The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-06-04
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 ViqiIantes.

Mathematics teach US that 1 from /
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 it.
The fat rent. previously $1,000 a
year, now was $1,40O, 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
BILE In Mrs. Lanes cosmos was Mr..
Lanes yearly income. This was $1,000
a year. Already Mrs. Lane had given
up q 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?
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 It was so
dreadful she'd stopped reading about it
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 IT, then she read 1t
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 back from tho
canteen," 1t read. "Sach on after
mooni A trGiflood OF seriously
.oounded to be fed al once, sohich
u trying, as one has to climb into
al the carriages, one after the 9th
81. We begin to{th the men 1oh0
are toeH enough to SIT up and han
die their cups, and those toho arc
too III epen to UT their hedds, of
course, tpe haze to Nft, ond feed
ourselpes. Feeding tie ones soith
bod face .coands ARE the hardest.
/ can stand ordinary soonnds OF
blood, cut tohen q nrdh ought to
haze O nose and mouth and all no
hos is-uQh-H takes all your
courage to get through q feeding. :
I managed to get half a pint Of
milk and O beaten egg and some
brandy do,on the throat of O bog Of
frenty toho had no mouth left, and
/ had to clean It bettoeen epery
r.oathfuL. He had had no food for
fifteen hours and toas 10 thirsty
thGt he pas nearly insane. / held
his head against me, and I gagged
all the time, but I just kept think
ing, Suppose 1t Dds my boy 1oho
needed O drink Gnd there toGs no
one to give 1t to him. SO I DeHt
through 1oith 1t; 6nd he finally Went
to sleep. oh, Marthe, Martha Lane,
zoe need eperything-aH 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 1oundered In. Olivia was four.
teen, the conscious age. Mother" she
said fretfully, II can't 60 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
and unaccountably was weeping. "Just
suppose it was my boy-mine" she
was sobbing.
"Why, mother" calculated Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother.
"What is it, mother? You're acting just
as though Lawrence had gone to warI"
Mrs. Lane looked up, the tears
streaking down her face.
"That's just what is the matter with
me! I should be acting as If Lawrence
were there. And so should you! II
| Willie were like these, the boys there"
she pointed to the letter that had slip
ped from her lap to the f1oor-"if he
were, like them. In need, dying, want
ing eggs, milk, brandy, to keep him
aliv", 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. Yrs. Lane had at last realized
this. The tears were rolling down her
cheeks.