The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-06-05

still be a member; but, alas for me
or for them-they raised the ices, anu
/, not having had much fun in peace
for nothing concluded there would be
even less in paying for 1t. Aou See
there was Il little trouble about me When
| made my original bow into the Worla:
/ came lust at the end of the war, and
my maternal parent has Iashlon OF
referring to me as "a peace child, which
means that l was deprived of all pleas
ure as far as fighting was concerned,
and that / never knew the delights, ex-
cept by hearsay, of being as defiant and
bitter and as altogether war-like as only
a woman can be. 1t is hard not to have
been born either in 1872 or 1860.
In days gone by l have listened to war
stories from men and women who We're
some black, some white. The one who
told the most interesting story gained
my ear, color having no influence. Then,
too. | possess a hand organ that plays
maryland, My Maryland" Dixie" and
THE Bonnie Blue Flag" and whenever
l have felt weakening toward the
land we live in l have literally ground
myself into a noble state of patriotic
feeling. But now-now / hang out of
a window in my dressing gown and
wildly cheer at regiments that have
gone to seek victory or-no, there is no
s1or'' about it. They have gone to seek
victory, and they mean to have it. We
mayn't have the clear hidalgo blood
in us. but we have got such a splendid
mixture of good fighting material, coming
in IA direct line from the Kings of Ire
land, the fine middle class of EnglSnd
and the big, strong, determined Ger
mans, all of whom make native Ameri-
cans, that | do believe, with Sousa lead
ing the band, we could lick any nation
except-well, now. / won't except Eng
land, because she is SO fond of us just
now that rather than see us in trouble
she would step forward with Tommy
Atkins and all her wonderful ships by
her side, and we would have an Anglo
American alliance that would own the
earth and the fullness thereof.
When women are patriotic they are
intensely so. There is nothing in the
way of a middle course about them.
Just now they are wearing red, white
and blue bells, red, white and blue rib
hons on their hats, and | have heard
whisper it gently,-that one fearless |
creature wears 4 red white and blue gar
ter, with d "dadgerN stuck through it |
in such n way that more harm can
come to her and less. / think, to the
Spanish spy for whom it is intended |
since III "a moment of excitement aud |
considering the difficulty of raising "A
ruffled skirt she mistake the handle for
the point. Another girl who loved her
country with all her heart endured |
agones of pain for which mustard |
plaster was of no use, and she suffered |
and was strong rather than have Spanish |
flies put on her, and so it goes. In |
fashionable restaurants Spanish mack |
erel are never eaten, while in all of the |
10 tho II on
tirely omitted.
But, TESTING aside, hasn't it been love
ly to see how the North and the South
have met together and how appreciative
the men in power have been of our
splendid Southern fighters Why, when
the bograph shows a picture of Fitz-
hugh Lee and the orchestra plays
Dixie women bang their umbrellas on
the floor because that makes more noise
than clapping, small boys yell ''Hurrahn'
and the men-why, the men join in the |
song and applaud the distinguished gen
tleman who may occupy any position
that the United States can give him, |
provided he wishes it. The Lees are
gentlemen, and it takes a gentleman to |
be fighter, even if he is only gentle |
man of one generation and cannot write |
his own name. But how sturdy the |
Lees have beenl They fought for the |
colonies III the war of independence, they |
fought for what they believed was right |
in the civil war; and now their great rep |
resentative offers his hand to fight with |
and 10 greet his brave bothers whether
they come from Maine, Oregon, New
York or Texas.
But to return to the present war Did
the Spaniard ever attract You? To me
he always seemed like colored icing on
10 II ftx-n I,,,&l
everybody breaks it off before eating a
bit of the cake. They have always
been traitors and always brutes. Tend
erness in n Spaniard is an unknown
quantity. At ordinary times he is rated
as II beast. in war he is coward, and
when you think how he treats women
and children what name is bad enough
for him? The war to-day brings back
to me all the stories that have been told
me Of that last war, when brother
fought against brother and friends be-
came enemies. In Baltimore. as all the
world knows there was a great deal of
strong feeling. but as the city was al
ways held by the army in power some
very funny and some very sad stories
are told. The funniest | have heard was
about a young woman whose sweetheart
was in the southern army. She hung
which frontcd on the street. what seem
ed to be black flag, and a black flag.
as you know, means sedition In n very
few minutes a company of soldiers came
TO the house. rang the bell and asked
for her mother Her mother knew moth
ing about it. The girl was brought
down, looking AZ innocent as Il baby.
and when she was informed that she
was to be arrested for daring to do such
thing. for daring to defy the authori-
ties. she began TO laugh and said:
why, captain. that is not Il black flag!
That is only my grandmother's shawl
pinned on Il broomstick and hung out to
air." The captain, being human, hid
his twitchng lips behind his hand and
then advised her that i'll the. future when
her grandmother's black shawl needed
airing it would be best to hang it on a
clothes line in the back yard. And
4I,a al ~ bo