Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-03-05

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER L
Mobilization.
War! War is declared! SO the news
speeds hollow-eyed through the
streets. We are at war. It's the real,
thing this time.
Mobilisatioal
i The ominous word dominates the.
plGcards on the hoarMngs. Tho new0-
papers reproduce tho proclamations In
their heaviest type. and rumors and
dispatches hutter like . ruined dove.
cote round this day Of blood and iron.
Il IL deadly earnest now. And this,
sense Of the seriousness Of It has
numbed the state Ike stroke Of
paralysis. But then Z jar, a. Of .
lever thrown over. goes through the
vast Iron fabric. And every one has
got to yield 10 this jar. Tho time for
anxiety and hesitation 10 over. for
doubts and oscillation. The moment
has now come when We cease to be
citizens. from henceforward we are
only soldiers-soldiers who have no
time to think. who only have time to
die.
80 they come docking in from the
workshops, from the factories. from
behind the counters. from business Of
fees, and the open country-they
come hocking into the town, and every
man falls in to stand by his native
land.
-Four days from date" was the or
der on my summons. Well. the fourth
morning has come, and I have said
good-by to my wife and my two chill
dren. Thank God. the fourth morn
ing has come, for the parting was not
easy. and my heart aches when think
Of them "at home"
Where are you going. Daddy?"
asked Baby. as kissed her for the
last time with my portmanteau in my
hand.
"Daddy's going on . Journey" said
her mother. and looked at me with
smile amid her tears. YES, he's 60
ing on Journey. grille, and you, little
chap, you've got to be good. and do AZ
Mummy tells you"
I And then we got the parting over
quickly, for Dora kept up her pluck
until the last moment. -.
/ Now We arc drawn up in thu bar.
backyard with bag and baggage-we
OF the rank and flle-we reservists
and militiamen. every man ut his place
by the table.
How serious their faces are. They
reveal no trace Of youthful high spirits
or martial exubsrance Their express
sions rather betoken deep thought.
Tho war that IN the end was bound
to come'-so We heard and 20 we
read in the papers. "That is bound to
be 90, that 10 law Of nature. The
nations are snatching the bread from
one another's mouths: they are de-
priving each other Of the air to
breathe. That is thing which in the
end can only be settled by force. And
II it has to be. better it should be to-
day than tomorrow
We are mercenaries no longer
those hirelings for murder, who once
sold their blood for money down to
all and sundry. We are gladiators no
5longer-slaves who enact the drama
OF dying a. an exciting spectacle for
the entertainment Of the rich, and for
the lust Of their eyes. It IL to our
native land We took our oath. And II
It must be. we are resolved to die 40
citizens, to die In the full conscious.
ness and full responsibility for our
acts.
What viii the next few days have
In store for ~?
Not one of US has probably ever.
with his own eyes, seen field Of
ibatttt;:s. BE-: We have heard about it
from others. and we have read in
books Of other men what battle.
Held looked like in 1901. and. as
though with our own eyes, we have
watched the shells shattering human
bodies. And another thing We knowis
that forty years ago in spite Of Inferior
guns and rifles, over hundred and
twenty thousand dead stayed behind
on the Held Of honor. What percent
age OF the living will modern warfare
claim? Armies are being marshaled
vaster than the world has ever seen.
Germany alone can put six million
soldiers in the field; France % many.
Then the war of.s'70.'71 was nothing
more than Q long -drawn affair Of out
posts. NY brain reels when try to
visualize these masses starting to