The Carlisle independent., 1918-05-02
THREE OLD MEN "GIVE TILL IT HURTS" SACRIFICING A OF
 THEIR MONTHLY S5.
WOMEN INMATES BUY, TOO
Mother of 20 Sends Two Sons to serv Ice-Paralyzed Knitter Works
 for "unfortunates."
By HUGH L. WOOD.

than $3.000, 100000 of Liberty Bond | sales Is cast up sometime after May no one bond among them probably will represent so ntueh sacrifice-so much scrimping-so much real "giv- ing till it hurts" as three $50 bonds sold in the St. Louis Poor House. Those three bonds, to be paid for at q week, will represent many little luxuries given up-,a bag of candy here. pocket knife for whiting there by three old men a&one in the world but still partners in the great Ameri- can nation and ready and willing to do , their humble "bit' to help bring vic tory home.
 These men are John Crane, Joseph Walsh and Charles Helmholt, all on the shady side of TO years. They have for years been inmates of the St. Louis City Infirmary, the large institu- ton topping hill on Arsenal street, in sight of Potters' Field A dollar probably looms larger in the large city. Even nickels and dimes are treasured there.
 Crane has for long time been mes- senger at the institution and receives $5 every 30 days for his services When Dr. Charles E. Baur, superin- tendent, placarded the reception room | of the lnfirmary with Third Liberty Loan posters-more in a spirit of pa triotism than in the expectation of making sales-Crane was deeply inter- ested. He inquired if cash was re- quired to buy bond, and when Dr. Baur informed him he might buy a $50 one for s1 week he was over joyed.
 T am an American" he said, "and would like to help my country. I be- leve could finish paying for one"
 So Dr. Baur put him down and he is goingsto give s4 every month out of his salary of s5.
 Crane told his crony, Helmhoit, night attendant at the telephone, about it. | Helmholt gets s5 month for his sery- ices and he very shortly convinced himself that he, too, could afford to buy bond. He signed up for a $50 one on the s1-a-week payment plan. Walsh outranks his fellows by far in the matter of wages. AS the sexton of that cheerless plaee-Potters' Field he receives S10 month. He is an in mate of the Infirmary and soon fig ured that he could we'll afford a $50 bond if his two s5 friends could-and. besides, the government needed the money. So he, too, became a bond owner at s1 week
 Mrs. Clara kersting, another inmate Of the institution, is keenly patriotic and Is doing her share in helping to finance the war for human liberty.
 Although paralyzed on one side, she Is an expert with the knitting or cro- cheting needles. She has crocheted yards or fancy laces and knitted nu- merous garments. The knitted articles | go to the soldiers and sailors and war sufferers even more unfortunate than herself. The laees she sells to inter ested visitors.
 She manages to handle her knitting needles by sticking one of them into the sleeve of her paralyzed arm. She makes up for the handicap of the use less member through the dexterity of her useful one. She is saving the money from the sale of her articles to buy Liberty Bonds.
 Mrs. Bessie Lackey is another pa trlotic inmate of the institution. She is now employed in making a patch. 1 work crazy quilt which she hopes to sell in order to buy thrift stamps and, perhaps, Liberty Bond. Another woman, mother of 20 chil. dren. is one of the busiest knitters in the institution Seventeen of her chil. dren are dead. Two of the three living are in the national service-one in the army and one in the navy. She is buying thrift stamps and hopes to buy bond, too
 Mrs. Harry Lee Wyatt of 4 Park land place probably has the most novel assignment within the gift of the American Red Cross She has been detailed to instruct classes in knitting among the inmates of the City Hos. pital, City Infirmary and Insane Asv. lum,
 She declares that the work is being taken up enthusiastically by these un- fortunates. In the Sanitarium the oc eupation of knitting IS said by officers or the institution to have had q marked soothing effect upon the minds Of the workers. Their first concern upon awakening in the morning is about their knitting materials. Mrs. Wyatt has a regular visiting day at each institution The St. Louis chapter of the Red Cross supplies the materials and the finished garments are seUt to men in service or to war sufferers