STOP THAT TRAIN!

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 30, 25 July 1923, Page 3

STOP THAT TRAIN!

;'. /■ . By QUIZZ The Celt and I stood watching the tra'n. as it .came thundering along- the • track. " " ,; But, instead of slackening spaed as it iii&ared the .station to let th,9 passengers off, it appeared to be slathering it. "Brakes don't seem to be aciiLng - she'll over-run the station," I remajrkst'd. But when I turned to the Gelt, he was gazing with a look of horror hi his eyes at the oncoming monster. "My God! Don't you se e WHO IT IS THAT IS DRIVING? Brakes, man. .THEY NEVER HAVE ANY BRAKES ON THE TRAIN THAT MARS DRIVES! And those poor devils on bc-ard DON'T KNOW IT—THEY CAN'T REALISE THAT ONCE THEY'RE ON BOARD THAT TRAIN, IT'S A NON-STOP RUN TO HE'LL!" Evan as hri spoke the train dashed by. As the carriages flashed past our eyes, Aye saw that they were packed to over-flowing Avil.li people, m-sn. women, and children, som-j were singing—some were playing musical

instruments and beatmg drums — others leaned out of the windows, Waving flags, and hurrahing wildly. In the fraction of ,&, second she Avas out of sight—racing at ever-incr,-:;as" ing- speed down tha incline into the gather ng darkness of the night. "Oh, the poor deluded, misguided souls," murmured the Celt with a trymble in his A'oic.e," all on hoard the tra'n whose destination is War —going full speed ahead—singing to thCfir Doom."

"But," I said, "they don't THINK they are going to War —or want to — do they? "Oh. no—OF COURSE, NOBODY WANTS IT! But I remember in 1918 hearing a man say, 'two years more of this and I should hays bee n independent for lif£ ; ! But those poor fools on board that train are only the fuel that keeps the War Engine going—the there's-not-to-reiason - why.- there's -but -to -do -anddie crowd. And that's Avhere the Mad Streak in the Common People shows. To get on board a train that by all the signs and portents is plainly bound for War —and then to hope that by some miracle we'll arriA r e at a place called Peace. The gross stupidity of it all! If ycu board a train, that is bound for a certain city, you'll GET TO YOUR DESTINATION—SOMETIME—IF THE TRAIN KEEPS GOING' ON! That's' only common sense, isn't it?"

41 fa A Just then we noticed someih-n white lying On tho track where th racing train liad passed. It was tiny bit of a parcel tied with string and weighted with a very heav; stone. Y\'hen 'we iinii*fl the strhig, w found a cmmpied, rolled up piece o paper. On the outside was writte: in big black letters, "In the nam of Humanity." We smoothed it out and found these words inside. "For God's sake, STOP THIi ! TRAIN. We are not all mad. Ther /.are a lot of us on board who jus .! got pushed on with the crowd, befor iwe had t"!m-d-.1,0 think, or ask wher l v; e wer.e WE DJD;\"T KNOW ! .; THE DESTINATION . OF , THE! •.TRAIN. It just seemed a jolly picnic ; crowd witli all the singing and the I bands playing. BUT NOVy'—WE ; KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOTNG! I 3;::ne of «s have travelled on Luis line before. We recognise the old familiar landmarks as we pays them :;ay by day. And somevJme.s in the quif-C of the night, we hear in the distance tlie dull roar s-nd rumble of all tlios.e oihe-r trains that are racing with head-long spesd along the i racks —w e know" iliar they are all rushing to the converging point where the smask-un will come—just as they d-d in 1914. When our women weep, and wrog their hands, because of the awfulness of the horrors that are coming, then w p hnpioTft the Driver to .slow (town that we may get ofi", while there is yet lime. But with a he orders the I'uel to b G . piled on. so that we go faster and faster. And he whips up the bauds to play patr'otic au-s, so that our spirits may be kept up. and so that we shall not notice howfearI'nUv .tliA cinppfi is Viftinp- flfppiPTated.

WE KNOW NOW, WHAT THE MUSIC AND THE FLAGS ARE JPOR —WE HAVE FOUND OUT THE VfLE, HIDEOUS, FOUL SECRET,' > THAT THEY HAVE HIDDEN SO SUCCESSFULLY - ALL . THESE YEARS—THE BLACK CANKER THAT IS EATING OUT THE HEART OF HUMANITY. WE KNOW NOW, TOO LATE PERHAPS, THAT THE DRIVER OF THE WAR TRAIN IS THE RATHER OF ALL■". LIES-. SATAN HIMSELF,, AND—** , Tka writing broke off abruptly in a straggling wavy line. One could fancy that some War-mad "Pat)-,. not" to whom these words would ha sedition, had snatched the pa.per in the writer's* hand. The nape» - was crumpled as- if to give point to Uie thought:. ■

.We looked at each other—asking the question. "What is to be done"? Humanity the world over, trapped, tricked, lied to, driven down tho sliding way by the mad devils of Greed and Hatred, seemed t 0 have gathered up all its manytongued prayers in the passionate despairing cry. "STOP THE TRAIN." From over far seas, and distant mountains it seemed to come la waves that surged up all around us, i; eating insistently in our ears. . ; . But, the train w : th its freight of helpless men, women and little innocent children, impelled by Demonic Force Avas every hour hieingrushed nearer to destruction! The Celt turned to mc with a-, rapt look on his face (I always think mat somewher e (amongst the Celt's ancestors there must have bec-jn -A Saint or a MysU'c).

''THAT TRAIN CAN BE STOPPED —BUT NOT BY HUMAN -AGENCY ALONE. WAR IS THE DSV.U-'i? BUSINES3. ALL THE POWERS OF DARKNESS. DISGUISED AS ANGELS OF LIGHT. ARE IN LEAGUE WITH SATAN* TO DESTROY HUMANITY. ONLY BY THE HELP OF THE' POWER OF GOD -AND IN GOD'S NAME—CAN AYE CAST OUT THIS DEVIL OF WAR."