Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-12
THE WORLDS. WAR
Through Woman's Eyes
Woman'S Part in Vor
By ELLEN ADAIE

ednno. d, london I met a woman-a rough un-
sCSoStu woman-whose husband was
''"euuIed among the missing"
for weeks not one word had come from
a, '.H. ana then one day n dirty. trench
s,'hed Tommy arrived az her home with
the Information that the husband was
tTgunuea and in hospital somewhere in
sa- sI'e a'-e'aIlu-prohably London, he couldn't say
buoyed up with a new hope. the woman
hurried Immediately to the war Ofice The
os ,l ltles there told her they had record
.rt .,.e Hah beNonq the one word, missing
lne& could not pip her at all The good
nad only proved an unfounded rumor.
'"' ume she gave way 70 utter despair.
SEARCH OF HOSPITALS
Ihen some one advised her to 60 to Lon
uoh again and visit the hospitals in search
OF her husband Any one who knows the
enormous number Of war hospitals and
nG,nes ,,.3,, ana convalescent places in London
VIII realize the difficulty Of her task
But once this woman became possessed
"i the idea, she could think of nothing else
it'r friends tried to dissuade her--in vain,
- iad determined to visit every ward Of
o''.% London hospital and see each patient
personally.
Inc woman came to London and visited
an the hospitals in turn. The authorities
permitted her to walk slowly through the
wards. But In the admittance book of no
| hospital could she ever find the name for
which she sought
Perhaps he's forgotten his name" she
| told the nurses hopefully
So many heads on the pillows were
swathed in bandages that they proved un-
recognizable
At last the hospital staffs pointed out to
| her that II was a hopeless quest and that
II would he much better fer all concerned
u she went quietly home and waited for
The War Office will be sure to let you
| know at once II your husband Is found"
! they told her
But she shook her head and answered
am sure my man is somewhere In
| London. ] am going on until / fnd him
| once she saw soldier whose face closely
resembled the one she sought and she hur-
| RED forward The soldier smiled But II
was not her'man. And so she went on.
| on
Into the wards Of the great CharlnT Cross
! Hospital was carried 2 much battered Tom
| my of whom nobody knew anything The
| shock Of battle had robbed him Of his
| speech His identity disc was missing from
! It's place about his wrist, and there was
nothing about him to show his regiment or
his native place.
MEMORY AND FACULTIES GONE
He lay there for weeks In pain, appar.
emily deaf and dumb. His memory, too
was dpSOluLelN gone. tOr Wnen the nurses
brought him pencil and paper he could not
write downN anything about himself
| There are thousa nds Of similar cases n
| London today-cases which need specia
| treatment to effect cure
He could eat and drink and seer, and
was perfectly conscious Of all that went or
| about him-but as far as memory and voict
| and hearing went he was dead to the world
Into this ward came the lonely womar
who was looking tnterm!nahly for her hus
band. She eazed wistfully ar the row n
beds where relatives sat talking and laugh
ing with the cheerful Tonmies. She wa'
getting rather tired ~ watching other PEG
ple's happiness.
Then she saw one he'd where a man lay
alone She stopped 70 look AT the face o'
this man. for II seemed familiar. But dis
appointment again greeted her, for the tact
was years and years older than that or hel
husband wrnkled, with gray hair anc
deep-engraved lines around the eyes anc
month The man stared at her vacantly-
and she passed on.
on her return through the big ward sh'
heard a sudden sound. Her name was beinI
shouted at the top pitch of some ones voice
Il was the man Sho had stared at her 81
| yacantly but few minutes before, but wh'
now was sitting up in bed, with flushed fac'
and eager voice, calling her to come 10 hi
bedside.
why. he can speak now" said the siste
of the ward, hurrying up.
But the man in the bed and the woman
whose name he had called were not listen
ing. For they had found each other
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