Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

Conart"The Editor's PageOur Vacation Travel-logAlthough absent from headquarters less thantwelve days, the Witnesses ofJuly 13, 20 and 27were left largely to the tender mercies of a recentlyemployed secretary not acquainted with the paper orthe church names, and the printers during their busyvacation season. We gratefully acknowledge the marvelous job they did, especially since we were unilaterally, at least, incommunicado to everybody, forhealth uncertainties made any definite mailing objectives impracticable, but hot humid weather pointed the general direction definitely NORTH. The crewconsisted of the Skipper (from office duties), theFirst Mate (his wife), and the Second Mate Martha(daughter), all on the good ship Oldsmobile 98,Forty-niner.The second day's log read "Madison, Wisconsin,""home of the skipper's Alma Step-Mater. This oldlady and I hadn't seen each other in forty-umptyyears and naturally she had forgotten me and Icould scarcely recognize her, so obese had she become. In those days she had a mere seven or eightthousand sons and daughters under her immediatecare (Prof. John Coleman and I were two), secondlargest university in the United States, out-rankedhy Harvard. Culturally speaking, she was first, ofcourse I mean agriculturally. Even in those daysshe boasted that the State of Wisconsin was hercampus, and the Capitol Building her political sciencelaboratory, a boast not entirely void of truth. Butthe campus we loved had the cow-barns in the backyard, and Administration building at the top of thehill overlooking the engineering, law, chemistry, library, armory, etc. and the Capitol dome in the distance, beautiful spacious Lake Mendota on the left,and the Latin Quarter all around. A large bronzestatue of Abraham Lincoln sat in front of the Administration Buildingand seemed never to tire oflooking out on that scene, with the hurrying throngsof young America with their unalienable rights ofLife, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. PoorAbe! They've shut out your view, and stiffled yourbreathing space with new buildings. That VeteransAdministration Building is bigger than a city block.This only I would ask of you. Can you still hear the- -Alma Mater song "U-rah rah, Wis sin ?" Doall those new buildings shut out the sound, or dothey echo louder still, that Varsity Locomotive yell,or has some new fangled diesel relegated it to thejunk yard? Do the skyrockets still whistle and boomand display their "ah"-inspiring pyrotechnics insalute to popular professors at the opening of classperiods? We missed those old sounds scarcely lessthan the faces of professors now deceaed and students far scattered and ranks shattered. But wemust move on.The fourth day's log reads, "A wonderful dayspent on two excursion boats, viewing the marvel-84ously beautiful Upper and Lower Dells of the Wisconsin River. I had often heard the fame thereofback in those University days, and had given a prenuptialtenative (?) promise that some day weshould visit them, perhaps on our honeymoon. Thathoneymoon is approaching its setting, but it is a satisfaction to be able to say that the promised trip toNiagara Falls and to the Dells, promises which werenever forgotten by the party of the second part, andso not entirely forgotten by the party of the firstpart, have now been paid in full with a lot of interestadded, and some extra side-trips thrown in, amongthem a six-year trip to China. The mortgages cannow be burned.From Friday afternoon to Monday morning wespent near that famous city of Milwaukee. Saturdaywe spent on a trip to Muskegon, Mich., and returnon the Milwaukee Clipper. That used up the day thatmight have been spent as recommended by theChamber of Commerce in visiting one or more of thefamous breweries where they drown the rats in thebeer vats. But we saw some animals drowning themselves in the "finest product of the brewers andthereby making themselves the inferior by-productof the brewers' art on that trip. However, in fairnessit should be said that there was no outlandish behaviour.Monday we coasted down to Lake Geneva, Wis.,so inviting in its cool, quiet, restful residences thatwe remained until Thursday morning when we began the journey home, arriving Friday July 22. Tuesday evening we went to Conference Point on LakeGeneva, and heard Dr. E. Stanley Jones speak on"But whosoever shall drink of the water that I shallgive him shall never thirst" except for more of thesame. Incidentally, we met Eugenia Price there."But Some Doubted" (Matt. 28:17)In the above narrative, didn't I skip one day?Did we not Remember the Sabbath Day? Yes, wedid, and we will remember that Sabbath for many aday. The Saturday Milwaukee papers carried a fullpage ad of an "Evangelistic Camp" at Oconomowocsponsored by "Milwaukee Evangelistic Temple, Rev.A. C. Valdez, Pastor." Two things caught our attention. Jack Holcombe was to be the singer. He wasthe singer for the Jack Shuler meetings in Topekasome years ago, with a tenor voice that hits upperC so easily that radio stations have pled for his talents. We thought we would rather hear him sing"The Stranger of Galilee" than a mediocre renderingof "In the Garden" elsewhere. The invitation alsosaid, "Bring your sick to be prayed for" no harm inthat, and we were not entirely disqualified. HoweverHolcome did not arrive until a day later.The Camp Meeting grounds (planned for a twoweeks program) was a Wisconsin woods, with a tentwith 1000 seating capacity, dining tent and othertents. The introductory part of the program mingledCOVENANTER WITNESS