Lögberg - 12.02.1942, Page 5

Lögberg - 12.02.1942, Page 5
LÖGBERG. FIMTUDAGINN 12. FEBRÚAR, 1942 5 gat ekki verið hér í kveld, því þá hefði eg notað tækifærið til þess að segja honum opinberlega 'hversu verðskulduð orð skálds- ins eru. Hann á með sanni sæti á heiðursbekk Vestur-íslendinga. Það er eitt, sem mér er afar ant um. Það er að sem flestum Vestur-íslendingum auðnist að komast á þann heiðursbekk. Einu megum við ekki gleyma: við erum svo afar mannfáir. Það er ekki hægt að búast við að þetta litla þjóðarbrot hafi altaf stóran hóp af fyrirmyndar mönn- um át að skipa. Þessvegna ligg- ur það i augum uppi, að það er altaf nóg pláss á heiðursbekkn- um fyrir alla þá, sem hafa nægi- lega hæfileika, viljakraft og iðjusemi til að eiga það skilið að skipa sæti á þessum bekk. Vestur-fslendingar eiga í einlægu bróðerni, hlið við hlið, að vinna sig fram og upp á bekkinn. Það er óþarft að ganga yfir eða jafn- vel ofan á aðra, til þess að kom- ast þangað. Þeir eru margir, sem nú prýða heiðursbekk Vestur-fslendinga. En það er einn hópur sem á að skipa þar öndvegi. Eg á við hermennina, bæði þá sem boðið hafa sig fram i þessu stríði og svo þá, sem gengu á stríðsvöll í fyrsta alheimsstríðinu. Það stríð er aðeins fyrsta orustan í einum aegilegum, sameiginlegum al- heims hildarleik. Hæstu sætin á heiðursbekknum eiga þessir menn að skipa. Á fslendingadagshátíð fyrir nokkru síðan, hélt vinur minn Hjálmar Bergman ágæta ræðu, eins og honum er tamt. f þeirri ræðu benti hann á margt í fari Vestur-fslendinga, sem væri Austur-fslendingum engu síður en þeim sjálfum til sóma og upp- hefðar. Eg var honum alveg sammála, en nú finst mér við geta farið dálítið lengra. Þegar tekið er til greina, að nú er barist fyrir frelsinu hvar 1 heimi sem er, á íslandi engu síður en hér; þegar maður at- Eugar hve margir Vestur-íslend- mgar hvíla nú undir rauðu blómunum á Frakklandi og Flanders; þegar þess er gætt, að margir af okkar beztu sonum eru nú í flugvélunum, á herskip- unum og á orustuvöllunum í Evrópu, Afríku og Asíu; og ein- mitt þegar við, sem heima sitjum erum að tæma vasa til að standa straum af stríðskostnaðinum, þá eru Austur-fslendingar að baða Slg í sólskini vellíðunar, scm hefir skapast aðallega ef ekki aigjörlega af auknum viðskiftum við handaþjóðirnar; þegar þetta alt er tekið til greina, þá fæ eg ekki betur séð en að það sé eiginlega ekki nema eitt, sem Austur-fslendingar hafi nú sem stendur ástæðu til að vera stoltir a‘- Það er það, að þeir eru skyldir Vestur-íslendingum. Það er mín einlæg ósk og von að þér og mér öðlist að nota uieðfædda hæfileika á þann hátt að við eigum það skilið, þó ekki v*ri meira en að tylla okkur á eitthvert hornið á heiðursbekk Vestur-fslendinga í kringum aðal heiðursmennina — hetjurn- ar* sem alt eru til með að leggja, 1 sölurnar og hafa lagt í sölurn- ar> til þess að þú og eg mættum ajóta frelsis og lýðræðis, og Iifa * friði og kristinni trú. ♦ ♦ ♦ Now I am to some extent passing °ut of circulation. I want to assure v°u, however, that I am going on a bench, not on a shelf; I intend to be reasonably active except in those ields which my new duties forbid 010 to enter. For that reason ú is perhaps not entirely out of Place if I were to try to garner something out of my experiences of the past which might be of some assistance to those of you who still have most of the battles of life to face. I have always felt that I have been more or less of a failure. I say >his in all sincerity, and have a good deal of evidence to support it. With the exception of winning the love and affection of one whose unsel- fish service and devotion to duty 'vill shine as a beacon light to all Who were privileged to know her, with that one exception my disap- pointments far outnumber and out- weigh my few and very minor achievements. I could give you many illustrations, but I am going to refer to only one. When I was at Wesley College I applied for the Rhodes Scholarship. I failed—came second best. I felt it very keenly at the time. I pon- dered deeply and then reached a conclusion. I decided that I would work that much harder, apply my- self that much more conscientiously, so that I could later in life, whether it were five years, twenty years, even forty years later, be able to say honestly and truthfully