Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-06-02
w0MAN's PART IN THE WAR.
LOIS o. work For Her Besides Nursing in the
Field,

THOSE women who volunteer and ora
accepted as army nurses for tho u.r
needn't think that they have q n,,o,,
| Oily OF patriotism so far as their soy
- eoiieei'ieu. The woman who stays
al nome can do just as much to holm
Que 'iie soldiers in the field and to aid
.he government as the woman who
races shot and Shell to care for the
wounded.
Two women and a girl were discuss
ms TINS question recently No woman
VINO Is half a woman fails to think ar
LAX war nowadays. One of the trio
was Northern woman, keen-eyed
rosy checked and white haired: one
Southerner. with dark eyes. a
sWarthy skin and that sad expression
| winch the women of the South who
iiNed through the Civil war have never
pcen able to drive from their faces.
ne Slrl-Well, she was a girl born in
| the south and educated in the North.
ana 1t was she who started all the talk.
1t makes me furious to think that 7
cannot fight for my country" she ex-
claimed, with all the enthusiasm of
even accept my application to go into
inc heid as a nurse because they said
l was too young. My heart Just aches
| 10 lnlnk that L have to stay at home
and do nothing, and | know millions of
American women feel exactly as l do.
But you don't have to stay at home
and do nothing said the Northern
woman You can stay at home and
do something. Woman at home has
| much TO do in case of war There is
no limit to what she can do to help
out the soldiers in the field and to aid
the government. Think what the
northern women did in the Civil War"
Yes, and l can say a word or two
about what we southern women did,
too put in she of the sad eyes.
Why, what did you do?" asked the
| girl. looking from one to the other.
| The Northerner was the first to
speak The biggest thing we did" she
| began, was to raise fifty millions of
| dollars. One of our generals told me
that it was his firm belief that this
particular money did as much as any
| thing else to bring victory to the Union
army. Why? Because it was largely
| tulHtu pNtl 10 me sanitary 1DllftllS-
sion and used to feed and make the
| Northern army comfortable. and of
course this kept it in good fighting
| TRIM"
But how could the women raise all
this money!" asked the girl.
oh. every one of them made per
sonal sacrifices. selling jewels. cloth
| i,lo- and silxar.\y~,r re- and thav a. L<nl fnr
subscriptions. had fairs and entertain
ments of all kinds. Thousands upon
thousands of dollars were Melted at
big fair in Chicago. That isn't all
| that we did. Women everywhere
throughout the North, women Old and
young. and even tiny girls, made lint
and bandages and havelocks 10y the
soldiers. HaNelocls? They We're like
! bonucts, made Of thin white cloth and
having a frll that came down over the
neck, which our soldiers wore TO pro-
tect them from the Southern sun. We
made slippers and blankets, and in
fact everything we could think of TO
render the Union soldiers more COM
! forta bic And then We put up uuanti-
ties Of preserves and jellies and deli
cacies Of one kind or another. In
those days most people used linen
sheets, and these were sacrificed for
bandages
And what did the women in the
South dor asked the girl, turning TO
the other woman.
Il should think you'd know if you d
| ever listened to your mothers talk
about the war" she answered, but |
suppose you are like the average young
person Of your generation. All talk of
the war bored you until this one came
upon us. and now. when you aren dis
cussing one war, you are eager to hear
about the other. The people of the
South. you remember. were fighting
against the government; 50 of course
we had to raise and equip cur own
army. That took all the money we
had. for we were never rich in money
down that way, and 1t was Impossible
for the women to help the soldiers IN
| the field of the Confederate govern
npnt in that way. But my! HOW we
did help them in other ways. In the
first place, the women of the south
assumed entire charge of their nus
hands affairs at home. No Southern
man STAYED at homo from the war un-
I4Ss; he was too old, too young, or an
invalid. without bringing disgrace
upon himself To this day in the South
about the mcancst thing that can De
said of a man who ought to nave heeh
a soldier is. He sent substitute u
the war But as | was saying inc
women did a great deal. we WoNt
and made the uniforms for many OF
our soldiers; we knitted warm SOCKS
l for them. we sent them what dellca-
cics he had when occasions Oh Gu
! which were rare, indeed, almost as rare
as the delicacies were to be had'
lived on (hog and homny) myself lol
three wears. and that gives you al
idea of how little there was TO sehu u
tho soldiers We, too, dld what W.T.
could to get upmcdicines and bandages
fer o1,r wounded The principal thlhs
= that Southern women dld was 10 heci