The Sunday Oregonian., February 25, 1917, SECTION FIVE, Page 2, Image 60

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 23, 1917. '
iff .if T ( yj
How tHe Tragedy in Europe Has' Brought
Gut the Bravery of Bereaved Women
On Both Sides of the Atlantic, and the
Questions of the Uncompleted. Drama
Tm z
w a 1 MB
1111 B
WW M
11
.-Vxx'. ''j -'j ,:- t ' V
9
v '4
f "
. 4 JS --.- t : - V,-. ' V . 1
Beautiful Lady Nairn, Whose Hero Husband Was Killed
in Belgium.
j2
Mrs. Lyndhurst Bruce, Once a "Gibson Girl," Bereaved by the War.
BY ETHEL THURSTON.
THE great novel of the war, the
story "yet to come" . that one
hears so much about, may not be,
after all, the story of the soldier who
gave his life on the battlefield. It
may be the romance of the widow of
that soldier.
The widows of the war nave not
lived up to the traditions. If one may
Judge from the experiences of those
whose distinguished husbands are num
bered among the roll of honor of the
dead. They have wept, but they have
not been the helpless, forlorn creatures
that one associates with widow's weeds.
They have not lived in harmony with
the pathos of the poet's imagination.
They do not pine away their lives in
cloistered . seclusion nope, faith, en
ergy all gone.
There has been a certain militancy
about the widows of the war. They
have shown ' a strength over sorrow.
They have grieved, bnt they have not
allowed their grief to conquer them.
As the true soldier fights his way
through blood, his own and his com
rade's, so his widow has fought her
way through tears to genuine achieve
ment. 6ne has helped to finish in her
own way what her lifemate, now gone,
sought to accomplish in the field re
served for the masculine mind and mas
culine fortitude.
The Call to Conrasre.
This may. In some measure, he due to
the unmistakable trend of the feminine
mind before the war1 the branching out
of woman's activities in new and hith
erto untried fields, the success of wom
an in fields heretofore supposed to be
pre-empted by men. Certainly these
things contributed to ths confidence she
felt in herself, and which said to her:
"Even in war man-made war there
is work for yon to do," and that added
eignif lcantly: "You can do it!"
Perhaps, however, the heroism that
puts the touch of romance to the war
widow, is largely attributable to the
nature of the war itself a war. not
of dashing brilliancy, where the army
that gets there first with the most men
and the most guns wins.
This is described variously as a. war
of attrition, a war of endurance, an
economic war, and the tnought back of
all this is that it is war that calls for
the services of every man available on
the battlefield, not so that one army
may be able to "overpower" the other,
but so that one army, may be able to
"hold" the other- longer than the other
army can "hold" it. With" the increas
ing likelihood of neither army being
able to push through and reach Its ob
jective Berlin in one case, and Paris
the other, it might be said it is real
ized that the victory likely will go to
the side better able to replace Its fallen
men with reserves and better able to
keep its army supplied with the neces
sary food and ammunition.
Their Part Important.
Understanding that, it is not so hard
to realize the important part women
play in tnls war. and why that part is
greater than they ever did play or
could play in previous wars which were
decided by superior force of men and
ammunition, aided by brilliant initia
tive which forced decisive results on
the battlefield.
The woman in this war must do men's
work, because every man is needed in
the work which he can best do. Bhe
must sweep the streets because she can
be as. efficient at that as her husband;
must be conductor on the street cars
and trains. She can do more than
nurse and sew for the soldiers; she can
do excellent work In the- munitions
factories.
If women can do this, what more
natural than that the war widows
should be the leaders, the dominant,
the most romantic figures in these
achievements She has the added in
centive of seeing to it that her husband
did not die in vain.
It would seem that every nation In
both' groups of belligerents has felt
this to be true in large measure, and
it is a noteworthy fact that "the fe
male of the species" did not have to
be "conscripted" into the service when
she was needed.