that I had overcome the handicap of my fail- ure. Having firmly made up my mind what I would do, I found it very easy to walk over from Wesley College to Manitoba College and shake hands with my good friend Eldon R. Siddall, who was award- ed ihe scholarship. I congratulatea him not in a perfunctory but in a sincere manner. I did more, I in- vited him to have dinner with me for which I paid out of my meagre savings. It is easy to do that when you know that you have reached a decision which nothing on earth can shake—a decision to overcome the handicap of temporary defeat. And so I would say this. You will find that on the average you will more often meet with failure than success. You will more often f uffer disappointment than exult in achievement. You will more often have to endure sorrow than rejoice in real happiness. But if, when you fail, you resolve to start again with increased determination your very failure may become an asset. When you suffer disappointment you must gird yourself with renewed energy and press on; your disappointment will then become the ffoundation upon which you build your future achievements. And if it should fall to your lot to have to endure sor- row, sorrow which cuts to the in- nermost depths of your heart, you must try to realize that your loss, grievous though it be, is but an in- finitestimal speck in that larger Plan which you and I do not un- derstand—that larger Plan, which we know, in the sum total is good. If you can do that then your sor- row may—shall I steel myself to say —may become a blessing, at least, in the beyond, if not here. There is only one message I want to leave with you. When you meet with defeat you may, by the strength of your God-given qualities of mind, be able to wrest from it an abiding victory. If I can bring that message home to you, then this evening, which you have so kindly devoted to me, will not be an entire waste. 26th Annual Report of the Jón Sigurdson Chapter, I.Ö.D.E. Madam Regent and members:— I hereby submit the 26th annual report of the Jon Sigurdson Chap- ter for the year ending Feb. lst, 1942. It is with pardonable pride in our Chapter and yet a humble thankfulness withal that we draw your attention to the fact that in every sphere of activity members have put forth a valiant effort, greater than ever before. The province of Manitoba counts at present 49 I.O.D.E. Chapters with a membership of 1,350, an average of 28 members each. The Jon Sigurdson Chapter has a membership of 31, and 10 Life members, seven of these being totally inactive because of absence or other valid reasons. Three new members were added this year. Eleven meetings have been held and four executive meetings. Aver- age attendance 18. Twenty-seven visitors have honored us with their presence at meetings this year. Financial Statement — General Fund—Received, $262.72; distribut- ed, $307.44; balance, $58.67. War services fund, $721.76; disbursed, $819.11; balance, $1.97. Total receiv- ed for the year, $984.48. Last year the total recbived for the province was $27,211.54, an average of $555.33 per Chapter. Seventy dollars of our funds were received from various Icelandic Ladies’ Aids scattered throughout Canada, in response to our appeal published in the two Icelandic weeklies in February. Other sources of revenue have been: Annual dance and bridge, Marl- borough hotel; annual tea and home cooking sale, T. Eaton assembly hall; annual birthday celebration; draw of blanket donated by Regent; Hallowe’en dance and bridge; mem- orial day service, and donations from Junior Icelandic League, $71.00; Dr. L. A. Sigurdson, $30; Good Temp- lars, $25; also donations from in- dividuals and Winnipeg business firms, most notably generous has been the T. Eaton company with the Hudsons Bay a close second. Our share of the War Service Drive was $226.68. Disbursements have been for regular outlays such as convention, railway fare, delegates fees, officers tax, endowment fund, Coronation Musical scholarship, returned Sol- diers’ Cheer, work in India. In ad- dition there has been: British war guest fund, Jon. Sigurdson Musical scholarship, welfare, hospital cheer, and an increasingly large amount for comforts for our fighting forces. The upkeep of the I.O.D.E. roims