Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-24

Thousand vmes.-
by cool siloam's shady rin
How far the lily crows
How sweet the breath beneath the hill
OF sharon's dewy rose"
but you've never heard a under circum-
stances like that ono sweet woman, holding
her dying husbands hand aud singing homo
songs 10 case his pain, while AL around her
were men whose breath grew shorter every
second, and hundreds OF others whose cnanccs
OF life were not worth the toss OF copper,
hstenlng 10 her singing, forgetting for the mo-
ment That there was anything Rs hort ble 40
war, and dozen. maybe. who had oraSl "a close
to her and were trying to help her.
The colonel was very quiet and saw his
lace getting gray. / knew the sign. but she
didn't and when he smiled a little aud said
under has breath, Asleep in Jesus mother used
TO sing II, she kissed his closed eyelids aud
said, Yes, dear and she aud Bil Wilson and
Jim Winters sang IT.
ASLEEP in Jesusl blessed slcept
From which none ever wake 10 weept
cain ana undisturbcd repose,
Unbroken by the last Of foea
Asleep in Jesus! q for me
May such blissful refuge boil
Securely shall my ashes de-
Waiting the summons from on high.
Asleep in Jesusl far from thee.
Thy kindred and their graves may be,
Bat there is stIn u blessed Sleep
from which none ever wakes 10 Weep
Heaven didn't seem 50 very far away from
us old fellows Just then. and down under the
covers more than one man was crying AZ 10
had not since child And the colonel. with her
hand on his, her voice 20 lull him to rest. had
slipped away from his pain like little child
going TO sleep. His soul had gone straight
home 10 glory borne on her soice. She Was .
brave one; When she saw that his heart had
stopped she caught her breath little, thea
slid down on the floor and laid her head on tho
hand she held and said prayer She didRt
cry. The tears were burned up before they
got TO her big bright eyes. She looked like
one struck with death herself. but she didnt
die. She saw her husband decently buried
and then came back TO help take care of us
She was made of the right kind OF stun and
was as brave a soldier as there among us-
but the best medicine she measured out Was
when she sat down and sang TO us the tunes Nc
al learned at our mothers side"
THE BRIGHT FACES OF WOMEN.
The veteran was right, too. The bright faces
Of the women nurses and their tuneful voices
were worth drug store of doctors stuff. TIE
boys in the hospitals didn't care a great deal
for war songs. They were heartsick. and
heart hungry for home faces, home voices and
home care. The women reminded them Of
sweethearts, wives and mothers, aud the i'm
preston was deepened when they sang the old
hymns and household songs.
The wounded men and those racked With
various other ailments we're like little children
They cried at trifes. They wanted women
about They wanted to be sung 10 sleep aud
kissed on awaking.
''They liked the old familiar cir,
Sweet as the bugle call.
All hail the power Of Jesus nams.
Let angels PROSTATE fall"
They slept easier for saying the childisb
prayer-'Now lay me down TO sleep"
"And up from many a boarded lip,
In whispers soft and low.
Arose the prayer the mother taught
The boy long years ago"
One OF the songs mos. sung in hospital wards
was Home, Sweet Home" and the tender
sentiment tooA on yet deeper psthos amidst
such fearful surroundings. Many q poor
his nurse sang
''Jesus. lover OF my soni.
Let me TO Thy bosom fly,
While the pillows near me roll.
While the tempest still 10 high
Hide mo, % my Savior. hide.
I'LL the storm of life be past
Safe into the haven guide,
. receive my soul nj last"
And surely in the fight he fought the Rock
faith in his mothers God, proved sale anchor
age for him.
THE ARMY NURSE.
II the brave lads, now grown gray aud grim.
who brayed the battles perils and lived
through months OF hospital experience could
have their way about it. every woman who ever
set foot inside the hospital doors with . view
to com Fortiag and administering to the sick
would be canonizcd today. There isn't saint
in the list who would stand a ghost Of . show
beside an army nurse"
The cleanest, purest memories or some sol
diers' lives cluster around the gentle women
who went among them to heal and help. aud
not the least of the accomplishments Of most
OF them the ability 10 sing. Not the friyo-
lous trills and runs of opera the maudliu
melodies of the comic stage, but the songs OF
home and mother, so rich IN sentiment 90
touching in expression, SO altogether comfort
ing.
Zone time" said an old veteran who lost
leg at Resaca, Il was in the hospital for tine
second time. Ny leg was taken OF below the
knee at INST. and got out with It, but II gos
bad and had to come OF above the knee CAP
was blue and ashesrtened. / was but twenty
one, an only child with my mother depending
on me, and couldn't bear 10 think what the
future held for me. That day I woke from
stupor 10 hear some one singing;
hest connts ~ W sohb eue
dreary;
The day mus. dawn and dArksome night b
past;
All Journeys end in welcome to the weary.
And heaven, the hearts true home. viii come
ut last
81 lay there with my eyes shut. too weak 10
even raise up and see who the woman was. Her
voice was soft and round and clear. and fell on
my heart ike balm- She stopped for minute
to catch her breath. ard then through the long
ward. with its suffering inmates and horrible
sights and smells, came stealing
"'From every stormy wind that blowA
From every swelling tide OF woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat
forgot Resaca and the rebellion The years
slipped away from me. and for Q few brief
minutes was little lad again in. the old red
church in the edge of the woods. where, on
drowsy summer sundays, nscd 10 lean against
mothers shoulder aud listen, half asleep. -
her musical voice Joined with the imprompsa
choir in singing;
There is q spot where spirits blend
Where friend holds fellowship with friend,
Though sundered far by faith they meet
Around one common mercy sest'
Out under the cool shade Of the trees eouM
see again the cattle laziy chewing their cud,
and even heard the bee droning his song Close
to my ear as be tried to sip honey from tbs
rose in mothers hair. Then the song ccascd
and went back to hell again. l tell you av0'