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diff --git a/old/60599-0.txt b/old/60599-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b6473af..0000000 --- a/old/60599-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3879 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Women of Belgium Turning Tragedy to Triumph, by -Charlotte Kellogg - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Women of Belgium Turning Tragedy to Triumph - -Author: Charlotte Kellogg - -Release Date: October 30, 2019 [EBook #60599] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN OF BELGIUM *** - - - - -Produced by F E H, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - -Changes made are noted at the end of the book. - - - - -[Illustration: A “LITTLE BEES” DINING-ROOM FOR SUB-NORMAL CHILDREN] - - - - - WOMEN OF BELGIUM - - TURNING TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH - - BY - - CHARLOTTE KELLOGG - - WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY - - HERBERT C. HOOVER - - _Chairman of The Commission for Relief in Belgium_ - - _SIXTH EDITION_ - - [Illustration] - - FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY - - NEW YORK AND LONDON - - 1917 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY - - FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY - - [Printed in the United States of America] - - Published in April, 1917 - - Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention - of the Pan-American Republics of the - United States, August 11, 1910. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - Introduction vii - - I. The Leaders 1 - - II. The “Soupes” 11 - - III. The Cradles on the Meuse 27 - - IV. “The Little Bees” 33 - - V. Mrs. Whitlock’s Visit 49 - - VI. The Bathtub 55 - - VII. The Bread in the Hand 61 - - VIII. One Woman 71 - - IX. The City of the Cardinal 83 - - X. The Teachers 93 - - XI. Gabrielle’s Baby 105 - - XII. The “Drop of Milk” 111 - - XIII. Layettes 117 - - XIV. The Skating-Rink at Liége 123 - - XV. A Zeppelin 134 - - XVI. New Uses of a Hippodrome 137 - - XVII. The Antwerp Music-Hall 149 - - XVIII. Lace 158 - - XIX. A Toy Factory 167 - - XX. Another Toy Factory 174 - - XXI. The Mutilés 179 - - XXII. The Little Package 186 - - XXIII. The Green Box 190 - - XXIV. The “Mother of Belgium” 204 - - XXV. “Out” 208 - - XXVI. Farewell 209 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - FACING - PAGE - - A “LITTLE BEES” DINING-ROOM FOR SUB-NORMAL - CHILDREN _Frontispiece_ - - READY FOR THE CHILDREN 36 - A “Little Bees” cantine for sub-normal children. - - A MEAL FOR YOUNG MOTHERS 112 - - ONE CORNER OF THE BRUSSELS HIPPODROME, - NOW A CENTRAL CLOTHING SUPPLY - STATION 144 - - THE ANTWERP MUSIC-HALL, NOW A SEWING-ROOM 152 - Here hundreds of women are being saved by - being furnished the opportunity to work - two weeks in each month, on an average - wage of sixty cents a week. - - THE SUPPLEMENTARY MEAL THE RELIEF - COMMITTEE IS NOW TRYING TO GIVE - TO 1,250,000 SCHOOL CHILDREN 160 - - TOYS CREATED BY WOMEN OF BELGIUM 176 - - 1,662 CHILDREN, MADE SUB-NORMAL BY THE - WAR, WAITING FOR THEIR DINNER 204 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -BY HERBERT HOOVER - - -Belgium, after centuries of intermittent misery and recuperation as the -cockpit of Europe, had with a hundred years of the peaceful fruition of -the intelligence, courage, thrift, and industry of its people, emerged -as the beehive of the Continent. Its population of 8,000,000 upon an -area of little less than Maryland was supported by the importation of -raw materials, and by their manufacture and their exchange over-seas -for two-thirds of the vital necessities of its daily life. - -When in the summer of 1914 the people were again drawn into the -European maelstrom, 600,000 of them became fugitives abroad, and the -remainder were reduced to the state of a city which, captured by a -hostile army, is in turn besieged from without. Thus, its boundaries -were a wall of bayonets and a blockading fleet. - -Under modern economic conditions, no importing nation carries more than -a few weeks’ reserve stock of food, depending as it does upon the daily -arrivals of commerce; and the cessation of this inflow, together with -the destruction and requisition of their meager stocks, threatened the -Belgians with an even greater catastrophe—the loss of their very life. - -With the stoppage of the industrial clock, their workpeople were idle, -and destitution marched day and night into their slender savings, until -to-day three and a half million people must be helped in charity. - -The Belgians are a self-reliant people who had sought no favors of -the world, and their first instinct and continuing endeavor has -been to help themselves. Not only were all those who had resources -insistent that they should either pay now or in the future for their -food, but far beyond this, they have insisted upon caring for their -own destitute to the fullest extent of those remaining resources—the -charity of the poor toward the poor. They have themselves set up no cry -for benevolence, but the American Relief Commission has insisted upon -pleading to the world to help in a burden so far beyond their ability. - -This Commission was created in order that by agreement with the -belligerents on both sides, a door might be opened in the wall of -steel, through which those who had resources could re-create the flow -of supplies to themselves; that through the same channel, the world -might come to the rescue of the destitute, and beyond this that it -could guarantee the guardianship of these supplies to the sole use of -the people. - -Furthermore, due to the initial moral, social and economic -disorganization of the country and the necessary restriction on -movement and assembly, it was impossible for the Belgian people to -project within themselves, without an assisting hand, the organization -for the distribution of food supplies and the care of the impoverished. -Therefore the Relief Organization has grown to a great economic engine -that with its collateral agencies monopolizes the import food supply of -a whole people, controlling directly and indirectly the largest part of -the native products so as to eliminate all waste and to secure justice -in distribution; and, above all, it is charged with the care of the -destitute. - -To visualize truly the mental and moral currents in the Belgian people -during these two and a half years one must have lived with them and -felt their misery. Overriding all physical suffering and all trial -is the great cloud of mental depression, of repression and reserve -in every act and word, a terror that is so real that it was little -wonder to us when in the course of an investigation in one of the large -cities we found the nursing period of mothers has been diminished by -one-fourth. Every street corner and every crossroad is marked by a -bayonet, and every night resounds with the march of armed men, the -mark of national subjection. Belgium is a little country and the sound -of the guns along a hundred miles of front strikes the senses hourly, -and the hopes of the people rise and fall with the rise and fall in -tones which follow the atmospheric changes and the daily rise and -fall of battle. Not only do hope of deliverance and anxiety for one’s -loved ones fighting on the front vibrate with every change in volume -of sound, but with every rumor which shivers through the population. -At first the morale of a whole people was crusht: one saw it in every -face, deadened and drawn by the whole gamut of emotions that had -exhausted their souls, but slowly, and largely by the growth of the -Relief Organization and the demand that it has made upon their exertion -and their devotion, this morale has recovered to a fine flowering of -national spirit and stoical resolution. The Relief Commission stands -as an encouragement and protection to the endeavors of the Belgian -people themselves and a shield to their despair. By degrees an army of -55,000 volunteer workers on Relief had grown up among the Belgian and -French people, of a perfection and a patriotism without parallel in the -existence of any country. - -To find the finance of a nation’s relief requiring eighteen million -dollars monthly from economic cycles of exchange, from subsidies of -different governments, from the world’s public charity; to purchase -300,000,000 pounds of concentrated foodstuffs per month of a character -appropriate to individual and class; to secure and operate a fleet -of seventy cargo ships, to arrange their regular passages through -blockades and war zones; to manage the reshipment by canal and rail -and distribution to 140 terminals throughout Belgium and Northern -France; to control the milling of wheat and the making of bread; to -distribute with rigid efficiency and justice not only bread but milk, -soup, potatoes, fats, rice, beans, corn, soap and other commodities; to -create the machinery of public feeding in cantines and soup-kitchens; -to supply great clothing establishments; to give the necessary -assurances that the occupying army receives no benefit from the food -supply; to maintain checks and balances assuring efficiency and -integrity—all these things are a man’s job. To this service the men of -Belgium and Northern France have given the most stedfast courage and -high intelligence. - -Beyond all this, however, is the equally great and equally important -problem—the discrimination of the destitute from those who can pay, -the determination of their individual needs—a service efficient, just -and tender in its care of the helpless. - -To create a network of hundreds of cantines for expectant mothers, -growing babies, for orphans and debilitated children; to provide the -machinery for supplemental meals for the adolescent in the schools; -to organize workrooms and to provide stations for the distribution of -clothing to the poor; to see that all these reliefs cover the field, -so that none fall by the wayside; to investigate and counsel each and -every case that no waste or failure result; to search out and provide -appropriate assistance to those who would rather die than confess -poverty; to direct these stations, not from committee meetings after -afternoon tea, but by actual executive labor from early morning till -late at night—to go far beyond mere direction by giving themselves -to the actual manual labor of serving the lowly and helpless; to do -it with cheerfulness, sympathy and tenderness, not to hundreds but -literally to millions, this is woman’s work. - -This service has been given, not by tens, but by thousands, and it is a -service that in turn has summoned a devotion, kindliness and tenderness -in the Belgian and French women that has welded all classes with a -spiritual bond unknown in any people before. It has implanted in the -national heart and the national character a quality which is in some -measure a compensation for the calamities through which these people -are passing. The soul of Belgium received a grievous wound, but the -women of Belgium are staunching the flow—sustaining and leading this -stricken nation to greater strength and greater life. - -We of the Relief have been proud of the privilege to place the tools in -the hands of these women, and have watched their skilful use and their -improvement in method with hourly admiration. We have believed it to be -so great an inspiration that we have daily wished it could be pictured -by a sympathizing hand, and we confess to insisting that Mrs. Kellogg -should spend some months with her husband during his administration -of our Brussels office. She has done more than record in simple terms -passing impressions of the varied facts of the great work of these -women, for she spent months in loving sympathy with them. - -We offer her little book as our, and Mrs. Kellogg’s, tribute in -admiration of them and the inspiration which they have contributed -to this whole organization. This devotion and this service have -now gone on for nearly 900 long days. Under unceasing difficulties -the tools have been kept in the hands of these women, and they have -accomplished their task. All of this time there have stood behind them -our warehouses with from thirty to sixty days’ supplies in advance, and -tragedy has thus been that distance remote. Our share and the share -of these women has therefore been a task of prevention, not a task -of remedy. Our task and theirs has been to maintain the laughter of -the children, not to dry their tears. The pathos of the long lines of -expectant, chattering mites, each with a ticket of authority pinned -to its chest or held in a grimy fist, never depresses the mind of -childhood. Nor does fear ever enter their little heads lest the slender -chain of finance, ships and direction which supports these warehouses -should fail, for has the cantine ever failed in all these two and a -half years? That the day shall not come when some Belgian woman amid -her tears must stand before its gate to repeat: “_Mes petites, il n’y -en a plus_,” is simply a problem of labor and money. In this America -has a duty, and the women of America a privilege. - - HERBERT HOOVER. - - - - -WOMEN OF BELGIUM - -TURNING TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH - - - - -I - -THE LEADERS - - -The story of Belgium will never be told. That is the word that passes -oftenest between us. No one will ever by word of mouth or in writing -give it to others in its entirety, or even tell what he himself has -seen and felt. The longer he stays the more he realizes the futility -of any such attempt, the more he becomes dumb. It requires a brush and -color beyond our grasp; it must be the picture of the soul of a nation -in travail, of the lifting of the strong to save the weak. We may, -however, choose certain angles of vision from which we see, thrown -into high relief, special aspects of an inexpressible experience. - -One of these particular developments is the unswerving devotion of the -women of Belgium to all those hurt or broken by the tragedy within -and without her gates. How fortunate are these women, born to royal -leadership, to have found in their Queen the leader typifying the -highest ideal of their service, and the actual comrade in sorrow, -working shoulder to shoulder with them in the hospitals and kitchens. -The battle-lines may separate her wounded and suffering from theirs, -but they know always that she is there, doing as they are doing, and -more than they are doing. - -Never were sovereigns more loved, more adored than Albert and -Elizabeth. All through these two years people have been borne up by the -vision of the day of their return. “But how shall we be able to stand -it?” they say. “We shall go mad with joy!” “We shall not be able to -speak for weeping and shouting!” “We shall march from the four corners -of the country on foot in a mighty pilgrimage to Brussels, the King -shall know what we think of him as man and leader!” - -When they speak of the Queen all words are inadequate; they place her -first as woman, as mother, as tender nurse. They are proud, and with -reason, of her intelligence and sound judgment. Under her father, -a distinguished oculist, she received a most rigorous education; -she is equipped in brain as well as in heart for her incalculable -responsibilities. I was told the other day that she dislikes -exceedingly having her photograph as “nurse” circulate, feeling that -people may think she wishes to be known for her good works. But whether -she wishes it or not, she is known and will be known throughout history -for her good works—for her clear, clean vision of right, her swift -courage, and her utter devotion to each and all of her people. Albert -and Elizabeth, A and E, these letters are written on the heart of -Belgium. - -If in the United States we have been too far away to realize in detail -what the work of the Queen has been, we have had on our own shores the -unforgettable example of her dear friend, Marie de Page, to prove to us -the heroism of the women of Belgium. - -Before she came, we knew of her. After the first two months of -the war she had left her mother and father and youngest boy in -Brussels—realizing that she was cutting herself off from all news of -them—to follow her husband, who had himself followed his King to Le -Havre. She worked her way across the frontier to Flushing, and finally -to La Panne. The whole career of Doctor de Page had been founded on her -devoted cooperation, and one has imagined the joy of that reunion in -the great base hospital at La Panne, where he was in charge. Her eldest -son was already in the trenches, the second, seventeen years old, was -waiting his turn. - -She worked as a nurse at her husband’s side, day and night, until she -could no longer bear to see the increasing needs of the wounded without -being able to relieve them, and she determined to seek aid in America. -This journey, even in peace time, is a much more formidable undertaking -for an European than for an American woman, but Marie de Page started -alone, encouraged always by her good friend, the Queen. And how -swiftly, how enduringly, she won our hearts, as from New York to San -Francisco she told so simply and poignantly her country’s story! - -She was a Belgian woman; so, even in her great trouble, she could not -neglect her personal appearance, and after the fatiguing journey across -the Continent, she looked fresh and charming as we met her in San -Francisco. The first day at luncheon we were plying her with questions, -until finally she laughed and said, “If you don’t mind, I had better -spread the map on the table—then you will see more quickly all the -answers!” We moved our plates while she took the precious plan from -her bag, and smoothed it across her end of the table. Then with her -pencil she marked off with a heavy line the little part that is still -free Belgium: she drew a star in front of La Panne Hospital and we were -orientated! From point to point her pencil traveled as we put our eager -questions. We marveled at the directness with which she brought her -country and her people before us. We knew that her own son was in the -trenches, but she made it impossible for us to think of herself. - -Then, tho there was much more to be done in America, she left. She must -return to La Panne; her husband needed her. She had just received -word that her seventeen-year-old son was to join his brother in the -trenches; she hurried to New York. She did not wish to book on a -non-neutral line, but further word showed her that her only chance to -see her boy lay in taking the fastest possible ship. Fortunately the -biggest, safest one was just about to leave, so she carried on board -the money and supplies she was taking back to her people. - -We settled down to doing what we could to carry forward her work. Then, -on May 7, 1915, flashed the incredible, the terrible news—the greatest -passenger liner afloat had been torpedoed! The Lusitania had sunk in -twenty-two minutes, 1,198 lives had been lost. We went about dazed. - -One by one the recovered bodies were identified, and among them was -that of Marie de Page. - -We have found some little consolation in endowing beds in her memory -in the hospital for which she gave her life. She is buried in the sand -dunes not far from it; whenever Doctor de Page looks from his window, -he looks on her grave. - - -“IN” - -As the only American woman member of the Commission for Relief I was -permitted to enter Belgium in July, 1916. - -I already knew that this country held 3,000,000 destitute; that over -one and one-quarter million depended for existence entirely on the -daily “soupes”; that between the soup-lines and the rich (who in every -country, in every catastrophe, can most easily save themselves) there -were those who, after having all their lives earned a comfortable -living, now found their sources of income vanished, and literally faced -starvation. For this large body, drawn from the industrial, commercial -and professional classes, from the nobility itself, the suffering was -most acute, most difficult to discover and relieve. - -I knew that at the beginning of the war the great organizing genius -of Herbert Hoover had seized the apparently unsolvable problem of -the _Relief of Belgium_, and with an incredible swiftness had forced -the cooperation of the world in the saving of this people who had -not counted the cost of defending their honor. That because of this, -every day in the month, ships, desperately difficult to secure, were -pushing across the oceans with their cargoes of wheat and rice and -bacon, to be rushed from Rotterdam through the canals to the C. R. -B. warehouses throughout Belgium. It meant the finding of millions -of money—$250,000,000 to date—begging of individuals, praying to -governments, the pressing of all the world to service. - -I realized, too, that the Belgian men, under the active leadership -of Messieurs Solvay, Francqui, de Wouters and Janssen, with a joint -administration of Americans and Belgians, were organized into the -Comité National, whose activities covered every square foot of the -country, determining the exact situation, the exact need of each -section, and who were responsible for the meeting of the situation -locally and as a whole. - -But I knew from the lips of the Chairman of the C. R. B. himself, that -despite all the work of the splendid men of these organizations, the -martyrdom of Belgium was being prevented by its women. I was to learn -in what glorious manner, in what hitherto undreamed of degree, this was -true—that the women of Belgium, true to the womanhood and motherhood -of all ages, were binding the wounds and healing the soul of their -country! - - - - -II - -THE “SOUPES” - - -I shall never think of Belgium without seeing endless processions of -silent men and black-shawled women, pitchers in hand, waiting, waiting -for the day’s pint of soup. One and one-quarter million make a long -procession. If you have imagined it in the sunshine, think of it in the -rain! - -One may shut himself up in his house and forget the war for a few -hours, but he dare not venture outside. If he does he will quickly -stumble against a part of this line, or on hundreds of little children -guarding their precious cards as they wait to be passed in to one of -the “Enfants Débiles” dining-rooms, or on a very long line of women in -front of a communal store where “identity cards” permit the purchase -every week of limited rations of American bacon or rice and a few other -foods at fixt prices (prices set by American efficiency below those of -America itself); or on a group of black-shawled mothers waiting for the -dinner that enables them to nurse the babies in their arms. - -The destitute must have a “supplement” to their daily ration of -carbohydrates and fat which will give them protein—says the C. R. -B., and thus we have “Soupes”;—but these dry statements of engineers -now become dieticians convey to no one the human story of these dumb, -waiting lines. - -We can have little conception of what it means for just one