Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-06-06
VILLAGES AROUND SCISSORS.

~
q. ~ twelve went to the post offic'
~ ito prepare for our marriages
2 please note the pluraD. They
were brother and sister. Also. or
.phans. And neither had yet picked
out life partner.
''Oh. no." they looked up. cheerfully
.ecandalized. Were much too young
Its just about the dots"
,.. The dot. dotation, marriage portion
and as they had to do it on their owl
If done at all, they hurried with theil
first disposable starting money to the
village post office-a visitor OF thu
American committee had been more
than generous. Were much too old.
they added. proudly. 1T is going te
be very expensive"
:. The postmaster was not surprised
30 you need not be; although devoted
American women working in the re-
"gion might be both surprised and en-
couraged to learn how army devas.
tated parents can show the little ton.
tine passbooks (only they do not show
land might be misjudged-what, child
insurance? The joyful part is how
early the children learn to count uI
pages on pages Uttered with postage
stamps. hugging to their little hearts
the proof that they have almost paid
their annual premium. What pre-.
lnium? Why. premium on a success.
tul life. on woman's natural role. or
happiness!
When the girl child gets a cent. she
buys a stamp instead of hoky-poky
land she gums it into her passbook, to
be that much nearer to matrimony.
Tt counts a cash deposit. being al
. post office business" explains Jeanne
we've all the year to make it up"
But II you die" I said. you lose
.1narry.''
But lapses!' I objected.
They are wickedness. The post Of
nee lets you pay up. even after three
years. by arrangement. All through
the war they carried those kids OF
-Laon without a sou. because they
were prisoners. Never lose your pass
~book! she intoned like a Iitany
Think Of the unhappy girl withou,
n dot! She may be good and pretty
her. What would they do in case OF
sickness or misfortune? Young folks
must not marry without having two
years living assured in advance
We've got to perseveren'
Oughtn't boys to presevere. too?'
cries an indignant little girls voice
from the lilacs.
Dan is persevering," snapped his
sister.
Huh. he's just beginning"
OF course. you do not hear these
.tnings unless you get to know the
children. Long ago, patient geniuses
OF the French Postal State Bank of
Deposits and CONGREGATIONS started
TINS pure tontine machinery on the
ordinary life tables, for any who
might care to use it (within iimits),
as one variation of quite a series OF
oev1ces to tempt saving. Only shortly
before the war did they grasp its ex-
- ceHent application to children. Fami-
payments IN case of decease; then.
finally, a word changed all to popu-
I iartty-it Is just the opposite Of child
insurance. And France needs mar
. riages.
The government tells them so. and
they believe it. They have enormous
conddence. Also, they are not poor,
but hard up. The American committee
Tor devastated France has not b
pauper problem on itS>,hands, but peo-
.pie who were prosperous. who have
been smashed, but still have prop
-erty-in bad shape. and undoubtedly
they will be very prosperous again.
These two orphans have a claim
against the government. Now they
are going in for another.
Deferred capital" Jeanne reads
from the government leaflet. Listen
to what the post Office says: This as
surance offers to parents the means to
constitute do-ta-tion for the es-
Establishment Of their children The
tables are made out from three years
The boy was right. The tot of six,
Tor example. who prudently looks for
ward to marriage. has a great ad-
vantage In beginning SO young. She
paye $3.50 per year and draws out
$3.50 at the age of twenty-if still
living. Jeanne. beginning at the age
of twelve, must pay somewhat
-gr6ater total in premiums. enjoy less
interest accumulation, and profit less
by the comparatively high child NOR
tally. All the same, she is limited to
~teA policies-to aggregate her, could
i-ehe compass them. $4,000. The gov
Ferument might go broke If it allowed
the rich to plunge in the investment.
This child mortality is one of the
things which the American committee
has to light. Already high in France,
II rose badly in 1914, was brought
s-doWn courageously in 1916. but is still
, entirely too high;
The boys and girls whose homes
became battleflelds are subnormal t.
the extent of being from one to three
years behind other children of their
age in physical development" says
Mrs. Mary Breckinridge Thompson OF
st. Luke,s Nurses Training School
New York, who heads this branch OF
the committees work from centers
of Blerancourt, Laon, scissors and
-Vic-sur-Aisne. In three months, they
held thirty-fve baby clinics, and one
week after opening that of Bleran-
court 215 children had been brought
by their parents for examination.
Their looks bear evidence to years
@of undernourishment, either as Ger
man prisoners or refugees" she says
land maladies resulting from NAL
nutrition are rampant in the coun-
try"
Many are behindhand in mental de.
.velopment," says Head Nurse Thomp-
-son. Childishness mingles with terri
bile experience, to produce (if I may
-urbanity. It is agreed that the wal
has given them their sweet. pathetic
manners. They are the best behaved
children in the world.
AnA they have the least fun!
Many have today. for their gayes
a can soldier, with his silent. gentle
ways and enigmatic smile, and cand,
always in his pocket. The Spoken
Language failed them. The souvenir
remains.
wish I could see my American
i. says Angelo. Yet. by lack of mu
tual language, he was unable, once
to protect the child. and does no
know to this day. Should this NEE
his eye he will understand the littl,
sone's idealizing Of him as too bis
and wonderful to be brought into an!
-little trouble of her own. They hav,
=stern grandparents. up here-lots o
grandparents, after the war.
= The soldier had invented q gam
with Angelo. Silently he woul,
throw q stick of chocolate into he
lap at q moment when she was no
looking. then pretend, by gestures
of innocence. to know nothing abou