Milford chronicle., 1917-03-02
IRISH CONDITIONS PICTURED

I
Miss Irwin, from Belfast, Ireland
The lady was formerly a resident OF
Philadelphia and is woman OF
means. The letter written is inter
esting in that it shows the part that
the women of England and her allies
are playing in the great war now be-
ing fought. The communication was
, opened by the censor. but so far as
/ can be seen nothing was cut out of it
!. The letter in part follows:
, You ask me about ireland under
the war. Well, as I suppose you
know, We are under martial law and
the Rules of the Defense Of the
Realm Act, and the first pinch Of
that is that We must not give any in
formation that would be of use to the
enemy. We cannot send papers to
the States or any neutral country.
All OF our letters coming or going are
censored; of course, this does not ap-
ply to our friends (Allies fighting
with us) or our oversee dominions,
such as Canada. Then we must not
talk of any information we may pick
up, or spread reports of things we
hear. This is about the only way
| these two acts affect us, and as loyal
]
| In our home life. to outward apear-
/ ances, things go on much as usual,
our business and general occupations
are carried on by our women. who are
splendid, when their men have gone
to the front.
Prices are very high and getting |
higher. but this is felt more by the /
people with limited yearly incomes |
hrs
business classes. The poor have their |
old age pensions and they have been
raised by half. The working class Is
getting double and in some case three
times the wages they received before
the war, and business classes have
their usual profits and the farmers
are getting rich. Soldiers wives,
mothers. children and other depend
ents are getting separation allow
ances, in many cases double what the
men earned at home, and since jan
uary the amount has been raised to
meet the extra cost of living.
This is the bright side. but there is
the dark side. not only of our streets
and houses 1--WE must not show any
lights in our windows. all dark shades ,
or shutters) for fear of air raids, but ,
darker still is our saddened homes, ;
as day by day news comes of another !
and another of our gallant Ulster !,
Division paying the supreme sacrifice q
for his God. king and country.
We are proud of our brave lads and
we would not keep them from going
II we could, but oh. the sad hearts at
home and then the fatal news day by
lay. We look on a man losing a limb
)r wounded in any ordinary way as Il
nothing when we think death has a
'een so near them, and these dear Il
ads are welcomed as from the grave d
Our women are worthy of our men; h
aging aside their sorrow to work a
-Oing away to nurse, make munitions, h
nd those who can't go, making COM n
orts for the men and sending out
arge bales every month. Money is
iven (where it can i'll be spared) r
With joy. One old woman of ninety h,
ears, confined to bed, knit all the h,
lme Cthe needles were in her fingers h,
'hen she died last week. for our lads 70
ntil called Home. h,
We have flag days, house to house G,
objections, etc, and every one knit ds
ng and sewing all the time. We IN
ave also our Ulster Hospital in Bel n
lst, which is kept up by the Pro-
Ince. We have sensations OCCASION
Ily-a dead soldier brought home to
2 buried with military hOnors. a hero di
ashed up by the sea, the victim of a 81
boat or mine, the roar of the guns OF
1t at sea, or an air ship flying ha
'ound FOL
We had great joy last week in well tn
'ming our " c., who did the bravest ge
,ed of the war. He went out latter OF
e battle of July 1st) seven times an
Id brought in seven wounded men, Fe
re of whom are living. Spending an
ne hours in the shell swept battle Ba
Id, looking for his wounded officer, De
ar Sir Harry Macraughter, after
king part in three assaults on that
day for the Ulster Divi-
IN, who were led by the 18th RLR..
T own town lads. We collected del
200 for him, that is $1,000. and gave Tor
N a great reception. You would bee
t have thought there was a sad by
art in the place, decorated with Col
lion Jacks, bands playing, etc. A sor
eat number of our men have receiv- Sol
medals, but this Is the first V. C. me
far. anc
We are all heart and soul in this lici
r IL ali our men are killed the oSh
men will go in their places. We tina
Il starve and die. but fight we will den
h the last drop of blood and last erll
my. willingly. until the Huns are viii
lquered and brought to their knees VIII
murderers of women and child a 81
l.. One dear little Belgian girl of
years is in Belfast. They cut off
ears, nose, hands, put out her
s and cut out her tongue. We also r
e many others to look at, and we colc
not too proud to fight until we SUR
e punished the brutes. We want wbe
one wants it more-but we Lin,
It it to be a lasting peace, not a Mis-,
athing space. and we mean to in
re it lasting peace. God is with ing
miracles have been wrought for the
which cannot be told now invi,
could tell you more, but our king fresl
ids, and we obey.
The V. c., mentioned in the pre- ~