Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-01-18
REAaG ALTON

twenty completely equipped beds to
the Red Cross society, in addition to
four dozen suits of underwear and
stockings. All this is aside from
what the municipalities are doing for
the same end. In Rustchuk the mu-
nicipal council appropriated 100000
francs for distribution among the fam
lilies of soldiers, while Jambol, q
much smaller town, could give only
10000 francs. Special committees
have been appointed to administer
these funds.
In the outlying villages, beyond the
reach of the activities of the munich
pal committees, the peasants are
showing themselves equally capable
of handling the situation. The peas
ants are often rich in grain, f1rewood,
and the other necessities of life,
which they store away for their own
consumption during the winter 1t
would be useless to send out subscrip-
ton lists, for there is little ready
cash above that which has been laid
aside to pay the heavy taxes. The
village authorities follow no rule,
and In many places the relief work
is carried on entirely with donations
in kind. But this is not the most i'm
portant work of the village commit
tees
The lives of the peasants depend
on their crops. If these fail poverty,
and even famine, will follow. The
men were going to war just as the
winter crops of wheat should have
been sown, but village committees
are undertaking to SOW the fields of
their fellows who have enlisted In
one village, Novo Selo, the committee
worked so energetically that 1t has
almost finished its task. The rich
peasants contributed the seed; one
man alone gave LOO kilos, over one
ton, of wheat. Behind much of this
activity are the cooperative banks;
they are advancing much money and
quantities of seeds to the families of
those of their members who have
gone to the war, and they are super
intending much OF the committee
work in planting the winter wheat
crop
All the schools and gymnasia in
Bulgaria have been closed; only the
girls assemble to sew clothing and
prepare bandages for the hospitals.
This is true also of schools in Servia.
Many Of the teachers and professors
are drilling in the barracks. The
women teachers have entered the spe-
cial training courses for nurses which
have been opened in every town. In
Tirnovo the monks in one Of the large
monasteries sent a petition to the
mayor asking that they be allowed to
Join the army or enlist in the Red
Cross corps. Now a dozen OF them
are taking up the Red Cross training
courses.
Naturally there Is a scarcity of
able-bodied men which, in some OF
the towns might result in disorder II
the local authorities did not show in.
genuity in solving local problems. In
Pleven all the policemen were called
to the barracks and the streets were
left unprotected. The project called
on all the boys of the upper gymnasi.
um classes to organize themselves
into a provisional police force. Being
only boys. two were made to fill the
place OF one policeman. so now the
streets OF the city are patroled by
pairs Of boys in the green-vizored
caps of the gymnasium.
That the women are responding
quite as eagerly to such emergency
calls is shown in word coming from
Sofa which, after stating that almost
all the street cleaners had entered
the army, adds: Now the women
have organized themselves into a
Street-cleauins brigade