Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1864-04-01
The Soldiers Friend.

In the United States Sanitary Commits
sin, cur soldiers have friend for wi om
cur cnpious Anglo Saxon can find no word
Of descript ion sufficiently strong, wise,
tender, aud far reaching; but perhlTs o
inple story, taken from tie Sanitary
Commission Bulletin, will speak n, ore
clearly ani better to the heart t. an pages
oi dry records:
Away up in the fourth story Of Hospital
NJ. ), at Washington, al / 10 far corner
of the ward, was seen, o1o day, an old
lady sitting By the side Of mere LAD, who
was reduced to the verge Of death by
chronic diarrh~. She was a plain,
honesl-hearsei farm eg's wife, Der face all
aglow with mo;hcrly love, AMI who, to
jlige from appearances, lad likely never
before Travelled b3yoni tn. limits Of her
noig lblrhool, but nov had come many a
long mile to 10 what might be done for
her BOY. Ia the course Of a cJlgcrslti0n
she informed her qlestioneE that ''if she
could only get something that tested like
home-some good tea, for instance, which
she could make herself, and which would
b. better than that of the hospital-she
thought it might save her sons life"
OF course it was sent to her, aud on a
subsequent visit she expressed her thanks
ia a simple, hearty way, qlite in keeping
with her appearance. Sill she seemed
sad something was on her mind that
evidently troubled her, and, ike 34nqlo's
ghost, "wou!i not dogn." At length it
came out, in conf lug, innocent sort OF
q way-more evidently because it was
uppermos; in her thoughts than for the
,.Irpose Of receiving sympathy--that her
means were about exhausted. 81 didu't
think it would take - m uch money it is
so much farther away from home than
thought, and board is So very high, that
| have hardly eu3u.h iefJ to take me
back [; ana by aHorhlr we,k [ will have
to leave hin. haze b I'll around to the
stores 10 bay some hide things that be
could ear-iyr be cant cat this strong
food-ba. ,be Fri3s are 50 high that | /
AN afraid 'lt'ii - AMY aa3 he doesu't
get something better 10 cat, that may be"
and the tears tr,e6'el j ,wn her cheeks,
"he wou't-ag 80 WE'LL
Har listener fhou.nt that dili,ll y
might be overcome. aai L she would put
on her bonnet they would % to store
whore articles were cheap. Accrlingly
they arrived 10 f5out of large ;hrec-story
building when g,gernm.n at has assigned
to the Comm ion, and The oil lady vas
soon running her eyes ever the long rows
Of boxes, taies, aut barrels that stretched
f,c bun lrel feet dogr the room, but
WAS mos; fascinated b. the I. xs+ aaI cans
On the shalses q. or!.r-i supply of
sugar, tea, soft crack r, aa4 canned fruit,
fasn j.ny aoi wiue, brandy, milk, aud
uuder clothing, till the basket was full.
- the earlier articles nestled uGder its
li5, her face vas glowing FilA si.i-f4ction;
bat as the latter los arrived, She would
draw him aside TO whisper it vas too
much-''raaly she hadu't euOu5h money"
.lud when the more expensive Items
cane from the shelves, the shadow Of
carnestness which gjo5m.l her couate-
mace grew into one Of parp,cxi'y, hcr
soul viIra.p! between molhcriy ycarniug
f,r the lad on hi, bal aud lie scsnt
purse ia her pocket, tn, slowly and with
great reluctance, she began to return tbs
c1s.iiest.
HaIn't you better ask the price p said
h.r guide
"how much is it 2"
Nothing" replied the storekeoper.
sir" qaeried She, in the utmost
smaz meu,, ''no'iiay f,r all this p
"My good womap," asked the guide,
"have you Soldiers AID Society in your
neighbOraood ?"
"Yes-she belonged to it herself"
"Well, what do you suppose become,
o. the garments you make aud the fruit
yoa rut uP:'
"She hadn't thougbt-she supposed
they ven. to the army"-out was evident
ly bothered to know what connection there
could be between their AID Society and
that basket.
"Thcsc garments that you see came
from your s'ciety, or other societies just
like your SO DID these boxes aud barrels;
tha, milk came from New York those
fruits from Boston; that wine vas likely
purchased Wi gold from California and
it is all for. sick soldiers, your sou as much
as any one else. This is the United
States Sanitary Commission S,orehouse
you must come here whenever you wish,
and call for anything you want; aud you
mus, stay WITH your sou until he Is able
to 20 home; never mind the moneys .
giving out you shall have more, which,
when you get back, you can refund f,r
the use Of other mothers and sons when
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