Evening star., 1915-07-11

That legend 10 scrupulously lived MP !
to. A graduate nurse of the French ,
Red Cross resides at the quar- toe
watch over the health OF the villagers
and instruct them in preventive hy- 4
Riene- Moreover. every morning sees
the visit of the village physician. who /
makes tour of inspection. Twice A |
week charitable dentist also appears ,
on the scene and wages active war ,
fare upon toothaches and cavities. It
is a high crime to be ill in the float
ing village" Offenders are promptly :
taken in charge by nurse, doctor or I
dentist and summarily cured or sent
to the nearest hospital.
But III hygiene and health are given !,
important consideration. so also is ed
ucation. BY special order of NJ. Ldevre !
a village school has been established, .
and. morning and afternoon. with the 1
most severe regularity, fifty little ref-t
ugee urchins attend. The school '
house" is not really house at all. but !.
merely a secluded corner in one of the
big mess halls.
A blackboard stands against the wall,
and paper. pencils and books are ready
to hand whenever the needs OF the !
class dictate their use. For desks the 3
debris from the last meal. are pressed
into service. As for teachers. the e
French minister OF instruction has de-
tailed two of them to duty at the 'Quat
de la Care"
1t is not without its pathetic touch
of romance this obscure little school
in the bowels of French lumber :
barge. Nothing in the floating viii =
lage" holds a more human appeal For :
it has a story to tell. a story of the
unquenchable hope and indomitable :
spirit of the French nation. a nation
that in the teeth of present death,
disaster and destruction. continues un-
avx,iy, ,c1V IN hni /,
peaceful future.
Not only has NJ. Lievre contrived that
his charges shall be housed and heated.
fed, doctored and schooled, but also
that they shall be clothed. The cloth
ing comes from America and Is fur
nished to NJ Lievre by the Rockefeller
Foundation.
Sunday is Clothing day" at the viii
1age. Every Sabbath morning Mime.
Lievre, who is her husbands admin
istrative lieutenant I'm all that con-
Germs the villagers, appears in the mesS
hall with a stack of miscellaneous gar
ments and gives ear to supplianta
Then. for the hatless. the coatless. tho :
bootless, the shirtless. she provides the .
desired articles, and the ragged crowd
troops up and out the companionway
it dons its newly acquired raiment
and shortly reappears on deck dressed
in complete or partial Sunday best"
The skill and foresight with which
NJ Lievre has organized the float
ing village" proves not only his pos
session of keen business ability in the
handling of practical problems, but his
grasp of the laws that govern human
nature as we'll
He has devised no hidebound. cast,
iron rules and regulations for the con-
duct of the villagers. for he realized
at the outset that these men and wom-
en- of free France and liberal Belgium
would resent instantly any attempt At
producing the CALLING regularity OF In
stitutionalism; and he L wisely f0rssaw e;,,s ac
must be none other than those OF
France.
He made no mistake. The 800 viii
layers have never oyerstepped the sim
spected the others communal and pri-
vate rights. and there have been no
feuds among them. They are not un-
appreciative of all that is being done
glad to live and let live in exchange
for the almost Utopian advantages
which their floating homo offers.
few simple placards posted here
and there suggesting certain funda-
mental precepts of hygiene and neigh
borly consideration constitute the en-
tire civil code of the village. Nothing
further is needed.
At their own sweet wills and In
their own good times the villagers
come and go their separate. fndepend-
ent ways. No hand is ever raised to
stay them.
Whatever justice there may be to
punish their mild transgressions is au-
as pointing out that II they are late
to meals they must. of necessity, go
hungry until the next time.
KENNETH PROCTOR L1TTAUER.