Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-12-04
JEFFERSON HOME
 FOR WAR VICTIMS Planters and Land Owners Ready to Care for Twen
 ty- five Families.
ENGLAND Is HELPING
.+., af fs 2 Britislis sGeverismeRt t Seeking Farms in America fer 5,O06 Belgians Driven Ont by War-Chamber Of Commerce at Work.

Pine Bluff and Jefferson county stand ready today to receive With open arms, and to render material and i1- nancial aid, to at least twenty-five families of Belgin refugees, according to the results of hurried canvass among land owners and planters made yesterday by Secretary E. B. Bloom erof the Chamber of Commerce.
 The planters and land owners stand ready to furnish each of these fam1- lies with tract of land of from to 25 acres, supply all necessary farm implements and seeds. and to furnish food, clothing and other necessities until such time as the immigrant refugees have become established, ar ter which the refugees will be granted the most satisfactory terms by means of which to purchase the little farms upon which they will have become es- ' tablished
 ! . rtmay aevelop, and it is. expected s to develop, that even larger number scf these refugees may be-cared for in this manner in the vicinity of Pine Bluff. but there is no doubt at least g families can be thus handled, as a result of Mir. Blooms activities yester- day forenoon.
 Inquiry from London.
 MT. Blcoom yesterday received n letter from w. R. Beattie of the Cotton Belt. who had received letter Of in quiry from London, relative to the matter. It is proposed to send to the United States about 5000 families of Belgians, who have lost their all be- cause of the war now ravaging their native land. and thousands of whom are being fed and clothed and housed in England, Holland and other alien lands. These refugees have nothing whatever, with which to make new start in ife. Thousands of Belgian men have been killed in the war, and their widows aud children must now support themselves. Having lived and worked on farms all their lives, farming is their enc hope. Their pas sage across the ocean and to the sites of their, new homes will be paid from the Belgian relief fund being gather ed over the world and with assistance such as is proposed by Pine Bluff and Jefferson county people, they will, within a year or two. be making pay ments on their own farms, having be- fore that become self-supporting.
 Every effort will be made by Secre- tary Bloom and other interested per snus here. to. have some of the Bel gians settle in Jefferson county. Mir. Bloom discussed the matter in most optimistic terms yesterday. saying in part:
 Bringing these immigrants to this section under these conditions is cer- tain to result in great good to them and to the community, the county and the state. The men who advance this aid will also profit financially. in ad- dition to having the satisfaction of knowing that they have rendered as- sistance to people worthy of it and who need it through no fault of their own. There are thousands of acres in this part of the state which could profitably be settled upon and cultivat- ed by these Relgians, and the entire state would sslirr immensely by such means, in every way.
 Only Small Outlay.
 "At the utmost, including stock, i'm