The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-04-30

REFUGE HUT IN FINLAND.
forts large sum of money has been
collected from benevolent Americans
for the starving of Finland.
He is accompanied by DIR. y n. Geu-
ter of the Helsingfors university, rep
resenting the Finnish central relief
committee: Mr.. Robert Allopaeus. SUI
perintendent of the government indus
trial schools, and by the writer The
party has already travelled over 200
miles in sledges over frozen lakes and
rivers, from one forest town to anoth-
er, sometimes cutting their way
through fields of virgin snow, again
pushing ahead on skees to reach the
more remote cottages where starvation
turks. Ten, fifteen and twenty miles
must oftentimes be travelled between
two neighboring cottages. With the
thermometer ever and ever far below
zero and the snow gale driven like the
sands of the desert, it is manifestly'
true that such journey is a test of
physical endurance and of Job-iike pa
tience.
The party carries its own supply of
provisions, an absolute necessity in q
section where all the peasantry have
subsisted for months ON hunger bread
dipped in salt water Such are the gen.
eral facts pertaining to the fur wrapped,
fur booted and fur capped party which
emerged from the forest depths tonight
after many days spent in driving from
villages where the suffering was bad
indeed to villages where the suffering
was even worse. Kajana, town of
1900 souls and the center of the fam.
inc In Finland. is decidedly an oasis
to this particular relief party, for here
for the time being are good inn, a |
little fresh food and some of the com.
forts Of civilization.
The first cry Of woe from this far
northland was hear around the world, |
but no country needed it so far az
to elicit a response In the form Of
proposals for help save America. II
was natural that people In the United
States should be the first to listen at
tentively to Finland's wall of distress.
for toward America flows the great
tide of emigration from Suomi.
The chief divisions of the Finnish
peasantry are the farmers who are
landowners and the tenant farmers.
1t Is among the latter that the suffer
ing Is most acute. For two weeks we
have visited the homes of tenant farm.
ers, and in every case the sight Of mis-
cry and the story of want have been
the same +
1t should be explained that we al
ways carried sledful Of bread and
left number of leaves at each cot.
tage. Sometimes we CHANGED upon
homes wherein the last crumb had been
the mother and father hav.
ing gone forth in search of work. IpI
such instances our loayes came Just in
the nick of time. In every stricken
home also Finnish marks were left
where they would be found after we
lad driven away.
From where | write / can peer
through a window out upon scene OF
la.zling whiteness all illumined by the
vide spreading flames of the aurora
,orealis. This great torch of heaven
made of thousand thousand rainbows
'eveals to the citizens of Kaiana
lumber of outlying cottages where in.
ldlous starvation gnaws at the vitaIsi
4 those within. While the incandes.
ence Of the northern light imparts a
majesty TO the scene. assisting the i'm
gination to grasp the significance of
IS revelation Of the suffering of those
Fho hath not, a meurnfu sound sud.
emily comes out of the vast silence.
It is the sound of human voices. male
oiees. singing in unison one of the
leianeholy folklore songs of the north. !,
he young men of Kajana are serenad. .
IS the Americans. The young men of ,
lajana, through the medium of the
ational custom, are singing their !
ranks to the whole American nation !,
y the aid given their people in time :
dfrest need. And the song OF the
outh OF Kajana tonight Is the song of ;
I Finland to the people of the United :,
lates. the song Of gratitude felt deem :
the heart of every Finn. :
gibson WILLETs. 4