It is not surprising that Lady Scott,
widow of Captain .Hobert F. Scott, who
lost his life returning from the South
Pole, should be one of the noblest and
most picturesque figures among the
British heroines. When told that her
husband had died, her first statement
was:
"I must be brave, as my husband
would have wished me to be."
When she learned that England want
ed workers in the munitions factories,
she was one of the first to offer her
services and she is now laboring in one
her salary ta a week.
"It is an adventure the sest of which
does not wane'," she said, "and there is
real comradeship in 'a factory. The
personal lives of my friends have be
come of great Importance to me. Be
yond all this, there is absolute freedom
from that unrest which is a characteris
tic disease of the times. The munitions
worker, like the man in the trench,, is
under orders, doing her piece of as
signed work.
"We women in the munitions facto
ries escape the moments which come to
any self-respecting girl or woman when
she asks herself whether it is right or
fair or decent that she should be hav
ing a good time while her men-folk are
facing and suffering what we hear of
and much, too. that we do not. It 1b
no small comfort in these days to feel
yourself clear of the disgrace of
leisure."
When one reads of the heroism of
Mme. Simone Puget, widow of Henri
Puget, the distinguished French novel
ist, one is not surprised that France is
considering a measure which provides
that the right to vote of any soldier
who dies for France, should pass to his
widow.
The Blow of Bad News. v
M. Puget was a French officer with
the English, expeditionary force in
ranee. He was mortally wounded in
May. 1916, In the battle of Arras, and
lay dying in a Belgian military hospital
near the firing line.
Mme. Puget was In Paris when" she
learned of her husband's critical condi
tion. She endeavored to procure per
mission to visit and care for him, but
her request was refused because of the
great danger. She thereupon cut her
Mme. Simone Puget, Widow of a French Officer, WTio Found Her
Way to the Front Disguised as a "Toramie."
hajr, and obtained the uniform of a
British "Tommle" which she donned.
Thus garbed, tfhe attracted no attention
when she marched with an English ar
tillery detachment through the world's
most strictly guarded military line.
Into Belgium.
"Thank ' ihR Tf lwf m i r wYin
asked about the outcome of her achieve
ment. "I reached my husband's side a
few hours before he died!"
It is a far cry from Mme. Puget
and the helpless war widow of poetry
and tradition.
Another incident, somewhat similar,
but happier in its culmination, con
cerns a "near-grass-widow" of distinc
tion who was reconciled with her hus
band as a result of her activity as a
war nurse, and her husband's exploits
on the battlefield.
The heroine is Mrs. Hugh Ronald
French, daughter of Robert J. Wynne,
formerly Postmaster-General and
American Consul-General to London.
Mrs. French devoted herself to nursing
wounded soldiers at a private hospital
in Grosvenor square, London. She was
thus engaged a few months ago when
she learned that her husband, a captain
in the British army, with whom she bad
fallen, out. had been severely wounded
and taken to the hospital on Salisbury
flams. bhe immediately went there
and nursed him back to health.
They became reconciled while at the
hospital.
Another woman, in whom Americans
are particularly Interested is the widow
of Honorable Lyndhurst Bruce, son of
the Baron of Aberdare of Wales. Mrs.
Bruce is best known on this side of the
Atlantic as Camilla Clifford, a chorus
girl or the old "Prince of Pilsen" days,
and the original "Gibson Girl" of the
stage. - .
She came to America from her home
in Norway, as a steerage passenger,
when she was 15 years 'old. and in five
years won her way from the life of a
scrub girl to a position of honor in the
British aristocracy. Her husband dead,
she is back in America now, not so
very far from where she started, and
seeking work again.
Her husband was killed at Tpres a
year ago. '
"Here in America, she said, upon
returning to this country after Captain
Brace's tragic end, "there is a dignity
about work that makes me unashamed
of those days when I first started out
to make a living, first as a scrub girl,
then as second maid la a Boston fam
ily, and later as a chorus girl in the
back row."
Lady Nairn's Bereavement.
