Connecticut western news., 1919-06-26
FOSTER PARENTS WANTED
FOR FRENCH ORPHANS
Last and Most Appealing OF
After-War Cam 49,.
paign ..

One of the most appealing %
the after-the-war campaigns will he
launched this month, asking for fos-
ter parents. for 10000 little war orr
phans of France. Mrs. Walter s.
Brewster, wife of the Roumanian
Consul to Chicago, Chairman of the
Chicago Committee and Vice-Press-
dent of the National Committee OF
The Fatherless Children of Francs,
has charge of the promotion of this
campaign. 49,. .r
Mrs. Brewster has just returned
from tour of investigation through
the devastated regions of France
The highest French officials pro
vided her with military escort and be-
slowed upon her every courtesy dur
ing her visit to the war zone. She
lived with the appalling conditions
of these children and their mothers-
she knows that thousands of childrcn
cover there" are undernourishsd.
starving, and succumbing to sickness
''In all the northern country,
says Mrs. Brewster, "there is no Va
lage untouched, and scarcely houss
with a roof. There is not a bridge
that has not been dynamitetd, fac
tory that has not been ruined. T&e
tales that are told of the boche i'm
vasion are unthinkable-shockin
Still the people of the north tell the
dispassionately. They have boras
so much they have no energy to show
excitement over their sufferina-
They are coming back into these
terrible towns as soon as they are
allowed. They bring their posses
sions with them in two string bags.
usually. Possibly they have enough
to fill red cotton tablecloth knottux
at the corners. To Cambria, 17,00e
out of pre-war population of 20 ,o0e
have returned. They live ten smS
twelve in a room, and many of The
rooms have no roofs.
''For two days we motored over
this northern country before we saw
COW, chicken or a horse. Tia
country is stripped bare of every.
thing that makes it livable. But ~
the French it is still lovable. AS yp~
ride through it your pity for France
| is infinite. But in your mind are
no words to express your feelings To-
ward Germany. There are miles and
miles of grayish-brown dust where
were fertile farms, pleasant Villages
forests and orchards. About Verdunv
as far as you can see, are heaps Oh
sand, no sign of life that was, no
promise of any life to come. Z
"Here and there is a cross wher1
some soldier, killed in the last days
of the fighting, is buried.
"Those who died in the ,frightfuI-
ness of the earlier battles lie some
where beneath that awful heap or
dust. All along this strip of dead
country are soldiers graves, singly
in the middle of plowed fields, INA
groups along the roads, or row after
row in some field cemetery The
fathers of many of the little children
for whom we are seeking to care ara
buried there, and more have left No
trace"
Every day of her stay in the wzr
zone it was made wildly clear 10
Mrs. Brewster that 1--WE must work
harder and faster than ever before-x
for thousands of children are perish
ing in France.
Under the plan of the campaign
being undertaken, each American
foster parent pledges ten cents day.
which makes SO a month, or $3.50
year, and this added to a tiny ali
lowance of the same amount allowed
by the French Government, means
saving grace to French child, allow
ing it not only to remain in its own
country, but with its widowed mother
instead of in an institution. Thus
are the broken remnants of the little
war families kept together. Each
foster parent is put in direct touch
with the child for whom she has
pledged the necessary 10 cents day.
and with its mother through CORES
pondence. Every cent subscribed
goes to the child. The expenses OF
this philanthropy are borne by gen
To adopt a child or to make dona-
erous friends of the organization
ton, large or small, write for infor-
nation to Mrs. Walter S. Brewster.
Room 634, 410 South Michigan ave
nue., Chicago, ILL.,, with whom all local
chairmen of The Fatherless Children
of France, in every community, are
cooperating.