Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1920-04-15
UNPRODUCTIVE LAND
IN AREA OF FRANCE
TO Be CULTIVATED

"The land in the devastated area of
F'rance, except for a few small un-
productive sections, will be restored
10 cultivation within year.
As against a pre-war population OF
100000 civilians in the devastated
section. it is estimated that approx
mately 100000 have returned to their
homes.
'Ia such war centers as Rheims, st
Quentin, Lens, and Chateau-Thierry
between % and 70 per cent. of the
original populations are again in their
homes picking up the thread of life
where il was broken six years ago
3dl;g,ons services are being held il
the partly restored cathedrals
Rheims and Noyons.
"The cheerful sight of smoke pour
ne from some OF the chimneys of Lille
Roubaix and other Industrial centers
in the formerly occupied area offers
aope OF alarger resumption of indus
trial activity in 4 comparatively shori
time"
Such are the concrete evidences OF
progress toward a return to norma
conditions in France and Belgium an(
he approaching close of Red Gross
relief work in those countries report
ID by Lieutenant-Colon Knowlton
Mixer, of Buffalo, Red Cross Commits
sioner to France. who has reached the
United States after eighteen months OF
work in the war-wrecked area. Col
Mixer returns to help rirect the worl
IF the Federated Charities of Balti
more
Farm implements supplied by tho
red Cross have enabled thousands o
french farmers to restore their lands
o the point whore the necessities o
life are being produced, while sewini
machines and household equipmen
lroyided by the American relief or
CARNATIONS have made it possible<foi
he French housewife to keep pace
yita her husband in the work of re
aabilitation.
Take for example a peasant farmer
whom ! saw from time to time in the
q emin-des- DANES region said Col
Mixer, "He moved last summer to thf
center of The battlefield, where hi
property lay, began blowing the lane
without attempting - fiji the she
holes. and. with his Own hands. ont
craps of iron and wood picked up o.
he battlefield, built four small build
nga and barn, while he and his fam
" lived in q German concrete bloch
a9Ese When ] saw him early in Feb
euary he had al least ten acres under
cultivation and was operating a small
poultry farm
The new children of France are be
ing dressed in clothes made by Ameri-
eGn women. French and Belgian
mothers have thanked me with tears
in their eyes for the help so given.
The way in which American women
we're allie to produce garments and
iayettes of fabrics and design that met
ali the requirements of French Gus
t0AHS ana AAEQ4tioHS IstS always HGtH
a marvel 20 u.s."
-Four hundred barracks salvaged
by the American Red Cross are stir
occupied by homeless refugees" con
timed Col Mixer. and are being used
as dwellings. schools. churches, food
distribution eeRters and civic centers
IKE devotion OF nurses and Others
who have aided in this work of recon
st-uetion is worthy OF the highest
praise"
Approximately lT0 million francs
worth of material was distributed to
French refugees and farmers during
1919 at a nominal cost 10 the Red
Cross, Col Mixer says With the de-
creasing needs of the French popula-
ton it has become possible to turn
further supplies of donated material,
including not only garments, but
fabrics and unfinished clothes. into
Russia, Poland, the Balkans. and other
regions more in need of Red Cross aid
Distribution win be continued in some
Of The more slowly recovering sections
Of France until the early summer.