The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-10-12
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has examined nearly $4,000. 1 saw go little chill.
dren examined. They ranged in age from three to
twelve years, and Of them all there were barely
more than 80 per cent whom he could pass as be-
ing even fairly well nourished.
"They have been fed mostly on turnips and
black bread for months" he explained, land with
each convoy there are more undernOurished ones
and more like this little fellow" He indicated a
thin wisp Of a boy-he was ten years Of age-it
was tuberculosis.
This explains, furthermore, why the American
Red Cross hospital, as a part Of Its war burden,
has been obliged to extend Its work into the foun-
dation and maintenance of homes, here, there and
everywhere throughout France, for these unfor-
Inmates whom Germany is sending back by the
hundreds of thousands. For they are unable to
work, unable to make their own homes, and the
civilian population of France, bent double with
the pack of its own problems, has been increas-
ingly powerless to cope with this, Germany's in
sidious effort to break the morale of France.
1t was all new to me when I went up to Evian
from Paris to see the repatriates come in. l had
heard of how Germany had begun sending them
back In 1916, and how, as the numbers of them in
creased, the American Red Cross stepped in and
undertook to look out for the sick children, finally
extending its work to caring for the hundreds
of tuberculous women whom Germany returned to
France. But l had heard, also, of how the repa-
~triates, sent through Switzerland by the Germans
arrived at Evian, singing, kneeling down and kiss
ing the soil of France and gladly taking up their
share of their country's work in factories and on
farms. 1 had looked for a scene of joy at the
station there in Evian, for cheers and heart-thrills
at the casino. Here was a people being returned
to the country that it belonged to; here were ban
ners of welcome, here We're hands and hearts open
to it. But 1 had seen something entirely different,
and when l inquired it was explained to me. at
is plainly" / was told, part of the German plan
OF breaking down French morale, of destroying the
efficiency of the American Red Cross, which it has
learned is doing such a large part in the work of
handling repatriates.
"At the same time that Germany is hurting her
big shells into Paris by day and air raiding it by
night; at the same time that she is driving refu-
gees by the thousands from their homes in towns
along the line of her proposed advance; at the
same time she is filling the hospitals with wounded
French and American soldiers, taxing the equip
ment of the American Red Cross to the limit, as
she believes, she has tried q new trick during this
offensive.
"If this is not so, how can it be accounted for
that each succeeding trainload of repatriates is
larger, contains more Sick and completely used up
individuals than the previous one? How can you
account for the large number of young women
with babies born in Germany since they were
taken there-babies whose fathers may be Ger
man, but whose identity will ever remain a mys-
tery-which are unloaded on us every dayT'
Even at that 1t seemed rather a difficult task.
These people who were coming in-I saw several
trainloads of them-seemed such hopeless things.
What could be done with themf What a burden
they would be on the French How little result
there would be from anything done for them or
with theml
'"That is far from being the case" / was told.
"They respond In an incredibly short time to all
we do for them. Their health improves, their
minds clear. From being liabilities they soon be-
come assets. Germany sends these people In,
wrecks, so cowed. so starved. that they cRn scarce
ly tell where they have been, what has happened
to them In the years OF their slavery In the mines,
the mills. the fields of their captor country. Tuber-
culosis seems to have q firm grip on many of them,
and the children are filed with the germs of con-
tagious diseases. But either by happy ability Of
the French to rise under difficulties, or the joy of
finding themselves back In their own land, the
rapidly with which they rally, the q~uickness with
which their minds clear, Is remarkable"
A French woman, in charge Of the casino YES
tiaire at Eyian, where clothing is found for these
unfortunates, said: "The more they send, the
better we like 1t. We can care for all, with the
help of our friends. the Americans. And the faster
they send them back, though their coming so fast
unquestionably taxes our resources to the utmost.
the more quickly win France get back her own
people"