Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-07-05
MILLIONS PEOPLE
sTARVE IN POLAND
x.sstgeus in war Ridden Country Said
70 Be Vastly More Serious Than
in Belgium
OSCILLATION on EVERY HAND
v.,lroads Torn Up, Fences and Build
lags Destroyed, Live Stock Stolen
and Land Implanted.
ycorrespoadeDce of Associated Press).

.c.r7ssoondeBce of Associated Press).
warsaw. June 18.-The devastation
= 7roosrty and the suffering of mil
- NJ human beings IN Poland is in
s,aased 80 stupendously from day to
-. that. with communication demon
+T.7ad II Is becoming increasingly diff
80 10 gather anything like COM
offensive summary Of the havoc
shteb the war is causing. It is evil
.sar- from facts now al hand that Of
.a1 the region suffering from the con-
- now so widespread in Europe
poland not only is the worst sufferer
= orezenr. but that it will require
-rora time than any other country TO
reeover from the effects Of the war.
RE case Of the Belgians. which
srorsad worldwide sympathy and IN
rsrslIeIgd generosity. Is plainly not so
IA as the case Of the Polanders.
,rbleb as vet, has not been so thor
,eyfIv understood by the outside
~ror,d and which has not attracted the
,7tarest that was aroused by the plight
- Belgium. IN comparison, however,
he Beigiaus had an easy time in es-
raining the horrors Of war by fight
n England and France. but with the
p6lsuders It has been q case OF facing
a gnn. no matter in which direction its
distressed might turn.
In the case Of Belgium the sweep OF
war was swift and final, while with
zha p0laDders il has been. and still Is,
s matter Of being swept IN one direc-
Yion and then the other, The area
and population affected In Poland is
also more than ten times that Of Bel
GUM. considering both the kingdom
of Poland in Russia and Galicia, Aus
trian Poland, equally devastated by
the war.
While at least three large commit
tees are at work in the relief Of the
cond. tons in Poland. they have, IN
like the Belgian committees. been
handicapped by the fact that the war
has been waged actively there ever
since the European conflict began, and
that 1t is even more fierce today.
In attempting a summary Of the sit
nation. the Associated Press has been
given access to some Of the reports
made by the central citizens commit
tee i'm Warsaw. the committee for The
relief OF the kingdom of Poland and
the general relief committee for Pc
land. in Geneva, Switzerland, and q
mass Of private correspondence COW
er,ng mainly the period between jan
uarv and april Is It appears from
these thar out of the IL provinces OF
government of the kingdom of Pc
land. only one, the province Of Siedice
has escaped invasion The devastated
territory Of the kingdom amounts tC
more than 10000 square miles, il
which 200 cities and towns and 5000
VILLAGES have been partially or entirely
DESTROYED. Five thousand villages
have been RACED to the ground.
1000 Starving With Farms Ruined.
Railroad tracks for a distance O
1000 miles have been torn UP. Ever
the plain soil has been rendered unf1
/ for agricultural purposes by innumer
able trenches and big holes bored init
IL by the projecuIes Of heavy artillery
] TIE agricultural production OF thl
pert Of Poland, representing q valu'
/ Of S510000.000 per annum. has beer
/ stopped for lack Of funds, seeds, farm
/ hands and cattle
/ An agricultural population Of 1900.
/ 6Q0 is starving. They hide themselve
/ IN forests or under the ruins of thei
former dwellings,, having as food onl.