Show C ce De f 1 r L i J J Ji i r is 4 w f r J 1 ri a ki r rI rN ri 4 vilI p H n oY I i N c 1 1 f t ir JO- JO 0 r 4 de Bryas is a Frenchwoman who came cameto cameto cameto to America last April to represent the American committee for tor devastated France and is now engaged engaged engaged en en- I In an extensive tour of ot the United States speaking about her experiences In the war-ridden war districts The father Is French but her mother was a Philadelphian Philadelphia who went to Europe when a small child and was brought up there Her great-grandfathers great George Clymer and Thomas Willing and her granduncle George Read were all signers of ot the Declaration of ot Independence and one of ot them George Clymer was among the six who I helped to frame the Constitution Editors Constitution Editors Editor's Note By MADELEINE DE BRYAS SOMETIMES meet In the course of my travels people who say Ah poor France I Tragic Invaded country country country coun coun- try I But to these people I would say No no I You do not know your France It Is not poor France but noble France Not tragic France but heroic I France rance I II II I can best explain my meaning by describing an incident which took place on the occasion of one of the recent air raids on on Paris An air raid raid Is a nerve nerve- racking time The newspaper accounts and the magazine stories do not tell you one-hundredth one of the anguish lived through by the people who crouch in their cellars listing to bombs that explode explode explode ex- ex close by and expecting all the time that the le next missile will demolish the house over their heads The favorite gathering places t for civilians durIng during during dur dur- ing air raids is in the cellars During the raid of which I speak one of these underground places was crowded with refugees But they were not moping or trembling Instead they were constantly constantly constantly con con- Joking and laughing about their ther ment They did not for one second lose their fine courage and When the bombs had ceased to fall they came up to the the- street level once more But they did not breathe great sIghs signs of relief and thank their lucky stars for not being hit Not they I Their eyes glowed with the fire of unquenched spirit and they shook their fists In the direction of the departing German airplanes Those fools I they shouted Those fools I 1 They think they can break us I They do not know us I Never shall we yield I Never I This is not U the e only splendid exhibition of French devotion that I have seen with my own wn eyes The people in the rural regions are no less determined In their ardor Although nearly one- one fifth of France has been Invaded by a ruthless nem E-nem enemy and antI some portions Invaded the the second time these country folk would die die rather than give themselves up to the foe In a village of the devastated district I found a little old woman who was living alone She was working at washing linen for the soldiers soldiers- who were In trenches not far away Her own house had been burned down by the Germans She told toll me her r pathetic story It t seems that a Gt German officer who had a very bad reputation for lor molesting the civilians bad been heen quartered In her house bouse After After he hud bpd been there for a few hours he lie went to the small Stove tove which heated the house and opened It Jt to tD put In some wood But ut when he put In the stick of wood he allowed the end to protrude so that a soon as It began to burn the fire blazed outward Into the room He then placed a n screen near this blazing wood so that It would catch fire The old woman saw what he was doing and knew that it was was' his design to burn down her b house lie He had already burned a house In n the next street In the same manner manlier Knowing that she was powerless powerless pow pow- erless to prevent him and nd being filled with despair despair des des- pair she fell fen on her knees before before- him Spare me roe met she entreated of him S Spare this house and allow me to live Jive here In peace What have I ever done to you I 1 I But ut she had hardly uttered these words when shame overcame her because she was abasing herself before n a German In another instant she had risen to her f feet et J What am I doing I she exclaimed Je perdu I I am disgraced I have entreated a favor from the foe of my native country Then she crossed the room before the astonIshed astonished astonished aston aston- officer and took up his gun Placing it in his hands she told told him to kill kUl berI herI herI her ber I deserve no less ess than death she she- said saIdI I I have disgraced France by kneeling to ask a favor of one of her enemies Probably the German officer would have killed the woman but at that moment one of his brother officers came into the house He must have hare had hadI hada I a n more tender heart for he took toot pity on the old oman an and tnt not U a stop to the proceedings So her I J ki t j 0 JIU r. r L r house escaped for the time ume being But later on onIt It was burned burne by other ar Germans When I found this woman she was working 18 hours each day washing for tor the soldiers I asked her why she worked so hard and she told me that It was because she had nothing left to her In the wide world and the only way to keep herself from heartbreak was to be always occupied The conditions under wl which most of these people people people peo peo- have been living are horrifying Their Theirs houses are heaps of ruIn ruins You can hardly believe be bee lieve the systematic way In which the Germans proceeded to destroy their dwellings A bomb was thrown into every house along the line of march The The furniture was all broken up or burned fruit trees were Vere cut down and the wells wells' polluted Yet when the Invading tide was swept back hack these villagers came ame back at once to their former homes This devotion of the French peasant peas pens ant to his little home Is something which Amen Ameri cans can h hardly appreciate He loves It ardently ardent ardent- ly it Is almost a part of him he cannot bear to leave leae It During the time when they were struggling to rebuild their shattered homes hoines these peasants peasants' had to Hv live in cellars and dugouts Of course these places were most unhealthy and not fit lit to remain in I once went down Into a cellar in which an old cou couple courle le was living The roof of the cellar was so low that when I was seated on a little plank talking to the old people I had to stoop The floor was entirely mud and the water seeped In through the walls and trickled down In tiny streamlets In the corner was the straw bed which had been furnished the old couple seven months before It was indescribably filthy and so damp that one could twist It and wring water vater out of it Yet the chief desire of ot the old old woman was for a plate to eat off ott The Germans had destroyed their crockery and household utensils and they had only one old metal