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Show WAR HORRORS AS SEEN BY THE ' COUNTESS DE BRYAS MAKE DEEP IMPRESSION ON OGDEN PEOPLE The audience that gathered to hear Countess do Bryas last evening In the First Presbyterian church was entirely entire-ly too large for tho seating capacity of the building. Tho Red Cross leaders lead-ers had been told that It would bo Impossible to secure a large audience either afternoon or night but at each meeting the numbor attending was far In excess of the accommodations. Tho Countess proved to be a most en-r en-r tertainlng and impressive speaker. L In speaking of the effect upon the people in the devastated countries, shei gave instances where the entire city had been wiped out and told of the effect of this upon the refugees. Often Of-ten not only were the refugees unable to find even where their home had stood when the Germans were driven back, but at times even cemeteries had been so torn by shells that they coulld not determine the location of cemetery and church. In some of these ruined cities tho old people would wander about aimlessly trying to find some trace whereby they might locate their former homes or the graves of their dead. No earthquake earth-quake could more completely change the contour of the earth as to location of homes, houses or small buildings than did the shell and Incendiary fire. Children Lose Reason The effect upon the children In these devastated regions was most painful. Sometime little children of four to seven years age would lose their reason because of fright. Children Chil-dren that had remained In the detention deten-tion camps or back of the lines for long periods lost all the note of joy in their voices and seemed to forget how to laugh, and it was with difficulty dif-ficulty that they were made to believe but that good and happiness had been destroyed from the earth. Their faces in the lines of sorrow and premature age were pathetic, but the most pathetic pa-thetic part vas tho change in ( their voices, as they spoke with the' hard tones of years. She told of tho work of the American Ameri-can Red Cross in aiding the people of France before the last two German drives. The French women did not know how to run autos but all the American Red Cross women seemed to be expert chauffeurs and for ten days they rushed night and day, not stopping to remove their garments, carrying truck loads of passengers and best possessions back from the lines ahead of those two drives. These same American women drove back most of the livestock and caused the entire population and their movable property to be carried back in some places a distance of over thirty miles. Interest in Soldiers She told of the interest shown by the people of France in caring for the American soldiers. She stated that in nearly every city where American soldiers sol-diers arc landed that committees on aid for soldiers have been organized. She told of the Officers' Club in Paris, which is a private home donated by a wealthy family and maintained by donations, for the purpose of providing pro-viding a club for the American officers offi-cers when they aro not on duty. After telling of tho treatment of the Americans by the French, she discussed dis-cussed the treatment France and Belgium Bel-gium have received at the hands of the German soldiers. She stated that the cruelty and apparent barbarism of the Hun is duo to a misdirected education. The countess painted vivid pictures of the air raids on Paris last December Decem-ber and of her experiences as a Red Cross nurse. She said one of the greatest acts of unclvilization of tho Germans was the devastation of S00,-000 S00,-000 fruit trees In a French orchard and the deportation of parts of families fami-lies to work on captured fields of France. , Perhaps the greatest sorrow brought ( to the French people within the Ger- ( man lines is the manner in which they , see their own children almost starved J by the extreme diet forced upon them. She says tho schools have been ruined , in tho hopes of the children not being , able to learn the French language, j She says that in some instances the ( children have even been sent to the j trenches to pick up bombs, an occupa- ( tion thought to be too dangerous for ( tho German soldiers. j The Countess told the Red Cross workers that they could not think of reconstruction work in Franco until after the war. At the conclusion of the lecture at the Berthana, 500 members of the local lo-cal Red Cross received their gold pins designating 72 hours of service T lis. These amounts, it is explained, are considered merely expressions of good will nnd If the project gives promise prom-ise of being successful as many millions mil-lions as may be needed will be forth-i forth-i coming. After the general scheme had been worked out by the business interests in various river cities co-operating with government officials, M. J. Sanders San-ders ot Now Orleans, was appointed federal manager. For years he has been identified with gulf shipping. Working with him are A. W. Mackie, regional manager, and Theodore Brent who will supervise traffic details. Mr. Sanders assumed his duties early ear-ly in July and immediately instituted a search for available craft with which to begin operation. He declared needs were too pressing to await construction construc-tion of steel barges. After a survey ot the district he announced that forty for-ty barges and seven towboats had been found and that by September the barge line between St- Louis and New Orleans would be in operation on a weekly schedule. Meanwhile orders , for additional barges and towboats were placed and construction of docks begun. The latter, lat-ter, like the barges, are for the most part temporary makeshifts. In St Louis, for instance, it was decided that the proposed munlclpally-owned dock costing $300,000 would require too long to build. Accordingly, a small landing was erected at a cost of $15,-000 $15,-000 to meet present needs. Advices from other river cities indicate indi-cate similar activity. New Orleans is malting tremendous preparations for Increased business and according to figures presented by Its chamber of commerce, will probably expend $25,-000,000 $25,-000,000 within the next year for docks and other terminal facilities. Memphis Mem-phis has announced that $500,000 will be expended on docks and equipment for handling freight, Cairo 111., will spend $100,000; Greenville, Miss., $100,000, and small towns in Arkansas will expend at least $25,000 in docks. These are merely first figures based on conservative estimates of increased business that will come to these towns. Pledges have been made for more money as necessity demands. The Mississippi Valley Waterways association, which is an outgrowth of the traffic revival movement, has compiled a formidable array of evidence. evi-dence. One 1,000-ton barge, association officers of-ficers say, can carry as much freight as fifty years ago and if each towboat convoys throe barges, the fleet as it enters New Orleans Is equivalent to 150 cars, which are thereby released for other service If seven towboats, each escorting three barges, are placed in operation on September 1 as has been planned, it will be seen that the transportation by water will have released re-leased 1050 cars for other duties. Shippers have shown a willingness to co-operate. Director Sanders estimated esti-mated that 2,000,000 tons a year will be sufficient to make the line a financial finan-cial success. It is hoped further that a joint rail and water rate may be obtained under which shipments may be made over either transportation system. This would increase greatly the territory tributary to the line. "What I want understood," said Director Di-rector Sanders, "is that his is not comparable com-parable to any previous effort to revive re-vive river traffic. What we are going to do will be done in a wholly modern way, backed by the credit and war energy en-ergy of the greatest country in the world. "The cost of transport by water is approximately one-third the cost by rail. There is scant difference in the time required to deliver freight. Our upkeep is tremendously less than that of a railroad. In short we have every opportunity to handle all classes of shipping at less cost than do the railroads rail-roads and every whit as satisfactorily. "Revival of traffic on the Mississippi Mississip-pi is only part of the federal scheme to utilize its waterways. We are going go-ing to make a tremendous effort an effort that is going to do Its share to prove that the waterways of this country can assume one-third the burden bur-den that has at times all but broken the railroad's back." 00 |