The Nevada County picayune., 1918-05-02
THREE OLD MEN "GiVE TILL IT hURrs,- SACRIFICING A OF
 THEIR MONTHLY $5.
WOMEN INMATES BUY, TOO
Mother of 20 Sends Two Sons to Serv- ice-Paraiyxed knitter Works
 for "Unfortunstes."
By HUGH l.. WOOD.

When the grand total of much more than 3,000, 100000 of Liberty Bond sales is cast up sometime after May ( no one bond among them probably will represent so much sacrifice-so much scrimping-so much real "giv- ing till 1t hurts" as three $50 bonds sold in the St Louis Poor House.
 Those three bonds. to be paiG for at l1 week. will represent many little luxuries given up-a bag of candy here. a pocket knife for whiting there by three old men alone in the world but still partners in the great Ameri- can nation and ready and willing to do their humble Dit" to help bring vic tory home.
 These men are John Crane, Joseph Walsh and Charles Helmholt. all on the shady side of 70 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.
 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 Infirmary with Third Liberty Loan posters-more in 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 a bond, and when Dr. $50 one for $1 week he was over joyed
 Il am an American" he said. "and l would like to help my country. be- leve l could finish paying for one"
 So pr. Baur put him down and he Is going to give S4 every month out of his salary of $5.
 Crane told his crony, Helmholt. night attendant at the telephone. about it. Helmholt gets s month for his ssrv- ices and he very shortly convinced himself that he. too. could afford to buy a bond. He signed up for $50 one on the 3l-a-week payment plan.
 Walsh outranks his fellows by far $n the matter of wages. As the sexton of that cheeriess place-Potters' Fleld- he receives 3l0 a month. He is an in mate of the lnfirmary and soon fig. ured that he could well afford a $50 bond if his two $6 friends could-and, besides, the government needed the money. So he. too, became a bond owner at q 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 of fancy laces and knitted nu- ' merous garments. The knitted articles go to the soldiers ana sailors and WAT sufferers even more unfortunate than i herself The laces she sells to inter- 2.ted visitors.
 
 needles by sticking one of them into ;he sleeve of her paralyzed arm. She makes up for the handicap of the use .css 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. triotic inmate of the institution. She Is now employed in making patch. work crazy" quilt which she hopes 10 sell in order to buy thrift stamps and, perhaps. a Liberty Bond
 Another woman, mother of 20 chil- .iren. is one of the busiest knitters in the institution. Seventeen of her chll- 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 9 bond, too
 Mrs Harry Lee Wyatt of Park and 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 lnfirmary and Insane Asy- !um.
 She declares that the work is being taken up enthusiastically by these un- tortunates. ln the Sanitarium the oc- cupation of knitting IS said by officers of the institution to have had a 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 sent to men in service or to war sufferers.