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Show I REFUGEES ARE I RETURNING Tl) I RECLAIM OWN In' ' EVIAN, FRANCE, Nov. 30. (Cor- 10 1 respondencc of the Associated Press) 1 , The return to Franco of tho women. children and old men who were sent m out of that part of France occupied by AH' Germans for more than four years prc- 81 scnted pitiful spectacles. Many of iy , these refugees were little tots whose I fathers and mothers liad been taken I i away by the cruel Bochc to work in 1 1 Germany or behind the fighting lines. 9 ' Others were orphans. b Twice daily iho affecting scenes of 1 Iheir return were enacted here when m the trains bringing them through Swit- in zerland bringing GOO to 700 repatriates III' back to the beloved soil of France. H With them were Belgians who came In from parts of Belgium then occupied II! by the Hun. Much was done to re- k-' lievc the sufferings of these poor peo- In pie by S. S. Rowland, representative of 19 the Belgian Rnlief Commission sta- M ' tloned here, and by Mrs. Ilowlands, Hi 1 his wife. n i Describing the scene of the return H of a trainload of refugees, Mr. How-si How-si ! land writes: 11' "Slowly, the long line came towards Q f us, tho old and the young about equal - Mil ' ly divided alas, but few of middle age. wm for the Germans had use for such and m II would not let them go. While few W showed traces of actual destitution, we S ul knew that but a small number pos- l V sessed more than the clothes they KM wore and what the hand bags and if) II bundles they carried contained . J fijj n: "They were not emaciated, but their fll nt I faces were worn, sometimes anemic. t(j If; How they they be otherwise after tho ill: years of constant sufffering and con- I I tinued horrors they had endured, with. S 81 ' no hope of release before them but H II ' victory for the Allies, or perchance tho in I good fortune to be enrolled in one of HJIf : these little bands of repatriates. WJ "Now and again someone would jj A ! rush out from the sidewalk to greet fi 11 1 a rclative or friend recognized after Jg I years of absence. But though such m 1 instances were rare, they served to 9j$ buoy up the hopes of the rest that ij perhaps farther along they too would fk I ! be as fortunate. 1 Sr "Two short rests were made that tlic I seemingly countless children might bo M I able to keep up. Brave little tots they ifi 1 were, holding close to their mothers, if they had them, or if not to those isllii who had befriended them on the way. t 1 j i for many were orphans, or had their j J H parents taken away by the Germans to Ijjj . work. Perhaps hundreds of miles from their homes. I i "Inside the great rooms of the Cas- ifh ino long lines of tables set for sup- M per filled almost the entire space. As i the repatriates filed in, women showed J them to their seats, while others dis- Uf j trlbuted small French flags to young j ! and old alike the flag that once more I'll , they might wave freely, i "Bowls of soup, slices of good bread, M Tiot, well-cooked meat and glasses of j red wine still further cheered the 11 hearts of the stranger, so that when the orchestra in its gallery began to II play well-known and cherished French I airs airs that had not been heard be -! Sf ore n a tnese Ions years tears If II streamed down the cheeks of many, CJ III and of lookers-on as well, while hands fjjml and voices proclaimed their keen de- SjjHffi. light. ialll man we se Deveen four-Si four-Si iM leeni and sixty unless they were pal-Mmi pal-Mmi pably ill or crippled, and comparative -Kg l ly few women who had not long since f 1 fil passed their prime. Mothers had been M jj separated from sons rind daughters w If and dragged off by the Boche to work M in factories and mines, even on forti-M forti-M j fications to be used against their own jjw Dj "The feast was nearing it end when IS IH e Sub-Prefect mounted the rostrum I Ml and began to speak. Instantly there ami was sencc He dwelt upon France's D HP love for her people, her sorrow for 111 their sufferings. 'ffJIfil worcIs na( hardly ceased when ! 'I Hi the band struck up tho Marseillaise. I fl i t The old' the 'ounS' the halt. the fi re fill blind sprang to their feet, trying their JNB best to join in the refrain but fre- P'mllft Qucntly prevented by sheer nervous ljlu exhaustion. Sobs could be heard and I !tf the faces of most of the women and jl of many of the men were hidden in i k'nllt the handkerchiefs with which they J ! II wiped away their tears of joy." |
