ORPHAN CITIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 212, 4 September 1920, Page 17

ORPHAN CITIES.

THE LATEST IN ADOPTION.

(By ETTIE A. ROUT.) LOXDOX, June 16. To mopt colonials the war ended in November, 101 S. Alter that came, a waiting time, then demobilisation, air! finish! Beyond this there were only (memories —exciting, jrlad. horrifying, gnef-stricken: thru the mingled ioP3 and bewilderment of recommencing our national life —without the war! A- none of your houses have been smasnel io matchwood, none of your fnioi'!i taim Linds pitted with shell-ho;er, none ft your oichards wantonly ?hjr>pod Sown, none of your gardens satur.itel with poison-gas, none of your ->r. I« -s blown up, none of your factories .le-tr.iyi-d, •jon-. , c: your public services :.m . wate' - , dr.Tiiage, railways) become n more wuetu of lioken pipes and rails—it if so very very '.aid to realise, just w'.ia , . ' bc;;invAng again' , means in Krj'i:t>. Of cou-=c. we \ia\c frone into ti.e "bafk Llockt" and made farms anl pii'deis

and t'.wns in what was virgin country. But we didn't start with a !oss: And tnose oi us who went wc-c- sflrcttti and hopeful ml yoniganl if we did not have soaio c-.-i;iit.?l •>' h;\ilth and rash, wo didn't 20 pion * .-rlnsr. But iii Franco it i> diff'ieiit. No matter how old or weak or [»> «' you may r.e you intist struggle ""• l watched two "pioneers" at work near Villers-Bietonneux one day last winter. One was an old. old man, his white lock, waving in the and the other gathering up broken bricks and wheeling them to him in a crazy hand-cart, ana he was trying to build them upon the ruins of their own cottage. The. rest of the family were dead. No folks f^c ever had to "make a start under those conditions—not in any part of the -New i World.

\nd it is not only individual human beings who have been orphaned: even the cities are orphans, too Those who should be City Father* and City Motheis have passed'on. But we remain—a* trustees for the dead and guardians ot the living at the least. Only as we fulfil these duties can we look forward. to the future clear-eyed and unashamed. j All over England, America, Australia. ! different French towns are being '"adopted."' Yillers-Bretonneux i 6 now ; the special care of Melbourne, and messages ef gratitude and thanks have been I sent, but this private letter from a I French" mother must be quoted in full I here: —

Dear Mies Rout,—l beg you to send our thanks to the people of Melbourne, whose gifts have so overwhelmed us and at the same time to tell the dear mothers of Australia that we share in their trouble', and that our children will always respect the graves of those heroes who caino from 6 o far to defend US. Yes, our children -will this summer —the same as last summer —search the forests and the fields for flowenTto cover the graves of their big brothers: they 100k = npon them as such. Accept, dear I Miss Rout, our most sincere greetings and thank-." j A special effort is made i" London this month, and then , i-i to be a meeting at the Mansion House, presided over by the Lord .Mayor of London: the iprovincial cities and bormurhs have been 'invited to send representatives: and diliferent speakers familiar with tiu- devastated areas will he present. In d<--1 scribing the plan on -luno », the London "Times'" said: — ! "What is immediately required i- .1 ; reasonable sum of money to provide, it may be, a hospital or a schoolhouse, or to remake a road, so that traffic may be restored in a district blasted by gm-tire. In some villages the most urgent need i§ ithe sinking of wells to provide a water : supply. ! "The total number of villages and j towns that it is sought to help is 140, I but less than a dozen places have been

adopted' up to the present. Marseilles is helping Arras with a contribution ot .i million francs. Manchester has ;>2ieed to act as godmother to Mcziercs. Itoizy hah been adopted by the French Colony in London, and' the village ot lSalhum is being helped by the London suburb of tlie isamc name. Albert is provided for, and so are Seraineourt, "Poihourt, St. Remy-le-Petit, and one or two more hamlets. What i? to happen to the restS^' Cannot New Zealand adopt Bapaume, as Melbourne City has adopted Villers-

Bretonneux? The need of Bapaume is almost overwhelming. Not the only town and village with which New Zealand will ever associate memories of grief and glory, but a choice must be made, and how could a better choice be made than Bapaume: June 17.—Again to-day there are long newspaper references •to the "'British League ot" Help" for devastated Trance, and a provisional committee has been set up, with Viscount Burnham at the head. "It is not suggested that British charity," says the "Morning Post," "shall take the responsibility of reparation which has been accepted by the German Government, but State reparation needs time, and meanwhile there are thousands of families without homes, furniture, clothing, or any of the amenities of civil life. The League of Help has noble work to do; to clothe the children, to put a table and some chair* in the makeshift homes, and supply n few vegetables and flowers lor t:i" ruined gardens- Gifts to the adapted • ummunities will lie mad" m.'-nil.v in kind, and secondhand .md -v p';- -:■ <•■!.= furniture, clothing, >ecii-. .. !'.•;. -:.'"'k and the like will !■•■ :v ■']•■■ ■■• "■• t> French peasant." New Zi-ulaii I ruiiif'. . ■ ; > .-. I large ami " r.lkv .ini'i'-. ;■ :' i.ieie ■« I could" :i.,i >|...v at :•:■■• ■■>■• ;'•••;■ "J I ami |»>'.~ :iiil liii-n. nn, v... .:.-. .f.-.iU tor 11 . Inthing and Ledding. .md a> •■■>■ <H any ■ ! farm an i --<•■!•■» <■><•■> — ■<'■'• ■■•■'• " , " I ' l ■ ,'.. pr.vioi." :; .:i-. .md -■''■ !' l-'"!i< ■■]<■ . n -omi-n !■: \<".v '/.■ al •<■ ' heenu-o it is I from ui'iiiii'u'- ii• ■;"r - 1 ~ ihut <troams oi ' tcinVr. :.-ii.\i(iu~ ■■:■■ iiii'l Living symiiinliiy il.-v vi"st readily towards the i-,\i,in>-r. an 1 r'lil.'rni of the war-stricken ..hi-. 'I'lii , '"-- "i comfort an.l grace in .ja :i..mu- meaua s» much to most womei.. ■ WVn't the women of Bapaume, ■struggling to re-build the homes our men ■ saved for them, that the New Zealand - women are j;i-t ;is kind in peace as the ! New Zealand men are brave in battle! o Godmothers don't really need to be very rich, so long as they are just kind , -