The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-06-27
RED CROSS IN
BIG Their"
ROLE In TORN
PART OF FRANCE.
Starving Refugees Are Fed
And Little Ones Given
Clothes
SHOES PLACED ON
BLEEDING FEET
. Children Patter Miles Over
Rough Roads Without
Protection
ier RHETA cHlLpE poRRA

| 4LAL1 with MS responsibilities ana n
small income to part with, but John
gave the money, and all over the
country men like him, women, too,
and children gave what they could
to help the wounded and the DESC
late across the sea.
( want to tell John and the others
how their money Is being spent, and
I shall ask them first to go with me
to q huge basement room Of the Care
du Eord, the big north station of
/ Paris. The room was taken over by
! the American Red Cross at the be-
| ginning of the spring offensive,
March 81, and here for days and
nights, terrible days, sinister nights,
@ stream OF refugees from the invad-
ed districts poured in and out, COM
ing by train from Scissors, Com
! piegne, Montdidler, Albert and from
dozens of little villages and farms
! between Iaon and Aniens.
The Red Cross fed and clothed and
refreshed these refugees in that base
ment, loaded them on big motor
! trucks and took them across the
! city to the Orleans or the Qua FOR
say stations and saw them off to the
sheltered south.
All on your money, your fortunate,
generous, tender hearted givers. We
"
! desperate days Of spring had the
privilege only OF helping the Red
Cross take care of the stricken men,
women and children who had fled
before the German hordes for the
second time since the war began.
Little Ones Need Shoes.
Vividly before me I see that great
basement room, the only kind of a
place that is half way safe in Paris
these days. It is night. or, rather.
( 1t ts early morning, nearly 2 o'clock,
and have spent every minute of the
: time since 8 o'clock fitting shoes,
your gift, to refugee children.
When I went on duty early In the
evening there were five or six babies
/ standing at the counter, over the
edge Of which their little white, dirty.
tired faces were barely visible, and
their round black eyes fixed envi-
ously on a huge pile Of shoes wait
ing to be distributed.
I picked up the smallest babe. a
little boy Of four, and asked him If
he needed shoes. "Oui, madame" he
did, and stockings. too, for his feet
were literally on the ground I grab
bed q bunch OF stockings, found the
right size, and explored the pile OF
shoes until that infant was fitted.
and then I attended to the rest, for
every child needed both shoes and
stockings.
So, it appeared to me that night,
did almost every child in France
They came on and on, some in their
mothers arms, some toddling along,
some leading other children. I work
ed steadily with only n pause now
and then when a new trainload came
lin and were fed.
Their Thanks to You.
The shoes were new and they rub
bed off, and soon my hands and
face and big gingham apron were
streaked and spotted with black. I
was almost as dirty as the refugees
but still the children demanded
shoes.
They forget that they had endured
agontes Of fear and horror, they for
got the roar of the shells in the
village streets. They forgot the hun
ger and thirst and the deadly weari-
ness OF the fight Their little stom-
achs were full, they were warm and
safe, and they had new stockings and
new shoes on their feet.
They had more for when my part
was done other women took them in
hand and gave them new shirts and
gowns and the shiny black pima
flores which every French child, bow
as we'll as girl, looks upon as an in
indispensable article Of dress. If YOU
Ecould have seen their smiles. heard
their hsping words OF gratitude. felt
their warm little handclasps, oh, Won
fortunate and generous givers. YOU
would have been repaid a thousand
Thousand times for your gift to the
iTsed Cross.
Because the French rarely have
large families, 1t must not be thought
that they do not value children. Thev
adore children, as a matter ~ faCf
and their gratitude to the Red Cross
E1or what was done for children dur
ling those days Of flight and anguish
was pathetic to see and hear.
Always ale PetiE' First,
Women came into the basement of
the Care du Nord in a condition of
.half nudity. When the storm burst
.4hey gathered up their babies, took
what they could carry of household
goods and treasures, and simply fled
Much or what they carried was lost
ny the wayside. Their clothes were
rags. Some of the rags were taken
off by the mothers that the children
might be kept alive, for the weather
was cold and rainy. But when these
poor women came into the Red Cross
room their first thought was always
for their babies.
You have need OF shoes, madame"
q said to more than one. She al !
ways answered, Yes, but lie petit
first" E'-'
Wnen you saw a woman who would |
not eat. who cared not at all for the
new blouse or the warm coat thew
oIKered her, who wept INCREASINGLY or |
wore q look OF wild misery like in |
Z II
ner children in the flight. That han |
pened not infrequentIy Part of the |
money you gave the Rad Cross Is |
spent to find those lost children and |
bring them back to the desoIate |
another's breast.
Late one night during that axcitfpy
period In March the workers at The
Care du Nord found a boy OF tf1fr- |
teen who had been separated early |
a1 the flight from his family. He had |
walked g distance OF twenty kilo- |
net twelve and a half miles. be- |
4ors ne reached the railroad station |
alla ne carried with him on that
walk, ana on the journey to Paris |
Two Days Of feed FOR the horse. four al,
1--WE pounds OF beans in paper sack.
r. eFogs-cut saw, two axes, some flar- /
1ess and d gas mask.
ne Believes IN Red Cross.
Wtlen the Red Cross workers dis |
COY cred him he WAS about all III, but
1ls was brave. He sat on his bag /
asa and ate sandwiches ana drank /
l1tg chocolate like a fafnishe6 tramp /
ae ilaa an aunt ard d grandmoth-
sf ln 8f1s ha said, but he did not 1
sneW his auntss married name. re
gile name Of tho street ane lived