The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-29

time (the tenth Of a penny. In Ant
werp a thousand women. ill-clad. wait
Shivering in the snow for the hour of
the free meal.
The condition Of the Belgian re-
fugees in certain parts Of Holland is
appalling. At Rotterdam you can see
over four hundred human beings
crowded into one barge, living on it
like %verInin, and with little more de
ceney than vermin
They must exist somewhere, and
Holland is doing all she can: she is
indeed performing prodigies. At
| Berg op-Zoom there is a camp Of
5000 refugees, living in tents amid
a quagmire Of snow and slush. Two
| families live in each tent. Their bit
| Of smoky fire in made il an old pail.
Their diet is coffee. bread with a lit
tie butter, and bacon-soup.
They sleep on straw. all crowded
together, men and women, oldsters
and youngsters. infants. grandmoth~
ers, and women momentarily expect
ing babies. And yet they prefer this
life to life in Belgium. and they are
sure that those who have a~dvenIured
back to Belgium will return. if they
can, to the lesser horrors Of the Dutch.
camp. 2
Seeing Behind the Curtain.
If 4 thus raise ever 50 little the
Ecnrtain behind which is proceeding
the ~ineffable, unparalleled. and hard
" conceivable tragedy that in its
completeness and its dread oyertops
all previous material tragedies, my
aim" rs n merely to harrow the feel
~ ssss sza 's,, sFf e as ths. t Srssn1 to PITY ~ ,,o o.
the vasfueas Of 'the task which now
eenffents the. &pd4sd's 'daharty,s 80
.R*ePy, tsEse in 'Belsiunf O awants
{ hAts;: 4 a'itEier .sfa ;sha1f persons
% L. T3aA rHpSS~O2a of ..-SfA- go H.. TIE 60
faen @sofftes :aid shsidrsa' are to die
Of sagaiSafiqses over .4G&sz<tfsyo TIA ausa nd
tors OF FOOD mGsa. ~: ;MEaughts into
fsatgiqtf sT&eFy IA meath, and even this
A4lf c4ffYys sssty* to ea$4l indiSiduar half
! Line qs!ian!t{tYs OF fsfs1d' that is given to
s~istsnce;'s '9Its cost owiu amount to
; Eaholt five mhlipn dollars "a, month.
That these quantities are not senti-
mentally inflated is shown by the one
. simple fact that before the war Bel
fgi,Efre regularly, imported 230,O 900 tons
7 thousand tons Of salt are required
! monthly. Some places had no salt
Z whatever for two months. The trans
; port Of h food, quite a part from
its prime cost. absorbs about a mill
e lion dollars a month. (Happily the
. finance Of the transport has already
been arranged for some month to
Gomez Such figures speak a LAM
: guage which would render e%loquencs
! contemplate.
e The Organization That Will Help.
Now there is one channel. and onlv
one channel, by which relief can
reach the Belgians in their own coun-
try. 1t is the Commission for Re.
Her IN Belgium" and it comprises the
8 American, Spanish, and Belgian Com
missions. It's chief Offices are at 3,
London Wall Building. London. Eng,
IS land; and II Broadway, New York,
g rms commission has due and full au.
1nor1ty from all the governments con-
cerned, including the German gov;
eminent. It has taken over the mar,
e veilous organization created in a few
y weeks by a small group Of Americans
e ana It's chief energy is still. o.
Is course, American. It's functions are
the reception, transportation and dis
e ~tribution Of foodstuffs All its work.
n ers are voluntary. It's huge shipping
n ny. prominent and generous firms o
1t co-operates with all or
u ~anlzatlon in America. and else
where.
It does not ask for money, though
it does not refuse money. It asks fo,
4 food-stuffs. It Delivers eyery poun1
OF FOOD, from no matter where, with
n out cost to the contributors. VIVA
II wants Is cereals, wheat, -four
Re snefled corn, beans, peas, bacon. ham
ana IL specially wants these article.
oecause they, and no others, trave
Ut we'll.
II suggests, as the most praetica
Is ana economical method OF helm tha
re all local associations everywher
Is should spend their funds in buyin,
lie 1ood+stuffs on the spot, each ia it
own locality, and should then de
Ill spatch the food-stuffs.
y II reminds farmers and all citizen
+ everywhere that from their crons an,
ae the!r stores they can spare a fe,
q ousnels or something, or a hundred
a. "eleht or two Of something else.
points out that a powerful eommitre
p u Wofnen in the United States i
successfully uniting all America,
organizations to the end Of a
l. sisting the commission. And it re
~ comments this exampla to othe