, 1923-01-07
by FAITH HUNTER DODGE

If1Dune.l-To the American return
ing 20 France after a three years alb
sencs. the whole face of ,he devastaE.
cd area, with the exception OF re.
gions like Verdun, which AN never
be reclaimed. has materially changed,
Out Of something which was infinitely
worse than nothing. an orderly. pro
ductive universe is being evolved.
Before me lies a sheet of thin pa
per. the carbon cepy OF a statistical
report from the Ministry Of the Lab.
Grated Regions. II seems to me more
eloquent, more beautiful and more
worthy to be conserved for future
generations than many an iiumin.
ated page of MANI a priceless four.
tenth century volume such as mu.
seums guard In locked glass cases.
1t is the record Of achievement
against great odds. But Il is also the
story Of a work that remains to be
done. When the invading hosts 70.
treated from Northern France. and
the French people returned to search
for the ruins Of their homes. they
moved into a district approximately
as large as the state Of New Jersey
that had been turned from a fruitful
land into a wilderness. The deYastat.
ed q were c~rtss-crossed with
trenches, Uttered with debris and dot.
ted with ruins that had once been
homes Or factories. The soil. more
over had neen 50 churned By shells
that II had q vast waste filled
with war-born craters.
T"o-tniroS OF this area has been re-
stored and returned to cultivation
hiillons OF mel were employed dur-
Ihs Lhe war 70 dig trencheS but peace
.oula muster only rs undred OF
.~hoesahos 70 MI them up. h lac
.oF1ea OF the entire world were kept
pussy turning out y shells that
pIousned the sou OF northern France.
me work OF repairing the damase
ehey clo hAs oeVolVed upon the French
hAIuner'
tne AdneIican pubic 10 not ohEy
tamniar WIN eost OF roAd-ouldinE.
put y mas also eaFned 2 q high
way system - 0 created IN a day,
Frahcs mas unoouptenly made a world
recofu IN roed'nuHoIns, one OF the
ilFss Steps IN RESTORING the devastated
.esions was OF course to rebuild thu
"snWays-
Stste roaos tnat were destroyed, II
plaeea enc 70 end' would reach n
ana q mar dmea around h world,
ionowlng the line OF the equator. OF
~ 1850 miles OF highway destroyed,
t9'OeV npii1s nave peer rebuilt VI the
remaining $4,000 miles, 1900 have
peen mace passable"-when the
"satner ls nne'
tnous.ry ana agriculture have pro-
ceeoed naha IN band In the work of
,~sstorauonf There are IN the state OF
massacnusetts approximately 1900
INDUSTRIAL estaplshments Northern
rFanee mao Ez,sll factories That we're
oessroyeo. Oh TINS number approxt-
Messy 9iooV, S,sso' 70 DO exact-have
not pteh rebuilt Tnere were more
to"hS n pllIages destroyed than
lnere are N kansas. Nebraska and
iowa, tWo-thiros OF these COMMUNE
eleS nave Deen eitner completsly or
PAtualIy restored Finally, OF the g.
pso'uVO people FORCED from the de-
Vastated ! IN 1914 6ss'eco never
Iesufhed. that - AZ many people a.
mere are IN the city OF Pittsburgh or
ens stAee OK bakoua'
49, 49,
tnat rsHaihs 10 DC done IN Northern
FShce, the reeonatruetion achieve
ment there IS a story OF pioneering
unpafallelea IN history
n Frenoh nave always been
spiehoia pioneers. Thsir intslisenee
aha .heir haoit OF presenting a pleas
ant aemeanor IN me race Of every
nenoioap nave mans them able 70
COPE Win All the SURPRISES and diff
euiue1 OF a pT.miuVe wilderness
pIueh' resourestnthess' 7uick'witted
ness, eommon'sense and sooiability
are hNuonal traits which nave served
.nem Ven IN tner pioneering exploits
M North ana south America, IN Al
seria' IN Tuninia' IN indo-Ghina, and
an y Island ! n the But their
pioneering IN the past ho~ed ulti'
nat results or varying degrees OF
suoceas' Fhusl sesh than three hund'
req Seare $50, Jacques Marquette'
WITH Louis Joliet. began the history
OF our own central misnnmed mid
WESTERN stafeai Robert Cavalier do ID
salie ana LOUIS itennepin followed In
ther Steps n Their heroic self-scri'
nee and devcuon 10 a LOFTY purpose
are written iarse IN u history
Sut our central states bear little