ON THINGS IN GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11713, 24 July 1901, Page 3

ON THINGS IN GENERAL

; > ' ' "SOMEDDY'S DARLING." .Whksvek "'o*™?' comes marching home again fr<» the war, so bold and so ■ ' ' bravß amid th(i - leers of an admiring crowd, ' while'mbthers aJd sisters weep for joy, we may well spare 1 kindly thought for those poor mothers wlpse boys went forth with " ' the rest, but will never come back again. What must the fittings of these women be? They are the silejt heroes whom the noisy world is too liabli to forget, and of whom 4 he- world is not worthy. They make no complaint, thoug, unknown hands have buried their sons ian unknown land. Yet T believe, more o:en than many of us are aware, some kindlspirit recognises that the dead or dying ladjis " somebody's darling, and treats him adsuch. ' War not only reveals to the wor| that many an ordinary country lad and fcopkeeper's son is a hero ' through and thro but io also brings out the noblest and fenderost Christian virtues in women at homd and women at the front. • There is a bright fide even to war. A TOUCHING STORY. '-'•" A touching letter, recently received by the mother of a Victorian soldier, who died in South Africa, pill be a comfort to every mother who has a boy at the front. It shows that there are' —very many I believe— ]4ose who are looking after '•* the sick and wouided who, as I have just said, see in everjme who is placed under their care— . ■. ;'t Somebody's darling so young and so brave, • Wearing yet on his pale sweet face. Soon to be hid by the dust of the grave. , The lingering ligtt of his boyhood's grace. " Kiss him once for Somebody's sake. Murmur a prayer soft and low; One bright curl from its fair-mates take— They were Somebody's pride, you know. Somebody's hand ha.i rested there; Was it a mother's soft and white?. And have the lips of a sister fair . Been baptised in tie waves of light*' "MY IADDIE." ' The letter is as f.llows 8 and not a word of it can be spared: — ' '- Lichtenberg, Trlusvaal, South Africa. Dear Madam,— waiting for more than '. a month, at last I lave obtained your address. I thought yoi. might be glad to hear ■f: from one who, though, an utter stranger to vou, yet God granted tfr'-bo at the bedside of vour dying son; and leforo I tell you ot Umi I want to tender my sympathy to you and the family. I know uch a loss must be very creat I might mention that lam not a professional nurse, only an amateur, trying my little for my country and people. ?;■ The nosuital belongs .to the si-called " Boers." Your son, with foir of his wounded com- ' panions, was' brought here by somo of his own "'-- ' People, because they were mortally wounded, "- - and could not be taken 'on to the field hospital They were at in very great pain, poor lad". Your son wes a general favourite in the" ward. I alwajs used to call him "My Laddie." which he ssemed to like very much. <i~ One day, after dnssing wounds and giving; -the young men sonlthing to drink, your son asked me to hand iim a photo, which he had in a case in his podtet. After taking it out of the case and gfzing at the portrait, ho closed kis eye 3, and pressed the photo, against his breast. He always kept that photo, nest ' his bed; One fa-noon, when one of his wounded comrades had died, he called me to his bedside, and sail,. " Miss Mathews, you've been so good and knd: may I show you this " thoto.?"* Of cours, I was only too pleased to be shown your rhoto., and he said, " Poor •mother! J How I w.sh I could be back with vou in Australia." r So I told him we were going to make him quite well and send him ■' bark to mother. .' v ' , , '■'■■'. We all expected >lim to pull through, but God willed it otherwise. I tried everything to make his last hours pleasant—everything I thought you wouH have done had you been with him. -I sat oi his bed fanning him. and ( . '-" ' gave him everything he asked for. Once he looked sad and despondent, so I said, "Poor laddie, you will he better to-morrow." Fix- • in? those large blue eyes oa me, he said. "I'll be on my vay to the happy land." I . said,," Are you Iwking forward to it?" He replied, " Yes." He did not want, me to leave his bed.' If I knelt before his bed fanning him, he would say, " You're too good spoiling 'me in that way.'' I thought I would spoil . . him for voar sale. ■.'