The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-04-23
BY Mabel Abbott.

tHe letter.
The letter was from a woman II
Germany to her sister, so the edi
tors informant said. The nurs
had been called when the woman
collapsed.
Almost the whole OF the lette
had been blotted out by the cen
sor.
Killed in Food Riot.
The few sentences that wer,
left, told with tragic baroness o
the complete determination OF thu
family, with the exception of the
sister who wrote and the sistel
who received 1t.
The two brothers had dice
within a few days of each other
in the German trenches. The
mother had been killed in a food
riot in Berlin.
What details of wretchedness
what uncomfortable outburst OF
grief and rage, the censor's ink
might cover, the Seattle sister
could only guess. She would
never know.
Tragic Climax.
But at the end of the letter, q
fragment of a sentence had been
left untouched. 1t said:
and somebody ought to kill
the kaiserl"
And across that and the pathetic
little pet name that was signed to
1t, was a heavy black scrawi:
YOUR SISTER WAS ExECUT-
ED YESTERDAY"
The man who told the story
got the editors whole attention,
instead of the corner which the
latter usually bestows on any one
thing.
Made Hit With Editor.
At It's end, the editor. staring
at him, murmured with the SOL
emnity of prayer:
Gee! That's a peach!"
Which did not at all mean that
the editors sympathies we're cal
loused. 1t was the simple and
irrepressible tribute OF his pro-
fessional instinct and training to
what he recognized instantly as
a great story-the rare story
which combined in its short COM
pass the universal appeal of hui
man tragedy, the significance of
an example of the "Kultur"
against which America is calling
her citizens to align themselves,
and a tremendous local punch.
Seemed Easy.
II was such a story as does not
come ones way once in a blue
moon.
And l was the lucky reporter
who got the ssignment to write
it.
Writing 1t, of course, meant
verifying it first, and getting the
details.
This, it seemed, should be easy.
as the man who told it gave the
name of the nurse who, SO he
said his friend said another man
man said, had cared for the
stricken sister.
got the nurse by telephone.
There had evidently been some
mistake. She had heard the story
but she was not the nurse con-
cerned. She hoped l wouldn't use
her name.
] said wouldn't. Call her Miss
A.
Following the Trail.
Miss A was helpful. however.
thnt,uht thu OF hQd hnan
told her by another nurse, whose
name she gave me. Call her
Miss b.
To find Miss B, telephone a
well-known doctor. We may re-
fer to him as Doctor G. He was
interested Immediately, because
he had heard the story, at a meet
ing of nurses. His recollection
of the contents of the letter diff
fered in one or two details, but
he was sure we could find the
right nurse quickly. He drove
me himself to see Miss B.
Miss B was not the nurse who
had attended the woman who re-
received the letter. She had
heard the story told by third
nurse, Miss ID.
Miss B also thought, as we
talked the matter over, that she
had heard the story a few days
before Miss d told it to her. II
had been told at friends house,
and she thought they said they
saw 1t In the paper. She gave me
the name Of the friend, Mrs. e.
Goes Down the Alphabet.
hunted up Miss d first. She
had been told the story by a
teacher, who may go into the rec
ord as Miss F.
found Miss F in her school
room. She said she had been told
the story by a man at her board
ing house, but she didn't think II
would be right to give his name.
No assurance that / wanted his
name only for the purpose OF
finding the letter, shook her de-
termination to protect the gen
tleman.
She finally agreed to ask his
permission to tell me who he was,
and further progress along that
line was blocked until next day,
when Miss r reported that she
couldn't give me his name. but
he said he didn't believe there
was anything In the story any
way.
Meanwhile / called up Mrs. e,
at whose house Miss b had
IL thA otnrp hro uafA IL