THE ELON COLLEGE WEEKLY.
Vol. IIL New Series.
LOCALS AND PERSONALS.
Greensboro, N. C., Friday, May 24, 1912
and Bon 0*U«ft, N. 0.
No. 14
NOTES AND PERSONALS.
Mr J. !-■ ('leiiients of North Wilkesboro,
X. liis Miss ^l;iry Ktliel
ut Wf'st l>()nnitory (hiring; the past week.
Mrs. L. M. (’lymer of iircensh-n-o was
with lior (l;ilighter Miss Thehna Siiinla.\
eveiiiiiii at West Dormitory.
Mrs. llai-per Wiis filail to liiivc lici’ ln'>-
thci- Mr. .Idliii M. Walker of Uiliiiioiul,
X'irKi'iia lifr for a woeU t'lul visit
Mr. W. K. I.owf is lioine for several ilays
w-itli liis faniil.v.
The many friemls of Miss Tbeiiiia (’l\ iiier
are ^'lail to see iier out a{aiii after a sli«lit
Inilispasitinn.
.Mr. \V. 11. .May of I.yiiciilnir;;. Virginia
Slii'iit .Monday and Tuesday witli liis tiro-
ther-in-law Rev. -I. W. Williams of the vil
la;;e.
Miss (inssie In^ile of llijrh Toint, visited
her parents Mr. and .Mrs. .las. I.. Hide in
the vill.i:ie recently.
TENNIS.
I'rofessors I.inrcdn and Di'ak represent-
in;; the faculty and .Messers .1. .V. Dickey
and .1. C. Stewart for the Senior class en-
Kaj:ed in a tennis mati-li on Tuesday even
ing .May -1st resultini: dlsasterously for
the f(Tiner. Kiekey and Stewart put up a
i:o.d vame and. showed trainini while
their op|K>nents were a .ime off -olor for
want of practice. The event was. however
interesting and h.dd Hie crowd until
tiiials.
Seniors won three slraijiht sets.
SUNDAY SERVICE.
Preacher—Dr. J. U. Newman.
Scripture—Tsaiah 42.
Text—“A bruised reed shall he not
break, and the smoking flax shall he not
quench:” first part ot \erse 3.
Subject—“ Strength in weaKness.”
Dr. Newman spoke jiartly as follows;
When we are weak then we are stron,?;.
In our wea'kness we have the sympathy
of God. A general idea is that the words
“smoking llax” is just a repition of
what is meant by “bruised reed.” Tlia
smokinw llax is that flame that only a
breath from (Jod would quench. But a.-
lonf: as there is a spark, however small,
of ilivine tire in us, God will never put
it out. There is only one power that
breaks the bruised reed, and that power
IS our own.
At the time when the text was spoken.
Israel was in Babylon. Israel was God’s
chosen, yet tliey were captured—bruised.
The yieople to which God’s oracles had
been given, the people of tlie greatest
prophets were bruised, but not broken.
The old land was in desolation, the tem
ple had irone down and the people were
in foreign lands. They had been murder
ed and divided—the nation once two mil
lion strong were scattered into one hun
dred and twenty-seven provinces. Yet
tlie bruised reed was not broken, nor the
smoking flax quenched, for God allowed
forty-two thousand of that once great
number to return. They returned to a
city in aches, a land surrounded by the
enemy, but (iod’s promise was with them.
And this bruised reed was to be the sal
vation of tlie world. “Israel is my ser
vant. ’ ’
(rod never breaks a bruised reed. A hope
once implanted in the heart will never be
1,'roken by Him—if ever broken, it will be
dime by ourselves. Israel was a bruised
reed and iinder a most powerful nation,
yet (iod led them to' cont|iier. With
trowel in one hand and sword in the oth
er tliey rebuilt the city. For a number
of years they developed, but today they
are scattered over the entire world. They
are again a bruised reed. Israel shall
r turn when the time of the (jentiles is
fulfilled.
The hope Christ's discijiles had in Him
was dead when Christ was crucified. If
seemed the reed was more than bruised
—it seemed broken. But Christ rose
from the dead, ascended to heaven and
when the day of peiifecosf the smolder
ing flax burst into a great flame, a flame
which neither Nero's wrath. Rome’s le
gions. nor Diocletian’s order to destroy
the Bible i ould ipiench. Nay. the bruised
leed was not broken when tiie medal witlj
tliese words nas ;-v*ruck: “ ('hrisfianity
is destroyed.” It s.'emed that tlie bruis
ed reed was broken when the believers on
( hrisf were dijiiicd in 0:1. fastened on a
lii'jh (die ind ligh c! with a torch to lijht
U|) the city.
There was once a boy of lofty hopes, of
liiirh ambitions. A boy who had a con
science of future: who had seen the stars
obey him in a dream. Yet before this
boy became a great man he must be sold
a slave: he must be imjirisoned falsely,
and he must be bent, but not broken.
Then too. there was Peter, a magnani
mous soul, with great faith, the man whom
( lirisf called a rock, denying .lesiis—bent
bruised but not broken.
Today the best preacher those who have
been almost broken. The best laymen are
men whose flame of hope has been almost
quenched. The only two things that ca n
break us or quench us are sin and ignor
ance. Agrip)>a’s ignorance of God’s real-
ity, of ( hrist’s mission did not allow him
to yield to Paul's jileadings and his sin
caused him to be broken, because the
wife by his side was his sister. Yes. ig
norance of God s purpose in us. ignorance
of (Jod's power over us ignorance of
God s plenty for us; ignorance of God’s
light and love and law'; and ignorance of
what God can make of us has caused
many a bruised reed to be broken, and
many a flickering flame or smoking flax
to be quenched. In life's experience we
must realize somewhere what ,Tesus is, and
what unselfishness is. There is no pow
er in Heaven or earth that can hinder
us, if we earnestly try, from living a
Christianl ife, for “A bruised reed shall
he not break, and the smoking flax shall
he not quench.”
hat shall I say to immortal souls be
fore me? If we are living unsatisfac
tory lives, come and get a vision of Christ.
