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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0fff964 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60599 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60599) 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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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 - - - - - - -</pre> - - - <div class="transnote"> - - <h2 class="nopagebreak" title="">Transcriber’s Note</h2> - - <p class="noindent"></p> - - <p>Changes made are noted at the <a href="#end_note" title="Go to the End Note">end of the book.</a></p> - </div> - - - <div class="figcenter"> - <img class="cover" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" width="500" height="800" /> - </div> - - <hr class="full" /> - - <div class="figcenter"> - <a id="image_frontis" name="image_frontis"><img src="images/i_frontis.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="419" /></a> - <p class="caption">A “LITTLE BEES” DINING-ROOM FOR SUB-NORMAL CHILDREN</p> - </div> - - <hr class="chap" /> - - - <h1>WOMEN OF BELGIUM<br /> - <small>TURNING TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH</small></h1> - <p class="center"> <span class="smcap">By</span></p> - <p class="center"> CHARLOTTE KELLOGG</p> - - <p class="center"> <span class="smcap">With an Introduction By</span></p> - <p class="center"> HERBERT C. HOOVER</p> - <p class="center"> <i>Chairman of The Commission for Relief in Belgium</i></p> - - <p class="center"> <i>SIXTH EDITION</i></p> - - <div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_colophon.jpg" id="i_colophon.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_colophon.jpg" alt="i_colophon" width="65" height="70" /> - </div> - - <p class="center"> FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY</p> - <p class="center"> NEW YORK AND LONDON</p> - <p class="center"> 1917 - </p> - - <hr class="r6" /> - - <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - <p class="center"> <span class="smcap">Copyright, 1917, by</span></p> - - <p class="center"> FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY</p> - - <p class="center"> [Printed in the United States of America]</p> - - <p class="center"> Published in April, 1917</p> - - <p class="center"> Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention<br /> - of the Pan-American Republics of the<br /> - United States, August 11, 1910. -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - - <h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> - <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> -<table id="toc" summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <th>CHAPTER</th> - <th> </th> - <th>PAGE</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td>Introduction</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">I.</td> - <td>The Leaders</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">II.</td> - <td>The “Soupes”</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">III.</td> - <td>The Cradles on the Meuse</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">IV.</td> - <td>“The Little Bees”</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">V.</td> - <td>Mrs. Whitlock’s Visit</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">VI.</td> - <td>The Bathtub</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">VII.</td> - <td>The Bread in the Hand</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> - <td>One Woman</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">IX.</td> - <td>The City of the Cardinal</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">X.</td> - <td>The Teachers</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XI.</td> - <td>Gabrielle’s Baby</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XII.</td> - <td>The “Drop of Milk”</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> - <td>Layettes</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> - <td>The Skating-Rink at Liége</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XV.</td> - <td>A Zeppelin</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> - <td>New Uses of a Hippodrome</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XVII.</td> - <td>The Antwerp Music-Hall</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td> - <td>Lace</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> - <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XIX.</td> - <td>A Toy Factory</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XX.</td> - <td>Another Toy Factory</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XXI.</td> - <td>The Mutilés</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XXII.</td> - <td>The Little Package</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XXIII.</td> - <td>The Green Box</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XXIV.</td> - <td>The “Mother of Belgium”</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XXV.</td> - <td>“Out”</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="chapnum">XXVI.</td> - <td>Farewell</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> -<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - - <table class="toi" summary="Illustrations"> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A “Little Bees” Dining-room for Sub-normal Children</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#image_frontis" title=""><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="smcap right"><small><small>FACING PAGE</small></small></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ready for the Children</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub"> A “Little Bees” cantine for sub-normal children.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Meal for Young Mothers</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">One Corner of the Brussels Hippodrome, - Now a Central Clothing Supply Station</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Antwerp Music-hall, Now a Sewing-room</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub"> 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.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Supplementary Meal the Relief - Committee Is Now Trying to Give to 1,250,000 School Children</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Toys Created By Women of Belgium</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">1,662 Children, Made Sub-normal by the - War, Waiting for Their Dinner</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td> - </tr> - </table> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</a></h2> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Herbert Hoover</span></p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Belgium</span>, 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.</p> - -<p>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 re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>duced -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span>the most stedfast courage and high intelligence.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 Bel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span>gium -are staunching the flow—sustaining -and leading this stricken nation to -greater strength and greater life.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</a></span>half years? That the day shall not come -when some Belgian woman amid her tears -must stand before its gate to repeat: -“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mes petites, il n’y en a plus</i>,” is simply -a problem of labor and money. In this -America has a duty, and the women of -America a privilege.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Herbert Hoover.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="p120 center">WOMEN OF BELGIUM</p> -<p class="p100 center">TURNING TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"> [1]</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="I" id="I"><abbr title="1">I</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE LEADERS</p> -</div> -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>thrown into high relief, special aspects of -an inexpressible experience.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>“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!”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>Then, tho there was much more to be -done in America, she left. She must re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>turn -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>One by one the recovered bodies were -identified, and among them was that of -Marie de Page.