Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-01

VIC SlChToOH1 anu whispered SOltLfilty
God heard u.s. Mrs. Pomroy. Port Hud-
son is ours"
Down from the middle west went
Mother" Bickerdyke. whom Gen. Sher-
man declared was his most reliable
general. She followed the army
mountains, her paramount object to
provide them with nourishment. The
aid societies sent her supplies and she
collected them from wherever they
to get milk and eggs-the nourishing
food that the sick soldiers needed SO
terribly. SO Mrs. Bickerdyke- conceived
the, idea, of providing them herself
1t washer intention to secure hun.
;dreds COWS. and a thousand hens and
have them cared for ON an island. in
THE MissisHirpi; near .Memphts:,t' She
took a: 5Uurney.up into the middle west
and. gotz her caws and hens ana re-
turned with them to the south. S1s-
her sick were being used by the Of
ficers she appeared one day in the: Of
ficers' mess@jpst as "a meal was served.
From the table shescollected the 1ellies
and other delieacies that belonged to
her sick boys and took them away.
Some of the officers did not like her
and one of them tried to have her for,
bidder the hospitals. He complained
to the general of a. woman who Is
making s;1, herself Sd,,.s osnoxi9us and, who
SnOulQ Dc FGHlOSCu.
who is, ,she?'. inquired the general
"A Mrs. Bickerdyke-r-
The general laughed. So She ranks
me-" he said, Il guess she'll have TO
stay -
! Mrs. Bickerdyke, did rank a, command
diers was marching sby lIer hospital on
the way to take part in. a battle that
had been waging for hours. i. Mrs. Biek-
erdyke saw that they were almost ex-
hausted and asked the officer to permit
them to halt for some refreshment. The
officer refused; so Mrs. Bickerdyke her
self gave them the command to hat.
Then she distributed soup and coffee and,
in a little while, the command proceed
ed into battle.
All through that terrible war she served.
following the army. At Lookout noun
tain, at Mission Ridge-wherever the SOL
diers went to fight, there went Mrs.
Bickerdyke to render them aid. At one
time she had one calico dress only. burned
full of holes. Some Of the ladies of
the west sent her some clothing for her
self. Mrs. Bickerdyke traded il with the
Confederate women for supplies for the
sick.
The war was waged almost entirely in
southern territory: it swept across the
homes of the southern women and they
did their share of service The women
on the edges of the fray, in southern
Florida and Alabama. went up to help:
but most Of the women of the south had
no need to go to the front-they were
the front. When the war began they
A H. <<xr <IHA antr
diers. but ere long they were weaving
cloth and knitting socks and trying to
supply them with food =
The south was not manufacturing
biockaded and she was cut Oft from
the world, her need was dire, indeed
They made shift to raise the crops and
knit socks for the SO diers. They ran
deadly malaria; and for chloroform, to
ease the horrible suffering little There
was everything to be done for the army
in the fed and, some way, the women
did 1t.
Mrs. Mary Martha Reid lived in Florida.
She was a widow with an only SON.
When he went to join the army OF Vir-
ginia she would not stay behind. She
went to Richmond and took charge Of a
hospital. and, wherever the army needed
her. there was she to be found. She
served all through the war, to see her
son die in Richmond In "a.
Miss Jane Thomas. sfxty-three years
old, of Tennessee. went to Virginia, and.
like Mrs. Bickerdyke followed her army
TO give help when it was needed. Wher-
ever the troops were gathering for a bat
tie, there went Miss Jane. nothing daunt-
ed by age nor hardship. Once in Tennes
see she worked for weeks together with
Bishop Quintard, and so won his love and
respect that, as long as she lived, the
bishop sent her great bouquet Of fow-
er every Easter day as a loving memorial
Of the war service.
One of the most picturesque figures OF
he whole war was Mrs. Ella King New
som, who followed the Army OF the Ten
lessee. less than twenty years old, q
,oung widow, heartbroken at the loss
If her husband and infant son when the
war broke out, Mrs. Newsom closed her
house in Winchester and went to Mem
ohis to devote herself to the hospital
service in memory of her husband, who
was a physician and who had SO hotly
against the infringement upon
what he considered southern rights be-
lore his death.
After the fights on the upper Mississippi
he sic& and wounded poured into Mem
his. Mrs N.t-scIfl vas asked 10 take