city, the -Agglomeration of Brussels, for instance, to keep 200,000 out of its -1,000,000 people on the “Soupes,” not for a month or two, but for over -two years! Nor does this include the soup made by the “Little Bees,” -an organization which cares especially for children, for the thousands -in their cantines; or the soup served to the 8,500 children in sixty -communal schools of central Brussels at four o’clock each afternoon, -which is prepared in a special kitchen. These quantities are all over -and above the regular soup served to 200,000—and do not think of soup -as an American knows it, think more of a kind of stew; for it is thick, -and, in the words of the C. R. B., “full of calories.” - -To make it for central Brussels the slaughter-house has been converted -into a mighty kitchen, in charge of a famous pre-war maître d’hôtel. -Ninety-five cooks and assistants from the best restaurants of the -capital have been transferred from the making of pâtés and soufflés -to the daily preparation of 25,000 quarts of soup! And they use the -ingenuity born of long experience, to secure an appetizing variety -while strictly following the orders of directing physicians. They had -been doing this over 700 days when I visited the kitchen, but there -was still a fresh eagerness to produce something savory and different. -And one must remember that the changes can come only from shifting -the emphasis from our dried American peas to beans, from carrots to -cabbages, from macaroni to rice. The quantity of meat remains about -the same, 1,200 pounds a day, which, tho the committee kills its own -cattle, costs almost fifty cents a pound. There must be, too, 10,000 -pounds of potatoes. The great fear has been that this quantity might -be cut, and unfortunately, in November, 1916, that fear was realized -to the extent of a 2,000 pound drop—and then remedied by the C. R. B. -with more beans, more rice, more peas! - -Personal inspection of this marvelous kitchen is the only thing that -could give an idea of its extraordinary cleanliness. The building -offers great space, plenty of air and light and unlimited supply of -water. The potato rooms, where each potato is put through two peeling -processes, are in one quarter. Near them are the green vegetable -rooms with their stone troughs, where everything is washed four or -five times. The problem of purchasing the vegetables is so great that -a special committee has been formed at Malines to buy for Brussels -on the spot. One of the saving things for Belgium has been that she -produces quantities of these delicious greens. In the smaller towns a -committeeman usually goes each morning to market the day’s supply. For -instance, the lawyer who occupies himself with the vegetables for the -Charleroi soup, makes his own selection at four o’clock each morning, -and is extravagantly proud of the quality of his carrots and lettuces! -The most important section, naturally, is that which cares for the -meat and unsmoked bacon or “lard” the C. R. B. brings in. The more -fat in the soup, the happier the recipient! With the little meat that -can still be had in the butcher shop, selling at over one dollar a -pound, one can imagine what it means to find a few pieces in the pint -of soup! Then there is the great kitchen proper, with the one hundred -and forty gas-heated caldrons, and the dozens of cooks hurrying from -one to another. There seem to be running rivers of water everywhere, a -perpetual washing of food and receptacles and premises. - -The first shift of cooks arrives at two-thirty in the morning to start -the gas under the one hundred and forty great kettles, for an early -truck-load of cans must be off at 8 o’clock. That shift leaves at noon; -the second works from 8 till 5, on an average wage of four francs a day -and _soupe_! - -There are ten of the large trucks and 500 of the fifty-quart cans in -constant use. As soon as the 8 o’clock lot come back, they are quickly -cleaned, refilled, and hurried off on their second journey. Mostly they -are hurried off through rain, for there are many more rainy than sunny -days in Belgium. - -One passes a long line of patient, wet, miserable-looking men and women -with their empty pitchers, then meets with a thrill the red truck -bringing the steaming cans. The bakers have probably already delivered -the 25,000 loaves of bread, for a half loaf goes with each pint of soup. - -By following one of these steaming trucks I discovered “Soupe 18,” with -its line of silent hundreds stretching along the wet street. - -I was half an hour early, so there was time to talk with the local -committee managers who were preparing the big hall for the women who -would arrive in a few minutes to fill the pitchers with soup, and the -string bags with bread. These communal soupes are generally directed -by men, tho women do the actual serving. The enthusiastic secretary, -who had been a tailor before the war, said regretfully that he had been -obliged to be absent three days in the two years. - -At the left, near the entrance, I was shown the office with all the -records, and with the shelves of precious pots of jam and tiny packages -of coffee and rice which are given out two or three times a month—in -an attempt to make a little break in the monotony of the continual -soup. No one can picture the heartbreaking eagerness in the faces of -these thousands as they line up for this special distribution—these -meager spoonfuls of jam, or handfuls of chopped meat. - -We reviewed the army of cans stationed toward the rear, and the great -bread-racks of either side. The committee of women arrived; we tasted -the soup and found it good. I was asked to sit at the table with -two men directors, where I might watch them stamp and approve the -ration-cards as the hungry passed in. - -One may hate war, but never as it should be hated until he has visited -the communal soupes and the homes represented by the lines. The work -must be so carefully systematized that there is only time for a word -or two as they pass the table. But that word is enough to reveal the -tragedy! There are sometimes the undeserving, but it is not often that -any of the thousands who file by are not in pitiful straits. That -morning the saddest were the very old—for them the men had always a -kindly “How is it, mother? How goes it, father?” - -The “Merci, Monsieur, merci beaucoup,” of one sweet-faced old woman was -so evidently the expression of genuine feeling, that I asked about -her. She had three sons, who had supported her well—all three were -in the trenches. Another still older, said, “Thank you very much,” in -familiar English. She, too, had been caught in the net, and there was -no work. A little Spanish woman had lost her husband soon after the war -began, and the director who investigated the case was convinced that -he had died of hunger. An old French soldier on a crutch, but not too -feeble to bow low as he said “Merci,” was an unforgettable figure. - -Some of the very old and very weak are given supplementary tickets -which entitle them to small portions of white bread, more adapted to -their needs than the stern war bread of the C. R. B.; and every two -days mothers are allowed additional bread for their children. One -curly-haired little girl was following her mother and grandmother, -and slipt out of the line to offer a tiny hand. Then came a tall, -distinguished-looking man, about whom the directors knew little—except -that he was absolutely without funds. They put kindly questions -to the poor hunchback, who had just returned to the line from the -hospital, and congratulated the pretty girl of fifteen, who had won -all the term’s prizes in the communal school. There were those who had -never succeeded; then there were those who two years before had been -comfortable—railway employees, artists, men and women, young and old, -in endless procession, a large proportion in carpet slippers, or other -substitutes for leather shoes. Many were weak and ill-looking; all wore -the stamp of war. Every day they must come for the pint of soup and the -bread that meant life—200,000 in Brussels alone; in Belgium one and a -half million! These are the lowest in the scale of misery—those who -“must have a supplement of protein,” for meat never passes their lips -but in soup. - -The questions were always swift, admitting no delay in the reply, and -knowing the hearts of the questioners, I wondered a little at this. -Till in a flash I saw: if the directors wished to know more they would -go to the homes represented—but the line must not be held back! Every -ten minutes’ halt means that those outside in the rain must stand ten -minutes longer. On this particular day the committee put through a -line representing 2,500 pints of soup and portions of bread in fifty -minutes, an almost incredible efficiency, especially when you remember -that every card is examined and stamped as well as every pitiful -pitcher and string bag filled. - -That day a woman who had not before served on the soupes offered her -services to the seasoned workers. They were grateful, but smilingly -advised her to go home, fill her bath tub with water, and ladle it -out—to repeat this the following day and the following, until finally -she might return, ready to endure the work, and above all, not to -retard the “Line” five unnecessary minutes! Two and a half years have -not dulled the tenderness of these women toward the wretched ones they -serve. - - -AT HOME - -Belgium is small. Until now I had been able to go and return in the -same day. But on this particular evening I found myself too far south -to get back. I was in a thickly forested, sparsely settled district, -but I knew that farther on there was a great château belonging to the -family of A., with numerous spare rooms. - -Tho I had been in Belgium only a short time I had already learned how -unmeasured is the friendship offered us, but I also knew that Belgian -etiquette and convention were extremely rigorous, and I hesitated. - -It was thoroughly dark, when, after crossing a final stretch of -beechwood, I rang the bell and sent in my card, with a brief line. - -After what seemed an endless time I saw the servant coming back through -the great hall, followed by three women, who, I felt instinctively, had -not come in welcome. - -But there was no turning about possible now—some one was already -speaking to me. Her very first words showed she could not in the least -have understood. And I swiftly realized this was not surprizing since I -had been there so short a time, and there had not before been a woman -delegate. I explained that my sole excuse for sending in my stranger’s -card at that time of night was my membership in the C. R. B.—and I -uncovered my pin. - -It was as if I had revealed a magic symbol—the door swung wide! They -took my hands and drew me inside, overwhelming me with apologies, with -entreaties to stop with them, to stay for a week, or longer. They would -send for my husband—as Director he must be sorely in need of a few -days’ rest—we should both rest. Their district in the forest had many -relief centers, they would see that I got to them all. A room was all -ready for me on the floor above—if I did not like it I should have -another. I must have some hot tilleul at once! - -In the drawing-room I was presented to the other thirteen or fourteen -members of the family, and in pages I could not recount their beautiful -efforts, individually and together, to make me forget I had had to wait -for one moment on their threshold. - -Still later, two American men arrived. They were known, and expected at -any hour of the day or night their duties might bring them that way. -One of them was ill, and not his own mother and sister could have been -more solicitous in their care of him than were these kind women. - -Do Americans wonder that it hurts us, when we return, to have people -praise us for what we have given Belgium? In our hearts we are -remembering what Belgium has given us. - - - - -III - -THE CRADLES ON THE MEUSE - - -Dinant made me think of Pompeii. It had been one of the pleasure-spots -of Belgium; gay, smiling, it stretched along the tranquil Meuse, at -the base of granite bluffs and beech-covered hill-slopes. There were -factories, it is true, at either end of the town; but they had not -marred it. Every year thousands of visitors, chiefly English and -Germans, had stopt there to forget life’s grimness. Dinant could make -one forget: she was joyous, lovable, laughing. Before the tragedy of -her ruins, one felt exactly as if a happy child had been crusht or -mutilated. - -I came to Dinant in September, 1916, by the way of one of the two -cemeteries where her 600, shot in August, 1914, are buried. This -burial-ground is on a sunny hill-slope overlooking rolling wheat -fields, and the martyred lie in long rows at the upper corner. A few -have been interred in their family plots, but mostly they are gathered -in this separate place. - -Up and down I followed the narrow paths; the crowded plain white -crosses with their laconic inscriptions spoke as no historian ever -will. “Father, Husband, and Son”; “Brother and Nephew”; “Husband and -Sons, one seventeen, and another nineteen”; “Brother and Father”; -“Husband and Brother”; “Brother, Sons and Father”; “Father and -Son”—the dirge of the desolation of wives and sisters and mothers! War -that had left them the flame-scarred skeletons of their homes, had left -them the corpses of their loved ones as well! - -Dinant was not entirely destroyed, but a great part of it was. A few -days after the burning, people began to crawl back. They came from -hiding-places in the hills, from near-by villages, from up and down the -river, to take up life where they had left it. Human beings are most -extraordinarily adaptable: people were asked where they were living; no -one could answer exactly, but all knew that they were living somewhere, -somehow—in the sheltered corner of a ruined room, perhaps in a cave, -or beside a chimney! The relief committee hurried in food and clothing, -hastily constructed a few temporary cottages; a few persons began to -rebuild their original homes, and life went on. - -I was walking through a particularly devastated section, nothing but -skeleton façades and ragged walls in sight, when suddenly from the -midst of the devastation I heard the merry laughter of children. I -pushed ahead to look around the other side of a wall, and there was a -most incredible picture. In front of a low temporary building tucked in -among the ruins, was a series of railed-in pens for children to play -in. And there they were romping riotously—fifty-two golden-haired, -lovely babies, all under four! Along the front of the enclosure was a -series of tall poles carrying gaily painted cocks and cats and lions. -That is the Belgian touch; no relief center is too discouraging to be -at once transformed into something cheering, even beautiful. The babies -had on bright pink-and-white checked aprons. I let myself in, and -they dashed for me, pulling my coat, hiding in the folds of my skirt, -deciding at once that I was a good horse. - -Then happened a horrible thing. One of the tiniest, with blue eyes -and golden curls, ran over to me laughing and calling, “Madame, mon -père est mort!” “Madame, my father is dead, my father is dead, he -was shot!” I covered my ears with my hands, then snatched her up and -silenced her. There were others ready to call the same thing, but the -nurses stopt them. - -The little ones went on with their romping while I passed inside to see -the equipment for caring for them. In a good-sized, airy room were long -rows of white cradles, one for each child, with his or her name and age -written on a white card at the top. After their play and their dinner -they were put to sleep in these fresh cradles. - -They were brought by their mothers or friends before seven in the -morning, to be taken care of until seven at night. They were bathed, -their clothing was changed to a sort of simple uniform, and then they -were turned loose outside to play, or to be amused in various ways -by the faithful nurses. They were weighed regularly, examined by a -physician, and daily given the nourishing food provided by the relief -committee. In fact, they had the splendid care common to the 1,900 -crèches or children’s shelters in Belgium. But this crèche was alone in -its strange, tragic setting. - -In the midst of utter ruin are swung the white cradles. In front of -them, under the guardianship of gay cocks and lions, golden-haired -babies are laughing and romping. Further on more ruins, desolation, -silence! - - - - -IV - -“THE LITTLE BEES” - - -I - -Madame ... has charge of a Cantine for Enfants Débiles (children below -normal health) in one of the crowded quarters of Brussels. These -cantines are dining-rooms where little ones come from the schools -at eleven each morning for a nourishing meal. They form the chief -department of the work of the “Little Bees,” a society which is taking -care of practically all the children, babies and older ones, in this -city, who are in one way or another victims of the war. And in July, -1916, they numbered about 25,000. - -The cantines have been opened in every section of the city, in a vacant -shop, a cellar, a private home, a garage, a convent—in any available, -usable place. But no matter how inconvenient the building, skilful -women transform it at once into something clean and cheery. In the -whole of Belgium I have never seen a run-down or dirty relief center. -In some the kitchen is simply a screened-off corner of the dining-room, -in others it is a separate and excellently equipped quarter. I visited -one crowded cantine where every day the women had to carry up and down -a narrow ladder stairway all the plates and food for over 470 children. -But they have so long ago ceased to think in terms of “tiredness,” -that they are troubled by the question suggesting it. And these are -the women who have been for over nine hundred days now—shoulder to -shoulder with the men—ladling out one and one-quarter million pints of -soup, and cooking for, and scrubbing for, and yearning over, hundreds -of thousands of more helpless women and children, while caring always -for their own families at home. If after a long walk to the cantine -(they have neither motors nor bicycles) madame finds there are not -enough carrots for the stew, she can not telephone—she must go to -fetch whatever ingredient she wants! Each cantine has its own pantry -or shop with its precious stores of rice, beans, sugar, macaroni, -bacon and other foodstuffs of the C. R. B., and in addition the fresh -vegetables, potatoes, eggs and meat it solicits or buys with the money -gathered from door to door, the gift of the suffering to the suffering. - -The weekly menus are a triumph of ingenuity; they prove what variety -can be had in apparent uniformity! They are all based on scientific -analysis of food values, and follow strictly physicians’ instructions. -One day there are more grammes of potatoes, another more grammes of -macaroni in the stew; one noon there is rice for dessert, the next -phosphatine and now a hygienic biscuit—a thick, wholesome one—as big -as our American cracker. - -It was raining as I entered the large, modern tenement building which -Madame had been fortunate enough to secure. I found on one side a group -of mothers waiting for food to take home to their babies, and on the -other the little office through which every child had to pass to have -his ticket stamped before he could go upstairs to his dinner. This -examining and stamping of cards by the thousand, day after day, is in -itself a most arduous piece of work, but women accomplish it cheerfully. - -[Illustration: READY FOR THE CHILDREN - -A “Little Bees” cantine for sub-normal children] - -On the second floor, between two large connecting rooms, I found -Madame, in white, superintending the day’s preparation of the tables -for 1,662. That was the size of her family! Fourteen young women, -with bees embroidered in the Belgian colors on their white caps, -were flying to and fro from the kitchen to the long counters in the -hallway piled with plates, then to the shelves against the walls of the -dining-room, where they deposited their hundreds of slices of bread and -saucers for dessert. Some were hurrying the soup plates and the 1,662 -white bowls along the tables, while others poured milk or went on with -the bread-cutting. Several women were perspiring in the kitchens and -vegetable rooms. The potato-peeling machine, the last proud acquisition -which was saving them untold labor, had turned out the day’s kilos -of potatoes, which were already cooked with meat, carrots and green -vegetables into a thick, savory stew. The big fifty-quart cans were -being filled to be carried to the dining-room; the rice dessert was -getting its final stirring. Madame was darting about, watching every -detail, assisting in every department. - -It was raining outside, but all was white, and clean, and inviting -within. Suddenly there was a rush of feet in the courtyard below. I -looked out the window: in the rain 1,662 children, between three and -fourteen years, mothers often leading the smaller ones—not an umbrella -or rubber among them—were lining up with their cards, eager to be -passed by the sergeant. These kind-hearted, long-suffering sergeants -kept this wavering line in place, as the children noisily climbed the -long stairway—calling, pushing. One little girl stept out to put fresh -flowers before the bust of the Queen. Boys and girls under six crowded -into the first of the large, airy rooms, older girls into the second, -while the bigger boys climbed to the floor above. With much chattering -and shuffling of sabots they slid along the low benches to their places -at the long, narrow tables. The women hurried between the wiggling -rows, ladling out the hot, thick soup. The air was filled with cries -of “Beaucoup, Mademoiselle, beaucoup!” A few even said “Only a little, -Mademoiselle.” Everybody said something. One tiny, golden-haired thing -pleaded: “You know I like the little pieces of meat best.” In no time -they discovered that I was new, and tried slyly to induce me to give -them extra slices of bread, or bowls of milk. - -In this multitude each was clamoring for individual attention, and -for the most part getting it. Very little ones were being helped to -feed themselves; second portions of soup were often given if asked -for. Madame seemed to be everywhere at once, lifting one after another -in her arms to get a better look at eyes or glands. Her husband, a -physician of international reputation, was in the little clinic at the -end of the hall, weighing and examining those whose turn it was to go -to him that day. Later he came out and passed up and down the rows -to get an impression of the general condition of this extraordinary -family. When for a moment husband and wife stood together in the middle -of the vast room, they seemed with infinite solicitude to be gathering -all the 1,662 in their arms—their own boy is at