River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-08-12

as She Reeained Her Youngest Boy
With an Iron Cross and Both Legs
Wounded-Members Of Family on
Three Fighting Fronts.
1.-THE casualty lists are posted for In
spection at our Office. Only few folios
at first, their number increased daily,
the moantain of paper grew, and its
size increased, at first invisibly, then
yisibly," writes Paul Alexander Schet-
tier In the Rhein und Rhur Zeitung.
"And daily there come men and wom-
hearts They come silently and look
in the papers for the fate Of their loved
ones. Their hands tremble; the paper
shakes. Before their hot eyes dance
rows of black letters-brief sentences
each the fate Of a human being, to
which are joined others in an endless
chain And as silently as the searchers
came they go again. An almost inau-
dible expression of gratitude comes
from their tips before they close the
door. 1 did not see a single mother or
bride, father or brother, who left in
any other way.
Day After Day the Lists Grow.
"And day after day the mountain
grows. New faces appear in the frame
of the door and vanish again, always
new ones, and yet it is always the same
silent train OF heroically composed sor-
row, Of brave self control in their i'm
measurable suffering.
Occasionally the same faces do re-
appear-for example, that Of an old
woman with smoothly parted hair.
addressed her, for / recognized her as
former serving woman.
els your son at the front, too, Mrs.
Reinhard? That Is your name, Is it
not?
"She smiled and nodded.
"'Five, SIR she answered simply
five of them
"'FiveT | asked I'm amazement. And
all at the frontY
eyes, ffve-that is, now there are
only four. One of them, Albert, has
fallen. For four weeks heard moth
ing from him. But now it is written
here-fallen in France And she press
ed her finger on the list on one OF the
countless names.
care the others also In FranceY I
asked in order to say something.
"'No, only Ernst. Oswald and Franz
are in Russia, and my youngest, Erwin
is in the Carpathians.'
"'How many mothers like that you
have, 0 Germany! / thought when she
left.
after a short time she came again,
silent and shy, as at first. I heard the
rafting of the paper and the rustltng
of her dress as she seated herself III
| front of the casualty lists. Soon she
rose again. She wished to go. l re-
membered having spoken to her at that
time So asked her whether she had
again heard anything of her sons.
Another Son Offered to Country.
"She sobbed softly. Yes, Franz she
whispered and left. I glanced into the
| opened book There it was, 'Musketeer
Franz Reinhard.' And following these
was the fateful word which permits of
no hope, no doubts, only few letters
dead.
"And she came again and again
Ernst was heavily wounded, Oswald
stricken with typhoid.
IF only Erwin comes backn she
sighed one day. If he only comes
IL
"'Are Ernst and Oswald
'She did not let me finish, but nod
ded. I grasped her hand
"'He will come back I said, over
come by the feeling of confidence which
surged over me in sympathy with the
lot of this woman. Just wait; he will
come back
"A few months passed. In these seri-
Gus days l had almost forgotten the
woman and her hard lot. Then I met
her one sunny day in the park With
shining eyes she was pushing a wheel
chair in front of her. When she spied
me a look of recognition passed over
her features, and, stopping, she said
with quiet joy:
Erwin comes rome.
"'You were right, sir. There be is,
my Erwin And her hand pointed to
the wheel chair in which sat a young
soldier, scarcely twenty years of age,
whose breast was decorated with the
iron cross.
II pressed his hand.
We'll, hope that you will soon be
better. Young people always recover
very quickly
HE smiled resfgnedly and said with
shrug of his shoulders:
"'Both legst
'tI felt the words penetrate my heart
like thrusts of dagger. This hand
some young fellow cripple!
"'But he has the iron cross, said
the old woman radiantly,' and now
they cannot take him away from me
again. Eth, Erwin? Now you will stay
with me-
sHrha vOf1np soldier paZod into her