The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-05-16
OF Interest
To Women

i ~ w OxxxCx1 J
s't+'++'.a++++.s++f.s + + + +s.+4..s
In the woman's edition Of the Des
Moines Register and Leader published
few days ago, appeared the follow
ing article written years ago by Bob
Burdett In reply to the old argument
that women should not vote because
they were not eligible to go to war:
Il once heard a man say-he had
never been soldier, "If woman is
ever given the ballot, like man, she
should be compelled to shoulder q
musket and go to war, like man"
Such a foolish, cowardly, brutal
thing to say! Sometimes the govern
ment has to conscript men to make
them fight for their country. When
has woman ever shrunk from going
to war? She risked her life when
the soldier was born She wound her
arms around him through all the
years of helplessness Night after
night, when fell disease fought for
the little soldiers tender life, she
robbed her aching eyes Of sleep,
faithful sentinel over his cradle. She
nourished him on her own life, a
fountain drawn from her mother
breasts. She stood guard over him,
keeping all the house quiet when he
would sleep in the noisy daytime. She
stood on the firing line, battling with
the foes of uncleanness, contagion,
sudden heat and biting cold, protect
ing her little soldier in the clean
sweet fortress of his home. She
taught him his first cooling words that
some day he might have mighty
voice and brave words of defiance to
shout against his country's foes. She
taught him his first step-such a wav-
ering. uncertain little step-that some
day he could step to the drum beat
and march with the men-a free
swinging stride-as they followed the
flag She trained him up to be
manly man to hate lie and despise
mean action, to be noble and chival-
rous. She builded strong man out
Of her woman's soul
And then one day, when the bugles
shrilled and the drums beat, she kiss
ed him and sent him forth at the
wheels of the guns-her beautiful boy
to be food for the fire-breathing NAV
of the black-lipped cannon! Her boy!
Heart Of her heart! Life of her life!
Love Of her soul!
"The exultant news flashes over the
wires. Glorious victory shouts the
papers in crimson headlines, ten tn ou:
sand killed.! ....
"And in the long list there Is only
one name she can read. It stands out
like pail upon the white paper
characters of night against the morn
ing sunshine-the name she gave her
| first-born.
"And that is the end of it all. All
the years Of tender nursing; of tire
less care; of patient training; OF low
ing teaching; Of sweet companion
ship: and of all the little walks and
talks; the tender condolences of moth
err and son; the budding days; the
This is war.
when was there a generation
since boys were born that women did
not go to war? Never bayonet
lunged into the breast of the soldier
that had not already cooled it's hot
wrath in the heart of mother While
the soldier hes fought through one
battle the mother has wandered over
score Of slaughter fields, looking
for his mangled body. He sings and
plays the rough games of out-of-door
men, in camp for month. and then
goes out to fight one skirmish. But
every day and night of the thirty the
mother has walked through a hun
dred alarms that never were She
has watched on the lonely picket post.
She has paced the sentry beat before
his tent. She has prayed beside him
while he slept. The throbs Of her
heart have been the beads Of her
rosary.
+ What does a soldier know about
war?
"I went into the army light-heart.
ed boy. I had the rollicking time OF
nv life and came home stronger than
an athlete. And my mother her brown
hair silvered with the day Of my sol
diering. held me in her arms and
counted the years Of her longing and
watching with kisses When she li:s<
ed her dear face saw the story OF
nv marches and battles written there
in lines Of anguish If mother should
write her story of the war, she would
MUCK a white hair from her temple,
and dip the living stylus into the
chalice of her tears, to write the
diary of the days upon her heart
lust now when it seems eXpedient
to emphasize in the minds of children
as we'll as grown people a spirit of
patriotism, or at least of expressing
that spirit, the American Flag asso-
citation has issued a request which is
echoed by all patriotic societies that
the children in schools daily salute
the flag. The following is the instruc-
ton which has been issued:
At a given hour in the morning. the
pupils are assembled and in their
places in the school. A signal is given
bv the principal OF the school. Every
pupil rises in his place. The flag is
brought forward to the principal or