Another widow of the war with an
especial appeal to American Interest Is
Lady Nairn, better known as Lady Vio
let Mary Elliott, the daughter of the
Earl of Minto, who was often In New
Tork and Newport when - her father
was Governor-General of Canada. Lord
Minto went . from Canada to become
Governor-General of India, and it was
in Calcutta that his daughter was mar
ried to Captain Lord Charles Fitzmaur
ice, who assumed his father's minor
title of Lord Nairn. By. the command
of King Edward and with the object
of improving the natives of India, the
marriage was celebrated in Oriental
splendor rivaling in magnificence the
coronation Durbar of the King and
Queen as Emperor and Empress of
gone through the Boer war
with distinction. Lord Nairn expected
military honors and advancement in
the European war. The Order of the
Crown of Prussia, bestowed by the
Kaiser, was among the decorations he
had won prior to the European out
break. He was killed in Belgium,
Emergency Shelves.
One housekeeper employs this meth
od to keep a well stocked larder:
"When, for Instance. I order a can of
salmon from the store. If I find my
weekly bill is not as large as usual. I
order two and put one on what I call
my emergency shelf," she says. "I
vary this with sardines, peas, tomato
or other soups, olives, shrimp, etc
In this way I stock up my shelf with
out great expense, and I always have
something on hand to fix up and serve
quick'y when unexpected company
comes in. without having tcrgo to the
store."
f" ":
v -'
- x
..."6 'nVXii'S - miAf t& -Jfc fiJfi-r!
v 1 ' - 3
- ' I V
' J f '1:1 1 TW- -- -
' . ....
- . -.J
. -1
...-. -: . ' t)
- - ... ; - .:
' : . ' 5
Lady Robert Scott, Widow of the Explorer, Who Said, "I Must!
Be Brave, as My Husband Wished Me to Be," and
Went to Work at the Front
LEGAL SIDELIGHTS FOR
LAWYERS AND LAYMEN
BY BETNELLE G. B. CORNISH, OF PORTLAND BAR.
STANDING ROOM ONLY Can a pas
senger who is forced to stand be
cause of the crowded condition of
a trolley car recover from the company
for damages sustained by being thrown
down and Injured as the car was pass
ing' a curve?
The court In Kebbe vs. Connecticut
Co., 85 Conn. 611, has some Interesting
statements to make on the side of the
streetcar company. "The defendant, as
a common carrier, said the cAurt, "was
not an insurer of the safety of Its pas
sengers. It- was, however, bound. In
providing for" the safety of its pasaea
bers, to employ the highest degree of
care that a reasonable mas would use.
Whether it had performed this duty in
respect to providing straps or hand
holds which the plaintiff, standing be
tween the seats, could have reached,
was not a question of law for the court
to decide, but a question of fact for the
Jury. ... We are aware of no
statute, or fixed rule of law, which re
quired the defendant to attach straps
or handholds to its- car. so that they
could have been used by the plaintiff
in the place where she was standing."
As. to th fact that the passenger
was "standing in the narrow space be
tween the open seats which extended
completely across the car, the court
said: "If the plaintiff voluntarily and
intelligently took the position she did
she aMumed the manifest Inconvenience
and risks of the situation which were
incident to the proper operation of the
car. . ... Nor was It negligence on
the part of the railway company to
permit the plaintiff to ride in the
crowded car, when she choee to do so,
and was competent to take care of her
self. ... By standing in the place
she did. the plaintiff was nog however,
guilty of such contributory negligence
as to prevent her from recovering dam.
agee for an injury resulting from, the
negligent operation of the car. . . .
"It was, of course, the duty of the de
fendant's employes to operate the car
in view of the known fact that It was
so crowded that the plaintiff stood
where she did; and whether they neg
ligently operated it In the manner de
scribed was. apparently, the control
ling question in the case. In tbe absence
of any definite law or rule on the sub
ject It was, however, for the Jury, and
not for the court, to determine at what
rate of speed, under the circumstances,
tbe car should run in turning the
curves, or whether a speed more mod
erate than tbe usual rata would, as
stated by the court In Its charge, be
the safer course."
