Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-08-15

and five and children on 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 III
lowed to come back until seven in the evening.
During all that time they were given only one
meal. Their tasks were to dig potatoes cu'
away the barbedwire entanglements and PICK up
unexploded Shells After the Germans went away
there was no milk to be got because all the cows
had been either killed or driven away In one
district there were 500 children who existed Ior
months without single drop Of milk met one
little girl who had been kept for 20 days on uiel
consisting of nothing but bread and soup the
latter being watery and scarcely at all nourlsl-
ing.
The destruction Of the schoolhouses has mace
1T impossible for the young children TO gam any
education. 1t is no strange thing to encounter
how or girl of eleven who can neither read nor
write. In their hideous thoroughness, the Ger
mans destroyed books, pencils desks ana al. 1Sol
a thing was left. After the American relief work.
ers came into the devastated regions they estab-
lished schools and built little wooden Dululnss
in which to carry on the work.
At one school they told story Of little
girl who was brought in with the other children
to learn to read. AS soon as she discovered an
old chair in one Of the corners she Immediately
got into 1t and curled up in utter enjoyment and
relaxation. She could not be persuaded to get
out of that chair The teacher inquired why she
the household in which the child lived had not
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 and change so 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 one of the confessed
schemes of the Germans to divide and scatter
families much as possible.
My heart bleeds for the children of France |!
Oh that they should suffer this unmerited abuse
and tribulation
The deportation of young girls has been sys-
temat:cally practiced. A German officer comes
to the front door Of house and orders the entire
family to assemble outside on the door step. Then
he picks at random a number OF the younger
women Of the family. II will take you 81. 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 aacl their belongings nor to
carry much baggage They permitted only
so much as they can carry wrapped in a hand
kerchief.
After they are taken into Germany they are
put to work cultivating the fields, doing the
hardest and most mental kind of labor. They
are forced to live with the soldiers, and are
rudely treated by them. They can send no word
to their families, and it is almost as though they
were dead.
The relief work in the invaded districts has
been tireless. 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 it's most useful works has been in
assisting the stricken people to leave their homes
so long as there is danger from the Germans in
the vicinity. Pitful stories are 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
was lost.
France has been hard-tried, but she is moi
broken. Never has the morale Of the French
people been more mistaken than it 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
evitable! But ah, the pain, the woe and the I'M
necessary degradation that have followed in tho
wake of the invaders! VIII the world ever for
get these? Can the bitter memory ever b.
effaeed?
THE END OF THE WAR.
soldier at Camp Grant asked French lieu
tenant who was there MS Instructor how 1,,,,nl