The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1914-12-27
he B0bGS OF BeIQiJIIn
By WILL IRWIN
BV WILL IRWIN.

/ mothers like chickens around hens
No child among. than laughed or
played: they were too weary for that !:
but no child cried. / was trying to
nave speech with these refugees. ana
nrding them too nerveless 70 give
any account OF their adventures when
an ambulance arrived.
NO MILK; sAs.Es DIE.
A nurse and physlcian descended.
4 woman rose from dlstan. group
and joined them. She carried in her
arms bundle wrapped in rags. The
slant OF her back showed that the
bundle contained a ciiid-there is an
attitude of motherhood which none
can mistake s
| me Women IN the nearest group
iouowed the pantomime with their
fearless. hopeless eyes.
What is it?'' asked.
time none of the women an
swered- Then one spoke in 1 dead
Her baby is dead.p she said. she
nAu no milk IN her." s'f Hisi
Al mat happened on the fringe of
Deislum. TO the refugees who had
m'.ue their way out and were nearing
sa,,, anu enough comfort tc keep
soul and body together.
could multiply instances from the
observation of others. There was. for
example. the group of two hundred
refugees who arrived in Holland early
IN november. They carried with them
TOUT dead, newborn babies
was the same story which ON.
nears everywhere. The mothers were
80 reduced by privation that they
nad no milk Of their own. AZ for
cows milk, 1t was not to be had for
any money.
MILK FROM GARBAGE.
Add another picture, brought ou.
BY an American from Belgium. He
stood one morning by the back door
OF a German cook camp. watching n
group of Belgian women grubbins
through the trash-heap piled up be-
hind the camp. All those women car
ried babies. d -
What are they doingr" he asked
a German sergeant with whom he mad
L a.
,Scraptng our condensed milk cans. :.
said the sergeant. Its the only way
70 get milk for their babies. I've seen
them run their fingers round a can
which looked as bright as a new coin.
and hold them into the babies mouths
TO suck. Ny company" he added.
has been getting along without milk
III Its coffee and giving 1t to these
women. We've received no orders to
the contr1ry-and were mostly fam-
ny mon But were an exception; and
It doesn't go very far"
a MOTHER coLLAPsEs.
Here is another recent picture from
stricken Brussels. that gay. dainty.
lively city in old times ~ the city
whose smiling people called it petit
Paris. The scene is the once busy.
pleasant boulevard Bischofshsim. a
woman collapses on bench set along
the sidewalk after the fashion Of the
Greater Paris. In her arms Is a baby.
A child staggers along, clinsing to
her apron. The woman's face IL blue
and yellow; she is on the verge Of COL
lapse. The baby. surely not over i've
months old. has pale. iead-colored
skin. Its mouth is open as though
set that way. Its eyes are closed.
Two women of Brussels pass this
unhappy grour. They hurriedly .ex-
change some words, turn hack to the
woman on the bench. Then one stands
guard while the other hastens for
some milk and bread-such as Ii to
be found In the Brussels of to-day.
They force little milk between the
teeth Of the mother. They let the
baby drink. Unweaned though It was,
1t drinks as though 1t had never
drunk otherwise.
NO FOOD FOR TWO DAYS.
To the face Of the mother comes a
few patches of color. She slowly re-
covers until she is able to eat a bit
OF bread. The baby opens its mouth.
drinks more greedy. cit has not fed!
since two days" the mother whispers.
The mother tries to rise from the
bench but she cannot The elder child
drinks the milk that IL left. It looks
curiously At the piece of bread as II
1t did not know what 1t was. The
mother forces 1t to eat. A crowd has
gathered. murmuring. This sight Is
l bSS AGWt SCt 0ASA SAAA40 AZ 0AeWb u
little crowd. Every one would Ike
to give-but no one can. Who Is not
poor at this moment? Many OF them
have children at home who to-day
weigh less than the day they were
born.
France and England and Germany
and Austria are issuing their lists of
the dead. which are mounting UP day
| by day to CHASTITY million. But
these take account only Of the strong
young men who have died in the tight-
in.. They do not take account of
! mere non combatants. They do not list
the women who. foolishly or ignor-
antly stick to their homes, have died
under the shell-hre OF enemies or
friends. They do not list the weak
and helpless who have dropped ont
| from the pathetic caravans of refu-
| gees TO perish along the edges OF the
J roads They do mot take list of those
-