The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1918-05-10
IN The
MORNING mail
How Mrs. Lane Finally Realized
That Thousands Of Other
Mothers Sons Are at War
Scared Battle Front.
BY MAMMALIAN FOSTER
or the Vjuilantes.

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 fiat rent, previously $1,000 a
year, now was 81 400, and 1t 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 Lad 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
tails. All had gone up; none had
come down. About the only thing sta.
bic in Mrs. Lanes cosmos was Mr..
Lanes yearly income. This was $1,000
a year. Already Mrs. Lane had given
up one 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 2
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 1t 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 mall.
Mrs. Lane read 1t, then she read 1t
sorbed, silent. rigid. The color had crept
out of her face, and her breath came
swiftly from between her parted lips.
~ hare just come back from the
cdnteen," II read. "Such an after
noon! A trdinlodd of seriously
pOunded to be fed at once. tchich
Is trying, as one has to climb into
all the carriages, one after the 9th
er. We begin toith the men tohO
are iceH enough to sit up and han
die their cups, and those tohO are
too i'll euen TO lift their heads, of
course, zoe haze to lift and feed
ourselves. Feeding the ones toith
bad face tcOunds are the hardest.
! can stand ordinary Uounds Of
blood, but phen man ought to
hare a nose and mouth and all he
has fs-u0hi-it takes all pour
courage TO get through q feeding.
managed to get half pint OF
milk and a beaten egg and some
brandy dozen the throat Of boy OF
tioenty toho had no mouth left, and
had to clean II betioeen every
mOuthful. He had had no food for
fifteen hours and tods so thirsty
that he tods nearly insane. held
his head against me, and I gagged
all the time, but I just kept think
tn0, Suppose II tods my boy pho
seeded a drink and there tods no
one TO give IL to him So I Went
through toifh u, and he finally toent
TO sleep. Oh, Martha, Martha Lane.
zoe need everythin0-aH you and
the rest can sendr
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 fioundered In. Olivia was four
teen, the conscious age. Mother" she
said fretfully. 81 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. 81;
suppose II was my boy-mineW she
was sobblng.
"Why, mother !" calculated Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother.
"What is II, mother? You're acting just
as though Lawrence had gone to war"
Mrs. Lane looked up. the tears
streaking down her face.
THAT'S just what is the matter with
mel ! should be acting as II Lawrence
were there. And so should you'll II
Willie were like these, the boys there"
she pointed TO the letter that had slip
ped from her lap to the foor-''if he
were, like them, In need. dying. want
Ing eggs. milk, brandy. to keep him
alive, would you be buying white
glovesi And would we think what other
people wear or how they live or wheth-
er We had only one servant nowf II my
boy was over there, II my son were"
But other women's sons are over
there. Mrs. Lane had AT last realized
this. The tears were rolling down her
cheeks.