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="space-above"></p> -<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">In</span>”</p> - -<p>As the only American woman member -of the Commission for Relief I was permitted -to enter Belgium in July, 1916.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>and professional classes, from the nobility -itself, the suffering was most acute, -most difficult to discover and relieve.</p> - -<p>I knew that at the beginning of the -war the great organizing genius of Herbert -Hoover had seized the apparently -unsolvable problem of the <em>Relief of Belgium</em>, -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.</p> - -<p>I realized, too, that the Belgian men, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="II" id="II"><abbr title="2">II</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE “SOUPES”</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">I shall</span> 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!</p> - -<p>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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Enfants Débiles</span>” -dining-rooms, or on a very long line of women in front of a <span -class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>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.”</p> - -<p>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 appetiz<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>ing -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!</p> - -<p>Personal inspection of this marvelous -kitchen is the only thing that could give -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 <em>soupe</em>!</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>By following one of these steaming -trucks I discovered “Soupe 18,” with its -line of silent hundreds stretching along -the wet street.</p> - -<p>I was half an hour early, so there was -time to talk with the local committee managers -who were preparing the big hall for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>We reviewed the army of cans stationed -toward the rear, and the great -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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?”</p> - -<p>The “Merci, Monsieur, merci beaucoup,” -of one sweet-faced old woman was -so evidently the expression of genuine -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>meat never passes their lips but in soup.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>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.</p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">At Home</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>convention were extremely rigorous, and -I hesitated.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Still later, two American men arrived. -They were known, and expected at any -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="III" id="III"><abbr title="3">III</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE CRADLES ON THE MEUSE</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Dinant</span> 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.</p> - -<p>I came to Dinant in September, 1916, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>Dinant was not entirely destroyed, but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>Then happened a horrible thing. One -of the tiniest, with blue eyes and golden -curls, ran over to me laughing and calling, -“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Madame, mon père est mort!</span>” -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>“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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"><abbr title="4">IV</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">“THE LITTLE BEES”</p> - - -<p class="p110 center"><abbr title="1">I</abbr></p> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Madame</span> ... 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.</p> - -<p>The cantines have been opened in every -section of the city, in a vacant shop, a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>there is rice for dessert, the next phosphatine -and now a hygienic biscuit—a -thick, wholesome one—as big as our -American cracker.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_036.jpg" id="i_036.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_036.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="418" /> - <p class="caption">READY FOR THE CHILDREN</p> - <p class="center">A “Little Bees” cantine for sub-normal children</p> - </div> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>rows, ladling out the hot, thick soup. The -air was filled with cries of “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Beaucoup, -Mademoiselle, beaucoup!</span>” 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Merci, Mademoiselle</span>” and -“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Au revoir.</span>” The clatter of sabots and -laughter died away through the courtyard, -and the hundreds started back to -school.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<em>must</em> give ourselves, but you need not. -Your gift to us is the finest expression -of sympathy the world has known.”</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p110 center"><abbr title="2">II</abbr></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>From early morning we had seen old -and young carrying great sheaves of -phlox and roses, or pots of hortensia, to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<em>viande</em> 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>-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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>cases, and keeps the number much lower -than it would otherwise be.</p> - -<p>When I asked Madame how she was -able to give so much time (from about -8 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> till 1 or 2 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> 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?”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="V" id="V"><abbr title="5">V</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">MRS. WHITLOCK’S VISIT</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>and greetings and little hands stretched -out all along the line as we passed.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,” -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>there were no grown-ups without tears -in their eyes.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>However, in some respects the children -of the very poor are better off than they -have ever been. For the first time they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>are receiving nourishing food at regular -hours. And this ration, along with the -training in hygiene and medical attention, -is having its good effect.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"><abbr title="6">VI</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE BATHTUB</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Way</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"><abbr title="7">VII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE BREAD IN THE HAND</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">I soon</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>evitable -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Our American Young Men</span></p> - -<p><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Monsieur</span> ..., 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.</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p>“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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>Americans would stand with us. The instructions -read: ‘The American and your -Belgian chairmen will jointly manage the -relief.’</p> - -<p>“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!</p> - -<p>“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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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 <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Monsieur</span> ..., 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>forgot the wheat and fat in their delight -to get back to Virgil and Horace.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>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 <em>his</em> district was -ready to guarantee so much pure milk -from that time on!