American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-05-09

customary governmental. red tape delay must be
endured. And in the meantime the soldier had
to sleep on Il bed of straw in the severest part OF
winter, with only his overcoat for u covering. lie
had no money to buy food.
One of the. American committee women took
care of the discharged fighter. He was given the
barest necessities and just enough food to keep
going, and he was saved from a lot of hardship and
suffering.
The soldiers experience was typical of the com"
mittee's work. 1t is for cases like this one that
American aid from the Red Cross warehouses will
be a godsend.
Red Cross Work.
Six big warehouses are being established in
France by the Red Cross, and two in Belgium.
For French relief work these stOrehouses are To-
Gated at Lille, Amiens, Laon, Chalons, Verdun,
Mezieres. And the Belgian stations are at Adm
kerke and Courtrai. Here the supplies brought to
France originally for use of the American army
are to be gathered and distributed in cooperation
with the French government. There is a vast sup
ply of stuff available. There are many motor
trucks and hospital supplies no longer needed by
the American Expeditionary forces. And they will
assist the French people IN their tremendous job
of reconstruction.
Aiding in reconstruction here in France, as
viewed by a majority of the Americans who are
trying to help, is n proposition of giving first aid
supplying n small iron stove and some bedding
and n little food-and not taking on the actual re-
pair of destroyed houses, except to furnish when
ever possible such items as a few yards of oiled
paper to patch up a few windows in order to give
the French family one room that can be warmed
during the cold weather.
Stoves, for instance, are very difficult to obtain.
A small sheettron heater that would cost about
81 in America, possibly less, costs S15 to $40 at
the usual French supply house. 1t is an made
quate stow ut best. 1t gives out very little heat.
II barely .cs the chill off an ordinary sized room.
Yet it is . Npensive item because the French and
ENGLISH HOripS are nor DrD1upin1 ot fuI On
u niUy yet and because when the stove has been
manufactured it is difficult to transport it.
Seventeen per cent Of the personnel Of the
French railroad system was modified and has not
yet been put back to work. Consequently there is
the spectacle of hundreds of trainloads Of vital
necessities sidetracked and delayed indefinitely.
The relief committees use their powerful inau-
ence TO get hold of the stoves that can be found
by hook or crook in France. They endeavor to get
the stoves donated, or pay for them at cost prices,
and are then able to either sell or give the stove
to the peasant at a fairly low figure. Ten dollars
is considered a fair price when a sale is made.
Throughout the work of Miss Anne Morgan's
committee an effort is made to refrain from pau
perizing the peasant, which IS difficult, because the
peasant is inherently thrifty, and as a general rule
is very anxious to be pauperized. Pauperization.
when viewed from the standpoint of a peasant
who is a war sufferer, and whose money is always
earned at great expenditure Of labor, is not an
ugly word, or an undesirable condition.
In fact. u. and Nine. Peasant by the hundreds
will bring errible tales of pr~ivation to the com.
mittee workers in the hope that intensive paupert
zation will set in Mt once. And the conmittaa has
TO go TO some trouble to ascertain whether or not
the tale of horrible misfortune is true. Usually
the mayor of the village or some of the thoroughly
reliable inhabitants know perfectly well what
should be done in the matter. And the committee
women rely on the Judgment of the French official.
to a large extent. They also have a pretty foI,
knowledge Of the status of hundreds of famiIie.
in their section Of France. which. roughly sneak
ing. is q group Of So villages between yic-xur
Aisne and scissors, because they have been work
ing In this section a couple Of years.