The Mena weekly star., 1920-08-19
RED CROSS AND
 SLAY CHILDREN
Nursery Ship Bearing 800 i'oys and Girls Steams Toward New York Homecoming to Many Will Be
 Mournful.

Homecoming to Many Will Be
 Mournful.
 San Francisco, Aug. 16.-On board the big gray Japanese freighter Yo- mel Maru, now steaming toward New York svia the Panama Canal, are TSP pairs of bright eyes that are never turned eastward. Bearing the most unusual cargo it ever carried, the big Red Cross nursery ship" has now covered about half of it's 10,000-mile journey to repatriate nearly 500 Rus sian boys and girls who for two years have wandered just a few miles in ad- vance of the bitter fighting in Siberia.
 They are going nome" but there is not one that does not realize that when Petrograd, the city from which they were sent by their parents in 1918, is reached it may be an occasion for mourning instead of joy. Only a few of the children have had any word from their parents.
 Their visit to America is the bright est spot in their lives. At San Fran cisco the Junior Red Cross feted and entertained them in manner far be- yond anything they had thought pos sible.
 It was there many saw automobiles for the first time, and road in them. 1t was there they saw flowers, peace and plenty for the first time since 1914.
 And now, though they are looking forward to their visit to New York City, their thoughts are turning to home" with increased yearning.
 Gathered from various camps in different sections of their war-torn country the little tots, many suffering from malnutrition and hardships, were brought across the far Pacific from the Siberian port of Vladivostok They are in the custody of the American Red Cross, which has 'mothered' them for two years.
 Ranging in age from three to twen- ty years, the kiddies have behaved wonderfully aboard the ship.
 It was in May, 1918, that these chil- dren were sent from their parents shelter in Petrograd into the Ural mountains in Siberia, where food was more plentiful and where there was less hardship and disease.
 Fighting developing in the summer of 1918 between the Bolshevik forces and the Czecho- Slovak armies cut off the children's colonies in the Ural mountains from access to Petrograd. The rail lines were blocked and the children were compelled to flee to ter ritory further east in Siberia.
 Food became short and many of the youngsters were forced to work m the fields so far as to secure food for the younger children. Then winter set in with all it's terrors in the Siberian fields. Short of food and clothing, chilled by the severe snows and virulent epidemics the ranks of the little band of children rapidly became depleted.
 tecting arm of the American Red Cross, working from it's base at Vlad- ivostok, reached out and began gath ering the youngsters into it's fold. A colony was established on an island in the harbor of Vladivostok where the little refugees were slowly but surely gathered.
 After travelling $500 miles across
  children were in sore straits on their arrival at the Red Cross colony. Food clothing and medical attendance were lavishly bestowed upon them. A few died, but thru the wonderful efforts of the Red Cross workers those that came in yesterday were nursed back to health.
 However, three little tots-one kS.xx ~ IL bay of the big Japanese freighter. These three little waifs are making a plucky fight against the ravages of the dreaded white plague.
 Efforts were made several months ago to transport the children back to their homes in Petrograd via the Trans Siberian Railway. Special cars were fitted for the long journey, and everything was made in readiness, but suddenly the fate of war again set itself against the children. The night before their departure the Japanese armies began their attack on the Bol- shevik forces and to cross the lines would have meant massacre.
 Then the Red Cross endeavored to secure an American transport for this journey, but all the army transports ! were busy moving troops and the only course left open was to charter the Japanese freighter, Yomei Maru Tragedy is written on every little child's face aboard the big ship. A ! longing to be caressed by fond moth CT or father and child's intuition as if in expectancy that cruel fate has taken their parents into the great un- known seem to throb in every little soul.
 Two children of family of Russian nobility are among the TSP youngsters. These are Lev, aged eleven, and Ro- bert, aged thirteen years. Both are the sons of the Baroness Willert, who was last heard from fleeing from Petrograd following the reign of terror instituted by the Bol- i shevik forces.
 Among the children is the champion l boy swimmer of Petrograd, Nikola Eyoroff, who holds various records. ----------o-----------