cost us $12. There was also a con- cnbutiou to the salute to Britam program and the Y.M.C.A. enter- tainment fund. RESUME OF VARIOUS REPORTS Educational—Secretary, Mrs. G. A. Paulson. A $10 library has been sent to the recently adopted Nordurstjarna school, and other literature; also a gramophone and records. The library in memory of Mrs. F. J. Bergman. A $10 library was given to the Lundar school to honor the memory of the late Mrs. W. J. Lin- dal. Twenty-five calendars bought, 13 of these given as compliments of the Chapter and 12 sold to members. Nine bundles of magazines deliver- ed to the I.O.D.E. rooms and a box of books. The $50 Musical scholar- ship was won by Miss Thora Asgeirsson. Unorganized Knitting—Convenor, Mrs. F. J. Sivertson. Twenty-nine articles made and delivered to rooms; 16 sweaters, 9 pair of mitts, 2 scarves, 1 girl’s suit (sweater and skirt). Empire Study—Convenor, Mrs. B. S. Benson. As the theatre of war widens and is brought ever closer to our doorstep, the members na- turally turn more seriously to Em- pire study. A sincere and keen feeling of kinship with every mem- ber of our far-flung Empire and her Allies is becoming more deeply rooted in our hearts, kindling to a white flame our will to victory. The following papers have been given at meetings. Mrs. H. F. Danielson, resume of lecture by Mrs. F. John Scroggie, of London, in Grace church, on Wo- men’s Voluntary Services in Eng- land. Mrs. H. G. Henrickson, Excerpts from The White Cliffs (Alice Duer Millar) and Wom Doorstep (Mar- garet Sherwood). Mrs. J. B. Skaptason, report of provincial convention. Mrs. Durden, monologue, “Mrs. Britain.” Mrs. E. A. Isfeld, The Develop- ment of Music in Iceland, and Im- pressions of the Music Teachers’ convention. Mrs. Hart, report of fall conven- tion. Mrs. E. P. Jonsson read a magazine article on Mrs. Roosevelt. Mrs. B. S. Benson read an article “Elizabeth the Beloved.” Hospital Visiting—Convenor Mrs. H. G. Nicholson. Mrs. Nicholson has made 15 visits to the Sanatorium and several visits to King Edward hospital. Twenty- five Christmas parcels were made uo and three additional parcels for Icelandic girls at the Sanatorium. At Easter there is always something extra and Christmas is a very spe- cial occasion with decorations and carol singers throughout the whole Sanatorium. This makes it very cheerful for the patients, but best of all they do enjoy Mrs. Nicholson herself with her unobtrusive cheer- fulness and sympathy. Welfare — Convenor, Miss V. Jonasson. A total of $26 was voted out of Chapter funds for welfare work among ex-service men and their families. Three parcels sent out, $26; nine boxes (gifts of clothing), $90; money donation for Christmas cheer, $12.15. A total of $128.15. War Services—Convenor, Mrs. E. A. Isfeld. Wool used for knitting, $234 lbs.; wool paid for, 186 lbs., $283.75; cigarettes sent, 217, $217.00. For the Navy League, $50 and 1 quilt and 1 afghan. Articles knitted for the navy, 107; for our boys, 244; total, 357. An average of six members spent 10 afternoons at the sewing room 501 Power Building, making 71 articles cut out and 211 articles completed. Echoes—Secretary, Mrs. L. A. Sigurdson. Twelve subscribers are listed. MLscellaneous—In many respects 1941 was a banner year for the Jon Sigurdson Chapter with, not only all regular work augmented, but also some rather special endeavors suc- cessfully carried out. First among these was the 25th anniversary celebration in March with an overflow audience and Miss Maria Markan as guest artist. At this concert soldiers’ mothers or wife’s badges were presented to six members: Mrs. O. Stephensen, Mrs. H. G. Henrickson, Mrs. G. A. Paul- son, Mrs. B. H. Olson, Mrs. J. H. W. Price and Mrs. E. Arnason. Two more members will receive badges at this meeting tonight, Mrs. T. E. Thorsteinson and Mrs. K. J. Aust- man. The anniversary uplift of spirits culminated in the publication of a pretty pamphlet containing the his- tory of the Chapter compiled in English by Mrs. L. A. Sigurdson and in Icelandic by Mrs. Gisli Joh- son. Picture of the King and Queen, of Jon Sigurdson and of Chapter members decorate its pages, and it received a good send-off with a fitting foreword by Mrs. B. S. Ben- son, who ably convened