Evening star., 1921-12-16
|EP|DEM|CS DRIVEN
OUT OF SERBIA
People, Starving, in Rags in
1918, Now Strong, vigor-
GUS and Well Fed.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NISH, Jugoslavia, November I'll
Serbia today Is practically free Of
epidemics Of disease. The population
never enjoyed better health or more
genuine contentment. The hospitals
| never held fewer patients. The death
rate seldom has been lower. Doctors
have rarely found 1t so difficult to
make living. This is regarded as
| remarkable in view of the fearful
scourses which claimed half its popu-
lation during the world war and the
lpost-armistice period.
The correspondent, who visited Ser
! bia at irregular intervals during 1918,
1919 and 1890, recently made another
journey through the country. He
noted an amazing change in the appear
women looked strong. vigorous and
well fed. They wore the finest home
spun clothing. The children were fat,
rosy-cheeked and full of life. The
babies were plump. bright-eyed and
Everywhere the homes were examples
'of cleanliness, comfort and abun-
dance.
SOrdfd Picture In 1918.
No such picture could be found in
Serbia in years previous. In 1918, for
example. when the armistice merci-
FULLY lntervened and saved Serbia
from extinction. the correspondent
saw men and women clad in rags.
afflicted with disease. homeless and
hopeless. dying Of inanition as they
walked. He observed babies wrapped
IN empty Hour sacks, in newspapers.
and even in pieced-together leaves
the bones showing through their frail
little bodies for want Of sustenance
or as result of disease. He visited
hospitals packed with typhus-ridden
patients: orphanages overflowing with
parentless children: asylums crowded
with the feeble-minded and distracted
But Serbia Of 1871 or Jugoslavia. as
II rs more correct to call 1t. presents
different scene. The country has
emerged from those years of misery,
want and woe in an almost mirac-
ulous fashion. 1t is a changed ma
uon. not merely politically and ter
ritorially. but physically and spirit
ually. While the rest of the world
has been squabbling over territorial
boundaries. economic zones, repara-
tons. indemnities and internal strife.
Jugoslavia has been Saving wood"
and minding her own business
Her house is now completely in order.
Ana 1t Is model house for the rest
of the world to see.
American Aid Vital.
This metamorphosis-for such il
, must be called-may be ascribed first,
to the country's freedom from war;
second. to the unceasing thrift and
! energy of its people: third. to the
abundance of foodstufTs. clothing,
| medicines and othe e> necessaries which
! the country up to ~ had lacked;
| fourth. to the mat.~I assistance
/ given by the American Food Admin
| lstration and the American Eed Cross:
! fifth, to the self-sacrificing work of
the Serbian doctors and sanitary au-
| thortties; sixth. to the sanitary and
medical reforms introduced by Amer
| ican. British and French doctors and
! nurses during and since the war.
! 1t would be difficult to find any
where else in the world a people at
once so happy, healthy. hopeful. pros
porous and active as the Serbian
| peasantry. Certainly their counter
| part cannot be found anywhere
| among the diverse races of the Bal
kan peninsula.
1t is true that here and there a home
! has been saddened by the loss in war
of husband or a brother or a father.
! but. taken collectively. it may be said
| that the welfare of the Jugoslav was
never better; their morale seldom
higher: their usefulness as factors to
society never more apparent; their
| future never more full Of promise.