The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-25
SERBIAN WOMAN MAKES PLEA FOR
 POOR CHILDREN
Helen Sosanitch Paints Vi vid Word Picture of Suffer
 ing Among Her People
OF PRINCE REGENT OF SERBIA IN AMERICA TO SEEK AID FOR HALF MILLION DESTITUTE CHILDREN.
Miss Helen Losanitch Paints Vivid World Picture Of Suffering
 Among Her People.

Authorized to speak for Prince Regent Alexander of Serbia, Miss Helen Losanitch, daughter of a mem Der of the Serbian Ministry, arrived
 in New York last week to plead the cause of half a million homeless Ser
 bian children. Her native land
 wrecked after six continuous years ot war, Serbia today is a country of old
 men, women and children, Miss Los
 anitch declared, and unless expe-
 diency is exercised in relieving the
 distress and Restitution of the juvenile
 population Serbia is threatened with
 bankruptcy of it's humanity.
 'tF'or six years Serbia has been at
 war;" Miss Losanitch stated at the
 headquarters of the Serbian Child
 Welfare Association of America, No. ' West Eighth street, New York, to
 which organization she came to re- port on present day conditions. Dur
 ing the two years preceding the
 Great War, Serbia was engaged in the Balkan campaign, and throughout the entire time her resources and en-
 ergies were devoted to equipping and maintaining it's army. As a result its industries and its people have been neglected. Now it is a land of old men, women and children.
 All through the war the old spirit of giving first consideration to wom- en and children was reversed; women l and children gave way to the fighting i forces, and men were given every i comfort that they might be physically i fit to protect the country. That is why the women and children today are in such a pitiable condition. Thousands of children do not even know their own names; fully 150,G0O l have no fathers and at least 50,000
 are without either mothers or fath- CTS. They are found here and there
 living as best they can, having wan,
 dered from their devastated home:
 after their parents were killed. 1 is not an uncommon sight to fnC little children who have cared fol themselves for many months.
 Before the war there were abou 7 400 physicians in Serbia; now there : are scarcely 100 and the need fol them is infinitely greater. Two
 thirds of the orphans are tubercuIa1 and almost every Serbian child is suf l fering from maInutrition.
 ''Industrially and economically Ser 7 bia suffered immeasurably greate than any nation in the war, but be : cause of her position her condition 3 has not been given the spectacula } prominence of others. The grea power of the Central nations wa t directed to the Western Front and fo cused attention of the civilized worl, l to the depredations practiced there l At the same time, Serbia, almos \ alone and all but deserted, held tn
 gateway to the East. "F'or it's heroic sacrifice and 1oyalt l to an age-old principle, Serbia toda, ? is paying the cost in suffering am misery and it's tragic fate empha sizes it's characterization as the "Bel Sium of the Balkans
 To-day we are striving to redeem r our destroyed but not disheartene, ) humanity through the upbuiIding o 5 our children. Through America1 relief, orphanages have been estab ) lished where pitifu1 string of youth : ful humanity appeal daily for aid
 We converted an old military bar racks at Chachak into a baby she1te
 and slowly but surely we are gaininj l headway. Serbia looks to Americ l to answer the plea of stricken hu manity."