"COUNTRY WITHOUT A SMILE."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 18, 13 January 1915, Page 7

"COUNTRY WITHOUT A SMILE."

STKICKEN BELGIUM. ] AMERICAN RELIEF. "A country without a smile." That is Mr Jarvis Dell's impression of Belgium. .Jr. Bell, who is sin American, went from London to Brussels with the Jirst shipload of lood se.-.t by the Commission for relief in Belgium, who have their headquarters at ;i, London Wall Buildings, I'.J . For the purpose of investigating conditions lie visited Antwerp, Malinos, Louvain, Acrscliot, and Turnhout, he drove through what is left oi' countless villages, and lie saw thousands of Belgians. "Nothing that has been written," Mr Bell said on his return to London, "could exaggerate the misery of Belgium. We drove for miles through graveyards. Stakes, on some of them a soldier's tattered coat and helmet, were the tombstones; deserted fields the cemeteries. As we entered villages women and children sought refuge in the ruins of their roofless homes, terrified lest we were some fresh visitation of war. Their faces were drawn and lined. If you could only see the gruesome surrounding's in which they are struggling for existence you could not wonder that they do not siiiilc. "The Belgian peasant 'in many districts has no home in which to sleep, no seed to sow with, no implements to work with, no transport with which to reach a market, and no heart to struggle against the impossible. It is inconceivable that any war ever produced such complete and tragic paralysis as we saw ill many parts of Belgium. It cannot be attributed to lack of courage on the part ol a conquered civil population or to the inhumanity of the conqueror. It is simply war—up-to-date, civilised, Christian

"The Coblcnz, with over 1000 tons of foodstuffs, arrived from London at Rotterdam at three o'clock on a Sunday morning. The Dutch Government, with great kindness, made an exception to then rigid rule against work being done on Sunday, and the labor unions also allowed their men to unload with the re suit that by Monday morning lunges, towed by four exm'css tin's lelt Kottenlam with relief for Brussels "On each barge was this large notiee, printed in English: "Consigned by the American Minister at Brussels to the Comite National dc Secours et Alimentation/ On the doors of each captain's cabin was a copv of Governor von der Goltxs proclamation instructing all German ofiieials So giv,. safe-conduct to and assistance fo this cargo of relief. Tiic " f „ ll !'' anil til*. Were Dutrtl,. 1-acli of them carried, with no little pride, a sab 'Conduct from the German authorities permitting him to -o to Brussels and return unmolested to' Holland.

"Accompanied by Mr. Luiighoriie, Secretary of the American Legation at The Hague, and Mr. Wymaii, of the American Express Company, T followed by | motor this odd flotilla of mercv as it threaded its way from canal ito canal and from lock to lock. At ITaiisweevt the town on the Putc?i-lSelgian frontier, .1 anticipated there might be some dilli- . cullies, as this was tiie first consign-j. nient of relief. There was none at all.' The German officials were fully informed, and there was no delay whatever. From there to Brussels the German arrangements for getting our cargo through expeditiously were perfect. The 'sealed barge hatches were never opened, oc even touched. "All the way to Antwerp, to Malines and to Brussels the country people came running to the canal banks, staring at our flotilla, as if it were some mirage. I For weeks not a single barge had passed,' where formerly there were a thousand craft within an hour. To the Beh'iail country folk it. was at first just a fiod sent dream to remind them of the pcaccvrar day 3 that preccde l tlle "'ghtmare of ' "(in the Wednesday morning, just one week from the day th e food left London; ' we drove up to the American Legafioil 1 in Brussels, and told Mr Whitlock, the ' American Minister, that the relief barges • were safely at the wharf of the main canal pocket. In half an hour Mr. Whitlock's motor had brought to the Legation | the. Marquis de Villalobar. the Spanish j Minister, and the heads of the commit- | tees which have the work of the distribution in band. The Spanish Minister, all enthusiasm, grasped my hand and | said: "What splendid news! You Americans aye wonderful! When yon take a thing in hand you certainly do do it - and do it quickly. There was no need of newspapers for spreading the rclport. Tn half an hour all Brussels knew it, and rejoiced. "We met few Belgian men. Eighty per cent of the people in these country districts are women and children. We saw them fating green vegetables.,beets and apples. They have little else. There ' were thousands of chiMr™ too sad to laugh. I "The Germans who treated us through-! out with great courtesy and consideration, are clearing debris from the water fronts, so (hat shipments of relief supplies from America can be landed at the various towns without difficulty. Hiey are at present working on the canals, and have promised that by November 17 | we shall have a clear waterway to Liege, which at present is very hard to reach." —Daily Telegraph.