Life Line

As men have stood at curbs or in tabernacles or Army recreation halls and lustily wailed,

Throw out the life line, Throw out the life line, Someone is drifting away. Throw out the life line, Throw out the life line, Someone is sinking today; then found themselves refreshed in body with the chest exercise and in soul with the sentiment, they would wonder about famed Mr. Anonymous, the author so far as they knew. Last week the Boston Globe disclosed the man, pushed him to the fore, named him as the septuagenarian Rev. Edward S. Ufford.

Some 41 years ago Evangelist Ufford, in the leafy village square of Westwood, Mass., was exhorting the villagers with much gusto yet with some despair, for on the outskirts of the throng he noted many youths and maidens giggling and cutting up. How frail are their ties to the Church, reflected the young Methodist, even as he labored and prayed. They were drifting. . . sinking. . . . Phrases floated across his thoughts, took form. Later, at home, in half an hour he composed his hymn, which has been translated into nearly all major languages. Once in a tour of the world, he dramatically played out his hymn, using various maritime paraphernalia, which included two U. S. Government life lines used in rescuing 23 sailors from shipwrecked vessels. He wore a beribboned cap bearing as inscription, "Around the World with a Life Line."