Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1917-12-28


4k3&s vague date line, Somewhere in
49, France"
Many of these narratives have been
brought by men and women who, under the aus
pieces of the American Red Cross, have been inves-
tigating conditions created by the invasion of the
Hun. The range of vision of these investigators
extends from the battle front to the cottage hun
dreds of miles away where wars misery-Inore in
SidiOus than bombs on the fighting front-has pene-
frated
Woven together these accounts make a composite
story of devastation and suffering on the part Of
inoncombatants comparable with the torture en-
dured by the soldiers in the trenches; of refugees
staring bankly at cratered where villages
Once fourished; of thousands of children, too
young to understand, crying for mothers who
mot hear their cries. of children poisoned by gas
bombs thrown from German mortars of emaciated
children sent by hundreds from behind the German
line; of crippled soldiers to reeducate and of
civilian men and women to comfort and provide
with the necessaries of life-a story of batting
against disease and of the herolsm of mercy
Sometimes the cable supplements tales told by
returned travellers day two ago. the war
council of the American Red Cross received cable
gram from the Paris headquarters of that organiza-
ton containing simple statement of everyday
occurrence the French frontier, yet graphic in
its portrayal of phase of wars frightfulness.
lit read:
The Red Cross at Evian
"There arrived last week at Evian, where the
Irepatries from France and Belgium received
!bsck into France, train loaded with Belgian chill
'dren. There $50 Of them, thin, sicky, alone
laA between ages of four and twelve, children Of
iIBen who refused to work for the Germans and of
mothers who let their children go rather than let
them starve. They poured off the train. little
'elinging to the oldest ones girls all crying, boys
trying to cheer They had come all the long way
alone On the platform were the Red Cross work
ers to meet them, doctors and nurses with ambu
dances for the little sick ones We're waiting out
side the station. The children poured out of the
station marched alorg the street shouting. "Meat
aneat; we going 20 have meat" to the Casino
where they were given square meal, the first in
many months. Again ah, again, while they ate,
they broke spontaneously into songs in French
against the German songs which they had evidently
learned in secret The Red Cross doctor examined
them. Their little clawike hands significant
of their undernourshed bodies, but the doctor said
t"Wc have them in time. few weeks of proper
Feeding and they will pull up"
Evan is French resort on Lake Geneva, and
every day thousand homeless people arrive
there, 60 per cent of whom children. Thirty
per cent of the older people die the first month
from exhaustion. They were once the occupants
of happy homes in northern France. The Huns
invaded their country. swept past their homes
and left them behind the enemys line The invaders,
now their masters, impressed them into labor and
transported thousands of them to work in German
fields and factories. Those who are returned by
the thousand daily by train through Switzerland
are all that are left of these men and women and
lchildren-manhood and wOmanhood Slapped until
the vital spark is almost out and no longer of use
as German captives, sent back to die or to be
cared for in their helpless condition by their own
people from whom they had been ruthlessly taken
away in their health and strength.
Hope for kaiser's Victims.
Dad 20
che assistance of the overwhelmed French agen-
eies for mercy, there is hope for these unfOrtun-
Rtes. Besides hospital and convalescent home
for children at Evan. the Red Cross is operating
ambulance service for the returning repatries
Ten automobiles are in commission for handling
sick and infirm persons and tuberculosis hos
pitai by is planned When the returning re-
patries reach the railroad station and have been
cheeringly greeted by crowds of compatriOts they
taken in charge by Red Cross workers. Nour-
2shment is provided and medical attention be-
slowed Baths are made available and fresh cloth
ing is supplied. According TO American eye wit
nesses of scenes at the railway station at Evian.
there are men in the ranks who hay suffered
broken arms, the bones of which have been set by
the Germans so that the hand is turned the wrong
way. They present horrible deformiy, denoting
form of cruelty which excuses itself on the
ground that the man. should he ever regain his
former strength will be unfit for military duty.
in many of these cases American Red Cross doc
HOrs have been put to the doubly painful task of
again breaking the arm and resetting it, so
no remove the terrible defOrmity purposely in
fiicted.
William Allen White of Kansas and Henry j. AL
den, who is prominent In the public life of the
same state. among the Red Cross workers
who recently have returned from tours of inspec-
ton in France. According to their statements IT is
scarcely possible to eXaggerate the suffering
Brought upon the civilian population of the coun-
try; suffering, however, that is being allevated
10 the greatest possible extent by the American
Red Cross, which is sending its experts it's army
OF volunteers and its treasure without stint. Ac-
Eording to Mr. White, the real work of the war,
fsr as America is concerned, will be carried on by
he Red Oroaa In France this winter. Not only