| Show ol olandIs oland ans I Is s Chief le Surer Sufferer Europe Europe's s War att at- at t c fA of T Towns owns and Villages Put to T Torch i and Millions Starve ARSAW ARSA July 3 Devastation of property and ti suffering of millions of human beings in PoI Po- Po fed I tl increase so stupendously from day dar to da day that lib th communication demoralized it is becoming ing in- in like a com- com difficult to gather anything e summary of th the havoc tho the war is caus- caus x It is evident from facts at at hand that of allI all I I regions suffering suffering- from the conflict in Europe land bland nn not only is the worst sufferer at present Bt t t will require more time than any other country recover er from tho effe effects ts of the warThe war K The Thc case of the Belgians which aroused world- world lite de sympathy and unparalleled generosity for their la i is plainly not so 60 bad as the tho case of the Wanders landers which as yet et has bas not been so 80 thoroughly by tho the outside world and which by rea- rea t of this lack of information or other causes has hast hast t t attracted tho the interest that was aroused by the fight of Belgium In comparison however tho the Belne Belne Bel- Bel of ofir the horrors ne ana had an easy time in escaping I ir r by flight to England and France but butth with th the landers landers it has hM been a case of facing a gun no noI notier I tier itter tur in which direction its distressed people ht turn old land Fares Tares Worse Than Belgium zIn Fin In the case of Belgium the s sweep seep of war was wasn n ft and final while with tho the it has hasp p ra n and still is a matter of being swept in one on and then the other The area and n affected in Poland is also so more th than n ten times j tat at t of Belgium considering both tho the kingdom of Fland land in Russia and Galicia Austrian Poland wally devastated by the war 1 While at least three large committees arc are at work the relief of the conditions in Poland they have like like the Belgian committees been handicapped by byI I fact that the war has bas b been n waged actively there er err r since the European conflict began and that it r seven even more fierce toda today I. I In attempting a s summary mary of the situation the tho been to seme some of ofle Q Press has given access le e reports made by the central citizens citizens' ns' ns committee Warsaw the committee e for the relief of the king- king mi n m of Poland and tho the general relief committee for forland forland land iland in Geneva Genea Switzerland and a n mass of te ite correspondence covering mainly the period beIt be- be It en January 1 and April 15 It appears from l use se that out of the eleven p provinces or lor govern govern- of the kingdom of Poland only one the tiro prove prova a c e of has escaped invasion and Villages Totally Destroyed The devastated territory of the tho kingdom amounts more than square miles in which ties and towns and villages ha have 0 been par- par 5 illy or entirely destroyed while villages have en razed to the ground Railroad tracks a distance of 1000 miles have en en torn tern up Even the plain soil has been rendered e. e fit frit fit for agricultural purposes by innumerable Benches and big holes bored into it by the projectiles a heavy heavy beavy artillery The agricultural production of ofis I js is part of Poland representing a value of per annum has been stopped in its entirety J Jr r lack of funds seeds farmhands and cattle 1 An agricultural population of people starving They hide themselves in forests or order der ider the thc ruins of their former fonner dwellings ba having ing a f food only roots bark rind and decaying carcasses I horses killed on the battle fields a Tho The fate faro of cities and industrial regions is no ter Some SOlle of them suffered depopulation somo some fere ere flooded by a tremendous wave of refugees who jad d deserted the fighting zone E Eighty per pcr cent of e class of refugees are aro Jews ft The city of Kalisz capital of the tho province of 10 e 0 same name which before the war had a n on n of nearly numbers now DOW r I ts ts arsaw Filled With Refugees tl Warsaw r arsaw the capital of the kingdom twice as se rge as Brussels harbors at the present over 2000 30 0 refugees The cit city of with inhabitants tho the inter of the great Polish textile industry twice by the Russian and German armies looks e 0 a cemetery Important industrial centers centeN like i 11 1 and the ilia coal basin of Dom- Dom f ova rova have shared the tho same fate Tho The in industrial t put of the kingdom of Poland valued at to per annum has been ann annihilated Three of people earning their daily bread in facIt fac- fac It jiries N lIes ries an and mines are starving ermana Flooded Goal Coal Mines The rhe coal mines though not in the fighting zone ave ye c been flooded by the Germans for Cl and all nil the c costly machinery destro destroyed ed The Tho 1 that used all its monthly output of L receives now less than carloads carload of coal 01 nom om the distant Don basin asin In southern Russia t miners in in Dombrova and the thc a ad- ad fJ suing mines have lost their work work for for All AlI commerce of the kingdom with the J isian empire has r been practically y stopped as well a account count of a n lack of transportation