Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1918-05-11
LETTER IN The
MORNING MAIL
How Mrs. Lane Finally Realized
That Thousands of Other
Mothers Sons Are at War
Scared Battle Front.
BY MAMMALIAN FOSTER
Of the Vlqllan. IS.

ieaNeS uOJnlHg, ana tnere Is also the
well known biological theorem that
you cannot get blood from a turnip.
1t is also assumed, Sir Isaac Newton
having demonstrated the law, that
what goes up Is bound to come down,
but this Is only abstract. Mrs. Lane
probably would have denied 1t.
The fiat rent, previously $1,000 a
year, now was S1,400, and it showed no
signs whatever Of coming down. The
same condition applied also to her
children's shoes. The shoes now cost
81, whereas they formerly had cost 81.
But this was merely a detail. A SINH
lar phenomenon occurred as to beef
steaks, potatoes, butter, fish and the
81 other varieties of domestic essen
tials. All had gone up; none had
come down. About the only thing sta
bic in Mrs. Lanes cosmos was Mr..
Lanes yearly income. This was $1,000
year. Already Mrs. Lane had given
up one maid. The war literally was at
her door. True, Mrs Lane had no son.
no brother--no kin of any klnd-in the
war; but the war still was at her door.
F1dTu 10 wake Enu5 mGeI.
Give money for the WARP What do
you think she was doing, anyway
She was giving every cent she had,
trying to make both ends meet in her
household. 1t hurt, though. Mrs.
Lane was kindly, warm hearted wo-
man, and she would have liked to give.
The war was dreadful 1t was so
drao9Ff1l chafI ctof,r,od vaoJfrsr oh >
But one must read letters. One
must do that when friend takes the
trouble to write them.
The letter came In the morning mail.
Mrs. Lane read It, then she read 1t
again. Afterward she sat there abb
sorbed, silent, rigid. TIE color had crept
out Of her face, and her breath came
swiftly from between her parted lips.
Il hare just come back from the
cdntceH," ii read. "Such an after.
noon! 4 trdinlodd OF seriously
tooundcd TO DO fed at once, .iohtch
Is trying, as one has to climb into
all the carriages, one after the 9th
En-. We begin t0ith the men tUhO
are iCcH enough TO Sc up aud hGn-
wv ffttH ANPSs Nt0 tfttop NtHO VI
too III eceH 10 III their heads, OF
course, zee hare to Hft and feed
onrSelUcs. Feeding the ones ,cfth
Dad face tC0undS are the hardest.
can stand ordinary toOuisdS Of
blood, but When man ought to
haze q nose and mouth and all he
has tS-u0hI-it takes all your
courage TO get through feeding.
! managed to get hall a pint Of
milk and beaten egg aud soma
brandy dolch the throat Of boy Of
ftcenfV iCho had no mouth left, and
/ had to clean II behoeen euerg
Douthiul. He had had no food for
Fifteen hours and t0GS so thirsty
that he Uds nearly insane. / held
his head against me, and I gagged
dtl the time, bat iust kept think
hg, Suppose IL tods my boy toh0
needed u drink and there teas no
one 10 Qire il to him So 4oent
through loith it, and he finally tpcnt
TO sleep. Oh. Martha, Martha Lane,
zee need erTVihing-dH you and
the rest can send"
II Lawrence Had Gone to War.
One o'clock struck Mrs. Lane sim
sat with the letter clutched in her
hand. whats for dlnnerW asked Han.
nah the maid. Mrs. Lane hardly heard
her, She was stiu sitting there when
olivia tloundered in. Olivia was four.
teen, the conscious age. Mother" she
said frettully, 81 can't go to dancing
school again In brown gloves when all
the other girls have white ones" The
PLANT reminded Mrs. Lane that Law
renee at boarding school had written
that morning about his socks. He had
only two pairs of silk ones left. "And.
mother said Olivia, continuing But
what Olivia said Mrs. Lane didn't hear.
She had dropped her head on the table
aud unaccountably was weeping. Just
suppose 1t was my boy-mine I" she
was Sobbing
why, mother" eIaculsted Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother.
~What is IL, mother? You're acting lust
as though Lawrence had gone 10 war n
Mrs. Lane looked ny, the tears
streaking down her face.
That's just what is the matter with
me ] should he acting as II Lawrence
were there. And SO should you'll II
Willie We're like these, the boys there 8"
she pointed to the letter that had slim
ped from her lap to the fioor-"if he
were, like them, in need, dying, want
ing eggs, milk, brandy to keep him
alive, would you be buying white
gloves? And would we think what other
people wear or how they live or wheth.
erwe had only one servant nowg If my
boy was over there, If my son were"
But other women's sons are over
there. Mrs. Lane had at last realized
this. The tears were rolling down her
cheekA