THE COURIER
10
H Hiobt witb tbc . .
. . . jfire Xaootcs
A night In a lire engine house with
a company of prostrate; snoring com
panions is one of thrills of various
kinds. The snoring makes one of them
all by Itself; the sight in the half light
of the great gong whose clanging may
on an Instant set the snoring human
ity Into Jumping activity Is another
and the occasional pawing of the rest
less dumb brutes below is another.
One experiences these thrills because
he cannot help lying awake If it is his
first night in the sleeping room of the
firemen. If he is the guest of engine
house No. 1, at Tenth and Q streets,
he Is appointed a little Iron bed built
for one and It is not the fault of the
bed that he does not sleep. Most of
the firemen retire early and the late
comers steal to their couches with the
silence of mice. A gas light with the
shade Inverted so that the reflection
is cast upon the celling at one side
of the room affords a semi-gloom that
dimly discloses the outstretched forms
of the sleeping men on the score of
beds In the room. There must be some
light all the time for there Is no telling
when an alarm may come in and the
men will have to leap for their clothes,
and still there must not be so much as
to interfere with sleep.
At the side of each bed stands the
jumpers of the men; rubber boots they
are, with thick trousers folded down
below their tops so that when the bell
rings all the fireman has to do Is to
take a lusty jump, land In his boots,
pull the trousers up about his nether
portions and clasp himself within, . a
trick done almost as quickly as
thought about. "With lining of fleece
these garments are warm enough for
any man. yet the firemen seldom deign
to remove their underclothes for the
night, even in the hottest weather.
The hours drag along. Down in the
railroad yards the busy engines whis
tle and ring and the noise, it seems,
will never cease. The restive guest
turns frequently; figures on a problem
to measure the snoring power of men
and what royalties he might win could
he but patent such a machine; specu
lates on the name of the man he thinks
Is snoring most recklessly; wonders at
his lung power and calculates idly on
his possibilities as a hero In case an
alarm comes in the next minute that
may mean destruction and danger to
some dwelling or hotel. A horse
stamps impatiently below and the tele
phone bell rings. Ah, there is a fire
surely. Now for the bell and some
suddenly ruptured dreams. A min
ute, two minutes and no alarm. The
Kuest raises himself on his arms and
looks over to the hazy brass gong
closely hanging to the wall, soundless
utterly. Somebody across the room
utters a most astounding snore. Won
der if he Is dreaming of the Lindell
hotel in flames and himself on the
cornice hedged in by fire and with
death Imminent. Another beastly
snore followed with a sort of groan.
Perhaps he thinks he Is sliding down
a stream of water, as a last resort.
The ruest looks about the room over
the ghostly white rectangular figures
of the beds with the dark heads of the
sleepers pillowed at one end.
Surely In a minute that gong will
ring. "VVhy doesn't something happen?
The guest is becoming drowsy and he
pictures his actions vaguely in case an
alarm should sound. Conscious as he
is would he be likely to be the first to
the wagons? Certainly that would be
a triumph, for of many things a fire
man takes pride in his speed. He
would bounce out to those jumpers
that were loaned him, enclose himself
In .them in an instant, slide down the
.nearest brass pole and be at the wag
ons in a Hash. Then for a glorious
rush out in the night air to that spot
whence smoke Is rolling, guided by the
glow of the flames in the heavens. He
would cling to the rushing wagons
with a nerve and bravado that would
surprise the old timers. The barn odor
grows faint In his nostrils, the whistles
In the yards sound more distant and
he does not hear the heavy breathing.
Crash goes the geng! He dreams he
Is at the fire just as the walls fall out
ward. Creaking of doors and voices
below rouse him and he hears the bells
and a rumbling of wagon wheels down
the street. Itubbing his eyes he stares
on empty beds, rushes to the window
and sees a backward flow of sparks as
the fire engine rounds the corner.
'Vr i- fi-
To Combat Atheism
State universities are fast becoming
bulwarks of agnosticism and atheism
according to the opinion of Rev. Wil
liam Manss, pastor of the First Con
gregational church of Lincoln. And In
order to combat this condition of af
fairs lie proposes to conduct a cam
paign of regeneration for the rescue of
the educated.
During the last few years the state
universities throughout the west have
made rapid progress, choking out the
smaller denominational schools and
decimating the number of the students
In the smaller colleges. As the pro
fessors In the state universities are
paid by the people, the funds being
raised by taxation, the study of the
Bible and consideration of religious
question does not enter into the curri
culum. Whatever is done for the
spiritual welfare of the students is
purely voluntary and must be thor
oughly unsectarian.
But statistics compiled by Hev. Mr.
Manss have filled him with alarm. In
the denominational schools one pupil
out of every five ultimately enters the
ministry. Among graduates of state
universities the usual ratio is one to
twenty-nine, while in the eastern col
leges one graduate out of each group
of thirteen becomes a minister
This is not all, asserts the minister.
Only one student out of each eighteen
Christians emerges from the portals
of the state university with a diploma
and religion intact. The study of the
sciences and the cold, unsympathetic
methods of the scientific Investigator
are responsible for this state of affairs,
he claims. Unchecked the church will
soon lack ministers as well as an edu
cated laity, H
"This is pre-eminentlyithe age of the
laboratory" says Rev. Manss. "Men
now emphasize the material side of life.
They are struggling to discover first
causes. At present they emerge from
college totally ignorant of theological
questions.".-
So Rev. Mr. Manss has formulated a .
plan to combat this state of affairs.
At each university he proposes to sta
tion a theological teacher who shall
have a place on the faculty but shall
be paid by private subscription. All
biblical studies must of course be elec
tive, but the student will receive full
credit for the work done on his college
course.
He has secured the consent of the
regents of the Nebraska state univer
sity where the experiment will be tried
in the near future. If the movement
meets with favor among the students,
the leading Congregationalists of the
United States will be asked to contri- .
bute toward a permanent endowment
fund. Then other state universities
will be approached in the same man
ner. After a time it may be possible, de
clares the minister, to build dormi
tories which will serv as homes for
Congregational students. Other de
nominations will undoubtedly follow
suit and the rivalry would be keen and
fierce.
Rev. Manss Is a young minister of
liberal views and advanced ideas on
church doctrine. He graduated from
Tale In 1S92. He. is an enthusiastic
athlete and during his undergraduate
days played as sub end on the Yale
football team. Last year he helped
coach the Nebraska players, taking
personal charge of the training of the
second eleven.
The minister has recently announced
his plans and will soon begin soliciting
funds to put his scheme in operation.
jj it jj
o 7T 72"
He is not a great poet.
But you confess you don't know what
he means.
True, but I can't dismiss the sus
picion that he knows what he means.
There are two classes of unpopular
nen those who never think before
speaking, and those who never speak
what they think.
"Excelsior!"' cried the Boxer.
The ordinary Chinese exchan-jed
glances.
"He must be going to box some
thing," they reasoned acutely.
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