The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-08-29
NUMBER q AND
THE PUMPKIN PIE
rom the Chicago Times-Herald.

From the Chicago Times-Herald
The recent death of the venerable and
beloved Mrs. James W. Harris, of co,um-
bus, Miss, recalls am amusing yet pa
thetlc hospital experience of that lady's
The women of Columbus. when the ne
cessity arose, organized a Soldiers Re-
lief association. of which Mrs. Harris
was president. This association charged
itself with the duty of ininistering to the
wants of confederate soldiers as far as
lay in its power. and of nursing the sick
and wounded.
Medicine by reason of the blockade,
was hard to get and exerbftantly high
and qninin= had been declared CONTRA
band of war. In every storeroom there
had been religiously boarded small stores
of tea, coffee and sugar, against that
possible evil day when some mambsr of
the family might b. taken sick, but when
the sick and wounded soldiers began to
come in these precious stores WIRE dis
tributed among them. Daily the ladies'
went to the hospital with hampsrs of
delicately prepared food, with which the
MEN wsre nourished under the direction
of the surgeon in charge. One day Mrs.
Harris making her usual round, leaving
cheer ard comfort in her wake, stopped
to chat with one of her boys who was
then oonyalescent. Just as she turn=d
20 leave her eyes fell upon the occupant
of bed which had been empty the pre-
vious evsning.
when did he come in and who is he?"
she asked.
"Soma poor devil of a yankee our boys
took prisoner. He was brought in with
a lot of our men last night. H. has ty-
phoid fever, they say, and Is pretty bad
off. I believe"
For a. moment a wave of repulsion, of
hate almost, swept over her, but she
was of an exceedingly gentle. sympa-
fhetic nature, and she had three young
sons in the army-what if they, TOO,
should fall into like plight?
She stepped to his bedside and beheld
long, lean, gawky youth of mot mors
than 10, burning with fever and tossing
in delrum. Mother, mother, where are
your" was his incessant and piteous cry
Her eyes filled with tears at the sight
of the young f=llow who but a few mo-
nentts ago had been the enemy" but
was now become one of her boys" to be
terderly nurscd. She sought the sur
geon, a good man, but harass:d from
overwork and inadequate means for the
perfect discharge of the work he had
undertaken.
Doctor, what is the matter with No.
ZIP"
mo. 81 has typhoid fever, madame"
h replied. 1T is almost a hopeless
case
rs there nothing to be done for him,
then?"
VERY little, fear. BY the help of
stimulants and nourishing food we might
pull him through, but as you are aware
we have none to spare. Our own MN
will soon be without" and he sighed
deeply. ''But 1t will be only one Yankee
taia less Struggling his shoulders.
Doctor, I'm going to take that poor
boy in my own special charge, and as
long as there is any. food or medicine
left he shall have his share of It, And
I know you well enough doctor, to feel
sure that you will expend on that yam
kee boy of mln= as much care and skill
as If he were one of my own double
dyd rebel sons
The next day, and the next, and for
many more long, weary days after Mrs.
Harris and the doctor tendsd and nursed
The prisoner boy from Maine. But he
grew steadily worse. His constant cry
had been for his mother, but after awhile
he came to believ+ that Mrs. Harris was
his mother, and as long as she was near
him he was quiet The days heightened
into weeks, and at last the fever burned
Inf oil no I,o
consumed the vitality of its victim. Mrs.
Harris hardly needed to ask the doctor
his opinion of his patient-death was
written large on that wan face.
"Is there any chance for him?" she
asked huskly.
None whatever. In my opinion, mad
anne"
She stopped down and kissed the sick
mans brow, then, sad and fearful, left
him to try to lose herself in a round of
duties.
The next day, upon her return to the
hospital she was astonished to hear that
her patient was still alive. She hasten
ed to him and found him conscious.
"My son." she said, bending over him,
sis There anything more can do for you?
Is there anything at all you fancy?"
He was too weak to speak aloud, but
she fancied She caught his family Wis
pered answer-"Pumpkin pie"
Thinking she must be mistaken. she
repeated her question.
Pumpkin pie" was thu feeble reply.
She was mortified. my dear child, st
will kill you. Isn't there something else
that viii do just as well?"
Pumpkin pie" he whispered. and the
effort exhausted him utterly.
She sought the surg con. Doctor. you
say there is no possible chance for No.
27?"
"None whatever. madame. He will be
dead in twenty-four hours
''Then. doctor. No. 81 shall have his last
wish I'm going home this very minute
and make that pumpkin pie myself"
The next morning when Mrs. Harris
entered the hospital it was with a heavy
heart. OF course No. q was dead.
Good mUrning. doctor. How are the
sick?"