The Washington times., 1914-09-06


that Is new under the sun.
Today women are working in the
biisteriug heat of Continental mid
day In the fields of the valley Of
the Loire and on the plains about
bordeaux. Women of Flanders are
conveying crops to barns in dog
drawn vehicles. for the horses have
been com'randeered. Not only peas
ant women, but white-handed
women Of gentle birth are donning
overalls and running tire tractor
harvesters in the Brandenburg
fields. and in the valley of The EIhe.
20 Stories OF women and little chill
dren and aged men left at home to
forage for themselves; stories of
those who have responded to the
fervib appeal Of the silver tol.gued
Premier Viviani to harvest tIe
crops; stories of those who face all
the rigors Of war without the spirit
ing adventure of battle and the
glory of vIctory-these form a pa
thetic picture not surpassed by the
rigors Of actual fighting.
But here and there in this coun-
try, among those who shudder. are
Few who sense a deeper sympathy,
born Of similar experience during
our own civil war. For this same
story Of the stay-at-homes was
written between the lines of that
great struggle. Brave women of =,
both North and South bore these
same burdens in that trying period.
And many of the "reminiscences of
those who yet live to tell the tale
are as thrilling as the more fire.
quently written annals Of bloodshed
and Imprisonment.
Women Do Work of Men.
Out in jackson county, Iowa. for
example. a condition prevailed that
was not unusual during the war in
either North or South Practically
every able-bodied man was enlisted.
But those who remained at home
had to live. had to maintain homes
until father or brothers returned,
had to send provisions to the frcnt,
had to care for the wounded and
bury the dead
One woman now in WASHINGTON,
Mrs. Evelyn H Betden, though she
was but twelve when the armies
took the field, has a keen recollec-
ton OF the struggles of those days.
Her story not only presents a series
of vivid word pictures of these un-
unsual conditions. but it has a dis
unct historical interest in its inter-
probation Of the spirit that actuated
men and women in those trying
times.
My father was a Democrat, as
were many Kansas men," she said
Like other daughters of Demo-
Gratis, We felt sort of ashamed of
that fact, for our fathers were not
fully convinced that the war was
necessary. Our women and girls
were no more bloodthirsty than
those of the present day. but / he
heve there was q feeling of eXulta-
ton among those mothers who had
son TO send to the front. and
among those wives whose husbands
fought for either North or South. I
almost felt jealous when one of my
schoolmates had a brother killed in
battle.
But the surprising thing. as con-
slider 1t now. was the ease with
which we adjusted ourselves to the
new conditions. Frail women vent
about their housework, then went
into the fields and attended to their
husbands work as well. Here and
there a man could be seen driving
reaper. but women bound the grain
and carried it to the stacks.
Our town of Maquoketa was six
women went forth in a marter of
fact way, cut the timber and hauled
il home. The dominant spirit among
men was to fight, the dominant spirit
among the women was TO do the
work of the mon -