The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-02-16
RICH
IN BREAD LINE
One of the Deepest
Gloom Is Report of Return
ing American

SUI SoOIlS, WIZ WOAI ~ DO1S-uA1 u |
last December and took charge Of the
feeding Of nearly a million people in
the Province Of Liege, arrived home
yesterday. At the offices Of the Com
mission for Relief in Belgium, II
Broadway, DR.. Williams talked last
night of his experience in the stricken
country. The picture he painted was
one Of the blacklist misery, a whole
nation plunged into deepest despair.
says an article in the New York
Times.
INV whole imDreSSiOn,' said DR..
Williams, latter all these weeks in
Belgium is one of the deepest gloom.
l never saw a smile. People go about
waiting, waiting. They are neither
frightened, nor are they hoping. They
are just waiting. 1t is simply a land
black bread and soup. Many Of their
homes are in ruins. Many of their
close relatives are dead or lost. There
is no york. For example,: / went
into a lace store one day at Liege.
There were several clerks, but they
told me 1 was the only person who
a been in the store that day.
Another impression; it is a coun-
try of old people and Of children.
There were over 100000 children in
Belgium before the war between the
ages Of 1 and 8 years, and they are
there now. At Wise, for example,
where there is no longer a house,
where the whole little city is gone, I
saw children, children everywhere.
They are living in cellars and going
to school in sidctracked and wrecked
passenger cars. We a V them two
meals Of food a day SO that they
might keep in school.
He Saw No Atrocities.
Gas a surgeon l made it a point to
visit some of the hispitals, and I saw
no wounds of atrocity committed on
the persons Of the Belgians. So far
as I know, there had been no atroci-
ties.
cit is true, however, that town upon
town and city upon city, had been de-
stroyed, ruined, totally devastated.
This was done in the early part Of the
war. A relatively small part of Liege
was burned. Of cours the main
part of Louvain is gone, with the ex-
ception of the best residential Sec
ton. While I was at Louvain I met
Burgomaster Neri, the brave and Wig
orOus man who volunteered to act in
the early part of the war in that ca
pacity if the Germans would agree to
preserve military rder. They kept
; military order and he has kept civil
order. This man is a most remark
able man. He was a Professor of In
5 ternationa1 Law at LOuvai Univer-
sity. He studied international law
1 under President Wilson at Princeton
. College in 1896, SO he told me. He is
4 acting at Louvain as head Of our Pro
: vincial Committee.
1T IS not a question Of being rich
or poor. The richest people Of Bel
y GUM are in the bread line. For ex-
ample, [ spent one night at the home
of Senator Woroque, the leading phil
anthropist of Belgium and it's wealth
h lest man. He is known as the Coal
e Baron. He is now acting as the head
n OF the Provincial Committee. He
lives In the Chateau Mariemont, near
Charleroi. On his table the night ]
n was there I ate the same s1pnIv n
O bread that the poorest, humblest la.
e borer in Belgium is getting. This
q supply is $50 grams of brown hraaC
r per person per day.
l. In thes mall towns it is made by
the communal baker. In the bis
n towns it is baked by the baker anG
n each baker certiies the number Of hi.
customers and then each customer
received 1t on presentation of his
lcket to the baker. In the big citie,
d INK Liege and Brussels and Antwerp
n an the bread and soup is distributed
by ticket. All the SCUM is FRA 49, =
"a is fairly good. Wv :
No Hope Till Next Harvest.
mere IS certainly no hope of a,
Improvement IN conditions in Bel
gum until the next harvest or unit
ne var enos Consider Liege; it is
immature Pittsburgh. have hoo,
" tnere III times OF peace and seen it
!, great stacks belching out black rib
" DCns OF smoke as l have seen !,
flttsourgh. 1t was the centre Of tn
ne tomobile steel, and arms industry
II TTxxoay lrs sTeat stack are smokeless
10 ~ lew Old men there are idle
g. mere are no young men. becans
ct eney nave all either gone to the wa
or been taken prisoners into Cer
a many. There is no work for the fo1
people who are left. ""e Ley
,e beca 1mere is no rebuilding going or
en- GUM becomes a new hattIenro ne'
"a, lnese buildings will be DESTROYED. m
oa1nage that has been done in D.
gum is simply frightful. It has hoa
ELIMINATES to have been more than on