the front. And all the -time the 1,662 were rapidly devouring their bread and soup. - -Then began the cries of “Dessert, Mademoiselle, dessert!” Tired arms -carried the 1,662 soup plates to the kitchen, ladled out 1,662 portions -of rice, and set them before eager rows. Such a final scraping of -spoons, such fascinating play of voice and gesture—then the last crumb -eaten, they crowded up to offer sticky hands with “Merci, Mademoiselle” -and “Au revoir.” The clatter of sabots and laughter died away through -the courtyard, and the hundreds started back to school. - -The strong American physician, who had helped ladle the soup, tried to -swing his arm back into position. I looked at the women who had been -doing this practically every day for seven hundred days. Madame was -apparently not thinking of resting—only of the next day’s ration. - -I discovered later that at four o’clock that afternoon she had charge -of a cantine for four hundred mothers and their new babies, and that -after that she visited the family of a little boy who was absent, -according to the children, because his shirt was being washed. - -All attempts to express admiration of this beautiful devotion are -interrupted by the cry, “Oh, but it is you—it is America that is doing -the astonishing thing—we _must_ give ourselves, but you need not. Your -gift to us is the finest expression of sympathy the world has known.” - - -II - -Before Madame ... was made director of the cantine for 1,662, she had -charge of one in a still poorer quarter of the city. I went to look for -it on Assumption Day, the day of the Ascent of the Blessed Virgin. I -knew the street, and as usual, the waiting line of children in front -told the number. Scrubbed cheeks, occasional ribbon bows and cheap -embroidery flounces showed the attempt of even these very poor mothers -to celebrate their fête day. Throughout the city, those fortunate -enough to be called Mary were being presented with flowers, which since -the war have been sold at extremely low prices, for the flowers still -grow for Belgium, who supplied the markets of Europe before she was -besieged. - -From early morning we had seen old and young carrying great sheaves -of phlox and roses, or pots of hortensia, to some favorite Mary. -But these little ones had no flowers, yet they were gay, as Belgian -children invariably are—always ready with the swiftest smiles and -outstretched hands, or with a pretty song if one asks for it. Little -tots of three know any number of the interminable chansons familiar in -France and Belgium. They chattered and laughed, caught my hand as I -went down the stairs—for this dining-quarter is below the sidewalk, -in rooms that are known as “caves.” I was prepared for something -dark and cheerless, instead I found the whitewashed walls gay with -nursery pictures and Belgian and American flags. The long tables were -covered with bright red-and-white checked oilcloth. The small windows -opening just above the sidewalk allowed sufficient light and air to -keep everything fresh. The kitchen was immaculate—shelves for shining -vessels, others for the sacks of sugar, boxes of macaroni. On a table -stood the inevitable scales—Thursday is weighing day, when one of -the best physicians of Brussels examines the children, recording the -weights that form the basis for judgment as to the success of the -ration. - -The 430 bowls of milk were already on the tables. Madame ... was -hurrying about among her helpers—twelve faithful Belgian women. They -had all been there since eight o’clock, for this was a _viande_ day -(there are three a week) and when there is meat that must be cut into -little pieces for between four and five hundred children, it means an -early start. Two women were still stirring (with long wooden spoons) -the great tub full of savory macaroni and carrots—a test in itself for -muscle and endurance. The meat was in separate kettles. The bread had -been cut into over 400 portions. The phosphatine dessert (of which the -children can not get enough) was already served at a side table. The -“Little Bees” originated this phosphatine dessert, which is a mixture -of rice, wheat and maize—flour, phosphate of lime and cocoa. They have -a factory for making it, and up to August, 1916, had turned out 638,000 -kilos. - -A gentleman in black frock suit and large hat came in to look about, -and then went back to the lengthening line. Madame explained that he -was the principal of the communal school of the quarter, and that he -came every day to keep the children in order. I learned, too, that on -every single day of the vacation, which had begun and was to continue -until the middle of September, he and one of his teachers went to -the school to distribute to all the school children the little roll -of white bread that they are allowed at eight-thirty each morning. -Many of these have but little at home. This roll helps them out -until the cantine meal at eleven-thirty, which can be had only on a -physician’s authorization. From now on a larger meal is to be given -in the schools—a joy not only to the pupils but to their teachers, -who everywhere are devoting themselves to this work of saving their -children. Several of the younger women helping Madame had been working -wearily all the year in the professional schools, but as soon as -their vacations arrived, begged to be allowed to give their time to -the cantines. They were all most attractive in their white aprons and -caps—most serious in their attention to the individual wants of that -hungry family. - -A few minutes later the principal appeared again—all was ready -now. Then the little ones began to march in. They came by way of -an anteroom, where they had their hands washed, if they needed -washing—and most of them did—and quite proudly held them up as they -passed by us. They were of all sizes between three and fourteen. One -pale little fellow was led in by his grandmother who was admitted (tho -no mothers or grandmothers are supposed to come inside), because he -wailed the minute she left him. It was easy to see why mothers could -not be allowed, tho one was glad the rule could be broken, and that -this sad, white-faced grandmother could feed her own charge. It was -terrible, too, to realize what that plate of savory stew would have -meant to her, and to see that she touched no morsel of it. Even if -there had been an extra portion, the women could not have given it to -her: the following day the street would have been filled with others, -for whom there could not possibly be extra portions. - -If a child is too ill to come for its dinner, a member of the family -can carry it home. Practically all the cantines have a visiting nurse -who investigates such cases, and keeps the number much lower than it -would otherwise be. - -When I asked Madame how she was able to give so much time (from about 8 -A.M. till 1 or 2 P.M. every day of the year), she smiled and shrugged -her shoulders: “But that is the least one can do, the very least! -One never thinks of the work, it is of the children—and we know -they love us—we see them being kept alive! Some of them are getting -stronger—these weaklings. What more can we wish?” - - - - -V - -MRS. WHITLOCK’S VISIT - - -The second time, I visited Madame’s cantine with the wife of the -American Minister, and I found what it meant to be the wife of the -United States Minister in Belgium! From the corner above to the -entrance of the court the street was lined with people. At the gateway -we were met by a committee headed by the wife of the Bourgmestre -of Brussels. Within the court were the hundreds of children—with -many more mothers this time—all waiting expectantly, all specially -scrubbed, tho no amount of scrubbing could conceal their sad lack of -shoes. There were smiles and greetings and little hands stretched out -all along the line as we passed. - -Inside there was no more than the usual cleanliness—for the cantines -are scrupulously kept. Madame and her assistants had tiny American -flags pinned to their white uniforms. In the corridors the American and -Belgian flags hung together. A special permission had been obtained to -take a photograph of their guest at the window. - -The tables were laid, the lines began moving. As the little girls filed -in, one of them came forward, and with a pretty courtesy offered Mrs. -Whitlock a large bouquet of red roses. The boys followed, and their -representative, struggling with shyness, recited a poem as he gave -his flowers. All the children were very much imprest with this simple -ceremony, and under the two flags, as the quavering little voice gave -thanks to “those who were bringing them their daily bread,” there were -no grown-ups without tears in their eyes. - -American flags of one kind or another hang in all the cantines, along -with pictures of President Wilson, mottos expressing thanks to America, -C. R. B. flour-sacks elaborately embroidered—on all sides are attempts -to express gratitude and affection. - -That morning, as the Legation car turned a corner, a little old Flemish -lady in a white frilled cap stept forward and clapped her hands as the -American flag floated by. Men lift their hats to it, children salute -it. In the shop windows one often sees it draping the pictures of the -King and Queen! - -This is not a tribute to the American flag alone, but also to the -personality of the man who has so splendidly represented this flag and -to the men who carried the American soul and its works into Belgium -through the C. R. B. Belgium will never forget its immediate debt -to Brand Whitlock and to these hundreds of Americans whose personal -service to this country in its darkest hour is already a matter -of history. Just as Mrs. Whitlock was leaving, Madame fortunately -discovered a shabby little girl who still squeezed a bedraggled bunch -of white roses—and made her happy by bringing her forward to present -it. - -These children, as I have said, are all in need of special -nourishment, they are those who have fallen by the wayside in the -march, brought down by the stern repression of the food supply. One of -the most striking effects of the war has been the rapid increase in -tuberculosis. Many of the thousands in the cantines are the victims of -“glands” or some other dread form of this disease. - -However, in some respects the children of the very poor are better -off than they have ever been. For the first time they are receiving -nourishing food at regular hours. And this ration, along with the -training in hygiene and medical attention, is having its good effect. - -One hundred and twenty-five physicians are contributing their services -to the “Little Bees” in Brussels alone, where, during the first six -months of 1916, infant mortality had decreased 19 per cent. It would be -difficult to estimate the time given by physicians throughout the whole -country, but probably half of the 4,700 are contributing practically -all their time, and almost all are doing something. It is a common -sight in the late afternoon to see a physician who has had a full, hard -day, rushing to a cantine to examine hundreds of children. Outside the -zone of military preparation, 200,000 sub-normal children of from three -to seventeen years, and over 53,000 babies under three months, are on -their “relief” lists, besides a large number of adults. - -Outside Brussels, the cantines are conducted in much the same way as -those of the “Little Bees.” Committees of women everywhere are devoting -themselves to the children. - - - - -VI - -THE BATHTUB - - -Way over in the northeast, in Hasselt, a town of 17,000 inhabitants, -there is an especially interesting cantine—only one of thousands in -Belgium, mind you! A year ago, when a California professor was leaving -San Francisco to become a C. R. B. representative, he was offered a -farewell dinner—and in the hall his hostess placed a basket, with -obvious intent! The money was not for the general fund, but to be spent -by him personally for some child in need. - -He was assigned to Hasselt, for the Province of Limbourg, and there -he very soon decided that a splendid young Belgian woman who had -been giving her whole time to nursing wounded soldiers would be the -person to know which of their children was most in need of his little -fund. When he proposed turning it over to her, she quite broke down -at the opportunity it offered. She and her mother were living in a -rather large house, but on a limited income. She would find the sick -child and care for it in her own home. A few days later the professor -called to see her “child”—and he found twelve! She had not been able -to stop—most of them were children whose fathers were at the front. -They were suffering from rickets, arrested development, paralysis, -malnutrition. She was bathing them, feeding them, and following the -instructions of a physician, whom she had already interested. Her -fund was two hundred and fifty dollars, but in her hands it seemed -inexhaustible. She added children, one after another. Then, finally, -the Relief Committee came to the support of her splendid and necessary -work with its usual monthly subsidy, with which the women buy the -supplies most needed from the relief shops. She is now installed in the -middle of the town—with a kitchen and dining-room downstairs, and a -little clinic and bathroom upstairs. The forty-six centimes (less than -ten cents) a day which she received per child, enabled her to furnish -an excellent meal for each. But she soon found that her children could -not be built up on one meal, and she stretched her small subsidy to -cover a breakfast at eight and a dinner at four to 100 children. She -balances the ration, makes the daily milk tests, looks after every -detail personally. Upstairs in the prized tub devoted helpers bathe -the children who need washing, care for their heads, and for all the -various ailments of a family of 100 sub-normal children. Because of -the glycerine it contains, soap has been put on the “non-entry” list, -which makes it so expensive that the very poor are entirely without it. -The price has increased 300 per cent. since the war. Incidentally, one -of the reasons for the high price of butter is that it can be sold for -making soap, at an extraordinary figure. - -This particular tub is a tribute to the ingenuity of the present -American representative—also a professor, but from farther East. -Before the terrific problem of giving children enough bread and -potatoes to keep them alive, bathrooms sometimes appear an unnecessary -luxury. The relief committee could not furnish Mademoiselle a bathroom! -But to those working with the sick and dirty children it seemed -all-essential. Hasselt is not a rich town, everybody’s resources had -been drained—how should the money be found? Finally the C. R. B. -delegate had an inspiration—there was a big swimming-tank in Hasselt. -To the people, the American representative, tho loved, is always a more -or less surprizing person. If it could be announced that by paying -a small sum they could see the strange American swim, everybody who -had the small sum would come—he would swim for the bathroom! It was -announced, and they came, and that swimming fête will go down in the -annals of the town! The cantine got its bathroom, and there was enough -left over to buy a very necessary baby-scales. - -Mademoiselle took us to the houses where we saw the misery of mothers -left with seven, nine, eleven children, in one or two little rooms. -There was no wage-earner—he was at the front; or there was no work. -One woman was crying as we went in. She explained that her son, “a bad -one,” had just been trying to take his father’s boots. She pulled out -from behind the basket where the twins were sleeping under the day’s -washing, a battered pair of coarse, high boots. There were holes in the -hob-nailed soles, there was practically no heel left. The heavy tops -still testified to an original stout leather, but never could one see a -more miserable, run-down-at-the-heel, leaky, and useless pair of boots. -Yet to that woman they represented a fortune—there is practically no -leather left in the country, and if there were, how could her man, when -he came back, have the money to buy another pair, and how could he work -in the fields without his boots? There were eight children—eight had -died. - -And she wept bitterly because of the son who had tried to take his -father’s boots, as she hid them behind the twin’s basket. I had heard -of the sword as the symbol of the honor and power of the house; in -bitter reality it is the father’s one pair of boots! - - - - -VII - -THE BREAD IN THE HAND - - -I soon came to have the curious feeling about the silent stone fronts -of the houses that if I could but look through them I should see -women sorting garments, women making patterns for lace, women ladling -soup, painting toys, washing babies. Up and down the stairs of these -inconvenient buildings they are running all day long, back and forth, -day after day, seeking through a heroic cheerfulness, a courageous -smile, to hold back tears. - -And chiefly I was overwhelmed by the enormous quantities of food they -are handling. The whole city seems turned into a kitchen—and there -follows the inevitable question: “Where does it all come from?” The -women who are doing the work connect directly with the local Belgian -organizations, by the great system of decentralization, which is the -keynote of the C. R. B. Just these three magic letters spell the answer -to the inevitable question. - -At the C. R. B. bureau I had seen the charts lining the corridors. -They seemed alive, changing every day, marking the ships on the ocean, -the number of tons of rice, wheat, maize or sugar expected; and how -these tons count up! In the two years that have passed, 1,000,000 tons -each year, meaning practically one ship every weekday in the month; -90,000 tons at one time on the Atlantic! Other charts show the transit -of goods already unloaded at Rotterdam. Over 200 lighters are in -constant movement on their way down the canals to the various C. R. B. -warehouses, which means about 50,000 tons afloat all the time. I had -seen, too, the reports of the enormous quantities of clothing brought -in—4,000,000 dollars worth, almost all of it the free gift of the -United States. - -In the director’s room were other maps showing the territory in charge -of each American. Back of every cantine and its power to work stands -this American, the living guaranty to England that the Germans are not -getting the food, the guaranty to Germany of an equal neutrality, and -to the Belgians themselves the guaranty that the gifts of the world -to her, and those of herself to her own people, would be brought in -as wheat through the steel ring that had cut her off. One had only to -think of the C. R. B. door in the steel ring as closed, to realize the -position of this neutral commission. The total result of their daily -and hourly co-ordination of all this organization inside Belgium, -their solitude for each class of the population, their dull and dry -calculations of protein, fat and carbohydrates, bills of lading, cars, -canal boats, mills and what not, is the replenishing of the life-stream -of a nation’s blood. - -Thus, the food dispensed by the women is part of the constantly -entering mass, and between its purchase, or its receipt as gift by -the C. R. B., and its appearance as soup for adults, or pudding for -children, is the whole intricate structure of the relief organization. -The audible music of this creation is the clatter of hundreds of -typewriters, the tooting of tugs and shrieks of locomotives, but the -undertones are the harmonies of devotion. - -Everybody who can pay for his food must do so—it is sold at a fair -profit, and it is this profit, gained from those who still have -money, that goes over to the women in charge of the cantines for the -purchase of supplies for the destitute. They often supplement this -subsidy through a house-to-house appeal to the people. For instance, -in Brussels, the “Little Bees” are untiring in their canvass. Basket -on arm, continually they solicit an egg, a bunch of carrots, a bit of -meat, or a money gift. They have been able to count on about 5,000 eggs -and about 2,500 francs a week, besides various other things. Naturally, -the people in the poorer sections can contribute but small amounts, but -it is here that one finds the most touching examples of generosity—the -old story of those who have suffered and understood. One woman who -earns just a franc a day and on it has to support herself and her -family, carefully wraps her weekly two-centime piece (two-fifths of a -cent) and has it ready when one of the “Little Bees” calls for it. - - -OUR AMERICAN YOUNG MEN - -Monsieur ..., a committee leader in the Hainaut, once said to me, -“Madame, one of the big things Belgium will win in this war is a true -appreciation of the character and capacity (quite aside from their -idealism) of American young men. - -“I’ll confess,” he continued, “that when that initial group of young -Americans came rushing in with those first heaven-sent cargoes of -wheat, we were not strongly reassured. We knew that for the moment -we were saved, but it was difficult to see how these youths, however -zealous and clear-eyed, were going to meet the disaster as we knew it. - -“We organized, as you know, our local committees, and headed them by -our Belgians of widest experience; our lawyers of fifty or sixty, our -bankers, our leaders of industry. We could set all the machinery, but -nothing would work unless the Americans would stand with us. The -instructions read: ‘The American and your Belgian chairmen will jointly -manage the relief.’ - -“And who came to stand with us? Who came to stand with me, for -instance? You see,” and he pointed to splendid broad-shouldered C. -ahead of us, “that lad—not a day over twenty-eight—just about the age -of my boys in the trenches, and who, heaven knows, is now almost as -dear to us as they! - -“But in the beginning I couldn’t see it; I simply couldn’t believe C. -was going to be able to handle his end of our terrific problem. But day -by day I watched this lad quietly getting a sense of the situation, -then plunging into it, getting under it, developing an instinct for -diplomacy along with his natural genius for directness and practicality -that bewildered me. It has amazed us all. - -“We soon learned that we need not fear to trust ourselves to that type -of character, to its adaptability and capacity, no matter how young it -seemed.” - -Of course there have been older Americans who have brought to their -Belgian co-workers equal years as well as experience, but one of the -pictures I like best to remember is this of Monsieur ..., a Belgian -of fifty-five or sixty, in counsel with his eager American délégué of -twenty-eight. To the partnership, friendship, confidence, the Belgian -added something paternal, and the American responded with a devotion -one feels is lifelong. - -Between the visits to mills and docks, and the grinding over accounts, -orders of canal boats and warehouses, there are hours for other things. -I remember one restful one spent at this same Monsieur’s table—he is -an excellent Latin scholar and a wise philosopher—when he and his -young American friend for a time forgot the wheat and fat in their -delight to get back to Virgil and Horace. - -Young D., a Yale graduate, furnished another example of these qualities -Monsieur stressed. If he had been a Westerner, his particular -achievement would have been less surprizing, but he came from the East. - -He reached Belgium at the time of a milk crisis. We were attempting, -and, in fact, had practically arranged, the plan to establish C. R. B. -herds adjacent to towns, to insure a positive supply for tiny babies. -The local committees went at it, but one after another came in with -discouraging reports. Even their own people were often preventing -success by fearing and sometimes by flatly refusing to turn their -precious cows into a community herd. Then one day D., who, so far as I -know, had never in his career been within speaking distance of a cow, -put on something that looked like a sombrero and swung out across -his province. We had hardly had time to speculate about what he might -accomplish, before he returned to announce that he had rounded up a -magnificent herd, and that _his_ district was ready to guarantee so -much pure milk from that time on! - -“What had he done, where we had failed?” asked Monsieur. “He had called -a meeting of farmers in each commune, and said: ‘We, the Americans, -want from this commune five or ten cows for the babies of your cities. -We give ourselves to Belgium, you give your cows to us. We will give -them back when the war is over—if they are alive!’ And he got them!” -They would have given this cheerful beggar anything—these stolid old -Flemish peasants. - - - - -VIII - -ONE WOMAN - - -The world will be incredulous when it is given the final picture of the -complexity and completeness of the Belgian Relief Organization. In all -the communes, all the provinces, in the capital, for over two years, -groups of Belgians have been shut in their bureaux with figures and -plans, matching needs with relief. - -There must be bread and clothing for everybody, shelter for the -homeless, soup for the hungry, food boxes for prisoners in Germany, -milk for babies, special nourishment for the tubercular, orphanages -and crèches for the tiny war victims, work for the idle, some means of -secours for merchants, artists, teachers and thousands of “ashamed -poor”—665,000 idle workmen with their 1,000,000 dependents, 1,250,000 -on the soupes, 53,000 babies and 200,000 children under normal health -in the cantines—how much of the story can these figures tell? - -Yet the efforts of the organization have been so continuous and -comprehensive, the C. R. B. has been so steadily bringing to them the -vital foodstuffs, and holding for them the guaranty of their freedom to -act, that from the committee-rooms it has sometimes seemed as if there -were really nothing more to be done for Belgium! - -But one has only to spend a few days at the other end, to get quickly -disabused of this idea! No amount of organization can truly meet the -needs of the seven and a half million people of a small industrial -country, suddenly and entirely cut off from all normal contact with the -rest of the world. Despite all the food that has been distributed, the -resistance of the people has been lowered. Tuberculosis has seized its -opportunity, and is making rapid strides. I have visited home after -home where a heartbreaking courage was trying to cover up a losing -struggle. Over and above all the organized “Relief,” there remains an -enormous task for just such splendid women as Madame.... - -Madame is the wife of a lawyer, with two sons at the front. As soon as -the war broke out she organized a Red Cross center. Then the refugees -came pouring into Brussels, and she felt that among them there must -be many to whom it would be torture to be crowded into the big relief -shelters. She said little, but by the end of August she had managed -to squeeze five families in with her own. From the day the Germans -abolished the Belgian Red Cross she gave her entire time to helping the -homeless who had been in comfortable circumstances before the war to -some quiet corner where they might wait its end. There was never any -announcement of her work, but the word spread like wildfire—many had -to be turned away daily. Then she found a big home on the Boulevard, -rather shabby inside, but conveniently arranged for suites of two or -even three rooms. Here a considerable number of families might have -space for a complete ménage; plenty of light and air, and room to cook -and sleep. Before long she was housing ninety-eight, but a few of -these were able to re-establish themselves, so when I visited her in -September, 1916, there were sixty-five. As her own funds were limited, -and fast disappearing, she had in the end to appeal to the “Relief” to -subsidize this “Home.” - -On the first floor she had a little pantry-shop, where each family -received the permitted ration of bread, sugar, bacon and other -foodstuffs. One day a woman came to her, hungry. She was a widow with -two little girls, who, before the war, had earned a good salary in -the post-office. Somehow she had managed to exist for two years, but -now there was nothing left. She was given charge of the pantry at ten -cents a day. I have seen many processions of people descending long -stairways. I shall forget them. But I shall never forget this one of -the refugees from the upper floors winding down the stairways at the -shop hour, with their pathetic plates and bowls ready for the bacon and -bread that made living possible. They could, perhaps, add vegetables -and fruit, or an egg or two, to the ration to piece out the meal. -On the lowest shelf of this miniature shop were a few dozen cans of -American corn, which even yet the people have not learned to like. -Having been brought up to regard corn in all forms as fit only for -cattle and chickens, even disaster can not convince them that it is a -proper food for man! - -Later we went upstairs to visit some of the apartments. They were -bright and clean, with cheery flower-pots on all the window-sills. -Every one showed a fine appreciation of what was done for him by making -the most of all he had; an attitude quite different from that of many -less used to comfort, less intelligent, who neither hesitate to demand -charity, nor to complain of what they receive. Each family had a small, -practical stove, which served for both cooking and heating. - -One family of eight was content in its two rooms. They had had a -copper shop and a pension at Dinant; were very comfortably off, when, -suddenly, Dinant was struck. All their property was in flames, men -were being shot, their own grandmother, eighty-one years old, had -her leg broken, and, terror-stricken, they fled with her up and down -hill, over rocks and through brush till they reached Namur, and -finally arrived at Brussels where they heard of Madame’s “Home.” The -grandmother, whose leg is mended but still crooked, was sitting in -front of the red geraniums at a window, knitting socks. She knits one -pair a week and receives five cents for each pair from the clothing -committee. The young girls help Madame in various ways; the father -tries to work in copper, but if he earns fifty cents a week, considers -himself lucky. The particular struggle for this family is to get eggs -for the grandmother, who can not get along on the bacon and bread. -Eggs cost ten cents each. Happily, this is a kind of situation that -“special funds” from the United States have often relieved. Everybody -was courageous, trying simply to hold on till the terrible war should -be ended and he could go back to rebuild something on the ruins of his -home. - -There was another Dinant ménage next door, but a ménage for one. I -quickly read this poor woman’s story on the walls. On one was tacked a -large picture of Dinant, beautiful, smiling, winding along the river, -as in July, 1914. Above it was the photograph of her husband, shot in -August; on the other wall a handsome son in uniform. He was at the -front. She stopt peeling her potatoes to go over again those horrible -days. They had been so well-off, so happy, father, mother and son. -When they saw their city in flames, they were too bewildered, too -terror-stricken to realize what it meant. Her husband left to help -restore a bridge—he did not return. The son hurried to follow his -King; she somehow reached Brussels. - -There was a fine young chap of about fifteen, whose father had been -killed at Manceau sur Sambre. He and his mother had found this haven, -but now she was in the hospital undergoing a capital operation. Madame -was trying to arrange a special diet for her on her return. They had -been in very comfortable circumstances; now everything was gone. - -And so it was—the same story, and from all parts of Belgium. They had -come from Verviers, Aerschot, Dinant, from Termonde and Ypres—the -striking thing was the courage, the gentleness, the fine spirit of all. - -This “Home,” as I said, has now been subsidized, but along with it -Madame still carries on another admirable work entirely on her own -responsibility. Some friends help her, but she really lives from day to -day! On the ground floor of this same building she has a restaurant, -also known only as the word passes from mouth to mouth, where any one -may come for a good dinner at noon. There is no limit to what one may -pay, but the charge is a franc, or twenty cents. The majority pay less. - - -It has quite the atmosphere of one of the little Paris restaurants of -the Latin quarter—two adjoining rooms bright with flowers and colored -cloths and gay china, separated from the kitchen only by screens. It -is frequented chiefly by artists and teachers, some young girls from -the shops, and a few business men. Madame does not go from table to -table as the Paris host does, greeting his guests, but they come to -her table to shake hands and chat for a minute. They linger over their -coffee—there is the general atmosphere of cheer and _bien être_. And -what this means in this time of gloom to the sixty or more who gather -there daily! - -Young girls of the families of the refugees serve the meals. The cook, -herself a refugee, works for twenty francs a month. - -I said any one might come, but that is, of course, not exact. Any one -may ask to come, but he must prove to Madame that he needs to come. -After he explains his situation, she has ways of checking up this -information and deciding herself whether the need is a real one. The -dinner consists of soup, a meat and vegetable dish, and dessert, with -beer or coffee. - -I was looking over the meal tickets and noticed that while most of them -were unstamped (the one franc ones) a good number had distinguishing -marks. Then I learned that if a person was unable to pay a franc for -this meal, he might have it for fifteen or even ten cents, and his -ticket was stamped accordingly. I found one ticket with no stamp, but -with the “o” of “No” blotted out. This might be chance, but after -finding a half-dozen or more with this same ink blot, I suspected a -meaning. And the explanation revealed the spirit of Madame’s work. -“Yes,” she said, “there is a meaning. There are some so badly off that -they can pay nothing; to save them the pain of having to look at, and -to have others look at, a stamp registering this misery, I do not stamp -their tickets, but, since I must keep count, I blot that little ‘o,’ -which at once suggests ‘zero’ to me!” - -Choosing at random, I found registered for one day in July, 1916: - - 1 dinner at 1 franc, 10 centimes. - 58 dinners at 1 franc. - 43 dinners at 75 centimes (15 cents). - 10 dinners at 50 centimes. - 4 dinners at 0. - - - - -IX - -THE CITY OF THE CARDINAL - - -Unquestionably the Belgian above all others the Germans would rid -themselves of if they could, is Cardinal Mercier. He is the exalted -Prince of the Church, but in the hour of decision, he stept swiftly -down and, with a ringing call to courage, took his place with the -people. Ever since that day he has helped them to stand united, -defiant, waiting the day of liberation. Others have been silenced by -imprisonment or death, but the greatest power has not dared to lay -hands on the Cardinal. He is the voice, not only of the Church, but of -Belgium heartening her children. - -Malines has her cantines and soupes and ouvroirs, all the branches of -secours necessary to a city that was one of the centers of attack; but -these are not the most interesting things about Malines. It is above -all as the city of the Cardinal that she stands forth in this war. Her -“oeuvre” has been to give moral and spiritual secours, not only to her -own people, but to those of every part of Belgium. - -Since under the “occupation” the press has naturally been “controlled,” -this secours has been distributed chiefly through the famous letters of -the Cardinal sent to priests to be re-read to their people. We remember -the thrill with which the first one was read in America. After the war -there will be pilgrimages to the little room where it was printed. I -had the privilege of having it shown me by that friend of the Cardinal -who was the printer of the first letter, and whose brother was at this -time a prisoner in Germany for having printed the second. The room was -much as it had been left after the search; books were still disarranged -on their shelves, papers and pamphlets heaped in confusion on the -tables. The red seals with which the Germans had closed the keyholes -had been broken, but their edges still remained. Standing in the midst -of the disarray, remembering that the owner had already been six months -in a German prison, and looking out on the shattered façade at the end -of the garden, I realized, at least partly, another moment of the war. - -This quickening secours, then, is distributed chiefly by letter, but -continually by presence and speech in Malines itself, and occasionally -in other parts of the country. On the 21st of July, 1916, the -anniversary of the independence of Belgium, all Brussels knew that -the Cardinal was coming to celebrate high mass in Sainte Gudule. The -mass was to begin at 11 o’clock, but at 9.30 practically every foot of -standing-room in the vast cathedral was taken. In the dimness a great -sea of people waited patiently, silently, the arrival of their leader. -Occasionally a whispered question or rumor flashed along the nave. “He -has come!” “He has been prevented!” There was a tacit understanding -that there should be no demonstration—the Cardinal himself had ordered -it. Every one was trying to control himself, and yet, as the air grew -thicker, and others fought their way into the already packed transepts, -one felt that anything might happen! Almost every person had a bit -of green ribbon (color of hope) or an ivy leaf (symbol of endurance) -pinned to his coat. The wearing of the national colors was strictly -forbidden, but the national spirit found another way: green swiftly -replaced the orange, black and red. - -We all knew that this meant trouble for Brussels, and the fact that -the shops (which had all been ordered to keep open this holiday) were -carrying on a continuous comedy at the expense of the Germans, did -not help matters. Their doors were open, to be sure, but in many, the -passage was blocked by the five or six employees who sat in stiff rows -with bows of green ribbon in their buttonholes, and indescribable -expressions on their faces. In the biggest chocolate shop, the window -display was an old pail of dirty water with a slimsy rag thrown near -it. There was no person inside but the owner, who stood beside the -cash register in dramatic and defiant attitude, smoking a pipe. There -were crowds in front of the window which displayed large photographs -of the King and Queen, draped with the American flag. Another shop had -only an enormous green bow in the window. Almost every one took some -part in the play. Not a Belgian entered a shop, and if a German was -brave enough to, he was usually made the victim of his courage. One was -delighted to serve him, but, unfortunately, peaches had advanced to ten -francs each, or something of the sort! - -Finally, after an hour and a half, a priest made an announcement, which -from our distance we misunderstood. We thought he said that the mass -would be celebrated, but unfortunately not by Monseigneur, who had been -detained. A few of us worked our way, inch by inch, to the transept -door, and out into the street. There I found an excited group running -around the rear of the cathedral to the sacristy-door, and, when I -reached it, I learned the Cardinal had just passed through. - -For no particular reason I waited there, and before long the door was -partly opened by an acolyte, who was apparently expecting some one. -He saw me and agreed that I might enter if I wished, for was I not an -American to whom all Belgium is open? So I slipt in and found room to -stand just behind the altar screen where all through the celebration I -could watch the face of the Cardinal—a face at once keen and tender, -strong, fearless, devout: one could read it all there. He was tall, -thin, dominating, a heroic figure, in his gorgeous scarlet vestments, -officiating at the altar of this beautiful Gothic cathedral. - -The congregation remained silent, three or four fainting women were -carried out, that was all. Then the Cardinal mounted the pulpit at the -further end of the nave to deliver his message, the same message he had -been preaching for two years—they must hold themselves courageous, -unconquered, with stedfast faith in God and in their final liberation. -Tears were in the eyes of many, but there was no crying out. - -From the pulpit he came back to the catafalque erected in the middle -of the nave for the Belgian soldiers dead in battle. It represented a -great raised coffin, simply and beautifully draped with Belgian flags, -veiled in crêpe. Tall, flaming candles surrounded it. As the Cardinal -approached, the dignitaries of the city, who had been occupying seats -of honor below the altar, marched solemnly down and formed a circle -about the catafalque. Then the Cardinal read the service for the dead. -The dim light of the cathedral, the sea of silent people, the memorial -coffin under the flag and lighted by tall candles, the circle of -those chosen to represent the city, the sad-faced Cardinal saying the -prayers for those who had died in defense of the flag that now covered -them—was it strange that as his voice ceased and he moved slowly -toward the sacristy-door by which he was to depart, the overwhelming -tide of emotion swept barriers, and “Vive le Roi!” “Vive Monseigneur!” -echoed once more from these ancient walls! We held our breath. Men were -pressing by me whispering, “What shall we do? We have necessity to cry -out—after two years, we _must_ cry out!” The Cardinal went straight -forward, looking neither to the right nor the left, the tears streaming -down his cheeks. - -Outside, to pass from the rear of the cathedral to the Archbishop’s -palace, he was obliged to cross the road. As I turned up this road -to go back to the main portal, the crowd came surging down, arms -outthrust, running, waving handkerchiefs and canes, pushing aside the -few helpless Belgian police, quite beyond control, and shouting wildly -now, “Vive le Roi!” and “Vive Monseigneur!” I was able to struggle -free only after the gate had closed on the Cardinal. - -This was the day when in times of peace all the populace brought -wreaths to the foot of the statue erected in honor of the soldiers who -died for the independence of Belgium. The Germans had placed guards in -the square and forbidden any one to go near it. So all day long throngs -of people, a constant, steady procession marched along the street -beyond, each man lifting his hat, women often their green parasols, -as soon as they came in view of their statue. All these things, I -repeat, did not help Brussels in the matter of the demonstration at the -cathedral. And a few days later a posted notice informed her that she -had been fined 1,000,000 marks! - -But the people had seen their Cardinal—they had received their -spiritual secours—he had brought heavenly comfort to their hearts, put -new iron in their blood. They had dared to cry just once their loyalty -to him and to their King, and they laughed at the 1,000,000 marks! - - - - -X - -THE TEACHERS - - -One afternoon I happened by a communal school in another crowded -quarter of Brussels, and, tho it was vacation, and I knew the principal -had been sadly overworked for two years and ought to be in the country, -I decided to knock at the bureau to see if he were in. - -I had my answer in the corridor, where rows of unhappy mothers and -miserable fathers were waiting to see him. Inside there were more. He -was examining a little girl with a very bad eye; and I realized why -there could be no vacation for the principal! - -As I sat there, I heard the noise of marching in the court below, -and when I asked what it was, he opened the window for me to see. -There were 720 children between six and fourteen years, gaily tramping -round and round under the trees, making their “promenade” before the 4 -o’clock “repas scolaire” (school children’s repast) which the Relief -Organization is now trying to furnish to each of the 1,200,000 children -in the free schools of Belgium who may need it—incidentally at an -outlay of $2,500,000 a month. - -Over 8,500 children in the sixty communal schools of Brussels proper -receive this dinner. It is quite distinct from the eleven o’clock -meal furnished at the cantines for children below normal health—they -may have both—and it is served in the school building. Naturally -the school-teachers are carrying a large share in this stupendous -undertaking. - -For the children, the “repas” is the great event of the day, and, -since the vacation, they gather long before the hour. One sees, too, -hundreds of little ones on the sidewalks before the Enfants Débiles -dining-rooms, as early as 8 A.M., clutching their precious cards and -waiting already for their eleven o’clock potatoes and phosphatine. - -This school is also a communal soup center, tho the teachers have -nothing to do with the distribution. Every day from 2,500 to 3,000 men -and women line up—worn, white enamel pitchers in one hand, cards in -the other, to receive the family ration of soup and bread. - -As I passed one morning, I saw a little bare-legged girl sitting on a -doorstep opposite. Her mother had evidently left her to guard their -portion, and she sat huddled up against the tall, battered pitcher full -of steaming soup, her little arms tight about four round loaves—which -meant many brothers and sisters. The father was in the trenches. She -sat there, a slim, wistful little thing, guarding the soup and bread, -the picture of what war means