Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-24
.PHLADELPHIANS HELP
TO REBUILD FRANCE
Friends Reconstruction Unit. Re.
storing Wars Rayages. In
cludes Scores From Here

tfuutS DCOIts Itch '
As the Allied armies force the German
hordes from the soil Of France there follows
IN their wake group OF men anu "o"'e"
who restore she'll wrecked homes. build 'en-
porary huts for the homeless I'LL the sap'ns
she'll holes and. in word. restore the ue-
Nasta. ed territory 10 a liyabe condition
This work, considered by the Red cross
and other organizations as flNaIuap'e W w
French war sufferers. Is performed oN iheul
bcrs OF tho Friends Reconstruction unlt. an"
in that organization are scores OF Fh''"ue''
phians. 100000
The scope Of this work can he Judged
when one considers that more than ~" per
SONS are actually engaged in 1t, and tha'
during the first year Of the ctort ueatN
100000 was spent, And true to the traul-
tons of the sect Philadelphia Is well REPRE-
scented IN the personnel of the WorNhg u"I'
and I'm the matter OF contributions.
This city. according 'to "A recent iihaiicIal
report OF the American Friends service co'l,-
miitec. with headquarters at 20 Souln
Twelfth street contributed more than S"oo'-
600, nearly 40 per cent Of the to'aI eN-
pended.
eft is a work" said Isaac Sharpess presi-
dent emeritus of lIaverford college thdt rs
OF great value 70 those who have tet the
real paugs OF war. Behind the lighting lines
or where the smoke Of battle has cleared the
unit u erecting portable houses ior the
homeless, rehabilitatiug farms, estahIish'g
,hose who need immediate assistance.
AT present we have approximately -oo
American workers in France, but We nope
to recruit that force 10 900. EVERY wees
we are sending volunteers to stricken FRANCE,
and as the Germans continue to e\a'na'e
territory the need for additional workers
becomes imperative.
France Appreciates work
'The value Of the work is emphasized by
the French Government, for quite recently
! II requested the unit TO take over the worn
Of reconstruction in forty Villages III the
Nerdun sector \ special appropriation Of
SIS 900 has been made to carry on TINS
| work
Caring for the physical needs OF the
| civilian population is an important phase OF
/ the work, Its value can be Judged from the
! work of DR., James \. BSbbitt. phNsca a.
rector at Haverford college. who lett ms
| practice to establish hospital AT Scrmaiae'
| in the Marne district. This institution. al
most in the heart of "A devastated region,
! has cared for the children and women, and
IN n recent report Doctor Babbttt asserts
that lie has performed more than 100 opera
, tious in his frs, years work.
An effort that was commenced IN very
| modest way Ii;tle more than Il year ago mas
expanded uutN now It Is spread over nine
countries and embraces Il work that ranges
from tilIing the soil to managing Il mater
nifty hospital Ia the land of the Bolsh"N'N.
phiiadelphians Work in Russia
la.
offers a golden field for reconstruction, ana
steps toward appropriate additional FUNDS
to carry on the work are under way At
present II is confined 70 BuZuluE. ana four
| women from the Greater PhlIadelphia aus
! trict are playing important roles. They are
Anna j. Haines. Nancy BabG. Esther White
and Emelie Bradbury. Miss liaines. IN let
ters written TO her family i'll Moorestowh'
y. H. describes the work and discusses us
| Importance.
The last letter received from Miss Haines
describes the scenes IN Buzuuk hefor" the
| Austrian prisoners We're released by the
Rolshey,k government. 1t follows n part:
"rh. trains are very few ana very
crowded with soldiers and other travellers
and often for days al a time no refugees al
all can leave Buzuluk. SO that "" nave 4
continually ebhing and flowing tide Of abou
5000 people, all more or less hated by the
natives, and all terribly eager TO gel home
, although there is every prospect Of condi
tons there being 40 better than here. The!
are Housed In long wooden barracks formerly
used by soldiers. when BuHuluk was an m
! uortant military center. The buildings are
III suited for family life. often without
stoves for heating or cooking purposes, am
altogether I should say conditions Tor ieiu
gees We're getting worse rather thdn better
"As TO coming home. it seems now that the
Americans N'll be returning the End OF Eighth
Month. but as We have .sever received any
letters from the home committee it Is hard
TO tell what their plans are for tine tutur,
| are not planning to send any new people OUT
! | or II the work here seems 10 need us very
| definitely, ii may be that one or two of us
| may stay a little longer. Personally, ] fee
that the journey out here is SO long and 81
! expensive that would be d Bit selfish {,
insist on coming home at the end Of the yeai
! II the work We're to suffer from our depar.
: | ture
The possibility u reconstruction work il
Siberia is just opening up, Since many peo
) p,e feel that the war may go on indefinitely
! and also thar II ii should cease much %
territory formerly Russian may remain Ger
e man, and Russian refugees not allowed tt
e come back.
/ summary of Friends Activities
, What the peace-loving Qualiers are doin,
. toward protecting the weak and homeless il
>. Europe is set forth in the following table o
= activities:
Y 1t il building a village Of houses at Nal
/, abrv lust outside Paris, where rrfugers ar
t lning MANY persons afflicted with tubcr
culoss are living in this village
+, \ maternity hospital has been establishc'
n At Merry. This institution takes the place q
. the hospital al Chalous- -sur-alarnr, wher
= 700 babies wcle born in It's first year g
r existence. The German offensive IA Marc
. forced It's evacuation.
= coupled with these activities is the worl
y among Belgian refugees in the ioilan,
= | camps and the relief work in Macedonia
d Letter illustrates Service
The character OF service performed by tn
II | Ouaksrs is Illustrated in the following stor
v ! taken from letter written by Charles l.
pennock, who is connected with the Friends
- Refugee Colony at Ornans;
1T would be useless to deny that one q
my biggest reasons for wishing foT peace
so I can come home to YOU but cannC
he here long without feeling strongly IN
other way also: that is wishing and prayin
for peace 80 that the great suffering in III
world at present might bc alleVlated. Ju,
In, mil a. lApa h. NAM
war have been felt, was one / saw lai
night ! had been in AT BesanCon. aud "
IT had TO change cars half way out to Ornan
}, A Young woman dressed in black. a simp
= black dress and hat, holding baby al
| little basket. got into our VOmpartmer
= aI.nI lnI. IN TIN.