skillet Set In to which they cooked and from which they ate ato In one village I saw a mother who had back to live E in n a n little shelter which gone J she h had built huIlt for herself In the corner formed j by the on only y two o remaining walls of her dwelling Over the top of this place she placed planks lanks One Mo was open to the weather The cold raw weather made It difficult to exist In such a place I myself my my- self have lived In a little wooden building the front similar to the barracks near In which soldiers live and I know the cruel winter the winter w weather ath er of If these parts of France The hardship has hns been greatest t on the children Oh the poor children children I The lIttle They play They have hn-e forgotten all their their no o lon Ion er games do 10 not know what It means to run and They be ea gay As they walk along the streets laugh JS and unI see them start suddenly and L you Will look shoulders in a 1 frightened ened way So over 1 their been the terror Ins Instilled Into them VS great rM K has has' M mans by the ine l r Ger- Ger erAn er- er An officer told me of two seeing two lIttle o MH standing against a wall in la the town of nf children In the north of France one day I A AcrosS Acres the road was a burning h house In August 1914 1914 When the he heso French officer asked them t. t why th they r Were so waIting patiently they replied t that at a German shut hut their father and had mother m mand up In hr that ho and had told them to hope e watt walt there back reo to fetch alIe them i s. s tf 1 lV 1 Y r. r I 1 i The tr treatment of children during the Germans Germant occupation was v very ry terrible Little LIttI tots of ot four foUl and five and c children on up to the tM ages of thir teen and fourteen were forced to work all day a ii for pr their They were taken Into the the 3 fields at flee five In the morning and were not al al' al Vj al owed lowed to come com come back until seven In the evening evening 1 t 9 1 During all that time they were given only one t meal Their t tasks were to dig potatoes cut cutaway 1 away the wire barbed entanglements and pick up unexploded shells After the Germans went away there was no milk m lk to be got because all aU the cows cows- i y had been either killed or driven away In one district there were we're children who existed for ra t months without a single drop of milk I met one one- little girl who tisho ho had been kept for 20 days on a n diet consisting of nothing n but bread and arid soup the the- latter being watery and scarcely at all an nourish nourish- f ing The destruction of the schoolhouses has bas made made- made mada- it impossible le for the young children to gain any any to encounter a aboy i education It Is no strange thing boy or or- girl of ot eleven leven who can neither read nor t write In In their hideous thoroughness the Ger Germans j mans mans destroyed books pencils desks and all nil Not Kot Nota American relief workers work work- workers fo foers a thing Was w s left After the t ers came Into the devastated regions they established etab- etab estabr r lashed schools schools and built little wooden buildings I In which to Carr carry on the work worl 3 y yAt At oile one one- school they told a story of ot a little little- girl who was brought In with with the the other children learn leant to read As soon as she discovered an nil to to- old chair in one one of the corners slid she Immediately got into if it a and d curled up in utter enjoy enjoyment nent and anti a relaxation She could not be persuaded to ge get out of that chair The teacher inquired why she was was so so pleased with the chair and learned that the household In in which the child lived had not boasted a a. a single chair since the first Inv invasion slon of r. r th the Germans The separation of the children from their par parents parents par par- eats Is another very tragic occurrence t In th the the months and years ears before they are reunited d the the- children grow and change so that they are not recognizable to their parents when they meet again Some of them to be sure wear on achain a achain a chain about their necks little gold baptismal baptismal- gifts on which their names are Inscribed But Bat this Is exceptional It is one of the confessed schemes of the Germans to divide and scatter scatter families much s as as possible My heart hea bleeds for the children of France u Oh that they should suffer this unmerited abuse and tribulation The deportation of young girls has been t f practiced A German officer come comes I Ito to door of a house and orders the entire famIl family to assemble assemble outside on the ilie door step Then V he picks at random a number of the younger women of the family I will take you and y you yOU and and you I he says say indicating the chosen chose ones one with his forefinger At this su sum sum sum-i mons coons th they y must leave their homes at once They They are not allowed ed to pack their belongings nor t to f carry much much baggage They are permitted so much as the they can carry arry wrapped in a band hand hand r d kerchief t tAfter Af After er they yare the are taken into Germany they are are put to to work cultivating the fields doing th the hardest ardest and most menial kind of l labor Th are forced force to to live with the soldIers Sand and area arl are rudely treated by them They can send no word word to their families and it is almost as though they o were cre dead The relief work ork In the invaded districts hn bas hasT be been n tireless Great Grent credit credit Is due to the Am jJ Amer-jJ lean icon committee to for devastated France organized by Miss 1 Anne have haveS Morgan Over O 1000 children be been n turned turnE over to this committee to be cared l for One of Its most useful works has has been In In assisting the stricken people to leave their homes homes so so long as there is danger from the Germans inthe in J the e vICI vicinity Pitiful stories are told of the flight i of of these hese people le One old woman refu refused ed to b be separated from her goat In transit n and d would only consent t to go when she could could be assured t that at another goat could be got t In case he her own I was as lost ost z Fro France k nce h has m been trIed hard but hut I she hf hp I is not broken b ro en l' l N Never Neves' ever has the morale of the Fren FrenI Frene French pe People e I b been Een more more- unshaken than It It ItIs is Is tod today Y F trance France ce halls hails with Joy the arrival of the AmerlA Amer cans It I Is most fitting that these those gre greet great t sister re republics pUblIcs should be fighting side Aide by side In thIs h hour nour our of stress Victory wl will will 1 be won It is in In l B hut But u t a ah ah h the pain the woe and the un necessary s degradation at 1 on that have followed in th wake of the he In Invaders I Will Wl the world ever for for- for forget forT forTese get th these ese s Can the bitter memory ever b be effaced 7 |