to women and children. - -Monsieur was particularly happy because he had just succeeded in -sending fifteen children, who very much needed to be built up, to the -seacoast for fifteen days. It is his hope to establish homes, in the -country so far as possible, which shall be limited to from thirty to -forty children. - -He has continually to arrange, too, for the care of those who may not -be in truth orphans, but who belong to the thousands of wretched little -ones set adrift by the war. I saw one little boy who had been found all -alone in a most pitiful plight beside a gun, in one of the devastated -districts. If his parents are still living, no one has yet succeeded in -tracing them. - -That morning an old uncle had begged Monsieur to take charge of his -nephew and niece; he had not a penny left, they must starve unless -something were done for them. Some months before, the father had been -wounded at the front, and the mother had foolishly hurried away to try -to reach him, leaving the children with her brother. Months had gone -by—he had had no word from any one—and now he was quite at the end of -his resources. And so it was with case after case. Something _must_ be -done! - -Besides being the section kitchen and dining-room, this school has -become a social center. Every Sunday afternoon the children are invited -to gather there to have a good time. They are taught to play games, -each is given a bonbon, a simple sweet of some sort—“nothing of the -kind to encourage luxury!” They are occupied, happy, and kept off the -streets and out of homes made miserable through lack of employment. - -We see, then, that “every day” means literally _every_ day, and we -realize how arduous is the task of the thousands of devoted teachers -who are standing between the war and those who would otherwise be its -victims. - -And as they tell us over and over again that the one thing that makes -them able to stand is their confidence in the love and sympathy of -the United States, we begin to realize our responsibility. It is not -only that the wheat and cloth are essential, the encouragement of the -presence of even the few (forty to fifty) Americans is the _great_ -necessity! - -At 8.30 the next morning I visited one of the “Jardins -d’Enfants”—schools for children between two and a half and six years -of age. There were the teachers already busy in that new department of -their work—the war-food department; 460 tiny tots were being given -their first meal of the day—a cup of hot cocoa, and, during that -month, a little white bread bun. No American can understand what this -single piece of _white_ bread means to a French or Belgian child. I -am sure that if a tempting course dinner were set at one side, and a -slice of white bread at the other, he would not hesitate to choose the -bread. It is white bread that they all beg for, tho the brown war bread -made from flour milled at 82 per cent. is really very palatable, and -superior to the war bread of other countries. - -A sheaf of letters sent from a school in Lille to thank the C. R. B. -director for the improved brown (not nearly white) bread gave me my -first impression of the all-importance of the color and quality of the -bread. - -Amélie B. wrote: - -“Before May 5, 1915, we had to eat black bread, which we preferred to -make into flowers of all sorts as souvenirs of the war! But after that -date we have had the good, light bread—so eatable. It is for this we -thank you.” - -Another says: - -“Since we have had the _good_ bread the happiest people are the -mothers, who before had to let their “chers petits” suffer from hunger, -because their delicate stomachs would not digest the bad, black bread.” - -Further: - -“The mothers of little children wept with joy and blest you, as they -went to get their good, light bread.” - -One little girl wrote: - -“When on the 5th of May, 1915, maman returned with the new bread, and -we all ran to taste it, we found it good. The bread we had been eating -long months had been dark and moist. Further, rice had been our daily -food. It is without doubt to show your gratitude to the French, who -went to drive the English away from you in 1783, that you have thought -to soften our suffering. Merci! Merci! Many died because of that bad -bread, and many more should have died, had you not come to our aid with -the good bread.” - -Another little girl writes: - -“If ever in the future America is in need, France will not forget -the good she has done and will reach a hospitable hand to her second -country, who has saved her unhappy children. It is you who have made -it possible for all mothers to give bread to their children. Without -the rice and beans, what would have become of us! You have helped us to -have coal and warm clothing against the cold. In the name of all the -mothers we thank you, and all the little children send you a great kiss -of thanks.” - -The babies had all finished their cocoa and buns, so I went to the -Girls’ Technical Training School in the neighborhood. It was having -a particularly hard time because of the lack of materials and of -opportunity to sell the articles made by the children. But two -wonderful women—one the director, the other the art teacher—were -courageously fighting to keep things going. - -The pupils are largely from poor families. When they were going through -the beautiful figures of their gymnasium exercise for me, I saw that -the bloomers were mostly made of odds and ends of cloth. The shoes, -too, quickly told the tale—all sorts of substitutes for leather, -patched woolen shoes or slippers, wooden soles with cloth tops, clogs. - -In the room for design I was greeted with most cordial smiles as Madame -introduced me as her friend from America, the country which meant -hope to them. Then happened swiftly one of the things it is difficult -to prevent—the shouting in one breath of “Vive le Roi!” and “Vive -l’Amérique!” Who would doubt that a good part of the joy of shouting -“Vive l’Amérique” comes from the opportunity it gives them to couple -with it the cry of their hearts, “Vive la Belgique!” - -By the time we returned to her bureau, Madame trusted me entirely, -and explained that this was the center of a kind of “Assistance -Discrète” she had established for her girls and their families. She -opened several cabinets, and showed me what they had made to help one -another. Certain women have been contributing materials—old garments, -bits of cloth, trimming for hats, all of which have been employed to -extraordinary advantage. What struck me most were the attractive little -babies’ shirts, made from the upper parts of worn stockings. - -Madame opened a paper sack and showed me nine hard-boiled eggs that -were to be given to the weaker girls, who most needed extra nourishment -that day. - -Her most precious possession was a record of the gifts of the pupils -and their friends for this “Assistance Discrète.” It is a list of -contributions of a few centimes, or a franc or two, given as thank -offerings for some blessing; oftenest for recovery from illness, or -for good news received. It showed, too, that the children had been -bringing all the potato peelings from home, to be sold as food for -cattle. Sometimes a girl brought as much as twenty-eight centimes (over -five cents) worth of peelings. But in May, 1916, the potato peelings -stopt—they were not having potatoes at home. - - - - -XI - -GABRIELLE’S BABY - - -Before the war Madame was very close to the Queen. She lived in our -quarter of Brussels; we became friends. And how generous the friendship -between a Belgian and an American can be, only the members of the -Commission for Relief truly know! It is swift and complete. - -I had been in Brussels five months when she said to me one day: - -“My dear, I understand only too well the difficulties of your -position—the guaranty you gave on entering. As you know, I have never -once suggested that you carry a note for me, or bring a message—tho -I have seen you starting in your car behind your blessed little white -flag for the city of my daughter and my grandchildren! Nor have I,” -she laughed, with the swift play so typical of the Belgian mind, -“once hinted at a pound of butter or a potato! But lately I have been -suffering so many, many fears, that I am tempted just to ask if you -think this would be wrong for you—if it would, forget that I asked it: -I have a relation who has always been closer to me than a brother—we -were brought up together. He is eighty-two now, and, at the beginning -of the war, was living near X in Occupied France. He was important in -his district, his name is known. Now, if I should merely give you that -name, and, when you next see your American delegate from that district, -you should speak it, might it not be possible that he would recognize -it, and could tell you if my dear, dear M. is suffering, or if he is -yet able to care for himself? Would that be breaking your agreement?” - -As she stood there—intelligence, distinction speaking from all her -person—fearfully putting this pitiful question, I experienced another -of those maddening moments we live through in Belgium. One swiftly -doubts one’s reason—the situation—everything! The world simply can -not be so completely lost as it seems! - -Mercifully this would not be breaking any promise; and I begged for the -name. - -But even then I was rather hopeless that our American would know. In -the North of France he must live with his German officer; he is not -free to mingle with the French people. - -Thursday, conference day, came, when all the little white flags rush in -from their provinces, bringing our splendid American men—their faces -stern, strained, but with that beautiful light in them that testifies -they are giving without measure the best they have to others. - -Never will any one, who has experienced it, forget the thrill he felt -when he saw those fifteen cars with their forty-two men rushing up, -one after the other to 66, rue des Colonies, nor the line of them all -day on the curb with their fluttering white flags carrying the red C. -R. B.! There were no other cars to be seen. Each person, as he passed, -knew that these fifteen white flags meant wheat and life to 10,000,000 -people. - -As I stood there I heard a band. I looked up the street and saw the -German soldiers goose-stepping before their guard mount. This happens -every morning, just a square above our offices. The white flags and the -goose-step—they pretty much sum up the situation! - -I hurried inside, hoping fervently to hear the longed-for answer, as I -put the name and my question. - -But the name was strange to S., he could tell me nothing, tho he felt -sure that by keeping his ears open that week, he might learn something. - -How often through those days I thought of these two, caught in this -war-night of separation. For two and a half years neither had been -able to call across it even the name of the other. And then of the word -thrown into the night with hope and prayer! - -On the next meeting day, as he hurried toward me, I could see from S.’s -face that he had news. “Yes,” he said eagerly, “he is still there, he -draws his ration—he is not suffering from want, he has enough left to -pay for his food. But when he heard that somebody would possibly carry -this news to his dearest living relation, he cried: ‘Oh! Would it -not be possible to do just one thing more! I am eighty-two; I may die -before this terrible war is ended. In pity will not somebody tell me -before I die if any of my nieces has had a little baby, or if any one -of them is going to have a little baby?’” - -“And now,” S. said, “you and I know that if the Relief stops, we’ve -got to find out for that poor old man that there is a baby!” - -And I went about it. On Thursday, when he rushed over to me I could -call: “Yes, there _is_ one! It’s Gabrielle’s! A little girl, five -months old and doing beautifully!” - -“Hurrah!” he shouted, and hurried back to his tons and calories. - -It is four months since then, and I do not know if there are any more -babies, or if that old gentleman of a distinguished house has had any -other than this single connection with the loved ones of this family in -over two and a half years. - - - - -XII - -THE “DROP OF MILK” - - -Belgium is succoring her weak children, but she is going deeper than -this: she is trying to prevent weak children. All through the country -there are cantines where an expectant or young mother without means may -receive free a daily dinner, consisting usually of a thick soup, a meat -or egg dish with vegetables, a dessert with lactogenized cream, and -a measure of milk. Light service, like the peeling of vegetables, is -often required in return. The mother may come as early as three months -before the birth of her child, and if she is still nursing it, may -continue nine months after its birth. About 7,000 mothers are receiving -this dinner, and 6,000 more come to the affiliated consultation -cantines for advice. - -Of course, there are always those who can not nurse their children, or -who can carry them through but a short period, when the question of -pasteurized milk becomes all-important. The “Goutte de Lait” (drop of -milk) sections meet this problem by offering the necessary feedings of -pure milk. The mother may pay for the bottles, and have them delivered, -or she may, if necessitous, receive them free by calling or sending for -them. - -[Illustration: A MEAL FOR YOUNG MOTHERS] - -In Antwerp, where this work has assumed unusual proportions, a -big-hearted president of the Belgian Provincial Committee got -permission to purchase 100 cows in Holland and to hold them without -danger of requisition. He installed a model dairy on his place, and -now gives all the baby cantines pure milk. He is always most anxious -to finish his arduous day’s work at the bureau, so that he may return -to his dairy, examine the milk tests, and review his fine herd. -One of his daughters, in addition to hours spent in the cantines, -takes the entire responsibility of the management of this dairy. Other -towns are less fortunate, and must struggle continually to get the -milk they require. There is a beautiful development of the work of a -“Goutte de Lait” in Hasselt, in a cantine occupying part of a maternity -hospital. There they have an admirable equipment for sterilization and -pasteurization. At 7 o’clock in the morning I found the women directors -already busy with the preparation of the milk. Each feeding has its -separate bottle, and may be kept sealed till the baby receives it. -After seven months, white phosphatine, a mixture of the flour of wheat, -rice and corn, with salt, sugar and phosphate of lime, is furnished; at -fourteen months, cocoa is added, and after two years, soup and bread. - -I happened to arrive on the weekly weighing day. One hundred mothers -were gathered in a large, cheery room, their babies in their arms, -many of them gay in the pretty bonnets the doctor’s wife had made for -those who had the best records. They passed, a few at a time, into -the smaller room where the doctor and his wife examined, weighed, -counseled, while two assistants registered important details; the three -young nurses generally aided the mothers and their chiefs. - -Then I was shown an adjoining room, where, in the corners, there were -heaps of little white balls rolled in wax paper. From a distance they -looked more than anything else like tiny popcorn balls. What could -they mean? I took one in my hand and saw that they meant that the most -precious prize that can be offered a Belgian mother to-day is a tiny -ball of white lard! With the more ignorant, this prize-system is the -swiftest means of opening the way. The doctor laughed as he recounted -his struggle with one obstinate woman, who argued stoutly that because -the cow is a great, strong creature, while she herself is but small -and frail, undoubtedly its milk would be infinitely more strengthening -to her child than her own! Where argument failed, the prize convinced. -If a mother can nurse her baby but neglects to, she is forced to feed -it regularly before some member of the committee. Nurses visit all the -homes registered. - -The attempt is being made everywhere to induce mothers who are not -actually in want, to enroll in these cantines, while paying for -their food, that they may have the benefit of the pure milk and the -physician’s care. The “Relief” is not counting the cost of this -fundamental work—the baby cantines are the promise of the future. -They are already closely watching the development of 53,000 babies. -The educational value alone can not be measured; women who had not the -faintest conception of the simplest laws of hygiene are being trained, -forced to learn, because their own and their children’s food can come -to them only from the hand of their teacher. While the war has brought -unutterable misery, it has also brought extraordinary opportunity, and -Belgium is seizing this opportunity wherever she can. - - - - -XIII - -LAYETTES - - -And babies must be clothed, as well as fed! I visited one of the -Brussels layette centers with the C. R. B. American advisory physician, -whose interest in children had brought him at once face to face -with what women are doing to save them. We went to a little cantine -consisting of a room and anteroom on the ground floor, and, I might -add, the sidewalk—for before we reached it we saw the line of hatless -mothers with their tiny babies wrapt in shawls in their arms, waiting -their turn. This was a depot where they might receive the articles -for the lying-in period and clothing for babies under six months of -age. We passed through the anteroom, where a number sat nursing their -babies (young mothers mostly, and many of them pretty), into the -distributing-room. - -Here we found three directors very busy at their tables with the -record-cards, books and other materials of their organization, and -three younger women rapidly sorting out the tiny bibs, slips and sheets -heaped high on the counters along the walls. From the miscellaneous -piles they produced the neat little layettes—each a complete wardrobe -for an expectant or young mother, and comprising 4 squares, 2 swaddling -cloths, 3 fichus, 4 brassieres, 2 shirts, 2 bands, 2 pair socks, 2 -bonnets, 3 bibs, 1 hooded cloak. The packages for children from three -to six months held 3 squares, 2 pantaloons, 2 bibs, 2 fichus, 2 shirts, -2 brassieres, 2 dresses. - -As the mothers came in, the babies were carefully weighed and examined, -the records added to, through direct, effective questioning—always -gentle and encouraging. The young women turned over the needed -garments, with advice about their use, chiefly regarding cleanliness. -To support this advice, they attempted to have the materials white as -far as possible. - -When I asked what they most needed, they said, “Cradles, Madame, -cradles. We could place fifty a week in this cantine alone, and white -materials for sheets and blankets—and oh, hundreds of yards of rubber -sheeting or its equivalent!” For very evident reasons, the C. R. B. is -not allowed to bring in rubber materials of any kind. Many mothers, -as the babies arrive, appeal for beds for the older children and for -mattresses for themselves. “We can still get ticking in Brussels if we -have the money, but nothing to stuff it with.” - -Every morning since the beginning of the war these women have been -there, on their feet most of the time—sorting, arranging packages of -garments, and keeping in their minds and hearts the hundreds of mothers -and babies who depend on them. They often visit the homes after cantine -hours. Madame smiled as she explained the necessity of a personal -investigation of each case. “For instance,” she said, “if at the -children’s cantine I gave a youngster a pair of shoes simply because he -seemed to have none, and without personally proving that he had none, I -should undoubtedly have an entire barefoot family the next day!” - -It was with this particular kind of work that the Petites Abeilles or -“Little Bees” started five years before the war. A group of young women -banded together to help children, and organized centers in Brussels -for the distribution of needed clothing. Their efforts at once won the -enthusiasm of the people. Poets wrote songs to “The Little Bees,” the -Queen and the adored Princess Marie-José were their patronesses—they -were probably the most popular organization of their kind in Belgium. - -Then the war came, and the mothers quickly took charge. They -established a vast home for refugees, where they housed over 5,000. -Later they appealed to the Relief Committee to be allowed to develop -their work to meet the terrible emergency. Their offer was only too -gladly accepted, and one after another cantine for feeding, as well -as clothing, was opened in the various sections of the city; where -to-day practically all the work for the children is carried on by these -wonderful “Little Bees” and their mothers. By July, 1916, their 124 -Brussels sections were caring for about 25,000 children, and between -2,500 and 3,000 women were giving a great part of their time to the -work. Social barriers disappeared. All classes rallied to the need. -Four hundred telephone girls out of work were doing their best, side -by side with countesses. - -As we were leaving, Madame explained that the woman who founded this -particular cantine was a prisoner in Germany. The three beautiful young -girls sorting the layettes were the daughters, carrying forward their -mother’s work. I was to learn that almost invariably at some moment of -my visit, the veil would be withdrawn and the tragedy revealed. - - - - -XIV - -THE SKATING-RINK AT LIÉGE - - -To the world Liége is the symbol of Belgium’s courage. During eleven -days her forts withheld an overwhelming force, reckless of its size or -her own unpreparedness, determined to save the national integrity of -Belgium. And well Belgium knew to what point she could count on the -brave Liégeois; through all her troubled history, they had been the -ardent champions of her freedom. - -This beautiful city on the Meuse escaped the ruin visited on other -parts of her province. In fact, all the four largest cities of -Belgium escaped, in each case a smaller neighboring town, especially -picturesque, stands as an example of destruction and warning. Belgians -ask if it was not with the obvious intent of cowing the near-by -capital, that Dinant was made an example to Namur, Nimy to Mons, -Louvain to Brussels? They point out that tho only the ghost of lovely -Visée remains, Liége itself has lost but about 100 buildings. After -the final inevitable surrender of her forts, the attacking army passed -on, leaving her under powerful control. But tho the material damage -was small, as the populous center of a great industrial region, this -city was one of the first to realize the distress that followed the -occupation and isolation of Belgium. One by one her famous firearm -factories and glass mills closed their doors, and poured their -thousands of workmen into the