facilities as jause ause of the interrupted international relations ese se commercial transactions between the kingdom lid 7 d d the empire amounted for the year preceding lb 0 the ther far r r to rou roubles les or K The rhe same conditions prevail in the banking busi- busi ps ss The transactions of the big corporations of credit associations and of savings banks hanks have feen en n limited to the pa paying ing out of deposits The rhe Thees es of local banks representing a nomal nom- nom lal al l value of man many hundreds of n millions roubles t- t m m A AGerman 1 s German Germon troop troops Br are to toward the capital of ur Hun Hun- nUll nUll-I I Inn Poland The upper view Ie at ot the right mothers mother calves hea li liter ter and with n vrho ho bo arc gathering their for the n supreme up rente struggle when nhen the Getman at attempt attempt at- at nt-I nt tempt to take tak the cur city i The lower lo r picture at the right In s from tron a II photo taken token at nt night and I show horn bow German soldier watching the burning of n Directly below belon are dew viers of the ancient capital and only elt city that hen has not DOt suffered Buffered severely e MO ao far for In 10 the devastation de of Poland The map KC give eJi the relative Position of the of and oDd of the re region on that has ban been cro crowed e l and ed by hy the contending nr- nr nr-I nr that are arc adding a 0 new ne chapter to Poland Iolanda tragic i la O ti P Ili Ilio S 'S v p e oy K TARNOW cos k rr W. W P E hA IF O F R G O afA afArA c rA i t A ZT a RR I W rY L ev r Nty wf w dG rs r v w f r rr r A ti t w r z 4 iu 4 k r x M f R t vb 6 vr r. r ar Wy jA M. M n 4 0 S 4 S' S A St r rr A 1 t t t t bear no interest whatever having temporarily at least the mere value of millions of II scraps scraps of paper The total of material losses in movable and immovable immovable im im- movable properties is valued at Hunger Disease and Ruin On all sides there is hunger disease and ruin Out o ol a total of horses in this part of Poland have been requisitioned by both fighting armies annies Not less than cattle have been confiscated for tho the same purpose Milk is rare and the mortality among infante infanta shows a terrific in in- in crease Sanitary con conditions are worse than de de- de- de Insufficient nourishment a n fatal congestion congestion congestion tion of population in certain cities reputed to be safe from immediate war dangers in some somo temporary temporary temporary tempo tempo- asylums in Warsaw sixty people sleep in rooms of and a n lack of medical help aggravate daily J the tho evil mil conditions In the country they are still worse the tho proximity of shallow graves infecting theair the theair air nil and the water of wells w with poisonous germs Especially in the provinces of Lublin and the graves of fallen soldiers have very frequently J been een dug in the immediate neighborhood of human dwellings Galicia Swept Seven Times The conditions in Galicia Austrian Poland maybe may maybe maybo be bo still worse j Embracing two eighty counties Galicia has anarea an anarea area of 3 square miles mile and a s population of over All of her territory excepting Cracow and its immediate vicinity has suffered The country countr country coun coun- tr try extending from the thc Russian Hussian frontier from Pod- Pod west to Bochnia a distance of miles has b been en destroyed b by fire firo and cannon The wave came from the east cast was returned again Man Many places were subjected to these inva invasions ions asman as man many as ns seven times A hundred cities and townsand towns townsand townsand and villages suffered cruelly 2500 villages have virtually di disappeared from sight horses and cattle have havo been taken away by tho the armies as well as almost all provisions like corn potatoes and fodder The rhe total a agricultural production of Galicia val val- valued at yearly and the thc industrial output of some per annum have been destro destroyed edrhe ed The rhe loss will be greatly increased if tho the reports that the withdrawing Russian army has set seL fire firo to the tho Carpathian oil wells prove provo true Cities like Tarnow Brody Nisko Str J J an and are aro but heaps of ruins Gloomy looking smokestacks rising b out of piles piles' of or brick hrick are arc the tho only witnesses of the thc fact that Hint human beings had once resided there Cracow the ancient capital of the Polish kin kings S r jAT i S A fy t k e r ri 1 S. S f 4 p I J i L r S Sy y 3 ih 4 j jK K s S i I N Sv k F d t t 4 1 w a i t f r If i W w LF f v r Y nA l p with th inhabitants and arid an architectural jewel among the tho cities of mediaeval Europe was not immediately im- im immediately immediately im im- mediately touched by the war but its inhabitants were ordered to leave and had to fly to Austrian Silesia Vienna or Bohemia Over Ocr Gali- Gali are actually living lh-ing as ns refugees in various arious parts of Hungary Austria and are suffering there se se- se verely In III the tho counties of and Jaroslav Jaroslav Jaros- Jaros lav people are dying of hunger by tho the hundreds The counties of and in Eastern Galicia and those of Nisko Tar- Tar and Kr in Western Vestern Galicia are areso areso areso so thoroughly devastated the they look as ns if they had been destroyed by