Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-03-22
PLEDGED SUMS
FEED BELGIAN
BOYS AND GIRLS
Coal Miners of Pennsylvania
Care for $50, Theodore Roose-
welt for 20, and Municipal So
cieties for Many More.

Special to The Christian Science Mon
itor from its Eastern Bureau.
New York, n. Y.-Spurred on to
greater giving by the Commission for
relief of Belgium, towns, cities and
individuals throughout the United
States are responding to the call that
says Belgium's children must be fed.
Theodore Roosevelt and Oyster Bay
were among the first to heed this call,
Mr.. Roosevelt pledging money enough
to feed 20 children, and his town tax
ing 2400 But the list grows daily and
the commission is daily increasing its
efforts to awaken the American peo-
pie to the fact that they have not, thus
far, given support to Belgian to an
extent at all in proportion to their
means.
George Barr Baker, in charge of
the commissions special appeals, told
a representative of the Christian
Science Monitor that there was only
one possible way to give largely, and
that was to give regularly. A small
but definite sum every month meant a
large assurance all the time.
"You can imagine" he said, "the
weight of responsibility upon the COM
mission, even after the gift of $350,000
from one family. The citation lasts
only a few minutes, because one re-
members that 100000 children must
be fed next month as we'll as this
month
"The commission has exclusive re-
sponsibility for the buying, shipping
and administration of relief for all of
occupied France and Belgium, with a
total of over 100000 people. It is
not necessary to seek benevolence for
occupied Northern France, because
French institutions hand the commits
sion a monthly check for 35,000,000
francs for this purpose. But the Bel
gian situation does call urgently for
outside help. French institutions fur
nish 1880 francs and the British
Government 975O,O0O in the form of
loans to the Belgian Government to-
wards the food supply for some $780,
900 Belgians within the German lines.
British subjects have added about
100000 monthly. The gifts of the
United States are small in comparison
and of a painful uncertainty.
"Now we have 100000 people on
the bread line. The rest still have
some slight means with which to pay
for food We sell bread in Brussels
cheaper than it is sold in New York,
although we buy the materials on the
Chicago market and ship them to Bel
GUM. The difference in price is meas
ured by volunteer service and lack of
indictment profits. We had about
reached the conclusion that everybody
could be reasonably satisfied with the
ration we were supplying, which was
little under so per cent of normal,
Conditions in Belgium are peculiar, in
that Belgians may not go out of their
own immediate districts. 1t is impos-
sible, therefore, for the local commit
tees, which are made up of 10000 vol
unteer workers from the most efficient
elements of the community, and $4,000
who receive small pay, to compare
notes to discover what general condi-
tons are.
Therefore it came as a surprise
when we discovered last spring that
the ration we were supplying was not
sufficient for the children. We found
that growing children could not get
along with a ration which was enough
to preserve semblance OF we'll being
intheir elders. A series of expert
ments evolved a balanced ration to be
given, in addition to the bowl of soup
nology, $50; anonymous, 500; a wo-
man, 500; a New York man, 1000; the
two daughters of a prominent New
York man, 500. This list is not COM
plete, but is merely an indication of
the growing interest in this work.
Individual Americans,V concluded
and large piece Of bread which the
children already received. The new
ration is made, roughly, of large, fat
biscuit of white flour, lard and sweet
ening, up of cocoa, with sweetening
and phoshatine, milk where it can be
ob+o1,ooJ ooI ooooo 1870 .,,lz4: