The evening leader., 1918-05-27
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 Vioilantes.

Mathematics teach US that / from I
leaves nothing, and there is also the
well known biological theorem that
you cannot get blood from 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 it.
The fiat rent, previously $1,000 q
year, now was $l,400. and fl 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 $4.
But this was merely detail simi.
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.
Bile in Mrs. Lanes cosmos was Mr..
Lanes yearly income This. was 81 600
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 kind--in the
war. but the war still was al her door.
Hard to Make Ends Meet.
Give money for the war? 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 a kindly warm hearted wo-
man, and she would have liked to give.
The war was dreadful ! 1t was so
dreadful she'd stopped reading about 1t.
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 1t, then she read IL
again. Afterward she sat there abb
sorbed, silent, rigid. The color had crept
out of her face, and her breath came
swiftly from between her parted lips.
II haze just come hack from the
cdnteeis," 1t read. "Such an after.
noon! A trGia!eGa ct seriously
soowadeG to be fed at once, schich
is trying. as oae has TO climb into
oil the carriages, one after the 9TH
er. We begin toith the men tch0
are sceH enough to sit up and han
die their cups, and those tCho are
too. ul euen to lift their heads, of
course, zoe hare to lift and feed
ourselves. Feeding the ones scith
bad face UOnsids are the hardest.
1 can stand ordinary scounds Of
blood. bat schen man ought to
haze q nose and mouth and all he
has ts-1ghi-it takes all your
courage to get through feeding.
managed to get halt pint OF
milk and a beaten egg and some
brandy doaon the throat of bog of
t,oenty ,oho had no mouth left, and
I had to clean il betaeeen eUery
nonthfW he had had no food for
fifteen hours and iCGs so thirsty
that he tcGs nearly insdne. I held
his head against me. and l gagged
all the time, but just kept think
ING, Suppose 1t sCGs my ,.y ,0ho
needed drink and there tcas no
one to 0ive 1t to him. So I soemt
through fctth II, and he finally tcent
to sleep. Oh. Martha. Martha Lane,
zoe need everythin0--aH you aud
the rest can sendi"
II Lawrence Had Gone to War.
One O'Clock struck Mrs. Lane stiIl
sat with the letter clutched In her
hand. whats for dinner7" asked Han.
nah, the maid. Mrs. Lane hardly heard
her. She was still sitting there when
Olivia f1oundered in. Olivia was four.
teen. the conscious age. Mother" she
said fretfully, 81 can't go to dancing
school again In brown gloves when all
the other girls have white ones" The
plaint reminded Mrs. Lane that Lave
renee at boarding school had written
that morning about his socks. He had
only two pairs Of silk ones left. aAnd.
mother" said Olivia, continuing But
what Olivia said Mrs. Lane didn't hear.
She had dropped her head on the table
and unaccountably was weeping .Just
suppose 1t was my boy--mineI |" she
was sobbing.
why, mother! !" CALCULATED Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother.
what is 1t, mother? You're acting just
as though Lawrence had gone to waris
Mrs. Lane looked up, the tears
streaking down her face.
THAT'S just what Is the matter with
mel | should be acting as IL Lawrence
were there. And so should you'll II
Willie were like these, the boys there"
she pointed to the letter that had slip
ped from hef lap to the floor-"if he
were. like them, in need, dying, want
ing eggs, milk, brandy, to keep him
alive. would you be buying white
giovesf And would we think what other
people wear or how they live or wheth-
er we had only one servant now7 II my
boy was over there II my son were
But other women's sons are over
there. Mrs. Lane hah at last realized
this. The tears We're rolling down her
cheeks.