The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-04-13
(sy Marion RonssII pavIs.l

1
"The Department Of a Thousand
Dramas" would be a very literal and
appropriate title for the Children's
Bureau of the American Red Cross in
France. ........
II Is a surprise. at first. to many
OF the American Red Cross workers,
10 And how exactly the children Of
France and Belgium and Serbia, look
and act and think like our own. The
happy little ones love the same jokes,
laugh when things please them, and
have the same passionate affection
for mysterious objects that take their
fancy. Even i'm very small things
this Is so evident:
One-two-three! our little
ones say. before taking a grand
"Un-deux trols!!!!" the French
children say with the same deep
breath taking resolution.
I'm afraid" says the frightened
American child, ciinging to its moth
'J'ai peur!" says the frightened
French child. cIinginE to its mothers
skirts.
Some Were Killed.
When the invading armies stormed
into their villages, some OF these
children, so exactly like our own,
were killed. Some were lost or torn
from their mothers who were taken
captive. And in the flight from shat
tered homes many died OF hunger,
fright and exposure. Many OF those
who lived saw violence and wrath in
it's most perverted forms; saw their
grandparents herded and driven, and
their mothers hunted down. And the
appeal that you find in their eyes is
the unconscious appeal Of children
too young to know that these things
are not a common part Of life. Some |
Of them will remain blind or crippled |
or without their mental faculties |
throughout their lives. Suffering has |
left its enduring mark on most Of |
them.
And yet, It is still possible to give
thousands Of these little ones back |
their childhood That r. what the /
American Red Cross Is helping to /
give to over $4,000 children refugees l
in France, though the number in
creases by several hundred every day,
as the trains come into Evian bearing |
the repatriated from the conquered
districts.
Many Refugees Arrive Daily.
There 10 a day train and a
night train there st EVian, and
each one brings on an average
$50 returned prisoners, old men,
women and children, returned TO
France, from Germany, Belgium
and northern Franco, because
they are too worn out or too
weak to be of further use to the
enemy. Once, q single train
brought $50 Belgian children, re-
turning after three years Of Ger
there come between 500 and 600
refugee children "a tragic,
modern childrsn'S Crusade!
The Children's Bureau Of the Red
Cross has established a children's
hospital and a dispensary, which
examines. on an average, $500 chill
dren every week, at Evian, the great
gateway back to France. When
the Red Cross commission went to
France and established its basic
policy Of cooperation with the
French government, the government
asked for help with its little ones,
and some months ago asked the help
Of the Children's Bureau in solving
the acute problems at Evian. And
the Red Cross doctors and nurses
here. in giving the necessary medical
Inspection to all the children coming
IN. and expert care 10 all those I'll
with infectious diseases-and every
train brings It's cases Of diphtheria or
scarlet fever or measles or all three,
the vital service Of prevent