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

STATE an unruth. 1hey are full OF Il, ana
given the occasion TO call i; forth can display
more sentiment to the square inch than any
woman who ever lived. couple OF old sol
diers. for instance, with only pair OF feet or
hands between them viii reel of sentiment BY
the yard for hours at a stretch. How they
marched together here and bivouacked there,
fed together on acorns at Chickamauga and
starved together in Millen; and then they'll
sing:
There arc bonds Of all sorts In this world Of
ours,
Fet;ers of friendship and ties Of flowers
And true lovers knots, / weeu;
The boy aud The girl are bound py kiss,
But there's never a bond, old friend, like this,
We have drunk from the same canteen.
We have shared our blankets and tents TO-
gether
And marched and fought in all kinds Of
weather.
And hungry and full we've been.
Had days of battle and days Of rest,
But this memory cling to and love the best
We have drunk from the same canteen."
There never was a woman on earth who
treasured battered old tin cup because her
particular chum had helped her to drain it or
who ever recalled the memory with greater
pleasure than any one of the thousands Of
other incidents of her life. These old veterans
have packages of letters tied with the yellow
ribbons that came around Uncle Sans"
cigars. Letters penned by hands they never
SO much saw. let alone pressed, written to a
soldier lad" and filled with girlish exuber-
ance. And they have old sabers and faded
4 .l.t--
straps. Among those old traps will often be
found housewife" its tiny pockets filed
with needles. thread, pins, buttons and an old
thimbe.
HOW IT MAKES THEM TALE.
How the sight of that little bag sets that old
fellows tongue to flying. II you just have
time to listen 30 him he will give you the
whole history of the war. and it will all center
aroGnd that little comforting" lie was in
the hospital waiting for has stump of leg to
heal when i: came to him among the stores OF
the sanitary commission. There was letter
in it, and he will tell you. word for wo-d. every
line that was in that letter, and then he will
maunder on for a whole hal: day on the women
who visited the hospital, what they said, what
they did and how they sang.
Their singing" exclaimed a veteran recent
". as he related his army and hospital expert
ence. Their singing was heavenly. ] remem-
Der one little woman who used TO sing this, and
he lifted up his CRACKED voice and sang
reverently:
abide with me: fast falls the eventide,
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail, and comforts dee,
help of the helpless, . abide with me.
swift 10 its close GIBBS out iifes little day;
Earih's joys grow dina. its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around see:
Thou who chanscst not, abide with me-"
His teeth were gone and he mumbled dread
fully, and he couldn't have been much of a
singer at any period of his life, but one forgot
that in the earnesi:ess of his manner and The
tender grace OF "a dav that Is cead' that filed
his eyes as he wandered back in the track of
the past set thick with white stones of
memory where comrades had dropped from
his SIDE to
'Rest where they wearied,
And lie where they fell"
at WIS at Fair Oaks that got this scar" he
said. touching his dIsfSurea face Il never
was very pretty, but that saber slash spoiled nv
beauty for life. White L was in the hospital
for repairs the wife of cur colonel came down
TO nurse him.. He was wounded through the
chest IN the same battle. 1t was sad enough.
to see her there. She a bride of a few
months when her husband was sent to the
front. and now he was dying. The hospital was
plumb full OF dead and wounded and dying men,
The accommodations were bad, and the poor
fellows were dying OF neglect much a. any
thing else.
THE Colonies WIFE
''The colonies wife came in there like ray
of sunshine. Her husband was OF his head
and imagined he a child again, and kept
teasing his wife to sing, but Lord, she couldn't
raise a note at first, her heart was SO full. But
the colonel fretteA and young fellow in the
next cot cried because he wanted to hear his
mother sing, 30 she tried il. Remember il as
though it was yesterday. We hadn't seen
many women down there, and you don't know
how hungry a mans heart gets for the sight Of
a woman's face, the sound of a woman's voice.
Well, sire sat on an old cracker box beside the
coloners cot and, holding his hand sang:
Backward, turn backward, o time, in your
flight,
Make me child again Just for tonight
Mother, come back from the echoless shores
lake me again to your heart as OF yore.
Press from my forehead the burrows Of care,
Smoothe the few silver threads out OF my hair
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep,
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me 10 Sleep
'.She sang it all, every word Her voice
Ussa to srSe an. DS e,
trembled little. "The hospital was q great
big barn Of a room, dingy and dirty, with hun
dreds Of cots along the sides and down the
center. and men just tumbling around every
where waiting to be sliced mp some we're
grooming, others crying, and lot Of them ours
ing Ike mad Poor fellows, they didn't know
what they were doing or saying, they we're %
crazy with pain.
when the colonies wife began TO sing her
quavering notes could hardly be heard ten feet
but little by little the boys began 10 listen.
Sing, said the colonel when her voice died
| away. His eyes were shut and she saw that
the knots on his forehead had smoothed out
She noticed. too, that her voice had soothing
effect upon the others. SO she sang again, the
first thing that came into her mind
''Juss - I am. without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for ne,
And that Thou bidd'st me- como 70 TAoa,
o Lamb Of God, come. coma"
"And away down the room SEINE fsllow Nth .
splendid toner voice 1otneoin. A. - -
= Ill ~