The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-03-17 00:00:00

Puget Conti' Expreso.

DOBOHRBTER. MARCH 17,h, UM&

DARK DAYS.

Thin le no doubt that we an living Is troubled
U..., mid there have bees probably tie periods
the wish of on history whth the Glenda have
gathered more darkly round our country than at tha
vassal nosiest. But minor anxieties sink Into lead.
nillsanse bonds the great sad growing difficulties in
thre flondan, where ths lose-delayed campsite is hang
carried ea daring dangerous sod dithoureglnd
asisplosi The lend Intelligence from the East is
ingarly antkripated arid raid, and soon the meet
peacidaliy-disposed main resist • deep longest Is
the novena& of our distant army, which loomed
day by day. The melancholy story of the fall of
Khartoum and the death of one of ths truest heron
the Todd has ever mesa bas bed It. gloom relieve' by
histanses of not enrage bed dishing bravery which
prove our soldiers of to-day to be no unworthy dosses-
naiad Marlborough sad Wellington. Deeds liked**
twain of the foe by Biz Mond Stewart'. " flay
squire " at th• battle of Gabat, a resiatance riming WI
the 111, of the of oar meet oiliest geserala ; tho mead.
lag of th• than by the brave enslaver under Lord
Charles Bereeford, suoonsfully sooomplialnd at such
a fearful riskor, agile, the daring manoeuvre by
Major Winthrop and his few followers outwitting un
numbered hoodoo of Ardii, wakens f•al en usslialmble
prids is the ISMS of English that neither Ins nor
disseter eon Web& Ws read of pathedo sionista
of
the departure of regiment after regiment for the
nal of war, nth after soden( that the men sound In
good vivito, alas I too many dismiss the matter from
their Wade without stopping to relict.. tboro who
twei left bthind. Boob pardons as taks plan every
week are bitter though even for thon who know that
they nano theft dear onas la afilloanoe and oombrt,
and who have the assurance that, should they fall, they
will leave behind than means of intheletenee foe their
wives and families. Bet what must they be to the
ammo soldier, who kr • wife and family, and
lithe or nothing to spin from his nthioo-ample
pay? In rimy ones then unhappy woman are
tuned out of ties barmen on • pittance ridloulosaly
biannual/ to 'apply the cionnermest need., and
frequently have literslly so theltir before than except
the workhouse, which will separate them from bele
children But Mil their condition is, It 1. as iv thing
oompared with the misery of those who have married
without loave, of who.. then are always a large pro
poodles. sod who are lift pinsilless directly Voir
husbands are on foreign wervies. Surely this ought
sot to he I At the preseet lbw we nool u.s popularizv
lb. array, which sadly regal's@ strengthening in spite
of last year's unusually high prop,rtion of recruits
aud sunk treatment m we have not overdrawn is little
odouland t [mince gm to enter the service, which
offers so few advantage'. Toe Doily New ash ot
this ago etatvd the ow very clearly, vett NI.) .e
Gildsa with others of the same energetic philanthropies
who, fortunstvly for the credit of the nation, are ever
to the fore on such occasions, have ignobly opened •
registry, by mean of which each women as oth do
dremantaklng, chariot, or other work, or who are
able to take loosporazy sitmatioo., may be able Is take
lucrative amploymeat. The subject ha. h ion aleo
tinned upon by the Tines ,eod other leading Journal.
to oosseetloa with the universally-espressed wish to
raise • natiosal memorial to General Gordon, and Vie

seenible suggestion has been made that the funds
raised for the porno.. should be devoted 13 fortnior
tom* permaneat provision for the wires and families
of the soldiers abroad on active service. Snob • plan
wooid have been far more after G mion's own heart
Ibis the erection of • Maine, and It le to be bped
that If it be decided to devote the subscriptions raised
to any snob exoelleat purpose the decision will b 3
made and put into execution promptly. We sorely
need eloquent voles. sot pens to plea.' the MIA of
Owe Innocent violins& of war, on whom, after ail, the
heaviest burden falle. rho sol lief fidittlag bravely
for his country and dying on the fiel I II lam to b
pitied than the careworn woman be leaves bible I
him, whose life must be passe tin a °mutant atraggle
for means of subsistence for tureen suitor the chit inn
dependent upon her. Daring the Crimea L web dr sw
• famous and touobing picture In the parse of Punch
representing Britannia feeding the children.
and it I. to be hoped that strong appeals will be made
for some subehantiel help for those so 'mineral/
deserving of It, and that • voluntary charity will
freely give of It. abundance as long as the war in the
Bogdan oestlases. Mr. Browning's stirring worda
may be fitly recalled, for, though referring to another
country, are they not applicable to the " Sweethearts
and Wives " who stand to-day on our shores weeping
at they watch the Imo steaming away eaetward
" Heroic males the oonotry bear.;
"Bat daughters give op more than eons."