Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-11-05
Bnlgarians' Ask
Aid for Orphans,

~ -
Aid for Orphans.
Thousands Of stories, full of desuair
ard tragedy and the inevitable results
oil war; and an uncomfortable hope as
Wei, are coming to the ears of New
York. direct from Bulgaria, through
a bulgarian woman. Mrs Zeritza d.
t'urnajieff, who is here putting the
case Of the Bulgarian orphans before
America. The idea of this war, and
the part which women and children
| have played IN it may have presented
certain huge pictnresqueness: but
/ the hazy glamour of the picture has
| been dis pelled by the actual presence
| ott a Bulgarian woman who has lived
| through a time of horror and desola-
| tien. f.as seen the lines of women car
| ryine on their backs the sacks of -four
| from which the only food they haze
| hae tor months is made. and has shell
tered in her own home some of the
| thousands OF children who are left
| Without a. home, a relative, IF any
/ clothing except the odd assortment
| which may have been given them. The
/ picture becomes a mass of CHASTITY dc
| ,ails; the stories are full of q crying
4 need.
4 Il could not stand it any longer"
Mrs. Fu1najieff says. Il saw the SOL
| d:crs in The hospitals, | visited the
| poor in their homes, had hundreds
| of the homeless coming tn my own
| home for aid / knew that our people
/ had oil bot -
| to do, and | came to America at my
| own expense, for | could endure it no
] longer. 1t is the orphans for whom /
| am especially concerned. for to thnse
| children Bulgaria must look for it's fu =
| tnre welfare and national existence
Turned to America.
| Mrs Furnajieff's husband is presi-
dent of the Christian Herald Relief
Committee in Bulgaria. and so she has
come into direct contact with the suf=
FERNS af the people and knows bet
ter than almost any one else what
mrst he done IL help them. Il is only
the slight accent Which makes her
English quaint and attractive. which
cuf'vinees one that she is really Bul-
earian woman as she insists, and not
an American. But / owe a great deal
t. America and ] dearly love your
romHrs,9 SHE saws earnestly. II Was
t. America that Mrs. Furnaiieff mt
uraliy turned when she felt compelled
to seek aid and find it. Sire is a grad
uate of the American College for Girls
III ConstantinoIle. and taught there
for three years. Then she spent three
years in Mr., Moodys Bible Training
School AT Narthheld Massachusetts
ard = few months at his institute in
Chicago. Her husband is a graduate
of Princeton University and rkeologi-
cal 5, hoel, and is now the eyangeiistic
pastor Of Sofia, Bulgaria and the Tep-
resentative of the evangelical church
es hefore the Government. Also my
mother and father We're graduates OF
American schools in my country she
says, land so you see how close | feel
to- Arrnrica.
IT have just heard from my hus-
band" Mrs. Furnajeff says, and con
6itions are bad There are l50ea0 refu-
gees from Macedonia. 12.o00 in Sofia,
the capital, and the rest scattered
throughout the country. Taey are
sleeping ON bare floors in large build
ings, they are in need of clothing, bed
covering. food. and fuel. They dare
not go home to their OWN homes, even
when these homes are not burned
down. as is usually the case, for theN
fear Che SeIvians and Greeks. The last
official report says that 44,Sa2 we're
killed in the wars, thar 7,T44 are miss
ing. and that $4,000 are crippled for
life. Also there are over 10000 Turkish
prisoners. BESIDES giving them food,
we pay them a franc day for their
work on the railroad. They are very
thankful for the treatment they have
mad from Bulgaria. Bulgaria is not
the heartlesslys cruel place it is repre-
sented to be It has been misrepre
scented.
Her Plea for the Orphans.
But my special plea is for the or
phans My heart goes out to them.
They need help not only for this year
but fer several years to come. They
need to be saved from starvation,
need to be sheltered in orphanages,
and to be educated, so that they can
take the place of their fathers who
died in serving their country. The. wild
ows are doing all in their power TO
keep the home influence. The home Is
the sweetest thing to a Bulgarian wo-
man and to q Bulgarian man; IL
means so much more to us than 1t
does to YOU here in America. The
is preserved there m
tact In order to preserve this homo
influence now we are anxious to take
away from the mothers who must
work those children who would keep
them from working and leave with
hem those children who are old
enough to help.
"Ouf work is two-fold; one-half is ..
The orphanhge work, and the ether ,,
half is what ] think you would call !
settlement work in this country. maxi !
ng it possible for the mothers to find ,
work and still preserve, as far as pos .
.ible, the home. What ] long TO ac-
while I am here is TO secure :
honest, faithful people who will prom
GO for at least five or six wears to