Evening journal., 1919-09-11
PICTURES / HORRORS
IN NORTH FRANCE
Mrs. Hilles Tells of Her
Work in Devastated
Section
WILL NOW lake
UP SUFFRAGE WORK

"The horror wrought by the criminal
insanity Of the Gemans in northern
France. cannot be described, nor can IL
be family lmsgiped by people VINO
have not seen It. Pictures and reading
matter give no ld,a Of the appallins' the
terrible nature Of the devastation.
Many people ID middle and soulherh
France have no dea Of the terrible con-
dition ~ ihe devastated zones, said
Mrs WilIiam = Hilles. TO an Evening
Journal REPRESENTATIVE this morning.
Mrs miles returned to New York on
Ntondav evening. and TO wilmington on
Tnesdav aftdr seven months service in
,,o,.,l,orn Fr11,e with the American
comm,,tee br the Reconstruction OF
nevastated France" This committee
,,orting M cooperation with the
French rovtnment. is engaged in help
inc The refugees TO re-establish ther
homes andvillages in the stricken re-
gions. ,..or,os
~ RECONSTRUCTION Worher .,tl ~,
saturated 'olution Of horror, with the
tragic stotes heard on every hand. AZ
erst a des not seem as If one could
stand n MT one gets Injured Ike a sur
coon ~ lis duties, or else the MorA
,,.o,,ld ot be DONE" continued Mrs.
II,Ilos Ter face grew radiant as she
doscrihe. the greatness Of soul OF the
rroncb beasant OF the war zones.
.The French people are magnificent!
r-,beiikably splendid They have gone
80 IN with courage to re-establlsh
,ho lib ~ northern France. Even tle
ii,tek khildren are wonderful. Never Is
Nd of complaint heard from these
-os,,ces The few times you do see.
tear shed II Is more apt TO De man
wh, is crying than a woman.
"fanv families have members missing
,,i, are unaccounted for. They come
bsk to where their homes were. Ihere
US no such thing left as home Dy lhe
IHns in northern France. inc HOUSES
yere levelled fiat with the GROUND. lhe
rfIgees had nothing to start anew, no
nod furniture or clothing. lhe
american committee supplied ulelh
,th the means to rebuild their houses
md TO get their villages into running
erd.r again. ,, d..
.The refugees" said Mrs. Hilles. are
coming back in greater NUMBERS 10
ther homes. Every family that comes
,ba6 makes conditions easierSior t'e
retrn Of others. One handicap. Is the
coriition OF the ground unfit for cui-
,ivtion. Men are killed every day by
unxploded shells buried in the soil
an struck by cultivating implement
Fofunatelv. these men are not infre- !
m.ntlv German prisoners put to work, !
vich does not seem quite so bad.
lust think Of it, Millions and mil !
Inns Of shells strewn over This war
zae. and made for no other purpose
I'm 10 kill and MAIN human beings
al men tell us women that that Is the
olv yyav the world can be run" eX-
aimed Mrs. Hilles vigorously. The eX-
amation was followed by a silence
.hich said louder than words, that wo-
,en would find a better way than war
settle human problems and dis
iutes.
MANY Of the French soldiers have
,een demohilized and returned TO their
families. One Of my pleasantest oXper-
fences was in helping a poilu to return /
to his family"
"I don't suppose YOU had much rest
time?" queried the reporter.
Il was supposed 90 have three days ]
leave each month" came the answer. I
AS a matter Of fact. had only three |
davs' leave in seven months. / did not |
feel that ! ought to spend the money or |
take the time for my own amusement. |
You can't imsgine how strange 1t seems |
TO me i'm Wilmington 10 have every
thing in such good condition and look
ing 50 completed. after seeing utter !
destruction for seven months.
These peaanls in the richest part OF
France" She went on with animation, |
had never thought Of the Germans. the |
Germans thought they would terrorize |
all France by striking at these people, |
but they made mistake. Ihey /
destroyed and ravaged, and made life a |
reign OF terror for five years for the |
reasants Of northern France, but the
courage OF the French people could not
In shaken. France has suffered as no
cher nation in The extent OF deNasta- |
tim Of its territory"
Mrs. Hilles scored emphatically the
bd postal conditions under the Burle-
s,n administration. Like other workers,
se received but a tiny fraction OF
ppers and magazines sent to her head
qTarters at scissors.
Are you going to work actively for
MITIGATION Of the Federal suffrage
amendment by the Delaware Legisla-