</p> - -<p>“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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"><abbr title="8">VIII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">ONE WOMAN</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The world</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>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?</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>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....</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>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.”</p> - -<p>On the first floor she had a little pantry-shop, -where each family received the permitted -ration of bread, sugar, bacon and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>chickens, even disaster can not convince -them that it is a proper food for man!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>There was another Dinant ménage next -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 opera<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>tion. -Madame was trying to arrange a -special diet for her on her return. They -had been in very comfortable circumstances; -now everything was gone.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> -<p>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 <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bien être</i>. And what -this means in this time of gloom to the -sixty or more who gather there daily!</p> - -<p>Young girls of the families of the refugees -serve the meals. The cook, herself -a refugee, works for twenty francs a -month.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>“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!”</p> - -<p>Choosing at random, I found registered -for one day in July, 1916:</p> - - -<p> 1 dinner at 1 franc, 10 centimes.</p> -<p>58 dinners at 1 franc.</p> -<p>43 dinners at 75 centimes (15 cents).</p> -<p>10 dinners at 50 centimes.</p> -<p> 4 dinners at 0.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"><abbr title="9">IX</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE CITY OF THE CARDINAL</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Unquestionably</span> 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.</p> - -<p>Malines has her cantines and soupes -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>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 -“œuvre” has been to give moral and -spiritual secours, not only to her own -people, but to those of every part of Belgium.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>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!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>For no particular reason I waited there, -and before long the door was partly -opened by an acolyte, who was apparently -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> -<p>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 emo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>tion -swept barriers, and “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive le Roi!</span>” -“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive Monseigneur!</span>” 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 <em>must</em> cry out!” The Cardinal -went straight forward, looking neither to -the right nor the left, the tears streaming -down his cheeks.</p> - -<p>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, -“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive le Roi!</span>” and “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive Monseigneur!</span>” -I was able to struggle free only after the -gate had closed on the Cardinal.</p> - -<p>This was the day when in times of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>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!</p> - -<p>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!</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="X" id="X"><abbr title="10">X</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE TEACHERS</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">One</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>As I sat there, I heard the noise of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>For the children, the “repas” is the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>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 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span>, -clutching their precious cards and waiting -already for their eleven o’clock potatoes -and phosphatine.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>That morning an old uncle had begged -Monsieur to take charge of his nephew -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>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 <em>must</em> be done!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>We see, then, that “every day” means -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>literally <em>every</em> 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.</p> - -<p>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 <em>great</em> necessity!</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>during that month, a little white bread -bun. No American can understand what -this single piece of <em>white</em> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Amélie B. wrote:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>Another says:</p> - -<p>“Since we have had the <em>good</em> 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.”</p> - -<p>Further:</p> - -<p>“The mothers of little children wept -with joy and blest you, as they went to -get their good, light bread.”</p> - -<p>One little girl wrote:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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. -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Merci</span>! <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Merci</span>! Many died because of -that bad bread, and many more should -have died, had you not come to our aid -with the good bread.”</p> - -<p>Another little girl writes:</p> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive le Roi!</span>” and “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive -l’Amérique</span>!” Who would doubt that a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>good part of the joy of shouting “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive -l’Amérique</span>” comes from the opportunity -it gives them to couple with it the cry of -their hearts, “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive la Belgique</span>!”</p> - -<p>By the time we returned to her bureau, -Madame trusted me entirely, and explained -that this was the center of a kind -of “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Assistance Discrète</span>” 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Her most precious possession was a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>record of the gifts of the pupils and their -friends for this “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Assistance Discrète</span>.” 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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"><abbr title="11">XI</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">GABRIELLE’S BABY</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Before</span> 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.</p> - -<p>I had been in Brussels five months -when she said to me one day:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> - -<p>“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?”</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> -<p>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!</p> - -<p>Mercifully this would not be breaking -any promise; and I begged for the name.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>I hurried inside, hoping fervently to -hear the longed-for answer, as I put the -name and my question.</p> - -<p>But the name was strange to S., he -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>could tell me nothing, tho he felt sure -that by keeping his ears open that week, -he might learn something.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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: <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>‘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?’”</p> - -<p>“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!”</p> - -<p>And I went about it. On Thursday, -when he rushed over to me I could call: -“Yes, there <em>is</em> one! It’s Gabrielle’s! A -little girl, five months old and doing -beautifully!”</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” he shouted, and hurried -back to his tons and calories.