The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-26
HOOVER REPORTSON PHYSICAL DAMAGE
 WROUGHT BY HUNS
 AGAINST BELG|ANS
Food Administration Says 1S0,000 Tons of Supplies, Including Clothing, Will
 Be Shipped Stricken
 Country Each Month
By Associated Press

Belgium by the German armies
 Is described in a eablegram re-
 ceived by the food administra-
 tion from Herbert Hoover, wllo.
 with William B. Poland, Euro pean director of the eornmis-
 sion for relief in Belgium, has
 just completed survey of con ditions in this liberated coun- | try.
 On the basis of Mir Iloovers report, the food administration announced to- l day that hereafter is0000 tons of sup | plies including clothing would b. | shipped to Belgium each month. As this programme will require ,Gl,000 deadweight tons of shipping in addition l to the 340,Oo0 tons now on charter to the relief commission, application for add- tional tonnage has been made to the shipping board,
 The cost of the entire relief programme will be borne by the Belgian and French governments from loans made by the American government. France part of tho expense will be for supplying the 1 people of northern France as well as several hundred thousand refugees who
 were from that section into Belgium during the retreat of the German forces. HOOVER'S REPORT l Mir. Hoovers report on this survey of i Belgium says:
 | Together with Mir. Poland, European director of the commission for relief in Belgium l have now completed survey of the entire Belgian situation as dis- closed by the evacauattion. The work
 of the American relief officials in Flu rope during the last month has been be- yond all praise because they have fol- lowed up the retreatng army with dis tributions, by one means or another, and there has been no break in the food sup ply at any point.
 Prior to the armistice, the German army had completely destroyed a zone Of
 railroads and canals some % miles wide.
 extending entirely across Belgium. After the armlstice there was comparatively i.ttle destruction Of transportation of the
 rear of this zone and with the rapid rehabilitation of transportation facilities
 across this zone of destructiont the prob lem of distribution of food and of rs.asl struction, qan. be undertaken Vifn muol ! less 0ifTacstLt % sNstil sst ps1eses1t 1 The Germ. ,svffi their fIfial ret treat fo-& moved but little of the relief saRpiiss Their action toward the native h&ryest$sf 4 and cattle in their withdrawal diisHS&
 widely in different areas. They started to
 take all remaining hogs from the west
 ern part of Belgium. except those hidden by the peasants m underground caves
 After the armistice, however and with
 the demoralization of the German army iE it's final retreat many of these beasts were abandoned pr sold by soldiers to
 the peasants further back, and in prac-
 tical results there appears to have been no widespread cattle stealing in the re- treat, although during the four years
 nF liruf nyl ho- bns 1.oox diminution, probably over one-half in the total number of cattle and hogs. It can be said almost literally that horses have disappeared out of Belgium there probably not being l5 per cent of the original animals left.
 'Investigation proves that industria, and residential destruction in Belgium varies greatly in different localleies and with different industries. For in- stance, out of 50 steel furnaces in Bel gium. only 35 or 40 have been Sdeliber- ately destroyed by the Germans in their determination to end the Bel gian steel industry.
 Many of the textile mills have been put out of commission. either through < deliberate destruction and removal of machinery, or by removal of the corper and brass parts and eltctrit-, mo COTS Some of the textile mills of the more antiquated type Of equipment appar- citly did uol dppcdi tO lnc 1eTndhS and they can be gotten into action at an early date The Germans seem to have focused themselves on the mod edn equipments
 COAL INDUSTRY SAVED
 The glass industry has been but little interfered with. and the stern promise of retribution by President Wilson seems to have saved the coal industry except for very few mines. although actual explosives and wires were laid in places for the destruction on large nuniber of the mines The Presidents warning seems to have created sudden change of heart
 There are some 300,000 French ref ugess in Belgium driven out of north ern France by the Germans They have been cared for out of the mea- ger stores of the Belgians and by the commission for relief in Belgium. They are. however. like homing pigeons in their resolve to return to their native As there is no transportation. the roads southward into France arc a continuous stream of these pltiful groups of men. women and children. pulling their carts. and trudging through the cold wind toward their homes. Everything is being done that Is humanly possible. but in the pres ent state of demoralization, with moving armies, the necessity of using
 
 feed the population. their plight Is heartbreaking They refuse all per- suasion to wait in the crowded Bell gian villages until their affairs can be organized
 WORK NIGHT AND DAY
 'vrhe Americans of the relief c6m- mission are working night and day providing shelter stations. clothing and food for them. but like many other human migrations in Europe today, there is no solution to the suffering that must go on.
 "One of the great difficulties of the Belgians lies in the enforced currency circulation imposed on them hy the This currency runs into mill ions of paper money and presents an difficult financial problem 10 the government.
 The Belgian government is rapidly taking hold. the Belgian manufacturers are engaged evsrywhere in the relA- plitation of their works so far as ma- .erials are available. and the spirit of Belgium was never better than today The Belgians are resolved to find solution of their manifold difficulties with as little assostanee as possible from the outside. They are, of course, dependent upon continuing govern penn advances for the provision of inn ports pending German indemnity. and tI-- -c- f-- =. x-.-