this pro- ject. The pamphlet is being sold at 25c a copy and is supposed to pay for itself. Another outgrowth of the Chap- ter’s having attained to its 25th birthday was the presentation of honorary membership certificates to five women, Miss Markan, Mrs. L. G. Salverson, Mrs. Jacobina John- son, Mrs. Gudrun H. Finnsdottir and Mrs. Finnur Johnson. In September a “Ways and Means Committee” went into operation. Among other things one outstanding result of its work convened so un- selfishly by Mrs. Isfeld, was the beautiful and memorable choral commemoration on Nov. llth. At the end of May 20. members completed at the St. Johns Ambu- lance a 10 weeks course in first aid and received their certificates. In addition to all this members have diligently collected stamps for Mrs. Potter, salvage; 50 pounds tin- foil, have donated furs and clothing, helped with the tea for the blind, had two captains and 24 girls in the field for Navy League Tag Day, June 28th, which project netted a grand total of $6,000.00. Members have attended two church parades, been in charge of the I.O.D.E. rooms for three weeks, twice in charge of R.C.N.V.R. fur sorting, manned the C.N.R. dugout three days and C.P.R. one day. And finally .sent 20 complete layettes to England just before Christmas. The Chapter has now undertaken their share of the War Savings Stamps campaign. One of our last year’s calendars found its way into a school room where Mrs. Henrickson’s class made it into 12 lovely framed mottoes which sold for 15c each and netted the Red Cross $1.80. In conclusion we feel that this year’s splendid achievement has been made possible by the support and co-operation of the Chapter’s many friends. To all those indivi- duals and business firms we owe a debt of gratitude. To the many Ladies’ Aids who sent large dona- tions (the “Solskin” of Mozart, Sask., has just sent $5 for the third time); to the ladies of Husavik, for work well done; to the press of this city and more especially to the two Ice- landic weeklies, for unfailing courtesy and co-operation. To all these we say a fervent thank you. HOLMFRIDUR DANTELSON, Secretary. Winnipeg, February 3, 1942. Kaupið Sigurláns Veðbréf til þess að frelsa hina undirokuðu V, Hvað er Sigurláns Veðbréf pað er loforð Canadastjðrnar um að endurgrreiða hvert cent, sem þér lðnið henni. pðr getið selt Veðbréf- ið fyrir peninga, hvenær sem þér þarfnist þeirra. Af hverju Veðbréfi eru greiddir 3% ásvextir. Við hvert Veðbréf er festur arðmiði. Tvisvar á ári getið þér tekið arðmiða til bankans, og fengið andvirði hans í peningum. pér getið fengið Sigurlánsbréf fyrir $50, $100, $500, $1,000 eða $5,ooo upphæðir. pér getið keypt Veðbréf gegn afborgunum — aðeins 10% út f hönd, og afgangi má dreifa yfir marga mánuði með síðustu borgun 15. ágúst, 1942. F61k kaupir Sigurláns Veðbréf af viðurkendum umboðsmanni, sem heimsækir yður, hjá öllum bönkum eða Trust'félögum, eða á aðalskrif- stofu Sigurlánsins í umhverfi yðar. Sala hinna nýju Siguláns Veðbéfa hefst 16. febrúar. Verið viðbúnir að kaupa alt, sem þér megnið. ÉR heyjum ekki einungis stríð iil þess að vernda frelsi Canada, held- ur einnig til þess að leysa úr ánauð fólk í Evrópu og Asíu. Vinir yðar og frændur í hinum gömlu löndum. mæna til yðar, sem frjálsir eruð, ti! þess að flýta fyrir sigri. Canada skal aldrei bregðast þeim, eins lengi og þjóðin hefir peninga til að framleiða fyrir meira af kúl- um, meira af loftförum og fleira af skipum. Þér leggið fram yðar skerf með því að kaupa Sigurláns Veðbréf, því með slíkum kaupum af yðar hálfu, getur Canada smíðað vopn og kúlur eftir þörfum til þess að koma öxulríkjunum á kné. Canada fer ekki fram á peninga- gjafir. heldur að þér lánið stjórninni peningana. Sérhver dollar, sem þér kaupið fyrir á þenna hátt gefur af sér 3% í vöxtu á ári, er greiddir skulu á hverjum sex mánuðum, og sérhver dollar, sem þér leggið í þessi kaup, verður greiddur að fullu í til- tekinn gjalddaga. Hjálpið þeim þessvegna. er mæna til yðar eflir lausn úr áþján. Sigur- láns Veðbréfin stuðla að því, að tryggja þessu fólki írjáls heimili, trúarbragðafrelsi og stjórnarfars- frelsi. Sgiurláns Veðbréf koma á markað 16. febrúar. Verið við- búnir, að kaupa alt, sem þér megnið.

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