Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-12-31
A R
sUNITES TO AID
EUROPEAN-C CHILDREN
Continued from Page ~

three .eighths of one per cent. with
out any remuneration to the .Ameri-
can directors. Now he asks us all to
help save the children who are in
inln,inentS danger of starvation this
coming winter. ID, :.
There they are. in the midst of
wrecked homes and farms. and fac
tories: in cities crowded with masses
of refugees without sustaining food
for planting, raw materials, tools. and
machinery. gone; great areas with ev-
erything burned. or looted, or smash
ed; vast unemployment for workers;
no means of subsistence; a land of
economic ruin, Of mutilated life. and
lingering DEATH. and in the midst of
it all-the little children.
I'm long lines they are. waiting at
the American food-kitchens. Will the
food be there for them? Will they
be turned away? There are no happy,
healthy faces in those long lines-not
one. You have seen rags and bare
footed children, but lever 80 many
little boys and girls literally dressed
in tatters. Soon it will be Very cold,
and for those bare little feet and legs
and arms there is nothing at home to
put on.
Hollow faces and shrunken bodies
are SO common that their real condi-
ton does not become evident until we
inquire more closely, and then we find
that most of them Ire from one to
five years back in their growth. Chill
dren of eight years old have not
reached the normal size of two ,and~a
half. They are just learning to stand
alone.s Others almost as old can not
vet stand on their feet. Their arms,
and legs. and spines. and chests are
twisted and warped. The flesh and
skin are shriveled on their bones. 1t
is surprising that life can still exist
there. If they can have food they
will gradually regain their health and
strength. but with most of them it is
a question of now or never. Starva-
ton and tuberculosis will not wait.
In foiand alone d 1,i,iion flve nun
dred thousand such children must be
cared for. In Latvla and Esthon'a
the people are living mostly on a diet
'7a'e from potato-flower, oat-flower.
and sawdust. In Czecho-Slovak:a. in
Hungary, in Austria, and in other
countries Of central and southeastern
Europe. two millions more are in dire
need, of food; and who stops to ask
regarding creed, or race. or nationality
when Il little child is starving? Chill
dren are just children the world over,
and the great American heart is big
enough to care for them all.
But the appeal now is not for all.
THE three and a half millions of chill
tlren in immediate danger Nof starva-
tion. if this organization fails. who
must have food at once. are only a
fraction Of the total number. The
hungry children of those destitute
countries have been examined by COM
petent physicians. and only those
whose wasted little. bodies are reduced
10 the minimum weight. and whose
endurance of hunger has reached the
end which merges into actual starva-
: lion. are admitted to the American
kitchens and given one meal "A day. II
is hard to turn aw ay thousands of hum.
cry boys and girls-to hear them ask
pleadinfly. SO l weigh too much?'
Am Issnot. thin enough?" Cant ]
come any more?" But this restricting
nf food to extreme cases is. compulsory
!iscalise there isn't enough for ALL.
And the &neediest ones cannot reach
I :fle Kitchens through the cold. winds
:Ild snow barefooted and in the. pitifu
rags which form only a partial cover.
:fig OF their bodies. They must have
clothes. Each OUTFIT consists of one
pair sof warm wooden stockings. one
pair of boots and a little overcoat
This one meal q day, and. these boots
stockings and little coats car be sup
piled only il we give them. 5Ifawe.( dc
.lot.ssthefslaughter of the ~innocentssb5
cold and starvation will he appalling
Among the more than two million
men and women who read this page
there is not one-rhere cannot be 1
single one-whose heart will not re.
u spond gladly and eagerly TO the schal,
lengesof this great need.We are ask.
Mr.6Hoover in raising t~wenty-thret
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