Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-03-11
FIGHTING FAMINE
FROM BOX CAR OFFICE
Relief Workers In voIga Area
Adopt Costumes OF the

with q box car A. executive ONCE
ana living quarters and In tenn
p~ratur~ at 30 degrees below xcrc.
members cf tho Quaker Relief Unit are
nghting the famine that has spread
over tho vclgA region In Russia. Ty-
phus adds TO tho horror Of the situa-
ticn and the cold In 20 intense that
even railroad trains freeze to the
tracks after they have been standing n
few minutes.
"Ry contrast with home we lead a
life that In comparison with Spartan
Me IL rigorous" writes Miss Bculah
Hurley. In charge OF n unit in the Bu-
suluk section. ct In luxurious one.
however. compared TO the type of life
which We soc all about us. Scarcely a
day goes by but one may see at least
ono dead body lying along the way or
In the market place; ana three days
ago a father and mother and two chill
drcn dropped In the snow together. AT
n,sht ono can henri the cries and
pieadingS Of tho crowds nj the sta
ton entrances trying to seek BIT or
warmth: but no one may go into that
crowded mass except those really
waiting for trains. and 40 every morn
Ing the human bodies which have
frozen 10 death must be carried away
from tho entrances.
Even from among those who have
been all night In the station, heated
only by human warmth, bodies are
taken " those who died OF starva-
ton or cold. The cemetery itself is n
ghastly place where bodies are piled
NJ IN trenches like SO much cord wood
nnd the naked bones OF the bodies
makes the simile all the truer. The
pile IL now visible quarter mile
away. The clothing is always stripped
from the bodies. for IL Is too precious
~ he lost.
Hut worse oven than tho dead bod
les. left sometimes for days frozen in
the snow. are the walking skeletons
who totter about from house to house
hoping TO find enough 10 live on foI
another day. The children show bare
skin "a they trot on weeping with
IN. cold. There sro not crowds OF
these, but Just few here and Their,
looking almost like stragglers from an
army: and we wonder which one OF
them may he stark dead at the road
eide before night.
1T did not take We long TO adopt tn,
customs OF this country and sleep with
doors and windows shut and a Fir,
going. We arc learning 10 smell an
open door several rooms away Just
like a Russian does. a mile between
house and warehouse seems some in
convenient nt times: but Il has tn,
advantage e forcing son'e exercise IL
the open. The six short hours of sun
llght are OF brilliant beauty. the plain'
stretching AWAY like the sea 10 tn,
south and then 10 the north there Il
y line OF lovely hills, foothills OF th'
Trials. The wide. generous streets o
chs city itself are fascinating. and 4
must have been a charming place {
nvs In ordinary times.
-Rest assured that what we are do
hs 10 not ,ust making people com
irritable. but turning the very Sigh
balance between life and death 10
bhses thousands. and the more yo'
land us the morn OF these desperat
blk have tho chance TO 1.-Two. Thcr
ford enough In the world II I; cal
bnly es even~d up; but the actu'
problem OF transport is terrible here
All the rolling stock Is SO old and it
bco scarce TO put any OF Il aside. 70
e~pairs: and 20 engines are runnin
hiong patched with whatever materia
pf iron ard wood Is available. tn
kr few weeks have seen their IA
balities In the railroad work as on
ecundhousc 10 the south burned wit
eight engines In IL because one OF IN
oil burners sprung a leak About IN
bAme time one engine exploded on n
bad losing not only the engine. but
humber of passengers who could nc
end q foothoid on the entire train an
D. Ind swarmed UP AS usual all owe
khc ep0ip, {"