100 years ago in The Record
Sunday, Feb. 10, 1918
Fifteen members of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church congregation are serving in the U.S. military during the war against Germany. They’re honored at a service flag ceremony at the church tonight.
Members of the Bible school’s Baraca class present the flag to pastor Warren G. Partridge, who reads a letter to the fifteen men in uniform.
“We are proud of you and of your willingness, if necessary, to make the supreme sacrifice,” Partridge says, “We know you will be brave, loyal and true. Remember that prayers will be offered for you every day, that you may be strong for the right and pure, righteous, just and an honor to the church, and to your God and to your country.”
The musical program includes a rendition of the French national anthem by Blanche Mundt and a performance of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Preaching Lincoln
With Lincoln’s birthday two days away, Rev. T. L. Drury of the Universalist Church describes the 16th President as “the Great Secular Prophet of the Nineteenth Century.”
“A prophet is a man who is endowed to perform a work that others cannot do,” Drury explains, “In fact, he is a man who has a genius for exalted service. This genius for service and knowledge Lincoln displayed early in life, and it became more and more marked when he was called forth to assume the large obligations as political leader of men. He seemed to have been endowed with the talent to perform a special service for his country.”
Is the current president, Woodrow Wilson, another prophetic figure? Drury claims that “God is never without a man with a message and the spirit of understanding in order to effectually meet the situation that may arise to overthrow the social equilibrium.
“We have, therefore, no occasion to fear the result of the present struggle. I believe in our pilot whose hand is on the wheel of destiny. One thing is sure, namely, truth and right hold to freedom and progress fast.”
Father and Son Week
At the kickoff of the city’s Father and Son Week at the Y.M.C. A. this afternoon, Judge Pierce H. Russell presents “a picture of fine feeling when he spoke of the young men who are going to Europe to die, if need be, and of how much this should increase their father’s love for them.”
A son who “in all his alternating pleasures and work never sidesteps the real responsibilities for which he … is the greatest force in carrying the flag of his country to the goal of absolute victory,” Russell says.