The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-05-24
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 ViuiIantes


OF the vluiiantes.
Mathematics teach us that / from I
leaves nothing. and there 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 q
year, now was 81, 400, and 1t showed no
signs whatever of coming down. The
same condition applied also to her
children's shoes. The shoes now cost
ST, whereas they formerly had cost 81.
But this was merely detail. A SINH.
lar phenomenon occurred as to beef.
steaks. potatoes, butter, fish and the
81 other varieties of domestic essen.
tfals. 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 1000
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 at her door.
Hard to Make Ends Meet.
Give money for the war? What do
you think she was doing, anyway Z
She was giving every cent she had,
trying to make both ends meet in her
household. It hurt though. Mrs
Lane was kindly, warm hearted wo.
man, and she would have liked to give
The war was dreadfuli It was so
dreadful she'd stopped reading about 1t.
But one must read letters. One
must do that when a 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 alb.
sorbed. silent. rigid. The color had crept
out Of her face, and her breath came
swiftly from between her parted lipa
II haVe just come back from the
cGnteen," II read. "Such an after.
nooni A tratnload of seriously
U0unded to be fed at once, sohtch
70 trying, as one hGs to climb into
all the carriages, one after the 9th
er. We begin soith the men ph0
are s0eU enough to ct up and han
die their cups, and those .oho are
too ~ even to UT their heads, of
course, zoe haze to Hft and feed
OnrseIUes. Feeding the ones s0itA
bad face bounds are the hardest.
l can stand ordinary sooands Of
blood, but cohen man ought to
hGUe O nose and mouth and all 10
hos ts-N0h!-H takes oil your
courage to get through feeding.
I managed to get half pint of
milk and q beaten egg and some
brandy doson the throat of boy Of
tsoenty soho had no mouth left, and
/ had to clean II betsoeen everv
ns0uthful He had had no food for
fifteen hours and s0ds 30 thirsty
that he sOds nearly insane. held
his head against me, and gagged
all the time, but Just kept think
mo, Suppose 1t sOas MY boy soho
needed drink and there scds no
one to 0ire II to him. So I scems
through sotth 1t, and he finally soent
to sleep. Oh, Martha, Martha Lane,
zoe need eUerythin0-GH you and
the rest can send"
II Lawrence Had Gone to War.
One O'Clock struck. Mrs. Lane still
sat with the letter clutched in her
hand. whats for dinner?" asked Han.
nah, the maid. Mrs. Lane hardly heard
her. She was still sitting there when
Olivia fioundered In. Olivia was four
teen, the conscious age. Mother" she
said fretfully, II 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. sand,
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-minel" she
was sobbing.
"Why. mother r. calculated Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother.
"What is it, mother? You're acting just
as though Lawrence had gone to war r.
Mrs. Lane looked up, the tears
streaking down her face.
THAT'S just what Is the matter with
mel | should be acting as If Lawrence
were there. And so should youi II
Willie were like these, the boys there"
she pointed to the letter that had slip
ped from her 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
gloves? And would we think what other
people wear or how they live or wheth-
er We had only one servant now? If my
boy was over there If my son we're"
But other women's sons are over
there. Mrs. Lane had at last realized
this. The tears were rolling down her
cheeks. =