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"><abbr title="12">XII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE “DROP OF MILK”</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Belgium</span> 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>affiliated consultation cantines for advice.</p> - -<p>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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Goutte de -Lait</span>” (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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_112.jpg" id="i_112.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_112.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="419" /> - <p class="caption">A MEAL FOR YOUNG MOTHERS</p> - </div> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>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 -“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Goutte de Lait</span>” 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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 watch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>ing -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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"><abbr title="13">XIII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">LAYETTES</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">And</span> 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>a number sat nursing their babies (young -mothers mostly, and many of them -pretty), into the distributing-room.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>As the mothers came in, the babies -were carefully weighed and examined, -the records added to, through direct, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>Every morning since the beginning of -the war these women have been there, on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>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!”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>and the adored Princess Marie-José were -their patronesses—they were probably the -most popular organization of their kind in -Belgium.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>Four hundred telephone girls out of work -were doing their best, side by side with -countesses.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"><abbr title="14">XIV</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE SKATING-RINK AT LIÉGE</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">To</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>struction -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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>The question of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chômage</span>, 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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! -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>Obviously the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chômeur</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dîner Economique</span>” or “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dîner Bourgeois</span>,” -conducted by philanthropic -women. These are big, popular restaurants, -where because of a subsidy from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 restau<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>rants -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The superintendent laughed: “Yes,” -he said, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>“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 œuvre 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.”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>This kind of double œuvre is quite -the most interesting of all the varied attempts -to meet the staggering problem -Belgium has daily to face.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"><abbr title="15">XV</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">A ZEPPELIN</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">I went</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>“four years ago <em>I</em> saw <em>my</em> 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!”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"><abbr title="16">XVI</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">NEW USES OF A HIPPODROME</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>The Rink is not more than a few yards -and minutes from the Hippodrome, but -a bolt of flannel may travel many miles -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>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!</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>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, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>“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 <em>want</em> to thank -Margery. Will you tell her?”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>for the completeness of the organization -of this clothing department.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>make them into the skirts or baby slips -or men’s shirts or suits that the relief -committees will distribute.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_144.jpg" id="i_144.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_144.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="425" /> - <p class="caption">ONE CORNER OF THE BRUSSELS HIPPODROME, NOW A CENTRAL CLOTHING SUPPLY STATION</p> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>(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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"><abbr title="17">XVII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE ANTWERP MUSIC-HALL</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Before</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>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!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>of fifteen, and only one person from -each family may have this chance.”</p> - -<p>“But these three dresses we shall not -touch!” And she smiled as she looked -again at her exhibit.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_152.jpg" id="i_152.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_152.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="422" /> - <p class="caption">THE ANTWERP MUSIC-HALL, NOW A SEWING-ROOM</p> - <p class="center">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</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<p>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 <em>must</em> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>and of shirts as we saw! But the more -difficult the job, the happier the committee!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>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?</p> - -<p>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 beau<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>tiful -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!”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"><abbr title="18">XVIII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">LACE</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">A full</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="space-above"></p> -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_160.jpg" id="i_160.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_160.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="418" /> - <p class="caption">THE SUPPLEMENTARY MEAL THE -RELIEF COMMITTEE IS NOW TRYING TO GIVE TO -1,250,000 SCHOOL CHILDREN</p> - </div> - -<p>Certain parts and kinds of these laces -are made in certain districts only. I am -told that the very fine Malines lace, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Étape</span>,” or zone of military preparation, -with which it is almost impossible -to communicate.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>One can imagine the meaning of the -first export of lace to those whose hearts -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>There were always discouragements -of one kind or another. At the bureau, -one day, Madame’s eyes were red when -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>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!</p> - -<p>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, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>“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.”