Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-11-14
THE TOLL.


Samuel q. Blythe in Saturday Even
ing Post: What remains of one slauchte-
red man j. Il hidcous sight What remains
of u thousand slaughtered men excitcs
no more attention than a thousand sacks
of grain. Dead men. torn men. MANNED
men. shattered parts Of men and blood
stained wrecks of men cause small com
mcnt now in France. in Belgium. in Prns-
STA, in Austria. ia EuSsia-anywhcrc in
Continental Europe where the war has
been; and the appalling stories of how
they were killed. or manned. or wrecked.
cause even less comment in places remote
from the scene If action. Death has be-
Come an accustomed visitor. The forms
~ death vary. but the multiplication 81
the event has made ID commonplace. The
theory Of this modern warfare takes no
account Of the individual. lie dies or he
does not die. II hc dies. the sole concern
- to find another man ia push into his
vacated place, where pcrchance he will
die also.
Last %.July-only so long ago as that
these countries were nj peace and peace
ful. Since the early days of August death
in the most frightful forms has been
visiting them every minute of every hour
of every day. and taking deaths terrible
toll toll 80 terrible that there never
viii br. never can lac nj adequate retail
of il from now until the end Of time: a
toll 80 terrible that no human intclli
grncc can understand il. and no pen and
no tongue can describe il.
III l. such a war n the world
II i a val that has brutalizei RI world.
has never seen and never should see rgain
II j. A wal hat will daub with blood Tie
Intel of almost every home in Ill Eu-
rope, and that will leave its crimson
mark on the children Of children vet 10
come.
II j. war: il has made the supreme Suf-
fcring seem. in the aggregate. AZ Of small!
consequence aS the puny terrorS Of little
children. The mother who has lost her
son, the wife who has lost her husband.
the child who has lost his fathcr-these
have their individual >orrows. The lives
of these have darkcned and dcSolated:
but i'm the mass. the SenSibilitics of the
people are dulled. The minds of the people
have not grasped it-can not grasp il.
IL j. 10 big too hidcouS. The people
10 not get il. That il no; remarkable. No
mind or amy collection Of minds can com
prchcnd a million of anything save re
latively. How. than can any mind or any
collection Of minds imagine 4 battle Of
three million men or more who are fac
img one another ia France n | write
this. and two million more who are fac
ing One another la Prussia: and more in
Belgium. and in Austria. and in Servia-
facing one another with no other thought
or desire than to Kill one another to
slay to cxIcnrimatc?
War has passed beyond our ken. We
can understand a charge, a s%ortie, IN
engagement of divisions. a bombardmcnt.
We can sense. vaguely perhaps. such a
battle us Gettysburg or Waterloo: but
the fighting contact Of all these millions
j. not ineligible. - too. il il with the
toll. That is beyond Us. The vastness of
the horror of il dulls our sympathies as
il has dullcd our comprehension. One man
il Killed: We know him and are shocked.
Ten thousand men die. and We callously
say. 1T j. war. and think Of other things.
Let me put il another way. You live on
a Certain street in n certain place. and
war comes. Your ncirhbor's son John en-
lists: and 80 do your own son and the
son Of the man two houses beyond yours.
They 70 away a. war. Presently they
bring your son with a lee gone. or an arm.
! Presently 4 brief Your son has fallen
comes from the war office 10 Your neigh
bor. Presently in YOUR ncwpaper there
starts from A long list Of dead or wound
cd the name Of the pride of the house W
doors beyond. You get that. IL Is real
vital. personal.
Or these boys march up the street car
rying guns arrayed for war. Some OF
the enemy appear from round a corner.
Firing begins There j. fierce fighting.
When il il over these boys of yours are
lying in the road or i'm the adjoining
field. SONS dead. some wounded-and YOU
know what that means.
From hundreds Of other streets like
yours hundreds Of sous Of other mothers
march away. They 20 10 battle. You read
uncomprehendingly ia the official dis
patches that the center advanced or the
left wing was rcpulsed. You read that