Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-12

ALLY with no time whatever to gather
even things needed for the journey.
They tramped in the mountains or
along the roads from two to four days.
sometimes a week. before reaching a
railway station where they could be
up by camions. In these first days
they were subjected to every privation
lconceivable. Even after reaching the
railways they were supplied with food
Iirregularly and suffered from hunger
as we'll as from cold. What is ever
worse. perhaps. they often had no
chance to wash and often had no
change of clothing and the condition
in which some Of those who had been
arrived in southern Italy is indescrib-
able. After the first rush. arrange
ments were, of course, made in the
cities through which they passed to
supply food and in some instances
blankets and clothing; but eve as far
south as Naples many infants were
found who had nc changes and whose
bodies were in a shocking condition
from a lack Of necessary attention.
Health of Refugees.
"In view Of all the hardships and
privations 1t is notable that the gen.
eral health of the refugees in every
city which we have visited is reported
at present to be- on the whole very
good. Probably a more thorough me
dical examination might disclose more
serious results, but careful enquiry of
physicians, officials and relief workers
has indicated that, with few excep-
tons. there Is no marked prevalence
of digestive, nervous or infectious dis
ease.
ITO appreciate the suffering and
hardships involved in the sudden dis
lodging Of perhaps a half million
people, 1t is necessary to bear in mind
the loss of their homes and possess
the enforced journey to distant and
unknown places. where people eat
different food and speak dialects so
different from their w as some
times to be scarcely Ineligible, where
the occupations are different and
where the charitable resources are
likely to be already overtaxed by the
needs of the families of soldiers and
other local conditions resulting from
the a
"1ntensifying this terrible picture of
misfortune is the fact that the whole
population is suffering from = scarcity
of food and of fuel from abnormally
high prices, and from other disturb
ances with which the war has made
the Red Cross familiar in every coun-
try, but which are nowhere, perhaps,
more serious at the present time than
in Italy,"
The Work of the Italians.
To have cared for such a d%iSlodged
population would have taxed the inge-
nuity and res%ourcefulness of II coun-
try could it have devoted itself to 1t
with singleness of purpose. But it
must be remembered that this was
only the third Of the tremendous re-
'~sponsibilities engaging Italy in Novem-
Der. It had to salvage an army and
ing organized forces. although in
evitably," to quote the committee,
"there has been much confusion and
suffering, nevertheless an enormous
amount Of effective and systematic as
sistance has been given from the be-
ginning to the end of the long and
painful journey which these thousands
of refugees nave had to take and plans
have been inaugurated for incorporat-
which they have come or are on the
way" !
In its national railways and its pre-
PICTORIAL system. Italy had agencies
through which to work, which without
doubt lent themselves to the emer-
gcncy better than any governmental
machinery we possess in the United
States. The pretectos are the execu-
tive heads of the province into which
Italy is divided. In function they or
respond somewhat to the governors of
our states, in responsibility to central
authority and in the size of the areas
|theX-are assigned to, the United States
district attorneys may afford a better
analogy.
The prefectos who were met by the
Red Cross committee on its travels
impressed them AS men of ability,
character and intelligence. They have
facilities at their disposal and, as rep
resentatives of the ministry of the in
terror in the central government, they
form a well-knit and unified system
OF administration through which the
problem could be dealt with nation
ally.
The Transportation Problem.
The first element in that problem,