The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-03-24
FRIENDS BEGIN TO
LEAVE FRANCE; HAVE
Done GREAT WORK

The Friends relief units in France
began their withdrawal early in March
and the end of the month will see the
complete winding up Of the work.
The exceptions to this will be the
maternity hospital at Chalon, which
has been endowed with 100000
francs and which will be maintained
indefinitely by the Quakers; and the
work rooms, cooperative stores, car
pentery and recreation classes, libra
ries and village community centres,
which will gradually be turned over
to French management.
The Friends service committee,
whose American headquarters are at
20 South Twelfth street, Philadelphia.
was assigned after the armistice, the
reconstruction of the territory west OF
Verdun which had been completely
devastated and which was made fam
GUS as the scene of the American Ar
come advance. So thoroughly has
the work been done that in no other
part of the whole battle line has the
Village and farm life begun again on
anything like the same scale.
1866 Villages Helped
The Relief department. OF the FRIENDS
mission reports that 1t has helpeo
1866 villages and 46,l66 families. 1T
has distributed 1S9,137 articles OF
clothing, 1906 covers and sheets,
2O32 Shoes 1923 beds and mattresses
and $40 articles of furniture.
The agricultural department has
pIowed 1916 acres mostly in small
pieces of about 1-3 of an acre and has
thrashed 6,712 tons of grain, much
of which it harvested itself. 1t has
also distributed $4,000 chickens. 5000
rabbits / 900 bee colonies, 22.oOO fruit
trees and numerous goats, sheep and
other live stock. Eight institutions
for civilian medical relief were main
tanned at different times, also dent
lists, opticians and district nurses
The transport department last sum
mer operated 80 machines. The build
ing depa rtment erected 1883 houses
in 25 villages OF these 100 were
erected in Varennes, SO in Very. ~ III
Montfaucon, IS in Aubreville and y in
Neuvilly, renamed by the French
Cite DIES Amis" Getty Of Friends).
Most of these houses were manu1a c
,tured by the Friends themselves in
their two factories at Dole and Or
mans. interchangeable parts being con
structed. Perhaps the feature of the
work which will have the greatest
permanent effect on the country was
the maintenance of II cooperative
stores where the refugees could obtain
necessary articles at prices Delo"
cost. Each of these stores minlstereC
to the needs of group OF surrounding
villages.
Without them the French peasant
would have had great difficulty II
starting his home again. Some OF the
articles sold in these stores were maze
by refugees who were given employ
ment in the manufacture of mattres
ses. brushes, embroidery, etc. These
stores are being turned over to
French society by the free dlstrlDu
ton of shares to all purchasers.
No Workers on Salary.
About 700 workers have been sen
from America, not one OF whom mas
served for salary.
The Friends are now also operating
in Germany, where they are making
preparations with Hoover's co-opera
ton to feed 100000 undernourished
children in Serbia. where they main
tain an orphanage and agriculture
school and medical dispensary, in Aus
tria, where they are~Tunning about 81
infant welfare centres, a large dairy
and a big clothing establishment, ant
in Poland, where a unit of about 81
is fighting the typhus.
Plans are progressing for work il
Mexico and in Russia where a Friends
unit was maintained before the revO
l1ton Many of the workers in France
are now going to the other European
fields whose operations are being rap
idly enlarged.