Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-03-29
SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS.
BY "NEMO."
tCopyrighted by DAVE 4 Tabor.

SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS.
BY MEMO
Copyrighted by DAVE 4 Tabor.
As to War ar:-Tender-hea women,
who face death to give life, l call on you
by the memory Of your own pangs to sti
down and think Of war rs It is. See
yonder regiment behind fence, crouch
Ing out of the range Of bullets that
already begin their deadly work. Now
at the word Of command the men are on
their feet; n moment later they are out
beyond all protection, and away they 60
across the cruel zone Of death, some pal
lid with the prescience Of the end, some
laughing from hysteris. Stumbling,
shouting. cursing, they sweep forward,
thinning as they 90. With groans that
are unheeded 10 the noise, many OF them
drop In their trscks, their bones shstter-
ed, their vitals pierced. A few are bless
edly relieved from pain at once, Others
linger for the cruel kindness Of the
surgeon and the long death 10 the crowd
ed hospital. Imagine that out there on
that bloody field is your son, mangled
mass OF flesh and blood. What can !, ou
utter OF rejoicing when his regiment
msrches home again lacking the Que IN an
In it that made It something In very deed
more than mere numeral 70 you!
-
Look out again with dry, Mortified
eyes at the resping place OF Desth
1t is trodden back and forth by friend
and foe; and st every msneuvre that
son IL being ground more and more out
Of sll recognition "a the bright-eyed,
bonuy babe that knesded your breasts
with his chubby fists. He cannot move
towards you; you cannot hy to him.
There IL n great hollow aching within.
Night nov falls and there he still lies !;
sight gone, comeliness gone, life gone,
with none 10 cover his horrors from the
cold glitter OF the stars and none TO
drive from him the ghouls who make
sport Of life by robbing the dead. With
shudder you think OF the chill. en-
shrouding mist and the gloom Of that
dreadful night. With deeper shudder
you think OF the heat and fostering OF
the pitiless sun as II rises to summon TO
their vile duty the buxzard aud the
vulture. What Of thrill Is left for you
when the triumph comes and the blind
populace who have not suffered, think
only OF the living but have no feeling
for your dead: In every corpse lying
there is a tragedy deep as yours. This
Is the sane view TO take OF this harvest,
| whose glesnlngs are sorrows and whose
stubble pierces 10 the quick. Loving
and long suffering mothers Of men, II is
you who most suffer when red war makes
its demands. IL is you who have the
dread waiting to do; the living death Of
anxious uncertainty TO face. Your sigh
ing should be louder In the public ear
than all the clamor and boastful mouth
iugs of hot-headed men. Let your plslnt
be this: III war must be, let IL be one
Of Justice, or our great sacrifice will be
hard indeed ~
And this is one further dread feature
OF WAT: = feature that makes II more
dreadful and more heinous: On opposing
sides the men-children Of the yesrning
bowels OF bereft mothers fight not be-
cause they have any feeling Of individual
enmity. They have In fact no knowledge
Of one another; they have no words Of
anger TO rouse the blood to boiling point !;
they never met before, until the sharp
cali Of the officers brought them face to
face. Yet there they are aiming, firing,
manning, killing In 4 perfect frenzy Of
subordinsted will. Beyond all this, they
grow so wild with the horrible gloating
and glut Of bloodshed that death alone is
not enough for the dead enemy, but he
needs must be outraged, insulted, mock
ed when he is dead. Yet all this Is
spoken of as glory; Il Is made go by
drawing cloak over Its horror; and BY
being needless Of the dead and heedful
only Of the survivors. Ii Is the theme
Of the descriptive writer, q source Of
profit TO the contractors, and summons
TO insensate rejoicing on the part of all
those human parasites who will gladly
reap from others sorrows where they
themselves have neither sown nor known
Of sorrow or OF loss.
-
You men who at every corner talk Of
war; who feel utterly capable OF the
successful conduct Of 4 campaign; but
vet have not even the remotest intention
Of moving away from your cosy fire
sides, examine yourselves and purge
yourselves from confusion Of thought.
Many Of you will rej)ice II war Is de-
clared. You will read with avidity news
about your fellows going TO their death,
and then in the fuctusting values Of the
stock markets, you will see chances 70
make money out Of misery, and straight
way 20 and do It. You will pile up
wealth while somebody's son gives up
life to leave you undisturbed In scrsping
profits out Of cowsrdly quiet. But II
you who foment the war feeling by quiet
chatting, are worthy Of blame, what
shall be said Of our New York purvey0rs
of news-rsther, perverters Of news
who deliberately confuse the public
mind with padded cablegrams, deceptive
headlines and falsified news.
IL IL we'll to think twice before speak
ing once in favor Of slaughter. The
second thought will show that where
there Is no intention, no ability, no flt-
ness for combat 1t is essentially self n
to urge IL when others shall bear its
burdens, leaving TO the home-stsyers