| From the Augusta Constitutionalist |
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| June 18, 1864 |
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| Feeding Our Soldiers |
| In a recent trip up the
Georgia Railroad (which did not extend to the front) we were struck,
not hurt, by two things. |
| One was the terrible wear of
the road and its cars, showing that in spite of the well known energy
of all connected with it, that the drain of men from all industrial
pursuits is beginning to tell fatally upon us. All these things,
however, have to be endured, and a happy end will compensate for all
the means by which it was attained. |
| The other thing "which
pleased us most," was a committee of ladies from Wilkes county,
feeding the hungry soldiers on the trains both ways. It is not our
purpose to be eloquent about ministering angels, attending to hungry
humanity with the devotion of "love at the death couch, or hope
at the tomb;" nor to talk as all people talk about "cheering
smiles," &c. Not that we don't believe it all and more too,
but then it don't do justice to the subject. |
| As usual, we could not find
out who the ladies were, for the ministration of woman, like that of
her sisters with wings, is always done on earth in disguise. |
| One lady we did find out to be
the wife of a hero, who -- if heroic valor be a proper theme for
praise -- deserves more than he has ever received; and who, in our own
sight, has displayed a gallantry which should make his wreath
encircled stars shine brighter than those which nightly gem the
glittering belt of Orion. |
| We learned that the ladies
engaged in this noble work are all from Washington -- not Washington,
D. C., but the much more respectable metropolis of Wilkes county --
and we hardly need say how acceptable contributions to their stores
will be. |
| The food they gave the
soldiers was fully equal to what they would find at our hotels, and
was enjoyed by them in a way that the ladies can hardly appreciate;
for everybody is hungry who comes from Atlanta. All the way down the
soldiers talked about it, and ever and anon some one would say,
"Didn't them ladies treat us nice? and wasn't it good?" |
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