Evening star., 1918-08-04

mourning clOtheS. III pcpuldtioh
L of over a hundred million it Is
quite true that casualty list OF
less than 5000 Is too small to make
any physical impression. The mental
impression grows, however. and wom-
en- speak of mourning who have here
tofore not thought Of It.
1t is situation to which We must
look forward. There is no gentle way
of waging war. as was said by the
chief of staff. Men must die that ma
tions may live, and women must lose
those men.
We face the truth quite calmly these
days, because as nation we usually
grapple with the inevitable with the
age. Women are supposed to be gen.
tie race, nurtured by chivalrous mes.
and our nation is supposed to be one
of peace. serenity and calm.
Very good analysis for the last few
years. but only for the last few years.
Sit down and read history some even
ing, and you'll quickly change your
mind about our women ana our peace.
Heredity Is powerful; instinct is stu
burst from the cocoon of fighters. and
the instinct of self-preservation.
which lived in the hearts Of our an
cestors for 500 years, and the superb
achievement in fighting ting. tha, I'M made moss us
vicious fighters, will spring back to
the hand Of every young man who
goes into this war.
a*
Cora Harris has written a mystical
story of Lee and Grant, and other
great fighters Of the civil war. going
to France with our boys. their
spiritual shapes floating above our
regiments, guiding the brain and the
hand Of novices to do the work or
veterans But If one takes up this
mystical idea-and there are many
who believe that the spirit OF the
dead can come back to guide US In
critical tiIhes-one need not stop at
Grant and Lee, at Sheridan ana Stone-
wall Jackson.
There may be hundreds Of spiritual
shapes going over with every mothers
son. There may be Gen. Washington,
Daniel Boone. Houston, Andrew JSck-
Perry and John Paul Jones. If one
pursues this belief the spiritual vision
can encompass Washington meeting
Lafayette and Rochambeau, guiding
saying to them what Gen. Pershing
said-'Iafayette, we are here.
We are full Of these mystical ideas
today, just as our hearts turn 1nstinc-
lively to Immortality. to the develop
ment of life beyond and to the per
petuation Of individuality. The Htera-
ture of the hour is almost entirely de-
voted to or based upon these subjects.
1t Is mans method OF meeting the
crisis Of the hour. 1t. is the hope
It is a strange thing that today we
link this thinking and talking about
Immortality with an intense desire to
laugh. to be amused. to do our best
and to lead our lives as though war
had not smashed a shell across its
routine.
This is courage of the highest sort.
It is what the japanese insist is
thereby discomforting him."
with this spirit the idea of deep
mourning is not consistent. The world
has gone through several rapid phases
on the subject Of wearing crepe dur
been the nation that thought 1t most
decent to wear the deepest habili-
ments Of woe out Of respect to the
dead and comfort to ones own feel
ably lightened her mourning. so that
her women often do not wear crepe
or even a widows bonnet.
The women Of France are an indus
trial set today, and they do not need
to proclaim their grief or loss in mu-
milton factories, subways, canteens
and food-producing places by the
wearing Of crepe.
OF course. It rests with the individ-
ual. but as a nation, and especially in
Paris, the exigencies and necessities
of the hour have done away with the
ceremonial trappfngs Of loss.
England took q firm grip on the stu
alton even earlier than France. The
British government was not averse to
crepe, but it thought 1t more sensible
for its women to avoid It. In the ex-
preston of Great Britain's attitude to-
ward clothes during this war-those
of gayety as well as those Of grief-it
had an excellent example to follow in
Queen Victoria. No enc can accuse
this august queen Of frivolity or lack
of respect toward all the serious as
poets of life, and yet it was she who
dress as well as they could during the
Boer war, in order that they might
improve the morale of the people and
be a bright sight in the eyes of the
soldiers.
Under the memory Of this guidance
for victerianism is by no means
dead in Great Britain-it is probable
that the British women went to the
task of obliterating the ancient trap
pings that went with death with the
firm conviction that they were right.
We have taken SO many traditions
hv fhe name of the mack and shaka