The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-12-14

mother there shines the light Of ma
ternal love, love which would pro-
tect and comfort, not one which de-
mands or allures.
1T should be mentioned that the
Sisters of Mercy have returned to
France, bringing with them a gentle
ness, an unselfish devotion, tender
ness, and withal and efficiency not
surpassed by any other group OF
nurses in the world. Their heroic
service upon the battlefields of the
Franco-Prussian war are brightly
written upon the pages of French his
tory
"One of the interesting by-products
of this war has been the creation of
countless new occupations for
women workers and for disabled
soldiers. In many lines of endeavor
novices have developed remarkable
initiative and in some instances as
tonishing inventive faculties. With
artificial hands, manned men are be-
ing taught many gainful pursuits,
while women nurtured in luxury have
turned their unpracticed hands to
typewriting, the making of muni-
tions, operating street cars and sub
way trains, taxicabs and l.acres, man.
aging shops, and serving as wait
resses. In the professions the French
woman has made astonishing strides,
not altogether since the outbreak of
the war, but in the last quarter of
century. For instance, the young
dentiste who had taken charge of tt
American dentists Office where I
called, could not have provided me
with such a completely satisfactory
gold crown had her knowledge been
acquired solely since August, 1914.
''One of the most interesting and
appealing practices of the war is the
adoption of groups of peasant SOL
diers by the well-to-do women of
Paris. One acquaintance of mine,
owning a large estate on the out
skirts of the capital, is godmother to
$50 soldiers, whose home before the
war was in a district now occupied
by the enemy. These soldiers make
this estate their home whenever they
are on a six-day furlough. She cares
for them exactly as if they were her
overgrown children not only watch
full of their material comfort but So
licitous about their entertainment as
we'll. When these boyish soldiers re-
turn to the trenches they never fail
to write to their 'chere Aimee as
they affectionately call her.
In the beginning I said that the
Americans had always underestimate
ed the courage and strength of char
acter of the French women because
they were always judged as frivolous
on account of their attention to per-
sonal adornment. 1t is worthy of
note that the war has not changed
this instinct in the slightest. I saw
thousands of girls handling heavy
shells in the munitions plants; every
one of them had her hair neatly
dressed, and was otherwise observant
of her personal appearance as BELTS
a French woman. During my stay
in Paris my little stenographer wore
the same tailored suit every day, yet
it was always neatly pressed and her
waist was always Immaculate. Her
high-heeled boots were always fresh
ly polished, and her coiffure beauti-
full. No, the French woman has sac
rificed none of her chic in the pursuit
of her high calling as war worker.
do you know that the imperial
1eur de lys is no longer the national
flower of France? 1t has been sup
planted by the beautiful 'tri-color' of
the felds-the red poppy, the blue
cornlower, and the white daisy.
When 1 made my unforgettable visit
to the first-line trenches the soldiers
plucked these flowers growing on the
edge of the embankment and present
ed them to me as a token of the af-
fection in which France holds all
those Americans who have given so
freely to mitigate the sufferings in
hospitals, to aid those whose homes
have been destroyed, and to succor
the widows and orphans of those who
gladly died that France and French
oivi1i1o otion MIGHT live -