Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-08-29
THE FRENCH FIREsIDE.

Frances Toplitz, in New York Times.
The French love their "foyers," their
own fireside, and the solidarity n
separateness Of their family life. They
have not the boarding house or hotel
habit as we have in America, and gre
%gariousness does not suit their temper
ament. The very enterprising do not
wait for the officials to find separate
lodgings for them. They usually do it
themselves. For the others, the less
energetic. 1t is a matter of weeks some-
times before they be satisfactorily
placed. With a proper regard for the
training of the people. the French Off
cial does try not to send a weaver to
an agricultural center and a farmer
to a factory town. But mistakes do
happen.
The French government has planned
we'll for it's now shifting population. A
daily allowance is made according to
age: rent is paid. or, rather, provision
Is made for rent whenever families de-
eide to lodge separately. That the fine
program Of the government is not al
ways carried out my be u to the
enormous volume of work-this placing
of whole cities Of people at one time
n at hort notice. Where the task
Is too big for the local authorities. the
Red Cross steps in. n together the
responsibilities are carried. There is
q fine spirit of cooperation. With the
Red Cross workers understanding hat
she is not there to show the French
people What they should do, but to
help them carry out the work they
have planned. rehabilitation of families
can be made to count.
1t Is a tremendous rush and hurry all
the time. Things must be done quick
~. n must think IN ones feet. Get
ting materials, furniture. stoves, kitch-
en- utensils, is a problem; in some
Things Inc country has been scraped to
the bone. 1t keeps h purchasing
bureau on the hop. Here are thousands
OF people with nothing but the clothes
they are standing In. And eventually
they are to go back to their homes
homes denuded-yes, and in many in
stances PACED to the ground. The few
things they can take back with them
will be their beginning.
Give a FrenchwoInan a bed. a mar
mite" and a stove, and she can make
a nome. 1t is n of the gratifying
thlngs after a days work to step into
one of these little improvised homes
OF a 'repat," as we, in our American
hurry, have abbreviated them, and see
be a bed. a table. some chairs. a stove.
M a "marmite," but we know that
In their hearts they feel that it ia
better than the "cantonement," and
the woman, Industrious from habit.
bustles about as If she had a COM
plex household to a k care of.
You may drop into a home at al
most any time and the "marmite" is
on the stove. A thick soup with some
bread broken into it, and they have
a meal. 1t is well not to question
VIVA goes into that soup; but when it
IS ready to be served it is very savory
and palatable. ! can only recall one
many Of our American households.
where the "delicatessen" store is the
first aid. and there the woman apol-
ogized for having eggs. butter. red
VINE, n bottled water for her lunch-
con. Eggs and butter are almost pro-
hibitive as to price, and one wondered
how h ever did it on the ALLEGATION
money! franc SO centimes go cents)
q day for adults, n 1 franc GO cents)
for each child-plus the 40 confines an
hour n earned for cleaning-8 cents
an hour.
Wal bread. loaves fully a yard long,
or In rings no less than w feet in
diameter, or in solid round loaves of
similar dimensions, is ever present. II
is never wrapped in paper. Everybody
walks along the street with his loaf Of
uieao unuef MS arm, and all the SAN
ltary measures we take to have our
bread wrapped n sealed, or handled
with gloved hands only, would prob
ably be scoffed at. The war bread is
not very good, but we may Judge from
the size of the loaves that it is not UNI
popular. One does not feel any short
of food here, except, perhaps.
sugar and chocolate. l have not tina
least doubt there are many speak
easy" places in town where these can
be had.