Tombstone epitaph., 1916-01-23

A the clouds swept dark ~ across the horizon. did not really believe the storm would break.
 We arrived in Bad kissingen on the day before the troops were mobilized. People stood in excited groups. Germans were preparing to leave for their homes. while Russians and other foreigners were wondering what would become of them if il came to war. The mobilization proclamation came the following day and suddenly. on a Sunday. war was declared.
 Dismay and consternation were written upon every face. The strange tales of other wars came fieeting to our minds. and we conjured up a thou sand thoughts of hunger and discom- fort. We were sure that within a few days not an able-bodied man would be left at home. Quite natu- rally we did not anticipate the sys- tematic regulation which eliminated all danger of famine i- spite of the proclaimed food blockade; nor did we know that an army is so organized that millions Of strong young men are not called into the service until absolutely needed.
 Bad kissingen was the gathering place for the reservists from all the surrounding countryside. Early Sun day morning the troops came pouring in. They assembled in the famous kurgarten and in place of the usual gayly dressed throng there were now thousands of stern-looking men in rough clothes. Here they were sol diers in name only, for their uniforms. guns, and other equipment awaited them at Bamberg an hour distant.
 In the larger cities where fully equipped soldiers leave for the front it is a most inspiring sight to see them march away to the strains of military music. their caps and lapels bedecked with flowers. Here in this little country town the sight was not thus inspiring. It was only iaexpres- sibly sad.
 Most of the men were accompanied by their wives and sweethearts. and had come to bid a farewell which per. chance would be the last. Nothing has impressed me quite so much as the spartan way in which these ger. man women say good-by to their men. ] have seen the soldiers leaving for the front from town and city. in companies or by twos and threes, and l have never seen a woman shed a single tear until her husband. son or lover had vanished from sight.
 It is not that they do not realize 10 the fullest extent the danger their men go of to face-alas, they know that full well-but they seem to feel it their duty to make the parting as cheerful as possible. So dry-eyed and smiling, they wave their handker. chiefs until they can see no longer
 For two weeks Kissingen assumed cutie a military character. The men came struggling in and their shor, stay was made as comfortable as pos siple by liberal portions of hot cof fee, cigars and chocolate. Then the mobilization ended and the town set tied down to a strange quiet, ( quie, ttet Stciucu u&Ofc ohcdnAy ocCduse we realized SO acutely that in France Belgium and Russia the cannons were laundering and men were falling by the thousand
 I shall never forget the sultry. quie, weeks l spent in Kissingen during the summer of 1914. The days dragged hy. one like the other, except for the preparations which were being made to care for the wounded when they should come. Some of the hoteli were turned into hospitals and every oae-I as well as the rest-sewed al day long on garments and bandages Nails came irregulariy, and newspa psrs, too. arrived at odd intervals. be cause the trains were being used fol