POLISHING UP THE PADRE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 259, 20 July 1918, Page 12

POLISHING UP THE PADRE

lii| the earlier days of tiie war umny temporary Army chaplains were seiit overseas without military training whatsoever. They did I heir best, but in their ignorance and helplessness Ihey often made irritating if not actually "serious blunder* and were apt to be"decidedly in the way. To-day the padre before he goes to tho front, must pass through aa eitfht weeks' course of training at some military centre. A pretty stit); course, too, six to eijfht hours' work a day being the rule. Some of the subjects in the padre's military curriculum may strike the layman as incongruous or unnecessary,. Why, for example, should he have to pas\s in military iaw? Because he may l>o called upon to act as "accused's friend" at a court-martial, and the padre should therefore be acquainted with hie duties and rights «s such, and also with I the broad principle of military justice. Again, why should the padre be instructed in the different kinds of bombs and fuses? As a non-combatant, it is not for him to hurl destruction at the enemy. Granted, but the padre may save many lives by knowing how to deal with a. "live" but as yet unexploded bomb or how to handle one which may or may not be a "diul." Among the more ordinary snbjects of tha course the student is taught how to salute. 'Phis is important, Ijocause on first: joining the fledgling chaplain is apt io salute by scratching either the back of his ear or the top of his nose. Tins annoys brigadiers and others iu authority, and is not conducive to the preservation of good order and military discipline. The padre undergoes physical training, and he is also taught to ride. Both'these exercises do him good, but it is lo be feared that the latter has resulted in the premature and apoplectic demise of more than one riding-school instructor constrained by the reverend character of their charges not to utter the thoughts that arose in them. The class are taught how to adjust and use gns masks and aro put through the gns chamber. They aro instructed in first-aid ami drilled as slrelclier-bcar-ers. Administrative duties within their particular range are explained to them. They are also practised in open-air speaking, and, as one genial cleric put it, "We learn how to bear one another's sermons." for each padre has to preach to the rest of his colleagues, who for the nonce are assumed to be a soldier congregation.— N.W.I'., in the "Daily Mail."