The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-08-17

ne treatment Oh CnlluIeu uulihB liz NSA
occupation vas very terrible. Little tots OF tour
and five, and children on up to the ages OF tnlr-
teen and fourteen, were forced to work all uay
for their enslavers. They were taken into the
fields at five in the morning and were not al
lowed to come back until seven In the evening"
During all that time they were given only ohe
meal. Their tasks were to dig potatoes eN
away the barbed-wire entanglements and PICK up
unexpJoded shells. After the Germans went AWAY
there was no milk to be got because all the eo"S
had been either killed or driven away. IN II
district there were 500 children who eXisteu ~
months without a single drop of milk. met ~
little girl who had been kept for 20 days on a uiet
consisting of nothing but bread and soup, the
latter being watery and scarcely at all houllsn-
ing.
The destruction of the schoolhouses has MADE
II impossible for the young children 10 gam ~
education, 1t is no strange thing to encounter d
bow or girl of eleven who can neither read nor
write. In their hideous thoroughness' the Her
mans DESTROYED books, pencils, desks and ALL MOI
n thing was left. After the American renet WORK
ers came into the devastated regions they estap-
ished schools and built little wooden Dulluinss
in which to carry on the work.
At one school they told a story of a little
girl who was brought in with the other chliureh
to learn to read. AS soon as she discovered an
old chair in one of the corners she immedlately
got into it and curled up in utter enjoyment anu
relaxation. She could not be persuaded to get
out of that chair. The teacher inquired why she
was so pleased with the chair and learned That
the household in which the child lived had not
boosted a single chair since the first invasion OF
the Germans.
The separation of the children from their par
ents is another very tragic occurrence. In the
months and years before they are reunited the
children grow and change so that they are not
recognizable to their parents when they meet
again. Some of them, to be sure, wear on a
chain about their necks little gold baptismal
gifts on which their names are inscribed. But
this is exceptional. 1t is one of the confessed
schemes of the Germans to divide and scatter
families as much as possible.
My heart bleeds for the children of France!
Oh, that they should suffer this unmerited abuse
and trbulatiOnl
The deportation of young girls has been sys-
tematically practiced. A German officer comes
to the front door of a house and orders the entire
family to assemble outside on the door step. Then
he picks at random a number of the younger
women of the family. II will take you and
YOU and you" he says, indicating the
chosen ones with his forefnger. At this sum-
mons they must leave their homes at once. They
are not allowed to pack their belongings nor to
carry much baggage. They are permitted only
so much as they can carry wrapped in a hand
kerchief.
put to work cultivating the fields, doing the
hardest and most mental kind of labor. They
are forced to live with the soldiers, and are
rudely treated by them. They can send no word
to their families, and it is almost as though they
were dead.
The relief work in the invaded districts has
been tireless. Great credit is due to the Amer
lean committee for devastated France, organized
by Miss Anne Morgan. Over 1000 children have
been turned over to this committee to be cared
for. One of its most useful works has been in
assisting the stricken people to leave their homes
so long as there is danger from the Germans in
the vicinity. Pitiful stories are told of the flight
of these people. One old woman refused to be
separated from her goat in transit, and would
only consent to go when she could be assured
that another goat could be got in case her own
was lost.
France has been hard-tried, but she is not
broken. Never has the morale Of the French
people been more mistaken than 1t is today.
France halls with joy the arrival of the Ameri-
cans. 1t is most fitting that these great sister
republics should be fighting side by side in this
hour of stress. Victory will be won; it is in
evitable! But all, the pain, the woe and the un.
necessary degradation that have followed in the
wake of the invaders VIII the world ever for.
get these? Can the bitter memory ever be
effaced?