Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-12-18
R.RY VICTIMS
OF HUN HORRORS.
IN WAR Zone
Thousands of Little Unfortunates
Still Show Many Traces of
Savage Barbarity
EDUCATION IS IN ARREARS
For q Generation Children Will Con.
tinue to Study on IS per Cent
Efficiency Basis-Trying
to Equip Schools.

It cannot recommence until Germany
pays the war damages, to France, and
France subdivides the. indemnity into
the proportions demanded by each de.
pnrtiuent canton and commune for the
erection and equipment of schools.
A. Germany is only expected to pay
% 0O0.Go0 francs Immediately and the
rest in twenty years, the most hopeful
outlook for French education Is one
quarter Of the prewar force and equip
ment within the next two decades.
In the meantime, sdys the Brooklyn
Eagle. children who ceased to attend
school in 1914 are five years In arrears.
and for q generation will continue to
study on % per cent efficiency basis.
The instructor often returns to
ruined village long before there Is any
school fnr him to teach. His own home
IS a heap of ruins and he has to COM
mence to dig among the debris to find
any buried belongings, and to erect out
~ the heap Of stones shelter for
himself. The government is supplying
as fast as possible wooden barracks,
one end Of which Is sometimes par.
titioned for the teacher to live in, the
other end for the scholars to cOngre-
gate.
Living In Duaouts.
When the government cannot supply
the barracks, people Of the town have
salvaged the corrugated iron dugouts
left by the Germans called Neissen
nuts. These dugouts are like barrel
cut lergthwise and bOmbprOof: also
these iron shelters are sweltering hot
in summer and bitter cold in winter.
They We're meant to be placed under
ground not used as surface buildings.
bur any shelter in the devastated re-
gion is acceptable. and this salvage
can re,,lice the school buildings.
inside these improvised schoolhouses
thare is nothing. An enterprising
sy.,oolmaster will find planks in the
nearby trenches, and If he can find
nails III, will knock together bench
for his PUPILS to sit upon. If he can
o,,tain ,.nalk, he has his class in arith-
nrtlc f.nre on the rough walls In lieu
of h'ckboard. If he has sufficient
me,nory he teaches his pupils what he
remembers of history and geography.
sur. ey made in July, 1919, showed
that In - Of the villages under the
s,lncrvi. :nn of the American commit.
tee. 90 ,mprovised schools had been
opened. and four were expected to
open In October. From the 80 villages
still without instructors or school shell
ter. the children must walk from three
to ten niles to the nearest school.
This w..lk in winter. In the fog and
r, In ami mud. ill-clad and undernour-
ishcd, * a strain upon the frail con-
stitutinns that may result in the loss
Of young life.
The children at home. sheltered In
the cellar Of a destroyed house where
many people live together, calico cur
taln sometimes the only wall ss.parat-
In. family beds, are under as unhealthy
contlitinls and as exposed as on the
trip to the nearest schoolhouse. II the
schoalh. uses were equipped, the Jour-
nty to school on q winters day would
he worth while, but as 1t is, the only
induceirnt held out to the youth OF
the isolated villages is the afternoon
"gnuter" or four o'clock lunch pro-
vided nv the Hoover commission and
distributed by the American commit
tee.
Patriotic Though Suffering.
The Instructors are government paid.
their s;,Iuries varying from $50 to aOJ
francs month. The French govern.
mcnt owns the school buildings and
equps the schools, the taxes In the
pas, levied on the communes making
possible this support. When communes
are wiped out and buildings are non
existent. taxes cannot be levied, and
until readjustment Of government
finances is accomplished there Is little
PROSPECT of adequate school facilities
In the war-wrecked area.
Motoring one afternoon through the
beautiful Aisne valley, where scarlet
popties covered the pock-maked fields
and the great war seemed as far away
as the Roman wars, workers of the
American committee on devastated
France heard the faint strains OF
poor vio@n and the high-pitched voices
OF chi.,'en singing the "Marseilles."
They stopped the motor and w on
bluff by the roadside saw tiny hut
TO which they climbed and found nine
children grouped around hoy OF
twelve Tluying his homemade instru.
maa al J 'eading the singing Of theii
nati..nai anthem.
The days instruction was over and
the children were about to scatter, but
every day before they parted their pa.
triotism broke forth In song.
These are the children whose ter.
rihle war experiences have left them
nervous and frightened and who must
li,e fol- many years to come among
surroundings of jesolatlon and sad
ness.
The problem In France Is not only
the low birth rate, but the dreadful
infant mortality. The American COM
mitiee Is doing prenatal work as well
as child hygiene, but to carry this on
with the thoroughness and extent
that should bring the best results
iar~e nf u.nnev mnst be raised.