The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-07-20
Play Important Role in Making
Repatriates Contented in
Strange Surroundings.
RED CROSS IS CHIEF AID
Cares for Frlendless and Homeless
People Whom Germany Dumps
Back From the Captured
French HamIets.

homeless, but some have friends In
France who take them in. Those who
are friendless as well as homeless
when Germany dumps them back from
the captured French hamlet are sent,
according to the plans of the minis
try of the interior, so many to this
department, so many to that; and the
departments divide them among the
villages, two families here, three there.
All over the west and south of
France you find them, these people
imbued with a love of their own fire.
sides which the nomadic American
can yer understand, torn up sudden
ly by the roots and t~ransplanted to
an utterly strange community, with
out anything in the world but a little
baggage they can carry and the franc
and a half a day allowed by the French
government. The father of the family
Is dead, or missing or a prisoner, or
at the front. The daughters and the
SON who could work are still in Ger
many. Those In France were sent
back because they were too old, too
weak or too young to work-useless
mouths to the Germans. They are
the repatriate problem in which u
Red Cross is lending a hand.
Care for Repatriates.
The department of the Ain Is typi-
cal. Bourg, it's principal city, lies near
enough to the Swiss border so that
when six hundred people were expect
ed, the Red Cross delegates could go
to Evian and journey back with the
conveys.
When the delegates met the re-
patriates on the train, they gave them
an order which assured to each family
a little of the coal which was so
precious In France in cold weather. A
printed letter stated that the Ameri-
cans knew their sufferings and SYM
pathized with them and would help
supply them with garden tools and fur
niture and to get work for them.
Reducing housekeeping to it's very
lowest terms, the American Red Cross
delegates decided that each family
must have beds enough for everybody,
a table, a chair apiece, a stove, some
thing to hold water and something to
cook in (there is a wonderful French
utensil called a "fait-tout," in which
you can pretty nearly make every
thing, a fork apiece, a plate apiece,
and one knife for the family. These
furnishings are lent to the poorer fam
lilies. Those who can pay, buy furni-
ture on a sublimated installment plan
SIPS down and small payments ac-
cording to income every two weeks
until two-thirds of the cost price is
reached, when the furniture becomes
their owl.
The delegates may be able to cure
the physical needs of the refugees, but
they have to contend always with the
terrible inconsistencies of al uprooted
people. More than anything else in
the world, these homeless people want
to return to their own firesides; and
for the time being, that is tragically
impossible. They must be made as
contented as possible in their new
communities. Furniture offers one
means, gardens another, rabbits a
third. Many of the people have been
farmers on a small scale so that a
few feet of ground on which to raise
soup vegetables or potatoes makes
them inordinately happy. The village
furnishes the garden and the Red
Cross supplies tools and often seeds.
Importance of the Rabbit.
But rabbits are the browning glory
They represent almost the only form
of meat these people ever have; they
can be kept in very small quarters, fed
on grass gathered by the children and
they multiply with pleasing rapidity.
Where it seem that a rabbit will be
specially appreciated, the delegate
gives money enough to buy it to the
mayor of the village and asks him to
do the purchasing.
So 1t goes. Sometimes the gifts OF
a spade or a hoe or some wool OF
stockings sometimes hundreds of kilos
of potatoes sent to a mayor to distrib.
ute for the spring planting, dozens OF
blankets to cover the people when they
first arrive and are housed of neces.
sity in schoolhOuses or town halls
hastily converted into temporary bar
racks.