streets. In many cases the factories were -dismantled, the machinery taken to Germany to make munitions. And this -was happening all through the province, so that by 1915 it counted -90,000 idle workmen (chômeurs), and in the capital alone, fully 18,000. -Ordinarily (among her 180,000 inhabitants) Liége lists 43,000 skilled -workmen; so for her the proportion of idle was almost one-half; with -their families they represented but little less than one-quarter of -the entire population. The 4,000 employed in the coal mines, which, -fortunately, were able to keep open, were the one saving factor in the -situation. - -The question of chômage, or unemployment, is the most serious the -relief organization has had to face. It has been most acute in the -two Flanders; but in Antwerp, with its 25,000 idle dock hands, in -the highly industrial Hainaut, in Namur and Brabant, as well as in -Liége, there have been special circumstances developing particular -difficulties. Over 665,000 workmen without work, representing millions -of dependents, would present a sufficiently critical problem to a -country not at war. One can imagine what it means to a country every -square foot of which is controlled by an enemy so hated that the -conquered would risk all the evils of continued non-employment rather -than have any of its people serve in any way the ends of the invader. -Better roads, better railways, mean greater facility for the Germans. - -None of the leaders I have talked with have been satisfied with the -system evolved, but no one has yet been able to substitute a better. - -A scheduled money allowance for the chômeur was quickly adopted, but -as a friend from Tournai said, this enabled a man simply to escape -complete starvation, but not to live. Three francs a week for the -workman, one franc and a half for his wife, fifty centimes for each of -his children, or one dollar and ten cents a week for a family of four, -just about the war price of one pound of butter or meat! Obviously -the chômeur and his family must draw on the soupes and cantines, and -this they do. They form a considerable part of the one and one-quarter -millions of the soup-lines. Every province has tried to reduce its -number of unemployed by providing a certain amount of work on roads -and public utilities. Luxembourg has been conspicuous in this attempt, -reclaiming swamps, rebuilding sewer systems and roadways, employing -about 10,000 men. In fact, Luxembourg has so far almost avoided a -chômeur class. - -Throughout the country, too, the clothing and lace committees are -furnishing at least partial employment to women. In a lesser way -various local relief committees are most ingenious in inventing -opportunities to give work. In the face of the whole big problem they -often seem insignificant, but every community is heartened by even the -smallest attempt to restore industry. I have seen fifty men given the -chance to buy their own food by means of a “soles work.” All the needy -of the village were invited to bring their worn shoes to have a new -kind of wooden sole put on for the winter, and the men were paid by -the committee for putting them on. In one city the owner of a closed -firearm factory has opened a toy works where 100 men and 30 women are -kept busy carving little steel boxes and other toys. If these articles -could be exported, such establishments would quickly multiply, but -every enterprize must halt at the grim barrier. - -In Liége I came upon a most picturesque attempt at an individual -solution. I had been much interested in Antwerp and Charleroi and other -cities, in the “Dîner Economique” or “Dîner Bourgeois,” conducted by -philanthropic women. These are big, popular restaurants, where because -of a subsidy from the relief committee, and because almost all of the -service is contributed, a meal can be served for less than it costs. -For a few centimes, about ten cents, usually, one may have a good soup, -a plate with meat and vegetables, and sometimes a dessert. - -Wonderful Belgian women come day after day, month after month, to serve -the thousands that flock to these centers that save them from the -soup-lines. If they can add this dinner to their relief ration, they -can live. And they are not “accepting charity!” The dining-rooms are -always attractive, often bright with flags and flowers, the women are -cheery in their service. Priests, children, artists, men and women of -every class sit at the tables. Once I saw a poor mother buy one dinner -for herself and her two children, and fortunately, too, I saw a swift -hand slip extra portions in front of the little ones. There are ten -such restaurants in Antwerp (five conducted by the Catholics, and five -by the Liberals) that serve on an average over 10,000 dinners a day. -The one in Charleroi serves from 400 to 900 daily. - -In Liége the work is consolidated. I found the once popular -skating-rink turned into a mighty restaurant, gay with American -bunting. The skating floor was crowded with tables, the surrounding -spectators’ space made convenient cloak-rooms, the one-time casual -buffet was a kitchen in deadly earnest, supplying dinners to about -4,000 daily. - -When I arrived, there was already a line outside; each person had to -present a card on entering to prove him a citizen of Liége. If he -could, he paid 75 centimes (15 cents) for his dinner. If unable to, by -presenting a special card from the Relief Committee, he might receive -it for 60, or even 30 centimes—a little more than 5 cents. - -Inside the tables were crowded, sixty-five women were hurrying between -them and back and forth to the directors who stood at a long counter -in front of the kitchen, serving the thousands of portions, of soup, -sausage, and a kind of stew of rice and vegetables. - -In the kitchen and meat and vegetable rooms there was the constant -clamor of sifting, cutting, stirring, of the opening and shutting -of ovens. While the sausages of the day were being hurried from the -pans, the soup of the morrow was being mixed in the great caldrons; -250 men were hard at work. Somehow they did not look as tho they had -been peeling carrots and stirring soup all their lives—there was an -inspiring dash in their movements that prevented it seeming habitual. - -The superintendent laughed: “Yes,” he said, “they are chiefly railroad -engineers, conductors, various workmen of the Liége Railroad Company! -I myself was an attorney for the road, and I am really more interested -in this oeuvre from the point of view of these men, than because of the -general public it helps. Here are 250 men who are giving their best -service to their country. In working for others they have escaped the -curse of being forced to work for the Germans! The sixty-five women -serving the 4,000 were once in the telephone service. They also offered -to devote themselves to their fellow-sufferers, and they are so proud, -so happy to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with other women in -this black hour.” - -I asked if each worker were given his dinner. “Ah! there was a -problem!” he said. “The meals which we furnish for from 30 to 75 -centimes, cost us an average of 63 centimes.” To supply this to 250 -assistants was quite beyond the subsidy allowed the Relief. And yet the -workers certainly must be fed. Finally he admitted that he and a group -of friends were contributing the money necessary to supply these meals. -He added that in the beginning the men were hardly able to give more -than two hours’ hard work a day, but that after a few months of proper -nourishment their energy was inexhaustible. - -On another day I found there were no potatoes, and that the number of -meals served had in consequence dropt fully 1,000; 743 at 75 centimes, -820 at 60 centimes, 1,473 at 30 centimes. If there are no potatoes -to be had in the city, and they are known to be on the carte of the -restaurant, there is not standing-room. Hundreds have to be turned away. - -This kind of double oeuvre is quite the most interesting of all the -varied attempts to meet the staggering problem Belgium has daily to -face. - - - - -XV - -A ZEPPELIN - - -I went down the road toward Verviers. I stopt at a farmhouse to talk -with the farmer about the pitiful ration of the Liége coal miners. They -travel many miles underground, and there is no way of getting hot soup -to them. His wife gave me a glass of sweet milk. Then we went into the -courtyard where he had a great caldron of prune syrup simmering. - -The summer had been wet and gray, but September was doing her best to -make up for it. Suddenly I heard the soft whirr-whirr of a Zeppelin. -I ran out into the road. The farmer left his prunes to join me. We -watched the great strange thing gliding through the sunshine. It was -flying so low that we could easily distinguish the fins, the gondolas, -the propellers. It looked more than anything else like a gigantic, -unearthly model for the little Japanese stuffed fishes I had often -seen in the toy shops. Its blunt nose seemed shining white, the rest -a soft gray. The effect of the soothing whirring and its slow gliding -through the air was indescribable; that it could be anything but a -gentle messenger of peace was unbelievable. “Ah, Madame,” said my -companion, “four years ago _I_ saw _my_ first Zeppelin! It seemed -a beautiful vision from another world, like something new in my -religion. We all stood breathless, praying for the safety of this -wonderful new being; praying that the brave men who conducted it -might be spared to the world. And to-day, Madame, may it be blown to -atoms; if necessary may its men be cut to bits; may they be burned to -ashes—anything—anything! With an undying hate I swear it shall be -destroyed! Madame, that is what war does to a man! War, Madame, is a -horrible thing!” - - - - -XVI - -NEW USES OF A HIPPODROME - - -The cereal and fat reserves are divided between Rotterdam, the mills, -warehouses and moving lighters in Belgium and Northern France, so that -one can never see the dramatic heaping up in one place of the grain -that is to feed 10,000,000 for six days, or months. But the greater -part of the clothing reserves are held in the one city of Brussels. -Their housing furnishes another of the bewildering contrasts wrought -by the war; what was two years ago a huge, thrilling Hippodrome is -now filled with the silent ranks of bolts of cotton and flannel. And -not far away, the once popular skating-rink is piled to the ceiling -with finished garments; stage boxes, galleries, dressing-rooms, -stairways—all are heaped with cases and stacked with racks. The -ceiling is the only part of the edifice still visible; along the rear -wall, for instance, runs a big sign, “Garments for Babies,” and they -mount to the skylights. Stocks are accumulating in both these buildings -and other sub-centers during the summer, and in the autumn the work -of distribution against the approaching winter begins, October 1st -registering the high-water mark of assets. At that time there were -three and a half million pieces, yards and pairs, on the shelves of the -Hippodrome, and already hundreds of thousands of garments assembled in -the skating-rink. - -The Rink is not more than a few yards and minutes from the Hippodrome, -but a bolt of flannel may travel many miles and occupy several weeks -in going from one to the other. That journey explains the marvelous -development of the clothing organization. One may go even further, and -trace the cloth from the donor in America, to the recipient in Mons or -Tournai! In fact, I once thought I recognized a finished blouse, as -plaid flannel contributed in San Francisco. I may have been mistaken, -but I let my mind follow that flannel from the hand of the little -school-teacher on the Pacific, to the unhappy mother in Tournai! - -For when the C. R. B. sent out a call for new clothing materials in -January, 1916, somehow it reached a weather-beaten school-house on a -lonely stretch of coast 30 miles south of San Francisco. The teacher -hurriedly got together some wool, and began showing her eight pupils -(they happened all to be boys), how to knit caps for other boys of -their own size. Their few families gathered what they could, and on -her first free Saturday, the teacher started in an open buggy in the -rain for the C. R. B. Bureau in San Francisco. This meant 30 miles -over wretched roads, up hill and down, with her precious box. When we -opened it we found eight knitted caps, one small sack of rice, one -pair of fur-lined gloves, a bag of beans, a lady’s belt, plaid flannel -for a blouse, and 40 cents for eight five-cent stamps for the letters -the boys hoped to receive in answer to those they had carefully tucked -inside the caps. They did not know that our orders were to remove all -writing from all gifts, tho once in a while a line did slip in. I saw a -touching example of what these slips meant when I was leaving Brussels. -A group of women came to me to say, “Madame, we hear you are going -to California—is it true? And, if you are, may we not send a message -of just a single word by you? Will you not tell Margery Marshall, of -Saratoga, that the pretty dress she sent over a year ago, made a little -girl, oh, so happy! She has waited all these long months hoping to find -a way to thank Margery—and we _want_ to thank Margery. Will you tell -her?” - -These offerings then were freighted to New York with the month’s -contributions, and there consigned to a C. R. B. ship, starting for -Rotterdam. In Rotterdam they were unloaded into the enormous C. R. B. -clothing warehouse, a corrugated zinc structure as big as a city block. -After the examinations, valuings and listings, they were reloaded on to -one of the C. R. B. barges that ply the canals constantly, and finally -deposited for the Comité National in the Hippodrome at Brussels. There -the women’s work began—in fact, to one woman especially is due the -credit for the completeness of the organization of this clothing -department. - -On a certain day the flannel for the blouse was piled into a big gray -truck and hauled across the city to one of the most interesting places -in Brussels. This is at once the central workroom for the capital, -and the pattern and model department for all Belgium. Madame ... has -500 women and men working continually, to prepare the bundles of cut -garments that go out to the sub-sections and homes in Brussels. If the -seamstresses have children they may receive one bundle of sewing a -week; if not, but one in a fortnight. In the ouvroir itself the work is -divided between shifts who are allowed to come for a fortnight each. -This is, of course, the great sorrow of the committees. If only there -were enough work to give all the time to those whose sole appeal is -that they be allowed to earn their soup and bread! But every hour’s -work encourages somebody, and the opportunities are distributed just -as widely as possible. In this way about 25,000 are reached in Greater -Brussels alone. - -The business of preparing these little packages of cut-out blouses -and trousers and bibs is amazing. The placing of patterns to save -cloth in the cutting is the first consideration; the counting off of -the buttons, tapes, hooks and necessary furnishings for millions of -garments—can we conceive the tediousness of this task? Instructions -must be carefully marked on a card that is tied across the top of the -completed bundle, everything being made as simple for the sewer as -possible. They travel from one counter to another, from one room to the -next, even up and down stairs, before compact, neat and complete, they -are finally registered and ready to go to the waiting women, who will -make them into the skirts or baby slips or men’s shirts or suits that -the relief committees will distribute. - -That is the Brussels side of the work; the national side appears in -the pattern and model department. Madame has developed this to an -extraordinary degree. Here dozens of people are bending over counters, -folding, measuring, cutting heavy brown paper into shapes for every -particular article that is to be given to every particular man, baby -and woman in Belgium. There are patterns for children of every age, -and for grown-ups, of every width and length—hundreds of patterns -for all the workrooms in all the provinces. Then there are sample -picture-charts showing how the patterns must be placed for the most -advantageous cutting. Along with every type of pattern goes one -finished model for exhibition in the workroom. In the models the women -may see just how the little bundles that started originally from the -Hippodrome should look, when they are shipped back as garments to the -Rink. - -[Illustration: ONE CORNER OF THE BRUSSELS HIPPODROME, NOW A CENTRAL -CLOTHING SUPPLY STATION] - -And it was for one of these models for a blouse that the -school-teacher’s plaid was used! As sample blouse it traveled from the -Brussels pattern center to an ouvroir in the Southern Hainaut: it hung -in a workroom in Mons! After hundreds of blouses had been copied from -it and distributed in the province, the pattern department decided to -change the blouse model, and the old one was sent back to Brussels -to the skating-rink, to be apportioned again, as it happened, to the -relief committee in Tournai, which knew the need of the mother who wore -it the day I saw her! Too much system, you will say. But there should -be no such criticism until one has seen with his own eyes several -millions depending entirely on a relief organization for covering -(blankets and shoes, too, are a necessary part of the aid given), -and realize the terrible obligations to divide the work among as many -as possible of the thousands of unemployed, the necessity of a high -standard of work, and of justice in division among the nine provinces. - -The scraps from the floors of the ouvroirs are carefully hoarded in -sacks, in the hope that the Germans may grant the committee the right -to use a factory to re-weave them into some rough materials in the -absence of cotton and wool. Some of these cuttings are at present being -used as filling for quilts. - -The constant contributions of time and service at the strictly -business ends—in the warehouses, or depots like the Hippodrome, or -the skating-rink—seem more generous than all others. In these places -the committees are shut away from that daily contact with misery that -evokes a quick response. The business there has settled down to a -matter of lists and accounts: one must work with a far vision for -inspiration. It is quite a different matter in the actual ouvroir, -where grateful women come all day and sew, and are sometimes allowed to -keep their little children beside them. There you have their stories -and know their suffering; you are able, also, to teach them, while -they sew, how to care for their bodies and their homes, even to sing, -and all the while you realize that the very garments they are putting -together are to go to others even more unhappy—these are the places -where service has its swift and rich rewards! I have visited just such -blessed workrooms in Namur and Charleroi and Mons, in Antwerp and -Dinant, in fact in dozens of cities up and down the length of Belgium. -If they could be gaily flagged as they should be, we should see all -the country dotted with these centers of hope. And we should know that -they meant that thousands of women in Belgium are being given at least -a few days’ work every month. - - - - -XVII - -THE ANTWERP MUSIC-HALL - - -Before the war the big music-hall in Antwerp offered a gay and -diverting program. Every night thousands drifted in to laugh and -smoke—drawn by the human desire for happiness. Here they were -care-free, irresponsible; tragedy was forgotten. - -To-day it is still a music-hall. As Madame opened the door—from the -floor, from the galleries, from every part of the vast place floated a -wonderful solemn music—1,200 girls were singing a Flemish folk-song -that might have been a prayer. We looked on a sea of golden and brown -heads bending over sewing tables. Noble women had rescued them from -the wreckage of war—within the shelter of this music-hall they were -working for their lives, singing for their souls! - -And all the time they were preparing the sewing and embroidery -materials for 3,300 others working at home. In other words, this was -one of the blessed ouvroirs or workrooms of Belgium. - -Off at the left a few tailors were cutting men’s garments. High on -the stage, crowded with packing-cases, sat the committee of men who -give all their time to measuring the goods, registering the income and -output of materials and finished garments. On the stage, too, was an -extraordinary exhibit. Three forms presented three of the quaintest -silk dresses imaginable, elaborately trimmed with ribbons and velvets -and laces, and all designed for women of dainty figure. I laughed and -then rather flushed, as I remembered the stories of the white satin -slippers and chiffon ball gowns that had been included in our clothing -offering of 1914. I murmured something of apology, and referred to -the advance the Commission had made in 1915, when it had sent out the -appeal for new materials only. - -But Madame protested: “Oh,” she said, “these are here in honor! And we -know that somebody once loved these dainty dresses, and for that reason -gave them to us. We love your old clothes! Our only sadness is that we -can not have them any more. One old dress to be made over gives work -for days and days, while the new materials can be put together in one -or two. What will become of all my girls now that I shall have no more -of your old clothes to furnish them? How shall they earn their 3 francs -(60 cents) a week? At best we can allow each but eight days’ work out -of fifteen, and only one person from each family may have this chance.” - -“But these three dresses we shall not touch!” And she smiled as she -looked again at her exhibit. - -Here the whole attitude toward the clothing is from the point of view, -not of the protection it gives, but of the employment it offers. -Without this employment, without the daily devotion of the wonderful -women who have built up this astonishing organization, thousands of -other women must have been on the streets—with no opportunity (except -the dread, ever present one) through these two years to earn a franc, -with nothing but the soup-lines to depend on for bread. Of course, -there is always dire need for the finished garments. They are turned -over as fast as they can be to the various other committees that care -for the destitute. Between February, 1915, and May, 1916, articles -valued at over 2,000,000 francs were given out in this way through this -ouvroir alone. - -[Illustration: THE ANTWERP MUSIC-HALL, NOW A SEWING-ROOM - -Here hundreds of women are being saved, by being furnished the -opportunity to work two weeks in each month, on an average wage of -sixty cents a week] - -But one could endure cold—anything is better than the moral -degradation following long periods of non-employment. So it is not of -the