Daily Kennebec journal., 1915-11-19
URGENT APPEAL |
CLoTHE!|
FOR bELC|AN||
The Approach Of Winter Ten
fies Belgian's Under.clad VI.
men and Children and Una,.
Exposure Will Greatly h
crease Mortality.

! lion persons In Belgium and north..
j France, mostly women and yor.
! children, must be clothed and sbos
! Christmas. If the garments and sb.
for these destitute people are -
forthcoming at once. their suaer,.
! during the winter will become dss,,
| ate.
Such is the note Of an urgent ann,
issued to the people OF the rn..
/ States by the Commission for the D
| lief in Belgium. The New York n,
mittee have received from Mr.. H.
! bert Hoover, chairman of the O.,
( mission, the following statement,
! 1T appears to me that. il is nsc.
! sary for us to go frankly to the AM,
I lean people and ask them to clotb4 =,
! destitute N the occupied areas O, p.
gium and northern France during y,
/ coming winter.
There are nine million peonla
| these areas and of these over ore.,b,
! are now either wholly or partially Ss
titute and are today receiving ~.
| food either wholly or partially vii,
/ out payment.
"As YOU know W9 have set IN o.,
nomic measures based an the ahiI.,
of a portion of the population to ia,
for its food which, with the cntrA..
| tions OF other countries. enables is u,
the present To find the bare nininp,
of food supplies for the whole M.
million people. but we have no resarrA
, with which TO provide clothing for =.
destitute. We now plead for heIp a |
their behalf.
( America Generously Contribute
Even if these nine million psN,
! had money they could not imp~
! clothes, or the raw materials VIII
which TO manufacture them. thrus
the blockade into an area under nil
tary occupation. While the be,.
classes have some clothing with vht,
they can get along, the destitute IN
composed of the working casse
which naturally had little reserves n
clothing when the war broke out. T,,|
! only additions they have recey.i|
since then have been the generous c7,.
tributions from America, Canada sn|
I elsewhere. BY Christmas time all ti,|
clothing which we have in our variou
/ establishments will he exhausted
1T is certainty that the undue a
posure of UNDERGRAD men, women az
children TO the bitter winter will great
increase mortality. The clothing h1
these people can be provided only II vi
rective gift supplies for the purpose VI.
must depend upon the American psoh;
Transportation Provided FOR
We have arranged that the cost 4
transportation of clothes from any e.
tral point in the United States 10 Belgi,-
and northern France and of the disu&,
f ton will be paid for out of funds vhs
have been especially provided SO ,E
/ the whole American contributions Y
reach the destitute without one cent q
/. deduction.
In the matter of the character q
clothing for these people, We are sg'
rounded with = multitude Of ditdcults
In the first instance the drastic ssfin,
ry arrangements made by the COVER,
ments through whose territory We nus,
hand clothing. especially in the areas u
the operating armies where the want vi
be greatest. practically impossible,
Want New Clothing
I'VE therefore must ask frankly 10
new clothing and more particularly "
/ unmade material. Not that the destitE'
in Belgium and northern France are
intensely grateful for secondhand cl0a
ing, but as matter of necessity We
forced 10 ask only for unworn stuff'
1T must be borne in mind that tfes
for whom we appeal are living under 4
most total industrial paralysis. that mas
millions of them are idle. and that Tx
cry we have from them daily is T"
us something to do, give us sonle,lts
to work on, SO that we may contFieG'
to our support. Therefore if We ca
! provide them with materials they VI
make up their own clothing. tur'nr
more the poor of Belgium and northen
France can devise an cXtraordlraH
amount OF clothing out of a given per
of cloth and can work in such mar
rials 10 patch up their own clothing. tc
this reason we are anxious 20 sectN
piece goods as far AS possible. or. alH'
natively, unworn and nlade-up-clothihs
Work Rooms Established
We have established work rooms
all the leading Belgian cities. Inc o''
in Brussels alone gives employment y
over $4,000 people. This clothing y
all distributed free through our iV'~
communal committees after they I'd"
made a careful investigation Of NV
necessities of each recipient, There a'0
today between $4,000 and 10000 Oh ~.
noblest and best Belgian and frea''
people giving their whole services = :,
the volunteer conduct of these W.
committees. endeavoring Win :"
greatest possible devotion and ui',.
the greatest strain. to exc out 10 ''''
utmost usefulness the measre s'r
plies which we are able to furnlsr'
What we urgently need is h' ~.
woolen clothes for women ana 90,
and boys. wooden and cotton Inate'
for babies clothing. shawl stockihs,
jerseys. sweaters, blankets. ooots ..
shoes, underclothing. overcoats pe'N,
coats and suits of all descriptions
, in fact every article in the ganist
warm clothing. !.
1T seems to us that there mus =,
on the shelves of the stores ana III
houses of the United states 'a'
amount of remnant cloth ma'e,a
and new ready-made clothing
would be contributed or could De ~
chased hv the variousu committees ~
terestad in our work on terms Of t''
great possible economy.