The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-15
GERMANS AIDING BELGIAN FOLKS,
 AMERICANS SAY
Brand WhitIock Says Kaiser's Subjects Try to Relieve
 Distressed Nation.

Brussels, Feb. 12--Brand Whitlock, the American minister in Brussels. and Henry w. Diederick, the American con suI general in Antwerp, who were sources from whom The Associated Press correspondent sought 1nforma- 'tion as to the progress of relief work, both declared that the German author ities were cooperating so liar as pos SibIe in the service which outsiders were trying to render to the distressed Belgians. fese
 MT Whitlock, fresh and alert not Withstanding the strain of the past few months, is still actively interested in the work of the American Relief com mittee. and discussing it's importance, he said:
 s"There are places where the cessa- ton of our work for a week would mean starvation, I believe that its ces- sation for three weeks would mean hunger throughout Belgium. A Ger man officer said to me. yesterday that to stop it for a day would mean suffer ing in some localities
 The committee is now so systemat- ica1ly established, that it's headquarters occupy no less than 22 rooms, which, like the offices of an American sky scraper, are 1ettered at the door with the names of the various departments. Throughout Brussels there is such magic in the word American" that even the eabman no longer posters l Americans for tips Hand4 him the exact fare, if he knows you are Amer ican,S he will smile and say Thank you!" and appear to be sufficiently rewarded with the Ponor Of having an l American for his fare. It is. a trih- l ing thing, but in strange contrast to. | the ante-beIlun days when a Brussels l cabman looked to Americans for big tips and was never satisfied, however big the tip might be.
 Although there is much bitter want 1 in all Belgium, Brussels, to one who 1 knew the city well before the war, 1 1ool1s-aparti from the German uni I forms in the treet-nlucha as in nor | nal times. ,Strilkinga however, is the
 number of beggars, mainly old won7- en and very young children; and the
 swarm of vendors, chiefly of postcards At night there is the same ceaselesS pronenading through the main streets l that has always formed such a charac- l teristie picturesque part of life in the Belgian capitals but at Il o'clock most of the stret lights are extinguished and 1 the bars and cafes are closed. l This early closing, and the fact that Il only beer and light wines are permit I ted to be so1d5 are the chief outward l evidences of. the strict German rule of l the conquered city These conditions, l however, are more apparent than real. l The German soldiers are good pat
 rons of the shops, paying for their purchases in cash, but the buying pow CT of the. people is eadily-and rap l td1y-groWfngf less. Industry, except l in some of the coal and iron mines along the Mouse between Liege and EIuys, is prostrate. The better class i-peopIe remaining are living on their incomes or savings; the poorer on l charity. In the Bon Marchey for inx stance, one of the largest of the Brus-
 sels stores, there appear to be only about a third as many clerks as before 4 the Wa1s and th @ sat11e is true OfE other 1s establis lishnents. A large lace factory I visited by the correspondent was quite I idle.
 There are no more Americans, no
 more English, no, more Spaniards. vis- l iting us, said the young woman in charge. ssThe girls who worked here l are in the fields''
 i { In Antwerp conditions are far worse I Business is prostrate and actual wans I increasing. Along the miles of iwharves of the city's splendid harboI the idle ships lie rusting at their moro ings. Millions of feet of lumber are
 stacked in the deserted yards, and
 where ordinarily a swarm of work
 men load and unload the busy ships, .
 solitary Watchman marks his deserted T rounds.
 The city os overrun with beggars
 and vendors. The shops are empty
 Scattered about the city are wrecked
 and burned buildings, showing where
 German shells fell during the bonn
 bardnent of the city.
 s'Fl1e life is most onotonous,'' com.
 Splained Consul General Diederich
 with the exception of mennb bers of my
 staff and of the American relief work
 CTS, there are, so far as I know, only 1 two Americans left in Antwerp