j among nations and by standing for n ! fair deal bttween large and small na-j na-j tiotis, allowing the small '.unions to de-j de-j cuie for themselves how they shall be i governed." I |