New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-27
They Furnish the Life
Which Is Destroyed
on the Field of
Battle.
Nv WALTER S. HIATT.

have q large voice in future DECLARATIONS VI "a''
The war in Europe staggers ths imagination oy
its cost in money and in the lives Of men lost
The man who marches forth to tight and VINO
loses his life on the battlefield is commonly
spoken OF as having made supreme saerinee'
Tho critics Of the woman movement many times
since this war began have said TO the women :;
"well, anyway you stay safely at home you
don't have to fight"
Let us see whether it is the man or the woman
who suffers most from war Is it the man VINO
goes to war or the woman who stays at nome
In "War and Waste" David Starr Jordan says;
ave must value the nations by the kind oil Ire
lived by the generations that come and go unno-
ticed in the pages Of unromantc history
Ia MERE AMY, LIKE THE STONE WALL,
STARK AND SHATTERED.
know stone wall, stark and shattered, that
stands by a babbling brook in pleasant valley
The valley is called the Bevre, and the brook
that runs through it is also called the Bievre.
Both are in France, to the south Of Paris The
humble home of washerwoman stands beside
that brook To-day that woman is old. Her sight
IS dimming Her hands are hard and twisted In
earning 40 cents day she has literally worn off
her finger ends. That woman is a physical coun-
|
in the Franco-Prussian War Of 1870. La Mere
,Motber) Amy she is called. She is but peasant
womal She does not know how much she is like
that shattered wall Yet she knows we'll the his
tory of that wall 1t reflects the story OF her
DAYS Il was against this wall that her young
husband was stood up and shot before her eyes
NV the Germans in 1870 He accused of being
a franc tireur, Of having fired at the enemy with
ont himself being a soldier. He thought he was
merely protecting his home, his wife and children
No doubt the Prussans quite right to shoot
him. accord ng to the rules Of war,
But which. think you. suffered most by that
war? The man met death quickly; the VIE mas
been meeting living death every day for forty
five wears. The brunt Of the war fell upon her
All the sacrifices have been hers By her toll TO
keen the wolf from the door, to feed her chill
drep to bring them up even to the level Of pow
ertv. she has paid war debt greater than that
Of nations Her daughters have gone unmarried
because of the lack of the dowry that the father
would have furnished. Her three sons have mar
,ied poorly. too. for the same reason. They have
not prospered because they were robbed OF their
fathers help. To-day. in this war the three sons
Of this mother are fighting under the flag or sleep
ing under the blood-soaked sod.
THE HISlORl Of LA 'LENL MI - $500
HISTORY OF THOUSANDS,
The history Of this woman, Of this family has
been duplicated in thousands of homes of every
land since the first war The Civil War records
here are replete with such examples. Since TINS
great war in Europe began possibly a million
homes have been so affected The women Of Con
tinental Europe, Of France and Germany and
Austria. have lived for years in the dread OF the
war to come They have told me so. They know
what il means to them. "The great war-when
will it Gomez" This is the question they have
asked in France and Germany every few months
for the last thirty years Each time the war talk
has been current they have said: We'll 1t IS
here now at last" They have never breathed
freely. In Europe they know what war means
From it no one can hope to return. There are so
fov who return: and those who have to stay at
home were better of at the front When the war
was declared one of the first results was rush
10 the churches decree in Germany dispensed
with banns and other formalities. Thousands upon
thousands Of weddings took place Rich girls and
their parties arrived on foot, in automobiles as
they could Servant girls came bare armed from
their work The soldiers came mostly in uniform
frequently on their way to join their regiments.
SOLDIER IN BERLIN ON HIS WAY TO
THE BARRACKS.
ore soldier in Berlin George Lepsius, it Is re-
lated had to reach his barracks by noon. On nc
way. with a half hour TO spare, he stopped at ms
s,yeetbeart's house She went to a church with
him in her working clothes At the church, wher
the soldier put the ring on her fpger she droppe'
ike stone The bridegroom knelt beside hei
on the altar steps and felt her heart. 1t mac
ceased to beat The soldier put stray lily II
her hand kissed her. saluted the pastor with ta'
military salute and hurried away to his regiment
about 10 take train for Comar
This incident was repeated in many forms
throughout Europe Letter upon letter has been
received here in New York telling Of like TRACE
dies. giving brief glimpse of what must have
happened on a colossal scale One Of these letters
am permitted to present. 1t written b. a
French mother to her laughter, telling what hap
pened in the South Of France spot from which
little If any news as Leen received. Written al
the eight Of a nothe.'s grief, it presents pict-
ure Of this lovely country where flowers always
bloom. Of women who pluck these flowers strew
them in the path Of departing soldiers, and then
20 back home-some to die at the shock Of this
dread thing for 5oth French men and French
women have known for years that to go away 20
such a war would probably mean return.
Wrote this poor mother, who had seen the nor
rors of 1870 and Iow feared for her sens: What
a horrible thing has beer Embossed upon Europe
These emperors a-c only assassins. Despite the
issue. there will be bat lamentatOn and despair
everywhere left Paris quickly What de-
rarture; what trip! Had known its dithcul-
,ies would mot bUye had The courage 10 travel,