The Washington herald., 1918-01-28

We hear great deal about the I'M
portance Of keeping up the morale OF
our army. and we are continually told
that our soldiers can only put up a
winning fight II their morale is good.
and they are cheerful. contented and
happy.
So vital a connection is there be-
tween a soldiers morale-Yhich means
his state of mlnd-and his efficiency
that Gen. Haig is reported to have
declared that one man who sings and
Jokes in the trenches Is worth half
dozen who crouch and gloom.
Do you get that, sistersY Think 1t
over a bit. Cheerfulness puts pep and
ginger into a man. 1t gives strength
to his arms to fight and win against
any odds. 1t fills his heart with the
courage to dare danger. Above all.
Il make him feel that life Is worth
living, and there's something In the
world worth fighting for.
OF all the lessons that the war has
taught women none Is so valuable
as this of the Importance Of keeping
UP our morale for II applies Just as
much TO the hearthstone as II does to
the battle field and to ones husband
and children as It does to soldiers.
II will make women realize for the
first time that the spiritual atmos-
phere of a home Is of far more Inn
portance than its physical air; that to
have q good time at the table Ia OF
more Importance than for the meal to
be ON time to the dot. and that 1t Is
better for her family for q woman
to make good jokes than TO make good
pie, IL she can't make Doth.
Perhaps 1t Is because women, as n
sex, are a melancholy lot that they
have never realized the Importance of
keeping up the domestic morale. Wom-
en- simply revel in gloom. When they
wish to divert themselves by going
to the theater they pick out a three
handkerchief play through which they
can sob with q prosecuted heroine and
have a perfectly beautiful afternoon.
When two or three women cronies
get together to spend an enjoyable
talk fest they tell each other their
troubles and weep on each others
breasts.
When women speak OF another wom-
an as a noble, angelic creature she is
invariably a thin, pale. forlorn crea-
ture who looks as IL she was afflicted
with dyspepsia and a secret sorrow,
whereas her own sex Is invariably
suspicious Of fat. jolly woman with
laugh hung on a hair trigger, and
no worry wrinkles around her eyes.
Because women themselves really
, prefer to pull the blinds down, and
sit In pessimistie gloom they have not
sensed the effect that It has upon
their husbands and children, or re-
allied that the main reason that hus-
bands and children wander away from
home Is to get out of the darkness
and into the sunshine.
Conscientious women who are anxi-
Gus to do their full duty and make
good homes for their families have
worked themselves to death sweeping
and scrubblng, and keeping things
clean, and offered themselves up as
burnt sacrifices on the kitchen stove
cooking delicious food, and then had
all their efforts 50 for naught because
they neglected the most important
part. They didn't keep up the family
morale. They fed their husbands and
their children's bodies and let their
spirits starve.
Have you not heard many a queru-
lous. whining. complaining woman
| moan out that she was sure that there
wasn't a neater kept house In town.
or a better cook than she was. or any
family who had all of their whims
more catered to than hers, yet that
she never could keep her husband or
children at home? The minute they
had had their dinner they were of to
the club. or the lodge, or somebody
else's house.
And you couldn't tell the woman
that 1t was her fault and that you
didn't blame the husband and the
children for beating It away from a
place that was as dreary as the grave.
where the very atmosphere was so
| thick with gloom that you could cut II
with knife, and where the whole
note Of domestic conversation was
| keyed to fretting and scrapping.
And on the other hand, did you ever
! know of a home presided over by a
| jolly, good natured, good tempered,
| easy going woman that wasn't a CEN
| ter about which everyone who knew
i her gathered? That sort OF woman
never has to complain that her hus-
band and children don't stay at home,
They camp there and bring their
| friends.
The woman who laughs and radiates