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Show American Committee For Devastated Faance NEW YORK, Juno 9. The plight of, French refugees roturnlng to tlielr homes after oxllo during the Gorman invasion Is graphically do-scribed do-scribed In a letter received hero by '?w,the offlcehs of, tho American Women I nbspltala from Dr. M. Louise Hurrell. 1 bf Rochester, N. V., head physician I bt tho hospital Btaffed .entirely by American women which has Just been moved In to tho Alsno region to operate op-erate thero In connection with the American committee for devastated France. Dr. Ilurrcll who was derur j atcd for her work at Luzancy, assiits '. that French claims for,. Indemnify, ,' no matter how high, cannot bo tn proportion to tho damago wrought by tho enemy. "It Is not co much tho wrecked homes that exclto your ntty," writos Dr. Ilurrcll. "It Is the contact with I tho returning refugees, tho sad con- vcrsatlon with that man digging u ',- his garden, or with this woman Mho ( ' Is struggling under her load of wind. Here la a town of at ono tlmo two thousand inhabitants. A Frenchman on tha outskirts tells us that twelve havo returned. Ho in preparing a room for his mother and child Mo wlfo having been held a prisoner, aud L' , J&A walked fifteen kilometers 10 " bring Btarw for them to sleep on. "Further on wo met a young French woman, spading up a garden beside tho two .walla which remained remain-ed of her house. She had no seeds but hopefully or from habit sho had prepared the Ilttlo patch of ground Her husbaisd bad been killed, but this was their old home, so sho fcad '; returned here. As wo left sho said with a bravo smile 'Next year tho garden will bo properly planted.' I "In tho next town four families havo returned. It Is teeming with Chlnnamcn, removing unexploded hand grenades. Tho mayor, courtc- IouBly taking us Into his little hut, tells us that unless horses aro Bent at once, the gardens cannot bo plant ed this year. Ills Ilttlo grand children chil-dren In tho front yard were playing at what they called 'decorating father's fath-er's grave' Tho rwl grave of the mayors eldest son Is at Verdun. "Tho next town was so full of unexploded un-exploded hand grenadea that wo had dimculty picking our way along. Two families havo come back, ono that of tlie mayor. Here the wells still contain German poison and tho only water Biipply Is miles away. With wood from tho nearby trenches trench-es theso families aro building foi themselves Ilttlo shelters. In two dnys a young lieutenant told us, 150 old grenades had been discharged. A Frenchman himself, ho volunteered ' tho Btntcmcnt that It was Incompre- I henBiblo how people could rcutrn to a land so utterly desolate. "How much Indemnity do you think would pay for theso threo towns alone? Yet Franco does not depend upon Qennan money as tho hope of rebuilding. As wo went sadly back, we saw an old man mending mend-ing tho torn roads. As ho worked I slowly along ho took with him a burst shell containing water In which stood n daffodil anil three tiny prim-' rose. It is men and women with this patience and this lovo of benutv ' who will rebuild France and who havo alrcad begun the task. "Dr. HuiicH'b hospital, designated as American Women's Hospital No.' 1 will occupy 15 barracks, donated donat-ed by tho Fiench Service do Santo.' Tho American women doctors hopo to establish other units when they havo rnlscdT $250,000, a campaign for which Is now being carried on from tho national headquarters at 637 Madison Avenue, Now York City. |
