Norwich bulletin., 1915-04-06
Stories of the War
Conditions in Belgium.

Still vigorously pushing her relief
work close to the battle lines in
FLANDERS, Maxine Elliott reports find
ing the Belgian refugees stuffed like
sardlnes in the barns, even in the pig
stys and hen houses-in fact, any
place that has a roof
Il have still not been able to find
any shelter for my ambulance within
a radius of ten miles," she said to
an Associated Press correspondent
who found her on that vehicle, ankle
deep in mud and dripping with rain.
.! stuff the ambulance full daily
with food and clothing" she contin-
ued, and make the pitiful round of as
many cases as I can.
I recently wrote an open letter to
My Own Country women in England
for aid, but only English people re-
sponded. 1t was a great surprise to
me, for l thought I might get help
from America and little or nothing
from England, but as usual the unex-
pected happened. From England 1 got
little over $4,000 in cash and be-
tween 100000 and $4,000 worth Of
stuff for the barge"
The barge" is the Julia" which
the American. actress herself conduc-
ted through the canals from Calais to
tho remote corners of west Flanders,
to reach the starving refugees be-
tween the fighting fronts.
Il can hardly describe to you the
pitiful condition Ct these poor refu
gees" she continued. only today we
have clothed twelve families from top
to toe, from ten to fourteen people in
each family. 1t is impossible for
stuffed like sardines in the barns,
even in the pig stys and hen houses,
in fact in any place that has roof.
I'm house close by eighty soldiers
sleep on the ground floor, and in a tiny
room adjoining are fragments Of sew
eral families, fifteen people in all.
Two of the children are down with
typhoid, one on the floor and one in
an old biscuit box, and this is the
sort of thing we encounter daily, but
We have managed to make a great i'm
provement in conditions though it is
quite impossible to house them any
better. There is not enough room for
the army, and as, many civilians as
possible are sent away continually,
but still they come on-shelled out Of
their homes, and buffeted about from
one wretched place to another.
II have arranged with bakery
close by to bake several hundred
loaves of bread a day, and yesterday a
bomb dropped in front of the door,
| killing man and three horses. 1t
| tore hole through one corner of the
roof and broke every pane of glass in
| the bakery. and ali the yeast and
| bread for the days supply had to be
| thrown AWAIT was full of glass
splinters. Several other bombs were
| thrown a little further on killink eight
| people in all. 1t seems much a sense
| less sort Of warfare for no one but
| little children and harmless civilians
| are the sufferers.
| What horror, horror, everywhere
| the glorious thing called war brings
| in its train. We see nothing but sad
sights, and yet the people themselves
are not sad. 1t is surprising what
| people can live through. There is a
| family OF five living in a hand cart
close by and have been there five
months! They have rooted the top
| over with sacklug and a strip of
| canvas and there they tuck themselves
| away and the soldiers feed them. OF
| course the military authorities say
| the refugees are gone now because
| they don't see them with their little
bundles crying by the road side, but
every available corner. and cling to
the idea that they may be able to
creep back to their homes when the
| bombarding ceases. By that time
there won't be much left of their poor
| little homes 1 fear.
Sunday to hear the church bells chin
ing all day and the cannons keeping a
dreadful accompaniment. In the eve
ming a soldier brought us some Ger
man souvenirs taken from one OF
those killed the day before with Nit
Colt fur Koenig und Faderland' on
the helmet and Got Nit Uns' on the
| belt.
'sTo relieve the pressure on my
| barge I have had to establish another
depot at Dumoch near La Panne and
have taken in the wife Of command
ant there, Nine. LIE Favre, to help, as
well as the wife Of another officer, and
issue tickets for the people to pre-
sent and obtain their supplies. I also
give tickets on the local bakeries as
well as at La Panne and BulscamI
and have still another little depot al
the Burgomaster's. It is astounding
to see the amount of relief the ole
Julia is able to provide and I am sc