The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1918-08-29

The treatment of children during the German
occupation very terrible. Little tots OF four
and five, and children up to the ages of thir-
teen and fourteen, were forced TO work all DAY
for their enslavers They were taken Into the
fields at five in the morning and were not al
lowed TO come back until seven in the evening
During all that time they were given only one
meal Their tasks to dig potatoes, cur
away the barbed-wire entanglements and PICK up
unexpoded shells. After the Germans went away
there was milk to be got because all the COWS
had been either killed driven away IN one
district there were 500 children who existed LOT
months without a single drop OF milk met one
little girl who had been kept for 20 days on dleI
consisting of nothing but bread ana SOUP 'He
latter being watery and scarcely at all nourlsH-
ing.
The destruction of the schOOhouses has mace
il impossible for the young children TO gam any
education 1t is no strange thing TO encounter q
boy or girl of eleven who can neither read nor
write In their hideOus thOroughness, the Ger
mans destroyed books, pencils, desks and all NOT
a thing was left After the American relleI WORK
ers came into the devastated regions they estao-
lished schools and built little wooden bulldlhgs
in which TO carry the work
At one school they told story OF a little
girl who was brought in with the other chlldren
to learn to read. AS soon as she discovered an
old chair in one of the corners she Immediately
got into it and curled up in utter enjoyment and
relaxation. She could not be persuaded TO GET
out of that chair. The teacher inquired why she
was so pleased with the chair and learned that
boosted a single chair since the first invasion OF
the Germans
The separation of the children from their par
ents is another very tragic occurrence. In the
months and years before they are reunited the
children grow ann change that they are not
recognizable to their parents when they meet
again. Some of them, TO be sure wear on a
chain about their necks little gold baptismal
gifts on which their names are inscribed But
this is exceptional 1t is Of the confessed
schemes OF the Germans to divide and scatter
families much possible.
My heart bleeds for the children of France!
Oh that they should suffer this unmerited abuse
and tribuatOn
The deportation of young girls has been sys-
tematically practiced. German officer comes
TO the front door Of a house and orders the entire
family to assemble outside The door STEP Then
he picks at random number Of the younger
women of the family. 81 will take you and
you and you - he says Indicating the
chosen ones with his forefnger- At this SUM
mons they must leave their homes at once. They
are not allowed to pack their belongings nor to
carry much baggage. They permitted only
so much they carry wrapped in hand
kerchief.
put TO work cultivating the fields, doing the
hardest and most mental kind of labor. They
are forced live with the soldiers, and
rudely treated by them. They can send no word
to their families and it is almost though they
dead
The relief work in the invaded districts has
been tireIess. Great credit is due to the Amer
lean committee for devastated France, organized
by Miss Anne Morgan. Over 1000 children have
been turned over to this committee to be cared
for. One of its most useful works has been in
assisting the stricken people to leave their homes
long there is danger from the Germans in
the vicinity. Pitiful stories told OF the flight
OF these people One old woman refused to be
separated from her goat In transit and would
only consent to go when she could be assured
that another goat could be got in case her own
lost
France has been hard-tried, but she is not
broken Never has the morale OF the French
people been more mistaken than IL is today
France halls with joy the arrival Of the Ameri-
cans. 1t Is most fitting that these great sister
republics should be fighting side by side in this
hour of stress Victory will be won; it is in
evitablei But ah. the pain, the and the IN
necessary degradation that have followed In the
wake of the invaders VIII the world ever for.
get these?' Can the bitter memory ever be
effacedl