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"><abbr title="19">XIX</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">A TOY FACTORY</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">I was</span> 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, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>“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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>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?”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>But to Belgian wives and mothers -what must it have been? As they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"><abbr title="20">XX</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">ANOTHER TOY FACTORY</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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.</p> - -<p>This is one of the things that we must -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_176.jpg" id="i_176.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_176.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="435" /> - <p class="caption">TOYS CREATED BY WOMEN OF BELGIUM</p> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<p>She makes these lovely toys from the -veriest scraps of cloth, old paper, straw, -with pebbles picked up from the roads -for weights.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Everywhere in Belgium one is imprest -with the facility in the handling of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"><abbr title="21">XXI</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE MUTILÉS</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">At</span> 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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 manu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>factured -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">atelier</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>were making, too, the gymnasium apparatus -for the muscular exercises which -help to restore the equilibrium of their -own bodies.</p> - -<p>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!”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"><abbr title="22">XXII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE LITTLE PACKAGE</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">One</span> 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 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le Petit Paquet</span>”—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 ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le Petit Paquet</span>’ -for our soldiers, prisoners in Germany.”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> -<p>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 <em>see</em> their tokens to the -train!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>One sees at a glance what an enormous -task the bookkeeping alone entails—record -of contents, addresses of -senders, distribution, registering of re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>ceived -packages, and numberless other -entries. And each month the instructions -are changing, which renders the -work still more arduous.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"><abbr title="23">XXIII</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE GREEN BOX</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">There</span> 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.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>Some time before the last box was on -its shelf, the first woman with a string -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>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!</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>“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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>In Brussels there were in October, -1916, no less than 5,000 “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Pauvres Honteux</span>” -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, “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Donne, et tais-toi</span>,” -“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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>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!”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"><abbr title="24">XXIV</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">THE “MOTHER OF BELGIUM”</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Mr. Hoover’s</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="i_204.jpg" id="i_204.jpg"></a><img src="images/i_204.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="419" /> - <p class="caption">1,662 CHILDREN, MADE SUB-NORMAL -BY THE WAR, WAITING FOR THEIR DINNER</p> - </div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The two years have left their mark—to -strangers he must seem silent, grim, but -every C. R. B. man knows what this -covers.</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>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.</p> - -<p>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?</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> -<p>I turned toward Mr. Hoover, and he -spoke these true words: “The women of -Belgium have become the Mother of -Belgium. In this <em>room</em> is the Relief of -Belgium!”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV"><abbr title="25">XXV</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">“OUT”</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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!</p> - -<p>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 <em>them</em>—with -terrors and anguish, with human -souls that at any moment a hand might -reach in to toss—where?</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> - - -<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"><abbr title="26">XXVI</abbr></a></h2> - -<p class="p110 center">FAREWELL</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">I can</span> 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:</p> - -<p>“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 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>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! -<em>You are our hope, our anchor! Help us! -Do not abandon the work of charity you -have undertaken!</em></p> - -<p>“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, <em>your -touching charity</em>!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>NOTE BY THE AUTHOR</p> - -<p>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:</p> - -<table class="toc" summary="Contents"> -<tr> - <td class="cht">Present total on “Soupes” in whole of Belgium</td> - <td class="right"> 3,032,089</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="cht">Present total on “Soupes” in Greater Brussels</td> - <td class="right"> 401,600</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="cht">Present total children in Belgium receiving eleven o’clock meal</td> - <td class="right"> 985,617</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="cht">Present total nursing or expectant mothers receiving canteen meal</td> - <td class="right"> 14,809</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="cht">Present total debilitated children receiving supplementary meal</td> - <td class="right"> 53,311</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="signed">C. K.</p> - -<p><i>December, 1917.</i></p> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - <div class="chapter"></div> - - <div class="transnote"> - <h2 id="end_note" class="nopagebreak" title="">Transcriber’s Note</h2> - - <p>The changes are as follows:</p> - - <p><a href="#Page_45" title="">Page 45</a>—school-children changed to school children.</p> - <p><a href="#Page_78" title="">Page 78</a>—well off changed to well-off.</p> - <p><a href="#Page_110" title="">Page 110</a>—added ” at the end of the paragraph.</p> - <p><a href="#Page_118" title="">Page 118</a>—added ) which was missing, after ‘and many of them pretty),’.</p> - <p><a href="#Page_124" title="">Page 124</a>—near by changed to near-by.</p> - <p><a href="#Page_125" title="">Page 125</a>—Hainault has been corrected to Hainaut.</p> - <p><a href="#Page_152" title="">Page 152</a>—added ” at the end of the paragraph.</p> - - In the ‘NOTE BY THE AUTHOR’ at the very end of the book, the dittos - have been replaced with the actual words. - </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -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-h.htm or 60599-h.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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