Get a vision, a vision. Life's bruisinur
experiences come in order that God inav
use uo. W'e see now darkly, hut the clos
er we get, the clearer we see. Our faith
is stronger, our love is purer, and our
work is easier. It is then, my friends,
a joy to be a man and a woman—a joy
to live. And. oh- if we live near the
, ross, we shall be satisfied when we awake
in Ilis likeness, for we sliall see Him as
He is. .lohii (i. Truitt.
FRESHMAN DEBATE.
The Annual Freshman Debate vvas held
in the college auditorium Wednesday af
ternoon at four o'clock. Each year the
freshman Kngli.'-h class gives a public de
bute while they are studying argument in
their text-book. This gives on exeellenC
opportunity to put into practice the prin
ciples they learn. This year the class
nunit:ered sixty-five, so all could not
speak, but twelve representatives were se
lected.
The (|uestion was a popular one, “Ke-
sulved, tl'at the world is growing worse.''
Botli sides did well. They liad tlieir work
well-planned, each sjieaker taking one
pliase of the question and jiresentinv: it
in a losrical onler. Some of the speeches
would have done credit to up])er class-
n e^n. Professor Lawrence should be con
gratulated on the excellent work liis -lass
■ doin'.;, and the members of the class
s'lould be proud of the pri\ileges of bc-
in_' such an excellent class.
,\Ir. li. K. Hancock was president and
Mr. II. E. .Vtkinson, secretary. Mr. Han
cock in a few well chosen words welcom
ed tlie large audience and briefly outlin
ed the work that tlie freshmen class is
doing.
The first speaker on the affirmative was
Mr. O. 1). Poythress. He introduced the
subject and outlined the field of argu-
ii:ent that the affirmative intended to pro
duce. Mr. Poythress has a good strong
voice and with the exception of the mis-
[ironnnciafion of a few words, he had an
excellent speech.
Mr. F. F. Myrick was first for the neg
ative. He introduces the negative side,
and shows that they intend to present
their ari>ument from five fundamental
points —that the world is growing bet
ter scientifically, industrially, intellectu
ally, relisiously, and politically. Mr. My
rick spoke in a very interesting manner.
Second for the atfirmafive was Mr. C.
C. Ward. He endeavored to show that
the world is degenerating in the eare of
the body. He showed that the average
life of a man had decreased. He also
S|)oke of painting and architecture being
in the decline. Mr. Ward’ has some tal
ent as a speaker.
Second for the negative was Miss
Frankie McNeal. She spoke on the it.
dustrial phase of the question, showing
how inventions had revolutionized the
world. She had a good speech, and read
well.
Miss Oma t’fley was the third speak
er for the affirmative. She argued that
the world is growing worse socially. She
cited what fashions al*e doins: to demor
alize the homes. The harmful effect of
over indulgence in fashion was shown to
be both a burden of the race financially
and mentally.
Third for the negative was Mr. D. H.
.McKay. He took the scientific side of
the question and [iresented some good,
strong argument to show that the world
was growing better. Some of his satire
was good. His speech took well with the
audience.
Fourth for the affirniati\> was Mr. W.
A. Irivefte. lie argued the question from
tlie scentific point of view, citing as an
example of ardent scienfic skill the build-
ing of Egyptian pyramids. He argued
that we had no power now that could
raise a rock weighing .■)()0,()00 tons 700
feet into the skv. He grew eloquent in
his speech.
Miss Beatrice Mason next jiresented the
intellectual side of the question for the
negative. Siie showed that man has been
in a state of continual ])rogress and that
each nation has been more intellectual
than ils predecessors. She read a eharm-
ing and fluent manner that won the at
tention of lier hearers. Slie was espe-
( ially easy and graceful.
Fifth for the affirmative was Miss Isa
belle McKay. She presented argument to
show that the world is growing worse
morally ''be maintained that there were
more atheists and infidels now than for
merly and that the church were not as
strick as of former times. A good log-
cal speech tliat had weight with the judg
es.
ilr. ,L \ . Knight was fifth for the neg
ative. He, also, dealt with the moral side
of the question and produced argument
to show the world is growing better. He
ga\'e the number of church members and
tlie number of active workers. Mr.
Knight is an experienced speaker and
made a strong speech.
-Mr. Henry Southard was the last speak
er for the aflirmatime. He maintained
fl;at drunkenness was making the world
worse. He showed that we have 100,000
deaths each year caused by strong drink.
He also claimed that dishonesty and graft
were making the world worse.
Mr. .lohn G. Truitt was the last speak
er for the negative. He maintained that
the world is growing better politically,
lie mentioned improvements in the gov
ernments of the world and spoke of In
ternational Peace as being a great bene
factor
The debate was interesting throughout.
Each sjieaker deserves credit for the ex
cellent manner be maintained his side.
The decision was unanimous in favor of
the nesrative. J, S. Truitt.
NOTE OF THANKS.
ords f'lil me when I try to express
n.y heart-felt and sincere thanks to th*
good people of Elon College for the kind
ness they have shown me during my sick
ness, both at the College and at the Hos
pital. And especially the Sophomor'e and
Expression classes. The flowers they sent
me were beautiful, and I will always have
a feeling of gratitude toward the people
Rt Elon College. Ralph H. MeCauley.
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