See America First

y has led the United States in the value of cereal products. Lancaster, the county seat, has a population of fifty-eight thousand. It is one

wered in grand old trees. The dooryards contained many trees, shrubs and flowers-not cluttered up, but most admirably arranged, showing forethought and good taste. Then, the glowing masses of the flower-bordered gardens were a quaint commingling of use and beauty. "Squares of onions, radishes, lettuce, rhubarb, strawbe

as destroying lice and vermin. Everything spoke of thrift. The manure was not thrown out in the barnyard but stored under sheds. The straw was kept in the barns. Noticing these things we began to learn that as

ir last days in the poorhouse if they chanced to leave a few shade trees standing; so, in many places along the highways, lovely maples and graceful elms make of them, instead of furnaces, a traveler's paradise. Thu

blesses mo

man shall

o leave as

eauty to t

fertile agricultural country whose well kept homes speak of refinement and prosperity among t

and fell over the little house. But as we peered through the uncertain light, a flash of lightning revealed the banner, which at once spoke an emblematic language too powerful for words. Darkness swallowed it up again; but we kn

ke not of the dangers of the present but of those graver dangers that once had been. We spent the night at the Eagle Hotel. T

met the father of Li

he first of Pennsylva

r the supreme sacrif

can Legion at Arendts

no

d. As we picked up the hat that dropped from trembling hands unnoticed to the floor, we thought what a sad Christmas the year 1918 brought to this home. Then we thought, too

under the influence of ether or transferring others who were sent by ambulance to base hospitals. It was during those terrible days of the Meuse- Argonne drive, while the air overhead hummed with those cruel messengers of fate-coming from no one knew where-that the litter

the misfortune which had befallen him, a shudder ran through his frame as he repeated: "It is bad enough, but it might have been worse

t the windows, that no gleam of light might reveal our location to hostile planes, or when we paused at his bedside to wish him a painless night and restful slumber, we were always greeted by kind words of hope and c

ed in such a manner as to make it impossible for him to lie down, sat propped up with blankets, he exclaimed, "I pity that poor fellow so! Oh, how I wish I could help him!" How self vanished like a blighted

g the cots on which lay figures in many uneasy attitudes, some brokenly slumbering and muttering

to put onto the patients the gas masks which were in readiness at the head of each cot. Just then the cry of fire was whispered to the ward men, who at once began preparations for the removal of the

ught fire on their sides nearest the operating room. The many patients in this room along with those undergoing operations on the thirteen operating tables were rushed into another building where the work was immediately resumed. Each patient who caught sight

Yet, how calm, how wonderful they were in their utter helplessness. Rain began to fall as we were removing the patients. Gradually the dreadful light faded from

s of those dear, noble boys, a hand from one of the cots seized oars in a clinging firm embrac

glorious message. It seemed that the prayers of not only France, but of the world, were being said and the theme that ran through them all was: "How beautiful are the feet of Him upon the mountains that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace." And chiming in with the music of the bells, the clear vo

made by unnumbered shells. The air was filled with the joyous notes of the lark, and the linnet and the black-cap warbled among the hedgerows. Here where once had dwelt the peasant, the cuckoo called from the evergreens and nightingales made the evening

said: "they shall not pass" were sleeping. We saw where the hand of affection had planted the fleur-de-lis or h

Lieut. Lady and another on that of our own Ambrose Schank as a last loving tribute to all who had so dearly purchased the peace we now enjoy. While thinking of those other dear fri

fields the

e crosses,

r place, and

ill bravely

d amid the

dead; sho

lt dawn, saw

re loved, an

nders

quarrel wi

falling ha

e yours to h

faith with

sleep thoug

nders

stretch away from South Mountain like an emerald sea. No doubt you will begin to wonder where the town

elds of gleaming grain and clamps of elm, oak and maple to break its smoothly flowing billows.

of the sierrated Alleghanies," looming up between the town and Cumberland Valley. Back of it the serried ran

y gently to a more level tract of ground when you compare it to the undulating land about it. "You will discover that the ridges have stopped short here, forming headlands above the lower swells. Two roads ascend this

re crest of the hill. They effectually hide the view in that direction. Rising from its setting of trees at a point op

ing slopes of both are very easy of ascent. Only far down the

victory or defeat. The northern-most group consists of that memorable trio of Wolf's, McAllister's and Culp's Hills

d tell of those three days of fighting if we were able to interpret its rippling music. But the vast numbers who listened t

ure Culp's Hill, for what use would it have been to get Cemetery Hill

the blossoming dogwood and the redbud

sed down by the peach orchard, we saw a battle between two robins being waged. Then we thought how each spring, from remotest times this same battle-ground has been used by Nature's children to settle question

purpose of it all? Perhaps there was no plan, no purpose; we do not know. But as we look across the changing scenes that come and go with the changeless years, we seem to see a plan, a purpose, and t

whose effect was slight in comparison to his wild ringing text, so redolent of rustling leaves and murmuring brooks-one of the sermons of God's great out-of-doors. Across the "peach orchard" a cardinal, like a swiftly hurled firebrand, comes toward us and utters his clear metallic Chip, then alighting among some wild grape vines, plays several variations on his clear, ringing flute. From an elm tree, an oriole answers his bold challenge in his rich voice, while a band of chickadees indulge in their querulous calls as they inspect each leaf and twig for larva and eggs. Up in a linden tree, a blue jay is crying "Salute me

adrons of insects are manoeuvering; by the Devil's Den a red squirrel is berating an

here and there all show that a battle royal has been here waged by Nature. Here, thrust out from little Round Top, is a heap of "ripped up" ledges and massive rocks where a great fissure leads back to a place where the Southern sharpshooters hid while picking off the Union officers on

w peacefully lay the little village slumbering in the quiet moonlight, with never a thought of the coming battle on the morrow. Soo

ndering here in this charming spot, where stretches a beautiful world of woodlands with th

ant wrong, although they took their name from Joe Pye, the Indian who cured typhus fever in New England by means of these plants. Elecampane stands up tall and straight as if conscious of having been mentioned by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, more than two thousand years ago, as being an important stimulant to the brain and stomach. Fox gloves, those Good Samaritans among the flowers, bend low their lovely heads to catch Jack's text, and amon

wonderful words of Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech still ring in our ears like heavenly music and as we turned to leave this "hallow

at you died

ur land f

a perile

e you deat

use of Truth

ught and pe

y it, oh,

who died i

of our R

ho wore

peace that

ion's stren

o you that

t flag in

nstained,

mmer air

the stripes

rts are fil

or the brav

s of the ra

est deeds

ver wri

est acts

knows noth

a priva

s his hu

unding nam

o the wor

es of God

hy of t

mighty

e world gi

our God is

rish the h

est of all

for the Nat