some earthquake No human dwellings no roa roads s no cultivated fields Among heaps of ruins dogs are nrc running wild w with th hunger and flocks of crows and ravens in search of food are digging out with their beaks beak the shallow graves of Russian and T Teutonic soldiers Frequently these are the graves of Polish brothers that killed one another having been forced into the two opposed opposed opposed op op- op- op posed armies by the invaders Out of a total area of Galicia only 7 7 per cent has been untouched by the war 23 per cent has been partially and 70 per cent totally ruined transformed transformed transformed trans trans- formed into a vast cemetery Professional Men in Dire Straits Conditions prevailing among professional men arc particularly distressing Men possessing college and university education n and and degrees officials teachers writers etc have havo no means menns whatever to earn cam their daily bread Expelled from administrative positions they held under one government and replaced replaced replaced re re- re- re placed by officers imported imparted by the invader removed from positions in closed scientific institutions institution or in trades that are now useless these men are simply facing starvation On the streets of Warsaw w and Lemberg Lemberg- one meets with well-dressed well and looking intelligent men who are selling newspapers unloading coal or trucks doing doing doing do do- ing all kinds of menial or manual work to earn a afew afew afew few cents for a meal It is obvious that they must exert themselves to the thc utmost t lo to perform tasks that are arc beyond their normal physical strength A law lawyer er in Warsaw recently received a letter from his brother a practicing physician ph in in In normal times a a. letter from reaches Wan Warsaw aw in six sit hours But now Lo 7 being occupied by the Germans no correspondence is allowed to be sent to the l country Thus rIms s the letter in iu question ques tion was taken b by a friend who was just leaving leaving- a for Copenhagen and mailed from there to War Warsaw aw It Jt reached tho the Polish capital in thirteen days Hero Here are arc a n few excerpts from from this correspondence r ry n 1 1 r 5 f. f t F tel Ji 5 i lr 1 4 6 Sl Y t ti r ri t rf y i to j fir i f N K 3 s t a 1 C t x rA fT p c bh x i f Yf il eS' eS Mf f i r r t t Y Yi i y d rf 4 r y Z Ya f fyr yr f a A fw f r ly k 3 r cats r s 's r. r t 4 S 4 f v r Y f 4 f fir g II The The economic conditions in are daily growing worse The men from Mr Rockefellers Rockefeller's committee arrived here her via Berlin BerHn They hey organized a few free stations to distribute food products but the increased delivery was of little advantage to our population who in their great majority have no means to acquire food imported from Germany Sev Sev- five enty per cent of the inhabitants of eat eaf potatoes only I mean 75 per cent of those who can buy potatoes for there are many who cannot afford even that Meat Ment and bread are eaten only by very rich people Few citizens are able to pay their rent The legal leg citizens' citizens committee who actually perform the duties of c civil cn n courts reject all complaints com corn plaints of landlords claiming due rents Sanitary Sanitary con conditions here are simply terrible Thc They were al always always always al- al ways bad but they are ore much worse now In the mining region of Dombrova typhoid fever and typhus hunger are spreading rapidly In the beginning the tho G Germans tried to overcome the epi epi- demic But having in that region only two military surgeons they soon dropped every effort in that line and left the unfortunate population to their fate Recent news from the townships of l kov and states that over persons succumbed succumbed succumbed suc suc- thero to typhoid fever within two weeks The devastation de of Poland is the worst between and Warsaw Every house that for some reason reason reason rea rea- son or chance has been left intact by the Germans is being heing razed to the ground by the Russians I for for reasons Pe Peasants ants Can Only Weep An army officer enters a once prosperous village c cand and informs its inhabitants that he gives lit ui thirty minutes' minutes time to evacuate their homes Panic Panic- stricken everyone seizes what he be can They flee carrying ing infants infanta in their arms anns and helping the old and invalid Meanwhile the soldiers have bave already begun the work of destruction The houses are being being being be be- ing set afire or blown up with dynamite On the shore of the nearby river some hundred d miserable people look at the flames and weep They do not feel fee the tho cold or the rain that soaks their ragged clothes They see only the flames that devour their r homes they hear only the thunder of ot dynamite explosions explosions explosions ex ex- that destroy what was dearest to them f to their fathers and grandfathers the fruit of generations generations generations genera genera- of labor And they cry cryl I t Two hundred villages surrounding the big cities I of Warsaw and have bave thus been destroyed because because because be be- cause a a. friendly army needed more space for shoot shoot- ing jug When his house is burned down the peasant returns returns returns re re- re- re turns to the ruins ruin |
