Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1918-08-26
Observation-Disclosures

Z WaIcOtt
S+F+FF*FFTE+F'FS94.E!E.y%.t+g.;
, The following is n statement by +
c. Walcott, who served as an assist
ant to Mr.. Hoover during the time
America was doing all that was pos
slble to feed the starving millions OF
Belgium and Poland and northern
France. In this work he was brought
In direct contact with German military
officials, and saw the conditions which
the German Invasion had created
among the civilian population:
l went to Poland to learn the facts
concerning the remnant of n people
that had been declmated by war. The
country had been twice devastated.
First the Russian army swept through
1t and then the Germans. Along the
roadside from Warsaw to Plnsk the
present firing line, go miles, nearly
half million people had died of hun
ger and cold The way was strewn
with their bones picked clean by the
crows. With their usual thrift, the
Germans were collecting the larger
bones to be mllled into fertilizer, but
finger and toe bones lay on the ground
with the mud-covered and rain-soaLed
clothing.
Wicker baskets were scattered along
the way-the basket in which the baby
swings from the rafter in every peas
ant home. Every mile there were
scores of them, each one telling a
death. ! started to count, but after a
little I had to give It up, there were
so many.
That Is the desolatlon one saw along
the great road from Warsaw to Plnsk,
mile after mile, more than two hun
dred miles. They told me a million
people were made homeless in six
weeks Of the German drive In August
and September, 1916. They told me
four hundred thousand died on the
way. The rest, scarcely half alive,
got through with the Russian army.
Many of these have been sent to ST.
berla; 1t Is these people whom the
Paderewski committee is trying to re-
lleve.
In the refugee camps, 100000 sur
vlvors of the flight were gathered by
the Germans, members Of broken fam
HES. They were lodged In jerry-built
scarcely waterproof, un-
lighted, unwarmed In the dead of win
Ter. Their clothes, where the buttons
were lost, were sewed on. There were
no conveniences, they had not even
been able to wash for weeks. Filth
md Infection from vermin were
spreading. They were famished, their
daily ration cup Of soup and piece
Of bread as big as my fist.
In Warsaw, which had not been de-
stroyed, city of one million inhab-
tants, one Of the most prosperous cit
es Of Europe before the war, the
streets were lined with people In the
bangs Of starvation. Famished and
they squatted there, with
heir elbows on their knees or lean
ng against the buildings, too feeble
% lift hand for a bit of money or a
norsel of bread If one offered 1t, per-
shing Of hunger and cold. Charity,
lid what 1t could. The rich gave all
Int they had, the poor shared their
asst crust. Hundreds of thousands
we're perishing. Day and night the
'ictures is before my eyes-a people
tarving q nation dying.
The above statement by Mr.. Wal
'ott is terrible arraignment of the
1un, but no more terrible than he
deserves. What has happened in
'oland, In Belgium, in northern !
france and every other country that I
las been bllghted by the Huns pres h
nee would happen in America should 5
he allies, by any chance, fail to win :
his war. 1t would mean the enslave-
nent Of American men, the starving il
nd death Of American women and chill S
ren. Either the Hun or humanity
must perish. [