Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-01-09
WOMEN WITH BABIES
BEGGING FOR FOOD
Christian Herald Representative
Tells of Condition in War
Stricken Belgium


| His story follows:
1 have been in Belgium and | have
witnessed scenes which l hope never
| to see again. l have heard the sound
of the guns, far in the distance to he
sure. but in the cities. towns and viii
| lagos through which l passed / have
seen the havoc which those same guns
| produced-public buildings destroyed
homes demolished. graves holding
! men, women and children who once
were happy in these homes. Worse.
have witnessed the hopeless misery
the blank despair of the poor souls
who are left behind to mourn the loss
! of their loved ones
| In Antwerp l saw over one thou
sand poorly clad women, one in bed
room slippers, standing shivering in
! the snow and slush, waiting for food
to be doled out to them. and this under
| the shadow of big hotel where we'll
! fed. well-clad soldiers drank and made
merry. In Malines, under the shadow
/ OF the cathedral, its walls ceVed in, its
1 OLD stained-glass windows now but
/ ragged remnants of a beauty that can
never be replaced, | saw men. women
and childre ngazing dsconsolately at
/ the ruins of the houses that once were
I theirs; poor people who begged some-
, thing to eat of us as we passed. on
/ the road to Brussels we overlook thou
sands of refugees tramping dejectedly
t1lOHS' weary anu lOTlOTn. TO
/ villages and towns where there is not
now food enough to sustain those who
are already there.
Women With Babies Begging
In Brussels we saw women holding
| babies snuggled to their nscks stand
! ing on cold street corners begging a
! centime for food. We visited the dis
/ tributinS stations. and saw the food
! sent over by kind-hearted Americans
7 being handed out in all too meager
/ rations. They came in droves. these
people, from all directions. and the
| clatter of their sabots on the pave
ments was a sad accompaniment to
their sadder thoughts, for none spoke
except to murmur a thankful "Merci,
. monsieur as each portion was handed
I out.
In Holland l found thousands of
I men, women and children refugees
from Belgium huddled in retaining
camps and on barges, some refined,
some coarse and brutalized. all sleep
ing together without partitions to in
sure the least privacy
nave the satisfaction of acting
/ directly for the Christian Herald by
/ purchasing cargo of flour. peas. rice.
J wheat. etc, taking ii into Belgium.
! and seeing ii fed. as 1t were directly
to the hungry people. Furthermore.
/ those who have contributed to the
. Christian Herald fund for the relief of
the widows and orphans of the Euro
pean war will have the satisfaction of
knowing that it was part of the first
American food 10 be given to the Bel
gians.
The Dutch steamer Jan Blockx was
chartered. the Christian Herald cargo
! placed aboard and sent across to Rot
terdam. There it was transshipped on
barges and placed on trains and sent
In varying quantities according TO the
I n rio
trtbuted to the people, some in Ant
werp, some in Brussels, some in Lou
VAIN, some in Namur. some even in
LteSe, and so throughout Belgium.
Rich Suffer With Poor
l shall never forget the gratitude
the universal kindliness with which the
representative of the Christian Herald
was received by officials everywhere.
! rms does not necessarily mean civic
| officials, but men of standing in the
! professional and business world. who.
their occupations gone, have banded
themselves together into corps of
almoners to do what they can to re-
lieve the suffering of the people. The
rich and the poor alike are on a COM
mon level. There are no distinctions.
Tor money in any quantity is not
spendable in Belgium. What the peo-
pie need is food and clothes There is
no business. Stagnation lies like a
! hAA6iAt upon lllt ldnu-StaRnatlOn OF
energy, of hope, even of love No.
not of love after all. The little or
phan babies. hugged close to their
mothers breasts away from the cold.
the instances where women with
broods of their own and little to eat
cared for children whose parents have
died. show that in spite of all suffer-
Ing love and charity still prevail. And
to witness these things in city and
village, to view the black despair on
the faces of the peasants change TO
surprise and then through unbelief to
gratitude when they learn that people
scattered all over the United States
are sending some of their little all 10
their relief. that is enough to convince
one forever that to give is more blessed
than to receive.
Examined by Germans
Our first impression of the war in
Belgium was gained when the train on
which we were travelling to Antwerp
stopped on the Dutch frontier near
Rozendaal and two soldiers with guns
on their backs climbed aboard our
carriage and Immediately began sift.
ing the wheat from the chaff as far as
nationaltties were concerned. They
/ had apparently very little trouble until
theN came to the compartment in
which we were sitting. and the first of
them. o big. black bearded Germar,
gave start of surprise at the spec
tacle, as he thought of two English
men sitting calmly in carriage that
was carrying them into the land of
I their enemies. He said something 10
his companion. and they muttered to-
gether moment. Then he turned to
us. asking grimly, "Passierschein. -
Yes, we had obtained passes from the
German minister in The Hague. and
we showed them. Both soldiers read
them, one over the others shoulder.
but they seemed to doubt their authen-
ITCHY, for one looked at us question
ingly and asked "Englander." We
shook our heads emphatically in the
negative and replied "Nein! Nein,
Amerikaner." and exhibited our small
American flags Still they were not
quite convinced. They talked awhile
and then went off. first carefully lock-
ing the door of the compartment be-
hind them.
More Soldiers Appear
While the train remained I'm the sta
ton more soldiers with guns came
along the aisle of the train and stopped
to peer at us questioningly through the
glass of the door. We began presently
to feel like prize exhibit in a stock
would be killed and dressed first, when
suddenly the train started aud away
we went into the land of war. We
stopped at nearly every station en-
route. People got on and off the train
but always nuder the supervision OF
the soldiers. Finally at one station
our guards unlocked our door and we
felt sure our turn had come, but in
81 EAa IL