The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-05-21
The Old Lady Talks
(By Edith Barnard Delano, of The
Vigilantes.)

(By Edith Barnard Delano, of The
Vigilantes.)
The Old Lady had been to hear a
visiting Red Cross speaker; when she
came in, she sat down in the chair
near the door and looked at her dau-
ghter-in-law. Tears were in her eyes
and her lips were trembling. Mrs.
William spoke.
"Why, Mother" she said. whats
the matter? Which is it this time,
joy or disaster?"
The Old Lady smiled through her
tears. It's JOY" she said I've
been getting little glimpse of sal
walton, and tit kinder shakes me,
just at first. l want to stand up and
shout the news of it up and down
the land, or sing it in words that
would go down through the ages like
the words old Simeon said. But I'm
just an old woman, and all l can dc
is to cry for gladness.
Mary's eyes filled, too, at the sight
of the Old Lady's emotion. 1T
must be mighty good news, Mother
she said.
Child, you don't know how good.
You can't. You're too young, even if
you have got boy over there in the
trenches. 1t takes old folks like me,
that can remember. 1t takes old
folks like me that have seen all the
courage and the fight and the glad
ness of being alive taken out O. folks,
and I've seen worse than that, too
suffering that was willing to starve
and go cold rather than come to
hot hnr OH e,h he
shame of being burden to others
and I've seen kindness and charity
that was all right for them that gave,
but just poisonous to the souls of
them that took it. I been thinking
more'n little about what would
happen when the boys came home
from this war without hands and
without feet, and blinded. l been
picturing to myself how the women
folks would be that glad to have 'em
back again in any way that they'd
slave for them and pet them up and
do everything for 'em except help
'em to be men, l can remember how
things were after the Civil War,
Mary; oh, l can remember-manya
tale could l tell about that. Well,
1 saw the Clapp boy made into a man
after being made into soldier; l
know there's thousands like him.
And 1 been worrying and laying
awake thinking what was to become
of all those fine boys when they
come home manned and crippled.
And Mary
Mary! What you think 1 heard
today? There's folks beside me that
have given thought to all that. They
are ready for 'em-ready for the
MANNED and the crippled and the
blinded. No charity, no being bur-
dens for our boys, when this war is
Won They're going to give 'em
hands made of wood and wire and
what not that'll do anything the av-
erage hand can do, and feet they can
walk with, and teach them trades
teach them not only to go on being
men and soldiers, Mary, but give
them the very trades they've always
hankered to learn, or the ones they
can best make a living at. Many a
lad that was in the wrong job before
he went to war will find himself
with the very thing he loves best Of
fered to him, and taught to him, and
job open to him, no matter how
crippled you'd think he was. Oh, it's
the most wonderful thing l ever
knew of, Mary.
Il been thinking what it'll mean
to folks all over the country when
they hear this good news. What
will it mean to mother, say, whose
son wasn't SO awful much of a work
er, maybe, and who has lost leg or
a hand in the war, to have the boy
come home not a cripple, not care,
not poor discouraged piece of a
man, but full of interest in the thing