Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-01-31

both difficulties will usually be set
tied with credit to the delegate.
When tho Belgian border is passed
the really human end Of the COM
missions work begins. but even with
in the country the problem Of admin
istraton sometimes pushesNthc human
factor into the background. The cor
respondent was present at confer
enco in Brussels OF the leading mem
bers Of the commission and their Bel
gian colleagues These twenty men
sat around the table in what was for
merly the directors room Of bank
and after q sitting of six hours, spent
in unravclling many of the details of
tho work in the provinces. some of the
men began 10 show a bit Of irritation.
within sixty days four full cargoes
had been sunk by mines and other diff
ficultics of this nature accounted for
the delay in some of the communes
receiving their usual supply Of food.
These and many other things had TO
be explained and the discussion even
eXten led to the question OF naviga-
biity Of canals and the possibility of
railroad transport, military restric-
lions on transport. arbitrary actions
Of committee members and other au-
thorities, the question Of future food
supplies including milk for babies ex-
pressed in millions Of cans and hun
drcd and one diverse problems. until
the cry Of needy humanity seemed to
be lost In the creaking Of the wheels
Of tho huge relief machine. An Of
these men are volunteers and natural
~ sensitive to criticism and as the dis
cussion progressed the atmosphere be-
came more and more tense until
lanky delegate arose with an invita-
ton TO the conference to join him i'm
drinking q real American cocktail He
stated in solemn tones that he had
spent several days in teaching Bel
gian bartender to make n cocktail for
which purpose he had modified all
Of the gin ana vcrmouth in that part
of Belgium.
lie led the conference forth, but in
stead of taking them to a bar he con-
Quoted them down side ally into a
great warehouse whore several thou
sand Belgian mothers had gathered
with their babies in one of Brussels
largest baby cantecns. Babies under
2 years Of age are provided with a
special milk ration and must be
brought personally TO apply for it. It.
was a sight not soon to be forgotten
ana the stir among those mothers
when the commission members were
recognized was a pathetic tribute to
their work. When hundreds of babies
were held aloft in their mothers
arms TO catch sight Of the visitors 1t
required considerable self-control to
keep back the tears at this unique
ovation.
Harmony Restored.
The party filed out and true to his
promise the New Highlander provided
the promised cocktail, but not until he
had said as they left the door of the
canteen. 1T does you fellows good
occasionally to see what the commits
sion is working for" The shadow Of
the baby cantcen brought harmony to
the remainder Of the conference.
Brussels with one station feeding
fifty thousand people has one Of the
most extensive breadlincs, but il is !
merely typical of others all over the
country. Each breadlinc is divided |
into sections from which 500 people in !
an hour received their ration. The !
destitute are kept waiting In line as
brief a time as possible, as the lack |
of clothing is becoming very serious. I
The line on misty piercing winter
day presents a nondescrip appearance
which would be amusing on any other
occasion
The bread limo seems endless al !
ready but is growing Looking down |
a Brussels street the line, waiting pa
tiontly. was lost in the mist And yet /
in Belgium and northern FRANCE there !
are seven thousand of these lines, |
some of which in the remoter prov I
inces are already suffering intensely /
for the want of warm clothing Even |
the flour sacks in which the commits /
sion's supplies arrived are seized |
upon and converted into clothing and |
this winter many a Belgian will have
no other underwear than can be pro- |
vided by these sacks. Clothing is