Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1914-10-29

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'em we'll" lie wandered ON with b Is
ouestcne and comments. Els It q fact,
Tom. or was you Just joking when yen
wrote home that tho soldiers took 50
many baths?"
Eyes, they do"
well that beats ne! It's wonder
you didn't al die Of pneumonia" 10
paused to absorb the phenomenon.
Then his half.chlldish mind promptt d
by 4 randcin recollection, fitted 10 an
other subject which set him TO gis-
Cling. And the little crawlers--did
they bother you much, the little crawl
ers?p
THE little crawlersY" repeated Tom,
mystiAed,
Eyes. Everybody used to. get 'em
Just from living close together. Had
to comb 'em out and pick 'em out Of
your clothes. The chase we used to
call It."
mo, grandfather, crawlers have
gone out of fashion. And no more cpl
denies of typhoid and dysentery
either" said Tom.
Times have certainly changed"
grumbled Grandfather Fragini.
Interested in their own reunion, they
had paid no attention to a'group of
Toms comrades nearby, sprawled
around a newspaper containing the
latest dispatches from both capitals.
Give million soldiers to our three
million!"
Eighty million people to our fifty
million!"
Because Of the odds. they think we
are bound to yield, no matter If we are
in the right"
Let them comet" said the butchers
son. "If we have to go, 1t will be on
wave of blood" a.oj
"And they will come some time"
said the judges son. "They want our
land"
I'VE gain nothing If we beat them
back. War will be the ruin OF busi-
ness" said the bankers son.
Eyes, we are prosperous now. Let
well enough alone!" said the manufac-
turer's son. -..u a. I'D
Some say it makes wages higher"
said the laborer's son, "bdt / am think
ing it's a poor way of raising your
pay"
There won't be any war, said the
bankers son. There can't be without
credit. The banking interests will
not permit it-".sa.4t.2t& a. . 20
There can always be war" saidthe.
judges son, always when one people
determines, to strike at another peenle
'4-even If it brings bankruptcy" .s
> at would be war that would make
all others in history mere exchange
of skirmishes. Every able-bodied man
in -alltomatfcs a hundred shots a.
minute-guns a dozen shots a minute
land aeroplanes. and -dirigibles!" said
the manufacturers son.
ITO the DEATH tool" s.,sy gss% stN
" And not for glory! We of the $50
who live on the frontier will be fight
ing for our homes, M, 20 ~
IF we lose them we'll never get
them back Better die than be beatehs'
Herbert Stranslsgs with deep.set
eyes, slightly squirting inward, and a
heavy jaw, an enormous man who was
the best shot in the company when
he cared to be, had listened in silence
to the others, his rather thick but ex-
pressive lips curVing with cynicism.
His only speech all the morning had
been in the, midst of the reception in
the public square Of the town when he
said: ..ts.. 4, ..r.
This homecoming doesn't mean
much to me. Home? He'll! The
hedgerows of the world are my home!"
He appeared older than his years,
and hard and bitter, except when his
eyes would light with a feverish sort
of fire which shone as he broke into,
a lull in the talk.
Comrades" he began. ik
let US hear from the Socialist q
Tory exclaimed. III. ~, \
mo, the anarchist" shouted a So
cialist.
AThere won't Be- & any war!" said
Stransky, his voice gradually rising to-
the, pitch Of an agitator relishing the
sensation of hts own words, Patriot
ism is tie playedsout trick of the ruling
classes to keep down the proletariat.
There won't be any wari Why? Be
cause there are too many enlightened.
men on beth sides WHO do the, worlds
work. We Of the sd. are pro
vincial lot, but throughout our army
there are thousands upon thousands
like me. They march. they drill, but
when, bsttle comes they will refuse
to fight-my comrades in heart, to
whom the flag of this country means
no more than that of any other coun-
tryln
rHold on! The flag is sacredl"
cried the bankers son.
Eyes, that will dot"
"Shut up!P ~ -
Ofher voices formed a chorus of