The Monroe journal., 1919-01-07
RFCONSTRUCTION WORK IN
FRANCE BY THE QUAkEHs
Work Was Begun Early in the War
By the English society of Eriea,ls
With Americans Taking IL Up in
I9f7-Did Not Try to Eyatie Re-
S,eaYNf NfbsIifN
s;slnsibiIity.


We are using. We quote the follow
Country Gentleman telling of the
work of the Quaker's on the battle
fields of France:
Almost Immediately after the
first battle of the Marne. in 1914.
Quaker Unit went from England TO
render relief to the war-Stricken suf-
fcreis in the Marne valley. The
Qraker Unit made Sermaize. beau
Uful but almost totally ruined town
al the eastern edge OF the German
drive. headquarters for its operation.
The members of the unit set up
temporary houses To shelter the dis
tressed peasants through the winter.
They organized a maternity hospital.
AN orphanace, and civilian hospital
To deal with emergency cases. and
they provided necessary clothing and
food supplies for those i'm extreme
need. and so aided the inhabitants
up and down the valley to stand the
stress of the first winter of the war.
As soon as spring came they Went
TO work to organize the agricultural
operations of the devasta region,
y large stock of farm machinery and
implements together with seeds and
grain for spring planting and sowing
was secured. Tilling operations on
a large scale were started. bringing
extensive areas once more under cul-
tivation. This relief and construc-
tive work Went on very successfully.
but with TOO few people TO man it,
until the time when America entered
the war
American Friends al once decided
to join their English colleagues in
the Overwhelming work of relief.
Through GraysOn Mallet-Provost
Murphy. head of the Red Cross Com
mission TO France. members of the
Society of Friends were asked to
form unit for the work of recon-
struction in the devastated areas. A
hundred men were chosen and train
ed during the summer of 1917 at
Haverford College. They sailed for
France in the early autumn and by
joiht arrangement they were merged
with the veteran English unit. and
a bureau of civilian relief under the
American Red Cross. Additional men
and number of trained women
workers were from time TO time sent
over to enlarge the working force
until ii became five hundred strong.
AS soon as il was possible to
enter the Somme region after the
famous withdrawal of Hindenburgs
army in 1917. members of the Quaker
Unit took up the work of bringing
the people back to temporary homes
and of re-organizing agriculture
along the Somme valley. as they had
already done along the MarGe. \
large outfit of farming machinery, in
| Guiding tractor engines. gang plows,
| the most approved types OF harrows
and cultivators. reapers and binders,
moving machine. threshers and
straw balers. was sent over from
America The unit contained many
| farmers from the great farming belts
| of the West. young men full of drive
| and enthusiasm and at the same time
| equipped with technical skill and eff
| ficiency. They organized the avail
able local workers and proceeded TO
produce great harvest on the
Somme. which had been laid waste
| by the retreating Germany Army,
This task was going forward with
great promise when suddenly. with
out any warning, until the shells be-
gan to fall round the workers. the
! disastrous retirement of last March
occurred, bringing ruin second time
to the rebuilt villages and the re-
constructed farms.
For the members of the unit there
| followed period OF natural depres-
sion ut the thought that their months
of labor on the fields of the Somme
and all houses they had built for the
people were thrown away and that
the invading army would reap the
wheat they had sown. But optimism
quickly returned. They had proved
that these fields with their shell holes
could be redeemed they had re-
stored the spirit of the French fami-
lies and had turned their thoughts
from their tragedies 10 interesting
work on the fields. In the crisis they
had acted as sheperds of the flock
and after the catastrophe they built
refugee villages in Eastern France
for many of the sufferers.
Meantime the farming work In
safer regions-the Marne and the
Meuse valleys-went on unabated.
The men in these two districts
threshed the grain in thirty villages,
nearly a thousand tons: they swal-
lowed dust in large quantities. lived
the simple. hard life of the peasant
learned that whatever one may think
of germs in other countries, one can
live, yes. and enjoy life even il the
manure pile is Immediately opposite
the front door. Some lived in cara
vans, others in barns, some even had
good beds: they suffered from mud
aud cold and lack of transport bu'
they enjoyed the friendship OF The
French people.
"All repair work on machines and
tools has been done by members oi
the unit. Each equipe. or local Group
has it's forge and workshop, where
anything from hoe to a reaper OF
tractor can be repaired. They shoe
their own horses and are rs inde
uendent MS "A New England rura