Contrariness Is genera "contrari
ness" a good ground for the dismissal
of an employe under contract? The
employe . In Thomas vs. Houston, etc.,
Co.. 148 S. W. 214. had a written con
tract for four years, by the terms of
which the employer agreed not to dis
charge the employe Thomas "except
for neglect of work, inability to per
form work on hand or bad conduct."
The company discharged Thomas be
fore the expiration of the term; where
upon he brought this action against
the company for an alleged breach of
its contract.
The company, on answer, admitted
the discharge, but Justified It on the
ground that Thomas had neglected his
work, been rebellious to his superiors,
broken the company's rules, and, ac
cording to the testimony of one of his
Immediate overseers, was "the con
trarlest fellow" he had ever had In the
shop.
Thomas minimized the Instances of
Insubordination as casual and of no
consequence, but admitted frankly that
he had disobeyed on several occasions
a company rule which required the men
to keep their street clothing in dressing-rooms
instead of in the workrooms.
In spite of this evidence of Thomas'
disobedience, the trial court brought in
a verdict of JoOO damages against the
defendant company for the discharge.
On appeal, however, the court reversed
the decision and found for the de
fendant company, saying In part: "The
propriety, tbe necessity Indeed, of the
promulgation of such wise and rea
sonable rules by the master to the ser
vant for his guidance in a large and
complicated manufacturing plant like
that of appellee cannot be questioned;
for without them there would be
neither order nor system, nor could
the company's business be expedited
save by a compact working entity of
its employes under such rules. Upon
the other hand, they are Just as neces
sary and desirable to the servant; for
In tbe making of such rules by trained
and experienced heads of departments,
and In obedience to them by the ser
vant, must in large measure He the tat
ter's safety of life and limb.
"It would be impossible for ns to
outline the different demands of the
many fields of employment in which
such rules are proper or the specific
obligations which should be Imposed in
the different kinds of service. Each in
stance must be answered by its facts.
But it seems to us that the rule as to
clothing in the present case was be
yond question reasonable. And while
the employer in every crrse should ex
ercise fair dealing and kind treatment
toward his employe, the latter as well
owes it to the former to be faithful and
diligent in the performance of hts serv
ices, and to obey his reasonable rules
within the nature of his employment.
"There is no doubt here that the rule
was broken; and it follows that the dis
charge was Justifiable."
WOMEN CALL ON CARDINAL!
Suffrage Leaders Appeal to Prelata
to Change Ills Mind.
BALTIMORE. Feb. 14. A delegation
of Suffragists from Baltimore, New
York. Boston, Philadelphia and Wash
ington called on Cardinal Gibbons In
an effort to change his hostile attitude
toward votes for- women.
Miss Janet Richards, of Washington,
and Mrs. Sarah Conboy. chairman, of
the Social Service Section of the Fed
eration of Catholic Women, were the
spokeswomen.
The cardinal In reply satd it was hard
for an old man to change his mind.
adding that he was open to conviction
and promising to give the matter "care
ful thought."
In the party were Mrs. William A
Prendergast. wife of the Comptroller of
New York; Mrs. O'Gorman Stanton. Mrs.
Schuyler Warren and Mrs. Sara Mc
Pike, of New York.
GIRL OF 3 IS "HEADLINER"
Little Chicago Miss Dances for Ro
tary Club In. Windy Cltj.
CHTCAGO..Feb. 15. Little Elenora
Hogan. who has taken part In several
Juvenile entertainments on the north,
shore and who has gained a reputation
for her classical dancing, is to be the
"headllner" at the entertainment of the
Rotary Club in --. Florentine room at
tbe Congress Hotel.
Although only 3H years old. little
Miss Hogan has gained wide popularity
for the manner in which she interprets
the most difficult stepr. Dance critics
who have seen her perform predict that
she has a .great future. She is the
daughter of F. J. Hogan. an electrical
engineer, 614 Kemper Place.
England Bays Army's Tea.
LONDOJ?. Feb. 8. The government is
Just now buying 60,000,000 pounds of
tea, a year's supply for the army and
navy. It constitutes one of the largest
tea purchases on record.