The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-19
TALES OF BRAVE WOMEN.
AMERICAN HISTORY HAS MANY a
RECORD OF THEIR DEEDS.

AheN turnIShed supplies ana GnNe
Warning and Fought, Too-Pn-
triOtism of Their Daughters Now.
From the New York Sun.
American women are showing, in every
| way possible, their patriotism and pluck;
| and. while a great deal Of the enthusiasm
| finds vent in belts and hat bands. those
women who have been called upon Cor
! graver proof of their loyalty have in
most cases given it unhesitatingly. It
| takes more courage for mother to send
! her son to the front than for the son TO
! go, and the wives and sweethearts of The
men who are with the fleet in Cuban wa
! tiers are having a worse time than the sail
ors, who are wild with excitement and
! longing to follow Dewey and Hobson and
make bit of history for themselves.
But American women have never been
found lacking in patriotism, bravery and
capacity for self-sacrhce Very few Of
them have been celebrated, but scattered
throughout our history from colonial times
down to to-day there are records Of brave
| deeds that show the American spirit of
| bravery and independence to belong as
much to the women as to the men.
Every one knows something of the
sturdy courage and endurance of the wo-
men of our pioneer settlements. They faced
death, day by day, and all records Of the
time bear witness to their bravery. There
were plenty of women like the one who,
having been left in charge of the farm
during her husbands absence, repulsed an
Indian attack, and then wrote to her nus
band:
Dear John: The Apaches attacked the
! house and l shot six of them, The others
went away Don't treble to come home,
but send some more ammunition
Your Loving Wife"
| When the Revolutionary times came, the
| women were no whit behind the men in
their patriotism. 1t is a pity that the re-
cord of their noble lives is not more com
| Dleta. One of the most interesting OF the
| jubilee year exhibits in England was "o-
! mans roll of honor, compiled by Donald
| Mackenzie and giving the names OF all
! English women of the Victorian era VINO
! have made themselves famous by deeds OF
moral or physical courage. such roll OF
| honor for American women would pc
! thrilling chapter OF American hlstokty
but it would necessarily be incomplete, Tor
of many interesting figures we have only
| tantalizing fragmentary records.
From memoirs diaries, and old letters
enough comes down to us to give US an
| idea Of the tone Of the women of the reVo-
hutton. ana the mothers stand out as ne
! roicallv as any Spartan woman. 4 MIS-
| Martin voiced the general feeling when
british officer asked her whether she had
a son.
Il have seven"
''Where are theZ?'
Fighting for their country"
| "All of them|
The officer snecred 'well, you sent
Mrs. Martin looked him squarely in the
face. 81 wish j. had fifty sons TO send
| against you"
such instances pile up before the search
| ar. and there were mothers Drawer still
one of them sent an only son to the siege
| Of Augusta A British soldier, full of ha-
tired for the rebels, rode out OF his way al
| ter The battle to ten the woman OF her
sons death. She met him at the door, and
without a word of warning, he brutally an
nounced:
you had a son. saw his brains blown
! out at Augusta
The mothers form grew rigid but she
said proudly
lie could not have died in a nobler
| cause"
There are mothers in the land to-day as
| brave as she, if a cause like hers should
| call; and, even when the cause IS the lib
erty of another race. the mothers have
| been brave and stopped their tears. Wo-
mems work was needed more in the old
! DAYS than It is in this time of government
supplies and wel-tilled treasury, and
wherever women were needed, there they
| were found. Mrs Draper of Dedham,
| Mass, sent her husband and her l6-year-
| old son toThe army. Then she called in her
| neighbors and began baking bread and pies
| which she kept on 4 long table before her
| gate for the refreshment of all hungry
| American soldiers who passed that way
| After Bunker Hill, when the scarcity of
| ammunition induced Washington to call for
| all available pewter and lead, the same
Mrs. Draper came to the front again. Pew
| ter was dear to the heart of the New Eng
| land housekoeper, and she had one of the
| finest collections in New England; but
! without a moments hesitation she melted
it down, and, not content with furnishing
| the material, she obtained a mould and
made the pewter into bullets, which she
! forwarded to the army. Then a new want
| arose. The men were insufllciehtly clothed
| The interchangeable Mrs. Draper had piles of
| domestic cloth stored away for family
| use. She made 1t into soldiers coats. Her
| splendid stock OF sheets and blankets was
transformed into shirts. and even her own
flannel clothing was altered 10 mems gar
ments.
| She was only one woman among thou
! sands like her. The famous Mrs Motto
| who had given signal evidence of patriot
| ism, was at one time obliged TO leave her
| handsome nome which fell into British
| hands. Mrs. Motto took up her residence
| in a farm house back Of the American
| lines. The American commander became
convinced that the only way of routing
| The British was by destroying the Motto
| house. but he hestated to mention this
| to the patriotic woman. When he did
! pluck up courage to do so, ne was re-
! lieved of all embarrassment Although the
| place was dear to her, and was almost her
only property, she assured the commander
| that il was altogether at his service, fur
| nished him the bow and arrows by which
| combustbles were to be carried to the
roof, and stood beside him, with no Sign
| of regret, while her home and fortune
| burned to ashes.
| Not all of the revolutionary women had
great sacrifices TO make, but they did what
they could; and so many Of the girls
| pledged themselves never to accept the at
tention of young men who refused to fight
! for the country that there was really no
merit in a young mans going to the front
! lie was between devil and deep sea, and to
| stay at home would have been harder than