garments, but of the 9,500,000 francs dispensed as wages, that -these women think. The work _must_ go on. “See,” Madame said, “what -we do with the veriest scraps!” A young woman was putting together an -attractive baby quilt. She had four pieces of an old coat, large enough -to make the top and lining, and inside she was stitching literally -dozens of little scraps of light woolen materials. Another was making -children’s shoes out of bits of carpet and wool. - -In one whole section the girls do nothing but embroider our American -flour sacks. Artists draw designs to represent the gratitude of Belgium -to the United States. The one on the easel as we passed through, -represented the lion and the cock of Belgium guarding the crown of -the king, while the sun—the great American eagle—rises in the East. -The sacks that are not sent to America as gifts are sold in Belgium -as souvenirs. Each sack has its value before being worked. Many of -them—especially in the north of France—have been made into men’s -shirts, and tiny babies’ shirts and slips. - -Before July, 1916, in the Charleroi ouvroir, over 30,000 sacks had been -made into 15,000 shirts at a cost of 25 centimes per sack, and a sewing -price of 30 centimes each. - -Each Monday the women may work on their own garments, and on Tuesday -all the poor of the city bring their clothing to be patched or darned. -A shoe section, too, does what it can for old shoes. Such shoes and -such remnants of socks and of shirts as we saw! But the more difficult -the job, the happier the committee! - -During the week, courses are given in the principles of dressmaking -and design. In the evening there are classes for history, geography, -literature, writing, and very special attention is given to hygiene, -which is taught by means of the best modern slides. These things are -splendid, and with the three francs a week wages, spell self-respect, -courage, progress all along the line. The committee has always been -able to secure the money for the wages, but they can not possibly -furnish the materials—sufficient new ones they could never have. - -They are living from day to day on the hope that the C. R. B. may be -able to make an exception for the Antwerp ouvroir, and appeal once more -for her precious necessity—“old clothes!” This the C. R. B. may be -able to do—but will England feel equally free to make an exception to -her ruling that since the Germans have taken the wool from the Belgian -sheep, no clothing of any kind can be sent in? - -As I was leaving, a thrilling thing happened. Picture this sea of -golden and brown heads low over the heaped tables—every square foot of -pit, galleries and entry packed, lengths of cotton and flannel flung -in confusion over all the balconies and from the royal box like war -banners—and then suddenly see a man making his way through the crowded -packing-cases on the stage to the footlights! He was the favorite -baritone of this one-time concert hall, and he has come (as he does -twice a week) to stand in the midst of the packing-cases behind his -accustomed footlights to sing to this audience driven in by disaster, -and to teach them the beautiful Flemish folk-songs. They sing as -they work. For several minutes neither Madame nor I spoke. Then she -smiled swiftly and said: “Yes, it is sadly beautiful—and you know, -incidentally, it prevents much idle chatter!” - - - - -XVIII - -LACE - - -A full account of the struggle of the lace-workers would take us -straight to the heart of the tragedy of Belgium. At present it can only -be intimated. The women who are back of this struggle represent a fine -intelligence, a most fervent patriotism and most unswerving devotion to -their people and their country. - -Before the war, her laces were the particular pride of Belgium. -Flanders produced, beside the finest linen, the most exquisite lace -known. The Queen took this industry under her especial patronage and -tried in every way to better the condition of the workers, and to -raise the standard of the output. We need to remember that when war -broke out, 50,000 women were supporting themselves, and often their -families, through this work; we need to remember the suddenness with -which the steel ring was thrown about Belgium—all import of thread, -all export of lace, at once and entirely cut off. In a few weeks, in -a few days, thousands of women were without hope of earning their -bread—at least in the only way hitherto open to them. The number grew -with desperate swiftness. And we need most of all to remember that the -chief lace centers were in the zone under direct military rule. - -Women like Madame ... grappled with this situation, trying to save -their workers (most of them young girls) from the dread alternative, -trying by one means and another to give them heart, and hoping always -that America could make a way for them, till finally that hope was -realized—the C. R. B. had gained the permission of England to bring in -a certain amount of thread, and to take out a corresponding amount of -lace for sale in France and England, or elsewhere. - -A fever of effort followed. Everywhere those who had been trying to -keep the groups of lace-workers alive were given thread. They organized -centers for the control of the output. The thread must be weighed as it -was given out, and paid for by the worker as a guaranty that it would -not be sold to some one else; the weight of the lace turned in must -tally. Much thought must be put in the selection of designs, into the -choice of articles to be made—things that would interest the people of -England and France and America. - -[Illustration: THE SUPPLEMENTARY MEAL THE RELIEF COMMITTEE IS NOW -TRYING TO GIVE TO 1,250,000 SCHOOL CHILDREN] - -Certain parts and kinds of these laces are made in certain districts -only. I am told that the very fine Malines lace, made now only in -a restricted area, will not be found much longer. All these separate -parts must be brought to the central depot to be made into tea-cloths -and doilies and other articles for export. The finest and most -necessary laces and the linen for the cloths are made in or about -Bruges and Courtrai and in other towns in Flanders, in what is known as -the “Étape,” or zone of military preparation, with which it is almost -impossible to communicate. - -The C. R. B. is made absolutely responsible to England that no lace -will be sold in the open market in the occupied territory (altho it -was allowed to be sold in October and November, 1915, at exhibitions -in several of the large cities of Belgium), and that all of it be -exported. If it is not sold, it must be held at Rotterdam. - -One can imagine the meaning of the first export of lace to those -whose hearts were in this work. It was not only that they saw the -lace-workers kept alive, but they saw their country reunited with the -outside world. Her beautiful laces were going to those who would buy -them eagerly, her market would be kept open. - -Of necessity, the work became strongly centralized. The Brussels -bureau, where three noble women especially were giving literally every -day of their time and every particle of their energy and talent, became -the official headquarters, and 45,000 lace-workers were employed under -orders sent out by this central committee. Every day they came to -plan, to design, to direct. They were handling thousands of articles, -and hundreds of thousands of francs. They carefully examined every -yard sent in, rejecting any piece below the standard, encouraging -excellence in every possible way. Never in recent times have there -been such beautiful laces made, and they are being sold at about half -what was asked before the war. Many of the designs are copies of the -best ancient models, other lovely ones turn on the present situation, -having for motive the roses of the Queen, the arms of the provinces, -the animals of the Allies. - -Madame ... made an unforgettable picture—tall, golden-haired, -exquisite, arranging and re-arranging the insets for her cloths and -cushions—and recounting, as she set her patterns, the steps in the -struggle for the lace-workers. There had been dangers, some were in -prison. As I listened I felt the fire within must consume her. I -understood why there were women in prison, why martyrdom was always a -near and real possibility. - -There were always discouragements of one kind or another. At the -bureau, one day, Madame’s eyes were red when she came downstairs. She -had just had to turn off a group of workers; there was no thread to -give them. At best, in order that all may be helped a little, no one -person may work more than 30 hours a week, nor receive more than 3 -francs (or 60 cents) a week as wages! - -But on the whole the lace committees are overwhelmingly grateful for -the opportunities they have had. Up to November, 1916, they have -dispensed 6,000,000 francs in wages. They have given two weeks’ work a -month to 45,000 women, 25,000 of whom are skilled, 10,000 of average -ability, and 10,000 beginners. There will be a deficit when the war is -over. “But what of that?” they say, “if only we can keep on! On the -Great Day we shall give back to the Queen her chosen industry, fully -three years ahead of where she left it. She will find all the standards -raised, her women better trained and equipped to care for themselves, -and to re-establish Belgium as the lace-maker of the world.” - -It has been extremely difficult for the C. R. B. to handle the lace in -the United States. Its great value necessitates much more machinery and -time than could be spared from the all-important ravitaillement duty. -The orders from England and France are much easier to take care of. On -one happy day Paquin wrote for all the Point de Paris and Valenciennes -they could supply. Certain friends in London and New York are every -now and then sending in individual requests. On a red-letter day the -Queen of Roumania ordered, through her Legation, three very beautiful -table-cloths, and quantities of other fine laces. And it is the hope of -the committee that the number of these friends will grow. Needless to -say, hardly a C. R. B. representative leaves Belgium without taking -with him some example of this exquisite work, a testimony to others of -the splendid devotion of the women of these lace committees. - - - - -XIX - -A TOY FACTORY - - -I was reminded again to-day of how constant work must be the only thing -that makes living possible to many of these women. We were at lunch, -when suddenly the roar of the German guns cut across our talk. We -rushed into the street, where a gesticulating crowd had already located -the five Allied aeroplanes high above us. Little white clouds dotted -the sky all about them—puffs of white smoke that marked the bursting -shrapnel. Tho the guns seemed to be firing just behind our house, we -believed we were quite out of danger. However, Marie ran to us quite -white and with her hands over her ears. “Oh, Madame!” she cried, “the -shrapnel is bursting all about the kitchen!” She had experienced it. -She had told me once that her sister had died of fright three days -after the war began, and I realized now that she probably had. Our -picturesque Léon slipt over to assure me that this was not a real -attack, but just a visit to give us hope on the second anniversary of -the beginning of the war, to tell us the Allies were thinking of us, -and that we should soon be delivered. Without doubt they would drop a -message of some sort. - -I thought of our United States Minister and his proximity to the -Luxembourg railroad station. He had several times smilingly exprest -concern over that proximity. - -I remembered, too, the swift answer of Monsieur ... who lives opposite -the railroad station at Mons. Bombs had just been dropt on this -station—one had fallen in front of his house, and when I asked if he -and his wife would not consider moving he replied, “Madame, our two -sons are in the trenches—should we not be ashamed to think of this as -danger?” - -All the while the aeroplanes were circling and the guns were booming. -Then suddenly one of the aviators made a sensational drop to within -a few hundred meters of the Molenbeek Station, threw his bombs, and -before the guns could right themselves, regained his altitude—and -all five were off, marvelously escaping the puffs of white before and -behind them. - -This was thrilling, till suddenly flashed the sickening realization of -what it really meant. The man behind the gun was doing his utmost to -kill the man in the machine. It was horrible—horrible to us. - -But to Belgian wives and mothers what must it have been? As they -looked up they cried: “Is that my boy—my husband, who has come back -to his home this way? After two years, is he there? My God, can they -reach him?” The only answer was the roar of the guns, the bursting -shrapnel—and they covered their eyes. - -I visited Madame ..., whose only son is in the flying corps, at her toy -factory the following day, and realized what the experience had cost -her. Her comment, however, was, “Well, now I believe I am steeled for -the next.” - -Madame is accomplishing one of the finest pieces of work being done -in Belgium to-day. Before the war she had a considerable reputation -as a painter in water colors. As suddenly as it came, she found her -home emptied of sons, brothers, nephews, and she went through the -common experience of trying to construct something from the chaos of -those tragic days. Her first thought was of what must be done for the -little nephews and nieces who were left. They must be kept happy as -well as alive. And she wondered if she could not turn her painting to -use in making toys for them. Often before the war when sketching in -Flanders she had looked at the quaint old villages, full of beauty in -color and line, and felt that each was a jewel in itself and ought, -somehow, to be preserved as a whole. And suddenly she decided to try -and reproduce them in toy form for children. She drew beautiful designs -of the villages of Furnes and Dixmude, loving ones of churches that had -already been destroyed. She secured wood, began carving her houses, -trees, furniture—then arranged her villages, drawing the patterns for -the children to build from. Needless to say the nieces and nephews were -enchanted; and she worked ahead on other villages for other children. - -Not very long after this she visited the Queen’s ambulance in the -palace at Brussels, and as she talked with the wounded Belgian -soldiers, the thought of the hopeless future of the mutilated ones -tormented her. It suddenly flashed over her that they might be given -hope, if they could be taught to make her beloved toys. She was -allowed to bring in models—the soldiers were interested at once—the -authorities gave her permission to teach them. - -Later she secured a building in Brussels—her sister-in-law and others -of her family came to help. They wisely laid in a good supply of -beechwood in advance, got their paints and other materials ready, and -began to work with a handful of soldiers. She soon needed machines for -cutting the wood, and then found that no matter how thoroughly healed, -a man who has been terribly wounded, the equilibrium of whose body had -been destroyed by the loss of an arm or leg, or both, could not soon be -trusted with a dangerous machine—and she had to engage a few expert -workmen for this department. Girls begged to be taken in, and she added -nine to her fifty soldiers—one of them a pretty, black-haired refugee -from the north of France. The thick book with all the addresses of -applicants for work who have had to be refused, is a mute evidence of -the saddest part of this whole situation—the lack of work for those -who beg to be kept off the soup-lines. - -The fortunate ones are paid by piece-work, but always the directors try -to arrange that each man shall be able to earn about 2½ francs a day. - -Madame is not merely accomplishing a present palliative, but aiming at -making men self-respecting, useful members of the State for their own -and their country’s good. - - - - -XX - -ANOTHER TOY FACTORY - - -The following day, I visited another kind of toy factory. Madame ..., -who had lost her only son early in the war, works probably in the most -inconvenient building in Brussels, which she has free of charge. She -works there all day long, every day, furnishing employment for between -30 and 40 girls, who would otherwise have to be on the soupes. I went -from one room to another, where they were busily constructing dolls, -and animals, and all sorts of fascinating toys out of bits of cotton -and woolen materials—cheap, salable toys. - -This is one of the things that we must remember if we wish properly to -appreciate the work the women are doing—most of it is being carried on -in buildings that we should consider almost impossible—no elevators; -everywhere the necessity of climbing long flights of stairs; no -convenient sanitary arrangements—but nothing discourages them. - -Madame began by making bouncing balls in the Belgian colors, stuffed -with a kind of moss. They cost only a few centimes, and sold as fast as -she could make them. When the order came that they were no longer to be -made in these colors, she ripped up those she had on hand, and began -new ones, omitting the black. The balls must go on. Another day all the -stuffing for her balls was requisitioned. She rushed out, up and down, -street after street, seeking a substitute, and by night the little -storeroom was filled with a kind of dry grass—and the balls could go -on. - -The day of my first visit there were 6 of the 32 girls absent because -of illness. Madame said she usually had that large a percentage -out because of intestinal troubles of one sort or another. They -get desperately tired of their monotonous food, and whenever they -can scrape together a few extra pennies, they go to one of the few -chocolate shops still open and make themselves ill. - -Here, too, they are looking to America. If only they could get their -toys to our markets, they could take in many who are suffering for want -of work—and one feels that America would be delighted with every toy. - -It is Madame herself who designs them. She is trying always to get -something new, striking. In the C. R. B. office one day I noticed a -representative off in a corner, busy with his pencil, and found him -struggling to represent some sort of balancing bird—a suggestion for -Madame. - -[Illustration: TOYS CREATED BY WOMEN OF BELGIUM] - -She makes these lovely toys from the veriest scraps of cloth, old -paper, straw, with pebbles picked up from the roads for weights. - -In the beginning she knew nothing at all about such work, nor did -any one of the young girls she was trying to help. But such a spirit -experiments! She ground newspapers in a meat-grinder to try to evolve -some kind of papier-mâché. She learned her processes by producing -things with her own hands, and then taught each woman as she employed -her. Thus she, too, is not only keeping her corps from the present -soup-line, but preparing a body of trained workers for the future. The -shops in Brussels sell these toys—a few have reached as far as Holland. - -Everywhere in Belgium one is imprest with the facility in the handling -of color, of clay or wood. There is the most unusual feeling for -decorative effect; the tiniest children in the schools show a striking -aptitude for design and modeling, and an astonishing sense of rhythm. -One is constantly struck by this; it is a delight to hear a group of -three-year olds carrying an intricate song without accompaniment, as -they go through the figures of a dance. - - - - -XXI - -THE MUTILÉS - - -At last I met the little Madame—all nerve, energy—a flame flashing -from one plant under her charge to the next. I had seen her whirling by -in a car, one of the two Belgian women allowed a limited pass. I had -heard how she presided over councils of men, as well as of women; that -she had won the admiration of all. With her it is not a question of how -many hours she spends; she gives literally every hour of her time. It -was especially of her work for the mutilated victims of the war that we -talked this morning. She took me to the park at Woulwe, where she has -180 men being trained in various trades. - -Ten months ago she decided that one of the most important things -Belgium had to accomplish was to save its mutilated for themselves and -the State. The whole problem of the unemployment brought on by the war -was terrific. In April, 1916, over 672,000 workmen were idle. But the -mutilated soldiers formed the most heartbreaking part of this problem. -They must at once be taught trades that would fill their days and make -them self-supporting in the future. - -First of all, their surroundings must be cheerful and healthy; no -cramped buildings in the city, and yet something easily accessible from -Brussels. She told me how she searched the environs until she came upon -an old, apparently deserted villa at Woulwe with beautiful spacious -grounds, orchard and vegetable garden. She quickly sought out the -owner and appealed to him to turn his property over to the “Mutilés.” -In three days a letter told her the request was granted, and within -a few hours an architect was at work on the plans. He developed a -cottage system with everything on one floor, sleeping-rooms, workrooms, -unlimited fresh air and light; the most modern sanitary equipment; and -for the workrooms, every practical arrangement possible. There is a -gymnasium with a resident physician directing the work. His duty is -one of the most difficult; it is not easy to convince the men of the -value of all the bothersome exercises he prescribes. The restoration of -the equilibrium of their broken bodies is to them often a vague end. -At first some even try to escape using the artificial arms and legs -provided them. - -The cottages are grouped about the garden, under the trees, connected -by easy little paths for the lame and the blind. The old villa holds -the office, the dining-room, and a big, airy pavilion, where the men -may gather for a weekly entertainment, cards or music. A bowling alley -has been converted into the quaintest little chapel imaginable, with -the Virgin Mary and the statues of the King and Queen in very close -company, and back of them a splendid Belgian flag. Besides the regular -gatherings, the men hold special services here for their comrades dead -on the Field of Honor. - -One by one new cottages are being built; more trades are being taught. -Electricity and book-binding have been added recently, and the course -for chauffeurs. The greater number of the men work in the shoe shops, -where there is one workroom for the Walloons and another for the -Flemings; but the scarcity of leather greatly hinders this important -department. In certain sections they are already using machinery -manufactured by the men themselves. And it must be kept in mind all -the time that these men before the war were almost without exception in -the fields. - -Madame told us that the most cheerful