•■"■'. , '"'- I remained at Ms bed holding his hand until he died. 1 . >He fled those large blue eyes on <j me until I closed them. There I remained. I could not leave my laddie. I thought my 'heart-would break, and those tears that fall for yonr people is.well as our own dropped on the face of that laddie whose mother and sisters were so far away. I kissed him for all yonr sakes. Tell his sisters that I tried ,„to be a sister to him. lam only 19, and ho 20, so ie must have adopted me for one,' and .we trj to be even kinder to patients coming jfronijfce other sid» because their loved ones '.are so far. -" t'i'i :^f' '"'.:■ We had him buried in the graveyard. His ;. grave .is marked, with a cross, on which is written his name and regiment.' His coffin SS*(was covered with beautiful wreathe. I attended to ■ his ; grave as if it were one of my | •*, "own reonle. so don't, trouble 'about that. I :.pray God that He will comfort you all, as' He : .alone can comfort.—Yonrs truly. - v 'X \ ~. .EDITH MATHEWS. " - The writer of the above letter is worth her.weight in gold, and 22 carat all through. 'He will be a lucky man that gets her, whomever he is. ' .LIQUOR. - I see petitions ■ are being sent to Parliament -in bundles regarding ; the liquor question in : the King Country, but Mr. Seddon has not yet taken the House and the country into his confidence as to what he intends to 'do*.' If I remember rightly he promised, or half promised, last year, that he would apply the. Gothenburg system, or some modifi--cation of it, to this district. - The opportunity is certainly a favourable one, as at .present no large vested interests block the ' .way. There are many who would like to .see the experiment made. ; When once li'censes have been granted, it would be very '" idifficult to give State ; ; or municipal publicfhousea, with the elimination of private pro- • i.fit, a .trial. So far, Mr. Seddon has not pJp renewed his suggestion this session that the |::,g|.; ■system should be tried. Perhaps he has •altered his mind, and' may trot out a new ' ■■" idea at any moment. . : ■' ■ THE LIBERAL SPLIT. ; The British Liberals at the present moment present a sorry spectacle to an un- „ . sympathetiq "British world. A Liberal, writing of Liberals, in a English paper, f::_/ says : — We have seen during the last seven years a complete indifference to all prin- ('/. ciple, a somnolent helplessness, and a painfully anxious dependence on the lead of the ■ ; - Jumping Cat. . .'. The late Mr. Gladstone had a fatal knack of dissipating his !■ - - majorities: His successors run no such risk, H;.-.";.' for they have discovered the method of (\ remaining permanently in a minority." Per- i w- haps they had better follow the example of it the New* Zealand Opposition, and cease to | be a party. Why cannot they frankly and ! '; openly adt the "go-as-you-please" sys- j tem. They have plenty of candid friends. j Mr. Herbert Gladstone, before the last gene- '' ral election, knocked the heart out of his friends by coolly, telling them that they , could not possibly win, and quite recently ■ he told them that no matter how badly the $M. Government manages its business it must remain in power, ■as the Liberals are incapable of forming a Ministry. Sir E. Grey is another plain speaker. The Grey? have become famous for outspokenness. A for- ■ . mer Lord Grey had the honour of being the I only man who contradicted the late Queen j '•- at her own table. A little while ago, ! , , when peacemakers were trying to prove that in spite of appearances the Liberals were • really in accord, , Sir E. Grey dissipated -the illusion remorselessly by declaring that .between those who agreed with Mr. Morley and those who agreed /with"•'■'himself there ■was a great gulf fixed. Since Sir E. Grey ',_ spoke thus that gulf has been rapidly widening, and at the present rate of enlargement it will soon be an ocean. -*".',' : THE PIT. A good deal has been said lately about r the behaviour of the Pit at the Opera House. They have no doubt said and done many things that it would have ; been better to * have left unsaid and undone, but I am read}' to forgive them . a great deal after their really splendid treatment of our venerable *', and much-respected Mayor (Dr. Campbell). ;• -As soon as he appeared in the orchestra stalls one day last week the Pit started a v hearty clap, that was taken up all over H^J;j ; •the ; house, and ended up with three hearty - 1 ■ cheers. The . good doctor was evidently jf well pleased, as he had every reason to be, P after the anything but complimentary greetings accorded to others. Though he had to remain standing for a few minutes while Mrs. Campbell ; ' got her. wraps off, not one j' disrespectful;; word, was uttered. ; . Under the .circumstances, it was a great coin pi i- • ett V' •, Such' an i incident shows that; the Pit has its heart in : the right place, 4 and such jßrc.vy,3 l^ duct,"if only occasional, covers; a multitude of sins. Thk Genebal. -* '.. •-•-• ~~—-: ' ..... rr~ —■