The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-03
In All Nations Wives and Mothers
Maintain the Martial Spirit.


abolish war;" said great general once
TO a peace enthusiast Before you can do
that you must reconstruct the woman"
And he was right. 1t is the contempt Of
the woman for the coward, her preference
for the smart, well-set soldier rather than
the sleek civilian, which leads. and always
will lead. thousands of men to confront
death w battle.
Napoleon fell only when the wives and
mothers of France had turned against
him. So long as they thought he was
fighting for France alone they freely gave
their own and not iii they rea lied that
he was fighting endless wars for his own
ambitious purposes did they revolt agains
these perpetual sacrifices. Woman is nj
ways patient and ready TO bear suffering
tears and broken heart are TOO often
her lot in such times as were these. But
she will not give forever for anothers
purely selfish aims,
In the American Civil War women play
ed a great part-espeCiaily the Southern
women. They more tIan any enc com
PEELED every able-bodied man in the South
to go into ihe line of battle. They froWne /
on every laggard and loved the rags the
Confederate soldiers wore. God bless
those Virginia women" said a Confader
ate general; they're worth a regiment
that could he used for rations," said one
great lady at the time when Lees roops
were starving. She kept her word, and
died Of her self-enforced priVations. There
was-perhaps there is stil'-at Washington
a strange and sad collection OF lie te s
taken from dead soldiers on both SIDES ami
never claimed. In these m9thers and wives
everywhere preach devotion and stimulate
20 noble deeds.
IN the Franco-German War the German
women showed the same spirit-the same
self-denial. They met the awful lists OF
casualties at Worth at Mars-la-Tour at
Gravelotte. at Sedan. with heroic foriituda
and calm.
IN many past wars women have taken
on actual part in the fighting. Az Feters-
burg in the Civil War, a bevy of South
ern sirls stood under fire and sang Ser
nard Taylnrs Song Of TIE Camp" to
cheer the Southern troops. Girls acted a
saides to scouting parties on the most
dangerous errands in this war.
Under Marlborough The famous Christi
ma Ross served a DRAGON n many ac-
Iions. was twice wounded. and ended
Cbeigea out-pensioner Al the Nj G the wo-
men in the British Rector mems wives
were then carried by custom of the SER
vice-actuay went 10 the guns or helDel
with the powder division Many were
wounded, and It is a fact that the Sui an
sent a special present Of money The SAM
thing happened at Trafalgar. and proba-
bly, in every great battle which about
that time our ships fought at sea.
In the French invasion Of Spain the
Spanish women. especially distinguished
themselves by their furious and relontl IS
hostility to al things French; AZ Saragos-
sa and Corona they stood beside the men
upon the ramparts or loaded muslSets for
them, and woe betide the wounded French
man who fell into their hands,
Tn, he -
more than one occasion where women took
share in the fighting. In the hand-to-
hand conflict which surged around Ba-
zeilles during the battle Of Sedan the Ba-
varians were maddened by the conduct Of
the women of the village. who fired re-
peatedly from the houses at them and ill
treated the wounded One old woman
who was seen dragging an injure6 Rava-
fian toward a blazing house, was shot ia
the sight of all. aud 81 is an unquestiona-
bic fact that many of the gentler sex per-
iShed in the combat. Official German ac-
counts spoke of the "fanatical and saw
age participation Of the inhabitants in the
fight itself" and Zola, in his great "Pe-
bacle,' has given us a true and terrible
picture of their deeds.
In the Boer struggles OF the past with
the Kaffirs the Boer women have always
helped. when present in lager by loading
muskets or rifles for the men; sometinoes
J.
tied with having attacked our lancers aft
er the battle of Graspan. They inquest on
ably disliked English women because thew
were jealous of the English ladys greater
charm and refinement, and in their jeal-
ousy have done much 10 stir up their hus-
bands to fight. The Boer women sent their
men to the front with passionate exhorta-
tons 20 kill the "rooibatjes'
On the other side IL is now known that
a woman. Mrs. Philips. by ceaseless ex-
hortation stirred her husband 10 lead the
reform movement i'm the ante-beilum DAYS
of the Transvaal, and the part of lady
journalist i'm bringing about the disastrous
Jameson raid Is familiar to all
The women Of Ladysmith TIE nuns Of
Mafeking, are at this hour doing what
their ancestresses did at Lucknow and
Cawnpore, facing danger and death as
bravely and as cheerfully as the Bri ish
colder.