workmen are the blind, who -seemed, however, most to be pitied, as they sat there weaving their -baskets and chair seats. She said that often during their weekly -entertainments the entire company would be thrown into spasms of -laughter by the sudden meowing of cats or cackling of hens in their -midst. These were the tricks of the blind men, who were as gay as -children. - -The _atelier_ is truly a joyous place, set in a garden tended by -the soldiers, and inside flooded with light. The walls are covered -with models and designs. Some of the men were busy with patterns for -lace and embroidery. Others were modeling. A legless soldier, in the -trenches only a month ago, was already handling his clay with pleasure -and skill. But the most remarkable work was that of a man who had -lost his right arm. Before the war, like the others, he had been a -“cultivateur,” never conscious of a talent that under the encouragement -of a good teacher was developing astonishingly. With the pencil in his -left hand, he produced designs of leaves, flowers and animals of great -beauty. - -One of the strangest, saddest sights in the world is the workroom for -artificial limbs. Here men who have lost their own arms and legs sit -constructing arms and legs for their comrades who are to lose theirs -on the battlefield. A soldier who had his right arm and all but two -fingers of his left hand shot away, was filing, hammering, and shaping -an artificial arm. A man with half of each forearm gone was able, by -means of a simple leather appliance, to make thirty-five brushes a day. -Here they were making, too, the gymnasium apparatus for the muscular -exercises which help to restore the equilibrium of their own bodies. - -After visiting all the workshops, we went to one of the cheery cottage -dormitories. It was noon-time now, and the men, deciding that we were -apt to pass that way, had quickly decorated the front porch with the -flags of the Allies, daringly binding our American flag with them! Then -with a yellow sand they had written on the darker earth in front of -the cottage: “To the Welcome Ones—the Brave Allies”—(again they had -included us!) “we offer the gratitude of their soldiers!” - - - - -XXII - -THE LITTLE PACKAGE - - -One morning in Antwerp I saw women with string bags filled with all -sorts of small packages, some with larger boxes in their arms, hurrying -toward a door over which was the sign “Le Petit Paquet”—the Little -Package. In the hallway many others were trying to decipher various -posted notices. One black-haired woman, empty bag in hand, was going -through the list marked “Kinds and quantities of food allowed in ‘Le -Petit Paquet’ for our soldiers, prisoners in Germany.” - -This, then told the story—husbands and sons were in prison—wives -and mothers were here! The posted notices, the organizations within -achieved by 24 devoted women—the mountains of little brown packages -each carefully addrest, approved for contents and weight, and ready for -shipment—these connected the two sad extremes. - -This morning the receiving-room was crowded, as it is every morning, -I am told. The directors had been standing back of the long counters -since 7:30; women of every class pressing along the front, depositing -their precious offerings. - -Each prisoner is allowed a monthly 500-gram parcel-post package, and -a 10-pound box, which may contain, beside food, tobacco and clothing. -The permitted articles include cocoa, chocolate and coffee; tinned fish -and vegetables and soups; powdered milk and jam. Soap may be sent with -the clothing. One mother had arranged her parcels in a pair of wooden -sabots which she hoped to have passed. - -Such a rush of unwrapping, weighing, re-wrapping. There seemed hardly -a moment for breathing, and yet somehow there was time to listen to -stories, to answer questions, give courage to hundreds who found in -these rooms their closest connection with their loved ones. One could -see that they were loath to go—they would have liked to stay and watch -the final wrapping and registering—to actually _see_ their tokens to -the train! - -On this day there was a special gift box from Cardinal Mercier for -every prisoner from the province. Antwerp has 6,000 prisoners in -Germany, and through the offerings of relatives or friends, or of the -city itself when these fail, each one receives a permitted gift. - -One sees at a glance what an enormous task the bookkeeping alone -entails—record of contents, addresses of senders, distribution, -registering of received packages, and numberless other entries. And -each month the instructions are changing, which renders the work still -more arduous. - -And one is astonished over and over again at the amount of sheer -physical energy women are putting into their service. Belgium has some -40,000 prisoners in Germany. In Brussels and other cities other women -are repeating what the directors in Antwerp were doing that morning. - - - - -XXIII - -THE GREEN BOX - - -There are seven rooms in Brussels, each with a long table in the -middle, and with rows upon rows of green wooden boxes (about the size -of a macaroni box) on shelf-racks against walls. The racks, too, are -painted the color of hope—the green which after the war might well -deserve a place with the red, orange and black, for having so greatly -comforted the people when all display of their national colors was -supprest. Each box has a hook in front from which hangs a pasteboard -card, marked with a number; it hangs there if the box is full, when -empty it is filed. - -The first morning I happened in on one of these sections, I found a -director and three pretty young girls feverishly busy with hundreds -and hundreds of little paper bags. There were as many green boxes as -the table would hold, arranged before them, with scales at either end. -They were running back and forth from the pantry with a bowl or an -apronful of something, and then weighing and pouring into the bags tiny -portions of beans and chicory, salt and sugar, bacon and other things. -They weighed and poured as fast as they could and with almost joyous -satisfaction tucked the little bags one after another into the boxes. -Then they dove into the big vegetable baskets at one end of the room, -and each box was made gay with a lettuce or cauliflower. For some there -were bottles of milk, or a few precious potatoes or eggs. If the egg -chest had been gold, it could hardly have been more treasured. For a -moment it seemed the war must be a horrible dream. This was really the -day before Christmas! There were even a few red apples—as a special -surprize, some one had contributed two kilos that day. Since they -were obviously far short of enough to furnish one for each box, the -directors decided to tuck one into the box for each mother whom they -knew to have a little boy or girl. Box after box took its place on the -shelves until finally, by two o’clock, all gaps were filled, and a -curious wall-garden grew half-way up to the ceiling. It might well have -been Christmas, but actually this scene had been repeated two days a -week, week in and week out, for over two and a half years, and nobody -stops to question how many long months it must continue. - -Some time before the last box was on its shelf, the first woman -with a string bag on her arm arrived. She was carefully drest, -intelligent-looking, a woman of about fifty. Later I found that before -the war she had a comfortable home, with servants and a motor-car. She -slipt quietly along the racks till she found the card with her number, -took her box from the shelf and transferred the tiny sacks and the two -eggs to her string bag. Then she placed the little packet of empty bags -and string she was returning on the table, and, after answering a few -questions about her two children, went slowly downstairs. None but the -Committee, or equally unfortunate ones who came as she did, need know -she had been there. This was Wednesday; she could come again on Friday. -Other women came, and, as the first, each could go to her box without -asking, and find the precious packages—mere mouthfuls as they seemed -to me! - -I thought I smelled soup, and followed Madame ... to a little side -room where I saw chairs and a white-covered table. Her cook was just -depositing a big can of thick soup which she had been preparing -at home, and which Madame had ordered brought to the center each -distribution day. Any one who wishes may slip into this room on her way -out, sit at a dainty table, and drink a bowl of hot soup. - -By half-past two the place was filled. Dozens of women were busy with -their bags and boxes, while half a dozen directors were tidying up, -storing strings and sacks, filing cards, washing utensils; there was -a most heartening atmosphere of busyness and cheerfulness. And all -the while one group was telling its story to the other and receiving -the comfort warm hearts could give. I overheard the promise of a -bed to one, or coal to another, and over and over again the “Yes, -I understand; I, too, am without news.” From all the husbands and -sons at the front no word! These women met on the ground of their -common suffering. One of the saddest of all sad things happened that -afternoon, when a mother, on seeing the lovely “unnecessary” apple, -burst into tears. For so long, so long, her little Marie had had -nothing but the ration prescribed to keep her from starving. This -mother broke down as she dropt the red apple into her bag. - -These were all people who had been well-off, even comfortable, but -whose funds either suddenly, at the beginning, or gradually through -the two terrible years, had been exhausted. Mostly their men were in -the trenches; there were children or old people to care for; they had -done their utmost, but at last were forced to accept help. I wondered -how these few pitiful little bags could make any difference. The slice -of unsmoked bacon was neither so broad nor so thick as the palm of -my hand, and yet that was to be their meat and butter for three days! -In this distribution center it seemed absolutely nothing, but when I -visited the homes later I saw it was a great deal. - -In Brussels there were in October, 1916, no less than 5,000 “Pauvres -Honteux” or “Ashamed Poor” (there must be many more now) being helped -through the seven sections of this “Assistance Discrète,” each of which -carries the same beautiful motto, “Donne, et tais-toi,” “Give, and be -silent.” At the very beginning of the war a great-hearted woman saw -where the chief danger of misery lay. The relief organizations would -naturally first look after the wounded, the homeless, the very poor. -Those who were accustomed to accept charity would make the earliest -demands. But what about those whose business was slowly being ruined, -whose reserves were small? What about school-teachers, artists, and -other members of professional classes? And widows living on securities -invested abroad, or children of gentle upbringing, whose fathers had -gone to the front expecting to return in three or four months? She saw -many of them starving rather than go on the soup-lines. - -She had a vision of true mutual aid. Each person who had should become -the sister of her who had not. There should be a sharing of individual -with individual. She did not think of green boxes or sections, but of -person linked with person in the spirit of Fraternity. But the number -of the desperate grew too rapidly, her first idea of direct individual -help had to be abandoned, and one after another distribution centers -were organized. An investigator was put in charge of each center who -reported personally on all the cases that were brought in, either -directly or indirectly to the committee. The Relief Committee granted -a subsidy of 10,000 francs a month, which, one sees at a glance, can -not nearly cover the need. So day after day the directors of each -section canvass their districts for money and food, and by dint of an -untiring devotion raise the monthly 10,000 to about 28,000 francs. -But, unfortunately, every day more of war means wretched ones forced -to the wall, and this sum is always far from meeting the distress. We -have only to divide the 30,000 francs by the 5,000 on the lists, to see -what, at best, each family may receive. - -I went with Mademoiselle ..., an investigator, to visit one of these -families. A charming old gentleman received us. I should say he was -about seventy-three. He had been ill, and was most cheerful over what -he called his “recovery,” tho to us he still looked far from well. -The drawing-room was comfortable, spotlessly clean; there was no fire. -We talked of his children, both of whom were married; one son was in -Italy, another in Russia—the war had cut off all word or help from -both. He himself had been a successful engineer in his day, but he -had not saved much, his illness and two years of war had eaten up -everything. He was interested in Mexico and in the Panama Canal, and -we chatted on until Mademoiselle felt we must go. As we were shaking -hands, she opened her black velvet bag and took out an egg which -she laughingly left on the table as her visiting card. She did it -perfectly, and he laughed back cheerily, “After the war, my dear, I -shall certainly find the hen that will lay you golden eggs!” Outside, -I still could hardly pull myself together—one egg as a precious gift -to a dignified old gentleman-engineer! Could it be possible? “But,” -explained Mademoiselle, “if I had not given him that egg, he would not -have any egg!” Eggs were costing about ten cents each. “Of course, we -never even discuss meat,” she added; “but he has been quite ill, and he -must have an egg at least every two or three days!” - -The woman we visited next did not have a comfortable home, but a -single room. She had been for many years a governess in a family in -Eastern Belgium, but just before the war both she and the family had -invested their money in a savings concern which had gone to pieces, -and from that day she had been making the fight to keep her head above -water. She had come to Brussels, was succeeding fairly well, when she -was taken ill. She had had an operation, but after months there was -still an open wound, and she could drag herself about only with great -difficulty. I found that Mademoiselle takes her to the hospital, a -matter of hours, three times a week for treatment, and, besides that, -visits her in her room. As we were talking, a niece, also unfortunately -without funds, came in to polish the stove and dust a bit. Mademoiselle -reported that she was pretty sure of being able to bring some stockings -to knit on her next visit. These would bring five cents a pair. And, as -we left, she gave another egg, and this time a tiny package of cocoa, -too. I discovered that every morsel this governess has to eat comes to -her from Mademoiselle. And yet I have never been in a room where there -was greater courage and cheerfulness. - -So it was as we went from square to square. In some homes there were -children with no father; in others, grandfathers with neither children -nor grandchildren; and between them, people well enough, young enough, -but simply ruined by the war. Mademoiselle was going back to spend the -night with an old lady we had visited the week before, and had found -reading Anatole France. She had felt she must make her last testament, -and looking at her we agreed. That week she had received word that her -only son, who was also her only kin, had been killed in the trenches -three months before. - -Of course, every city has its hundreds of unfortunates; there must be -everywhere some form of “Assistance Discrète,” but most of those on the -lists of this war-time organization would in peace time be the ones to -give, rather than receive, and their number is increasing pitifully as -month follows month. - -Every one permitted to be in Belgium for any length of time marvels at -the incredible, unbreakable spirit of its people. They meet every new -order of the military authorities with a laugh; when they have to give -up their motor-cars, they ride on bicycles; when all bicycle tires are -requisitioned, they walk cheerfully; if the city is fined 1,000,000 -marks, the laconic comment is: “It was worth it!” All the news is -censored, so they manufacture and circulate cheerful news—nothing -ever breaks through their smiling, defiant solidarity. One thing only -in secret I have heard them admit, and that is the anguish of their -complete separation from their loved ones at the front. Mothers and -wives of every other nation may have messages; they, never. - -The thing that has bound them thus together and buoyed them up is -just this enveloping, inter-penetrating atmosphere of mutual aid, so -beautifully exprest every day through the work of the “Assistance -Discrète.” It was this vision of Fraternity in its widest sense that -gave it birth, and every day the women of Belgium are making that -vision a blessed reality. - - - - -XXIV - -THE “MOTHER OF BELGIUM” - - -Mr. Hoover’s visits to Brussels are crowded with conferences, endless -complications to be straightened out, figures and reports to be -accepted or rejected—with all the unimaginable difficulties incident -to the relief of an occupied territory. - -Responsible on the one hand to England, on the other to Germany, -dependent always on the continued active support of his own countrymen -and on the efficiency and integrity of the local relief organization, -he fights his way literally inch by inch and hour by hour to bring in -bread for the Belgian mother and her child. - -[Illustration: 1,662 CHILDREN, MADE SUB-NORMAL BY THE WAR, WAITING FOR -THEIR DINNER] - -It is easy to conceive of such service if the giver is in close -touch with the mother and her need, but when he must be cut off from -her—locked up with the grind, the disillusionment, the staggering -obstacles, this unbroken devotion through the days and nights of more -than two years, becomes one of the finest expressions of altruism the -world has seen. - -The two years have left their mark—to strangers he must seem silent, -grim, but every C. R. B. man knows what this covers. - -On one visit I persuaded him to take an hour from the bureau to go -with me to one of the cantines for sub-normal children. He stood -silently as the 1,600 little boys and girls came crowding in, slipping -in their places at the long, narrow tables that cut across the great -dining-rooms, and, when I looked up at him, his eyes had filled with -tears. He watched Madame and her husband, a physician, going from one -child to another, examining their throats, or their eyes, taking them -out to the little clinic for weighing, carrying the youngest in their -arms, while the dozen white-uniformed young women hurrying up and down -the long rows were ladling the potato-stew and the rice dessert. - -Then suddenly a black-shawled woman, evidently in deep distress, rushed -up the stairs, and by us to Madame, to pour out her trouble. She was -crying—she had run to the cantine, as a child to its mother, for -comfort. Her little eight-year-old Marie, who had, only a week ago, -been chosen as the loveliest child of the 1,600 to present the bouquet -to the Minister’s wife, and who, this very morning, had seemed well and -happy, was lying at home dead of convulsions. The cantine had been the -second home of her precious one for over two years—where, but there, -should she flee in her sorrow? - -I turned toward Mr. Hoover, and he spoke these true words: “The women -of Belgium have become the Mother of Belgium. In this _room_ is the -Relief of Belgium!” - - - - -XXV - -“OUT” - - -The Rotterdam canals were choked with barges, weighted with freight; -heavy trucks rattled down the streets, a whistle shrieked, telegraph -wires hummed, motors flashed by—men were moving quickly, grouping -themselves freely at corners; life—vivid, outspoken, free—crowded -upon me, filling my eyes and ears. With a swift tremor of physical fear -I huddled back in my seat. After eight months I was afraid of this -thing! - -And “Inside” I had thought I realized the whole of the cruel numbness. -Slowly I had felt it closing in about me, closing down upon me, -shutting me in with _them_—with terrors and anguish, with human souls -that at any moment a hand might reach in to toss—where? - - - - -XXVI - -FAREWELL - - -I can think of no more beautiful, final tribute to the women of Belgium -than that carried in their own words—words of tragedy, but words of -widest vision and understanding and generosity, sent in farewell to us: - -“Oh, you who are going back in that free country of the United States, -tell to all our sufferings, our distress; tell them again and again our -cries of alarm, which come from our opprest and agonized hearts! You -have lived and felt what we are living and feeling; we have understood -that, higher than charity which gives, you brought us charity which -understands and consoles! Your souls have bowed down over ours, our -eyes with anxiety are looking in your friendly eyes. Over the big -ocean our wishes follow you. Oh, might you there remember the little -Belgium! The life which palpitates in her grateful heart—she owes it -to you! _You are our hope, our anchor! Help us! Do not abandon the work -of charity you have undertaken!_ - -“Our endless gratitude goes to you, and from father to children, in the -hovel and in the palace, we shall repeat your great heart, your high -idealism, _your touching charity_!” - - -NOTE BY THE AUTHOR - -The increase in dependency in less than a year, as shown by a -comparison of the following figures with those in this book, suggests -more poignantly than any written account could, the daily deepening -tragedy of Belgium: - - Present total on “Soupes” in whole of Belgium 3,032,089 - Present total on “Soupes” in Greater Brussels 401,600 - Present total children in Belgium receiving - eleven o’clock meal 985,617 - Present total nursing or expectant mothers receiving - canteen meal 14,809 - Present total debilitated children receiving - supplementary meal 53,311 - - C. K. - - _December, 1917._ - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - -The changes are as follows: - -Page 45—school-children changed to school children. -Page 78—well off changed to well-off. -Page 110—added ” at the end of the paragraph. -Page 118—added ) which was missing, after ‘and many of them pretty),’. -Page 124—near by changed to near-by. -Page 125—Hainault has been corrected to Hainaut. -Page 152—added ” at the end of the paragraph. - -In the ‘NOTE BY THE AUTHOR’ at the very end of the book, the dittos -have been replaced with the actual words. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Women of Belgium Turning Tragedy to -Triumph, by Charlotte Kellogg - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN OF BELGIUM *** - -***** This file should be named 60599-0.txt or 60599-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/5/9/60599/ - -Produced by F E H, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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