The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-10-20
BiH Sikes Tells Of Trip
 To South Alabama Orchard
And Describes Unique Scene Monroe County Postofce As Two Letters Arrive From France With
 Foreign Postmarks

little country postoffice where all the folks gather at train time. l noted that the people were extremely considerate of the old colored woman and found that she had two grandsons in the army and that one of them was reported wounded. The postmistress was one of those ener- getic little women that we meet all over the country now, and she hastened to open the mail, as I afterward learned, to
 give the tall old gentleman and the old colored woman the first news. All at
 once l heard her exclaim, "Oh, Aunt Jane, here is letter for you" and in another breath, 'and one for the colonel, too"
 She forgot all about the other folks and ran to the window with the precious
 nissives. When she handed Aunt Jane
 her letter she looked at the foreign post
 mark and then said, Honey, what do my
 letter say? You knows I can't read.
 That obliging postmistress read the let
 ter. which contained the information
 that her boy was on the road to recov-
 cry. It was written by some Red Cross
 nurse who will some day wear crown
 because the negro boy, like his grand mo mmy could not write and the message was penped by some one far across tho seas.
 Alter learning the contents of the let ter, Aunt Jane fell down on her knees in that little office and thanked God and the good lady who wrote her fo< the good news. All the time was watchI the colonel, who was reading ;~--er 1 from his grandson. When Aunt Jane commenced to pray, off went the colo ! nel's hat and he stood at respectful at i tention and joined in the hearty amen. I was delighted beyond measure to learn that the coloners offspring was also on 1 the road to recovery and that his letter
 was written by the soldier, propped uh | in bed. It is a great old world after all and lots of oup little notions are being | swept away by the tide of current events. 1 Tho other day I noticed one of the foremost ladies of the city of-Birming-
 ham meet a train of negro soldiers, and I saw several of the Red Cross workers writing cards to the folks back home for the illiterate negro soldiers. I wondered then if the good women of Birmingham realized how far-reaching their good 1 deeds journeyed and how like candles
 the beams caught up the light and re- flected rays into recesses of which they
 know but little. It takes incidents such as I witnessed down in Monroe to brine the thing home to us, for until Aunt Jane passes into that bourne from which no traveller returns she will continue to
 bless the nurse who wrote her about Jim"
 In the meantime the peaches ars growing, the strawberries are going into winter quarters so that next spring when , Jim and the coloners boy come march ing home, their eyes will be gladdened by the beauty of full blown peach
 orchard, and nestling down under the
 trees the luscious strawberry will be get | ting on it's coat of red, Aunt Jane wil.
 be milking Soekey' to get some good rich
 cream, and maybe by that time MT.
 Hoover will let us have two Jumps of
 sugar instead of one. To see Jim come
 marching home is the wish of
 1 BILL, SIKE