The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-12-17

INC P|CtPuVS OeIo" - 9eIt'O9 tS IITSt
bath in the same refugee station.
That's what Red Cross is doing for
the tiny victims of Hun ruthlessness
BY c. c. LYON,
The Daily Tribune's Staff Writer in
...s. rs France. '-'E l.. -
Behind the French Lines in France,
-(By MaiD-Women Of America, dc
you want to do something vastly
worth while for France in this war?
Then interest yourself in some poor,
sick, homeless French baby.
q. Get in touch with your American
Red Cross and tell them you want to
sew for and help dress an unfortun'
ate mite whose father has; been killed
in the trenches and whose mother
daily struggles against overwhelming
odds to keep body and soul together.
There are thousands of such chill
dren in the war zone. ~ =, ..,...
Near Toul, only, a few miles be
hind the, French front, hundreds of
children !, ranging in age from s
months up to. ! years, have been
gathered together in Red Cross in
stitution and for the first time since
the beginning of the war they are re
ceiving proper food, housing, cloth
ing, medical attention and schooling.
DR.. J. P. Sedgwick of Minneapolis,
famous specialist in childrens' dis
eases, was sent into the war zone by
the Red Cross to see what should be
done.
He gathered around him staff of
| specialists, among whom. ere DR.. J. l..
Durand of Seattle, Wash, Dr. N. u.
Pearce of Minneapolis, DR.. Alice
Brown of .Winnetka, ILL.,, Madame Del
ebecque Of Chicago, and Miss Bessie
Spanner of Cleveland. &
I'VE literally pulled these poor chii-
dren oct of the dark, damp unclean
caves and cellafs constantly under
bombardment by German guns and
airplanes," said DR.. Sedgwick
1T is well worth all the money
and effort we are putting into the en-.
terprse to see the little things bios.
som and improve under proper care"
There's tiny Julia, for example.
| The day Julia was born, 18 months
ago. her father was fighting in the
first line trenches not 20 miles from
his home village.
| A French army doctor ushered Ju.
liza into the world in a mbproof
dugout constructed in the yard behind
the shattered walls of the family
home.
That same night the mother learn.
ed that her husband was dead.
For nearly Is months the mother
and baby eked out miserable exist
ence in their cave-home, Il-nourished,
with hardly enough clothing to cover
them, terrified night and day by the
German shells.
Then, one day, the Americans came
along and persuaded the mother that
Julia would do better off in the chill
drens refuge station behind the
lines.
Today. little Julia is getting fat and
rosy. She no longer cries from fright
at sudden noises.
81 gave Julia her first bath here" "
said Miss Bessie Spanner of Cleveland.
'It was the first she had had in
months"
School instruction begins for the
tots as soon as they are two years
old -
the other day a mother from a
shell-swept village brought her two
year-old baby to the station.
81 can't keep her at home with me
any longer she said. 81 have to run
to the cave so often that I'm exhaust
ed from carrying her"
/ Another mother, always comes at
night.
"The German sharpshooters try to
pot me every time stick my head
out of doors. I have to dig my pota.
toes at night and wear gas mask
while work"
1t is the children of such mothers
who comprise the population of the
refugee station. In caring for them
the Red Cross is doing noble work
which should be encouraged by all
American women at home. Instead OF
one such station there is need for
scores.