The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-04-06
TRAGEDY STALKS
In RUINED TOWNS

1t was a little village In France, like
hundreds of others. Its men had gone
to a When the Germans were re-
ported as close to the town. the
women and children fed.
The Huns entered the village that
night. Robbing all the homes of every
thing Of value, they set fire to the
town and prepared to march on.
Leaving the town they came upon
Auntie Marcell-eighty years old
crouching by the roadside, one of the
refugees who had dropped out of the
fleeing procession. She had had moth
ing to eat for t%wenty-four hours ex-
cept roots that she had dug up nearby.
When the Germans retired soon
after this, and many of the villagers
returned, they found Auntie Marcelle
striving to build a shelter In the ruins
of her old home-the only living soul
In the place. The other villagers
Joined her and attempted to find some
refuge. Their efforts were pitiful.
Each picked his own home-though
the ruins next to 1t might be noccu
pied and much more promising. Each
wanted to live on his own little piece
of ground, ever II only q few bricks
remained there.
Food? There wasn't any, except
what the Germans could not carry with
them In their hurried evacuation. For
days the handful of villagers lived on
the rotting fruit left In nearby or.
chards and a meagre supply of vegeta-
bles.
Many Towns In Sorry Plight.
And this story was being repeated
In scores Of towns throughout north
ern France and Belgium. Thousands
were suffering as these people were
suffering. and hundreds, as In this vii
lage, died-from exposure and starva-
ton.
Then came the Society of English
and American Friends. They set to
work promptly. They gave moral en-
enlargement to the ruined people and
helped them to construct temporary
shelters. They selected the blasted
homes which offered the best possibili-
ties for partial reconstruction, and
aided the townsfolk to erect shacks
between walls that still stood where a
house had been, OF to put a substantial
roof over a cellar that could be
lived in.
At first, numbed with the sudden.
ness and horror Of 1t all, the villagers
accepted aid mechanically. But later
the old spirit Of independence began
to assert itself. They wanted to be
self-sustaining, even when everything
had been swept away.
So the Friends organization opened
workshops in the towns, where the
women came and worked by the hour
at sewing. Here corn and -four sacks
were fashioned into useful articles of
various kinds-table covers, mats and
fancy bags. The women were taught
embroidery, and many were the quaint
and original designs they created.
Thirty centimes (six cents) an hour
was the pay-and the women were
happy and independent.
When the American Red Cross or.
ganization reached France, and came
In contact with the work of the
Friends, it Immediately realized the
necessity of its continuance and en-
largement.
So the Red Cross offered the Friends
the support that would make 1t posi-
BILE to extend their activities, and 1t
vas accepted. Today the American
Red Cross and the Friends and several
other groups of workers in similar
service are cooperating tremendously
and effectively to restore there the
villages that have suffered SO hard a
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