Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-27
Little Talks by
Beatrice Fairfax

During one of the hottest days of
the last hot spell in Washington a
woman noticed a little girl select a
shady patch of the pavement and be-
| gin to act her lunch.
The lunch consisted of a large
green pickle with two ice cream
cones, and the little girl regarded the
feast with the eye OF a connoisseur.
The woman. having children of her
| own who got sick sometimes, even on
| the most vigorously approved rations,
tried to dissuade the reckless young
epicure from what appeared to be
| sudden death. But her arguments,
like those of every reformer were
| coldly received.
| Eats UNI every day, sometimes IS
| two pickles n one cone-sometimes
this"-and she bit into the pickle and
the cone alternately.
The woman listened, with the re-
spect that last words" from any
| source receive. And the little girl eN-
planned the family history that ac-
! counted for the quantity balanced ra-
| tion.
"Daddy's over to France. fightin' n
| rnommer works in a laundry all day.
| She gives me fifteen cents to buy m
lunch-git cones and pickles, stale pie
Monday lef' over f'om Sattiday in
And don't they ever make you
sick?" inquired the woman whose
children got, sick sometimes on the
| "Nope-but they kilt out my little
| brother; he died of a Friday, buried
| Sunday" Evidently the young cpl
| cure represented the survival of the
| fittest.
The humane woman then asked if
the little girl wouldn't like to visit
| her in the country and drink all the
| nice milk she wanted. The young cpl
1 l.. -.
ment or two. then said Nope; I don't
| think much O. milk less it's in shakes
n then I like sodas and cones bet
| ter
| Did an Amount of Thinking
So the woman went back to heI
place in the country where her care
fully supervised children awaited heI
and did an amount of thinking. Here
was a waif whose father was fighting
| whose mother worked, and who ran
the streets and ate pickles and ice
| cream cones meantime.
| Such emergencies have been met to
| a great extent in New York City by
patriotic, women working in connec-
| ton with various war and civic or
| CARNATIONS. But as far as the rest
| of the country is concerned this high
| ~ necessary branch of war service
has been practically neglected.
tions be tolerated? The war waif who
| races the streets and dimes on
pickles and doubtful ice cream to-
| day. is to-morrow's citizen, soldier. or
mother of a family. And how. much
loyalty and good citizenship do you
! think child brings to maturity when
| the state has proved to be such q
casual stepmother?
! In our headlong desire to win the
| war we have mobilized about every
thing that the country has produced
| everything but the idle rich women
| who salve their consciences with a
| little detached war work or knitting.
| But why should the woman Stacker
| escape when her made counterpart
has been told that he must either
work or fight2 And why. in this
| eventful year of 191S-known as the
| children's year-when we propose to
| 900 babies. should not this work of
1 looking after soldiers children be-
come nationwide?
The weighing and measuring OF
babies Is of little practical benefit if,
when we get them past those first
difficult seven years. they are allowed
to roam the streets and eat any un-
wholesomeness their pocket money
will buy.
A Great Duty Near Home
If the dozens of girls and women
who write to me inquiring how they
may get to France in any capacity
would only give this matter of the
war waits their serious considera-
might be accomplishment
Why is IL that the duty near at
hand always lacks the magic of the
duty several thousand miles away?
France lures and beckons-a beauti-
full adventure. We SEQ her in our
dreams a sort of promised land. where
we ride as crusaders. In vain we are
told that every ounce of food in
France is precious; that she has her
full quota of sympathiZing friends.
and unless we are trained workers the