Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-10-29
IN THE WAKE OF WAR
Minor Tragedy Marking the
Worldwide Conflict.
French Peasant Woman, for Her Own
Safety, Forced to Part From Her
Home and Her Most Precious
Possessions.

In France, Sept. 30.-The old wom-
an was busy feeding her chickens
as we rode up.
"You must come, vite, tante," says
the officer In charge of the rounding
up party. I'VE will give you a lift
"But 1 cannot leave my @pnllets,'
says the old countrywoman, aghast.
They will starve."
you must come, tante," repeats the
officer, infiexibly. Il am sorry for
you, ma chere; but this bitter time
we must make sacrifices. Get your
clothes, old lady. We cannot wait
now"
But my pullets!" walls the old
woman again. They will starye if
/ am not here to feed them"
Come, come, old lady," says the
officer, and signs to his sergeant.
/" Dismount, Jean, and help
her pack"
But the old backs up
against the coop and fddles a moment
behind her with her left hand. Abb
ruptly she has the door open, and
with a movement wonderfully quick
for so old a body, she steps inside,
among her beloved poultry, and slams
to the wire-covered door.
There Is a tumultuous Tapping and
futtering of bewildered poultry, and
the air inside the coop is full for some
moments of dust and feathers. Then
the chaos subsidies, and the woman
looks out defiantly from her refuge
within the coop.
The officer looks at me and laughs
gently, yet with a queer little look OF
unexpected understanding in his eyes.
"Ah, monsieur" he whispers, the
poor old body. 1t breaks their hearts.
But how many hearts r breaking
these days! l have seen them thus
many times these last days"
Then he dismounts and goes for
ward himself to the coop. He does
his best to persuade the old woman
to listen to reason and come out; but
she is too old and too frightened and
too rooted to years-long customs and
habits.
mo, no! I will not come. My pull
lets-they will starve," she says, reit-
Grating endlessly.
But the Germans will come, ma
mere" he says, patiently. "They will
kill your pullets and eat them"
"Never!" screams the old woman.
The situation has become impossi-
BILE. The old oma is insensible to
reason, totally unable to face and
comprehend this sudden new neces-
sity which war has brought across
her quiet life.
Picture the scene as l see it in that
moment, standing, pitfful and silent
helpless as all the world is in this mo-
ment to help the old body.
She stands in there, backed rigidly
against the far side Of the coop, with
the chickens crowding away into the
corners, cackling ~uneasily. Outside the
officer stands, silent; for he has
ceased to expostulate. The sergeant,
a big, black-bearded man, is crying
quite frankly, andsI sec that several
of the other men are in tears. It Is
an extraordinary moment, but / am
getting used here to seeing these
Frenchmen show emotion like a wom-
an n hour and fight like the incar-
nate spirit of war the next. Lcompre-
bend their fears, though l am very
far from tears myself-only full of a
great pity for the old woman.
Thus this moment of drama around
an old hencoop, and then, suddenly,
action-showing the iron underneath
the surface in these men who are not
ashamed of crying.
The officer turns quietly and says
three brief words to the sergeant.
The sergeant and two of the men step
forward and around the front and
sides of the coop. There is a sudden
crashing Of woodwork, and the coop
is torn apart. Then-an old woman
screaming wildly, insanely, and a vast
fiuttering and clucking Of outraged
chickenhood!
They lift the old woman, fighting
and kicking, out of the ruins Of the
coop, and the soldiers catch the chick