Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1914-09-30

attention. They whistled, I can not say
cheerily, but, rather, business-like
whistle OF duty. To some it was the duty
of loading ammunition wagons, to others
to exercise horses, to act, in word, in
whatever position they were assigned.
Soon army wagons loaded with ammuni-
ton and under guard passed in long pro-
cessions. Laundry wagons, moving vans
and nondescript carts loaded with other
supplies driven by soldiers numbered
about the city. Automobiles, well laden,
footed past. Every sort OF vehicle was
pressed into service. Scores of country
horses kept arriving led by tired-looking
| soldiers as ignorant Of horses as of war;
Officers on horseback cantered to and fro
and sent their orderlies galloping hither
and yon. Tents spread like magic and
| Supplies of all kinds grew. Army wagons,
fresh from the manufactures and bearing
the necessary inscriptions, and stout
| natural leather harnesses stout but very
stiff and hard were taken to the barrack
| yards.
When all was ready, certain officers
ordered the horses matched into pairs, and
soon the green country horses which had
| never pulled except single or in tandem,
were harnessed into the ammunition or
| other army wagons, the stiff, new har-
nesses CALLING their flesh. felt outraged
at this, and at the pairing of willing
horse with drone; but not horse in all
the hundreds in different parts of the city,
did see treated unkindly by whip or
spur-only, indeed, by the exigencies Of
war.
| 1t would be less Of lover Of horses than
to see those handsome, willing beasts
start of to war under the care OF I'M
skilled, il not unkind, drivers-start of to
duty, to suffer fortunes, deathl In almost
any case, it would be, 1 say, a hardened
heart that could not shed a tear.
But il we shed tears for the poor, dumb
beasts, how shall we feel when we see the
men start for the front OF battle? Do not
talk to me of the glories of war, of going
diers go from sense Of duty. l frankly
confess l shed many tears-tears for the
soldiers who were going to face disease,
hunger and field guns; tears, bitter tears,
for the poor mothers left behind. You
| did not need anyone to tell you what
women had sent their sons, or husbands,
or brothers, to the front. Even the casual
in the faces that he met. War stamps an
indelible mark on the faces OF the wives,
the mothers, the sisters, the children
yes, ON the faces of all.
But how about news from the little Bel
gian country? Every hour 1 went down
into the business part Of the city to read
the official bulletin. I was not the only
one. Again and again l saw the same
strained faces, the same fearless, staring
eyes, the same tense bodies. And war
had then barely begun! The stiffness Of
the waiting crowds in front of the news
paper offices made lasting impression
upon me. There truly are times, as the
poet wrote, when feelings lido lie too deep
for words".
/ studied the personnel of these groups.
Many were women, many were very young
boys, but the greater number were men
too old or in some other way disqualified
for active service. What thoughts surged
through the minds of these watchers!
You may wonder where the older boy
were. They were not here - they were
working. When the horses and automo-
biles, and motor cycles, and bicycles were
requisitioned by the government, the re-
servsts, and territorials, and others, were
called out, the boys then were employed
to act in the places Of these men, or to
push hand-carts, to carry packages and to
serve in the shops.
Prices might have been expected to soar.
They did increase slightly, but my price
Of board remained as before the war, and
in few days, thanks to some far-seeing
and wise body Of men, prices were stand
ardized. Luxuries became very cheap,
because even the man OF some means be-
gan to live more simply.
| No distress because of the crowardly
seizure by the rich Of the food supply in
Plymouth had ensued. But distress in
England, in spite OF all wise precautions,
will be, must be, awful. There is large
population of men and women of slender
incomes and small bank accounts, and
there are those who have no bank &C.
counts. The poverty OF prosperous times
was appalling in certain large centers.
dare not picture this winter.
1t is ceaseless round Of thought-from
the soldier to his home, from his home
to the soldier. Probably few of the
thousands OF troops whom I saw leaving
Plymouth are alive to-day - but they
marched away from old fortified Ply
mouth with serious, determined faces.
They went as though in answer to
the call of their famous Nelson of by-gone
days. They seemed to hear again his
words: "England expects every man to
do his duty"