SAVE THE CHILDREN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VI, Issue 1789, 7 November 1919, Page 7

SAVE THE CHILDREN.

YOUNG *EUROf ji STARVING. WONDERFUL AMERICAN EFFORT I am writing this from Belvedere, the Palace of the late Archduke Ferdinand, whose assassination at Sarajevo in 1914 was the spark that set the world ablaze with war, writes E. R. Peacock, in an Australian exchange. The palace is one of many such places now being used to cook food in and feed the suffering children of Vienna. Some effort is being made, to deal with part of the problem by a generous philanthropic effort, which , is described as the greatest "Child Welfare" organisation in the world. In Vienna 100,000 children, and in the rest of Austria another 100,000, are being given one good meal a day, and my visit to Belvedere was to see how this work was being carried on. The Royal kitchen utensils and ovens, v supplemented by additional boilers, were being used, a large quantity of food was in various stages of preparation, and the. great halls with their lavish decorations, statuary, etc., were filled with children eating their generous meal. A continual stream of children flowed in and out all the time, so as to avoid congestion. There was a staff of about 29 persons, and 2000 children were being fed here every day, while the cooking, for a further 3000 children was done here and. the food? distributed to other eating ' centres in the district. A Scientific System. The work involves a lot of organising and foresight. A scientific basis has been laid down, which is known as the "Nem System," by Dr Freiherr Clemens von Pirquet. This consists of taking the food value of one litre or quart of milfc, equalling 66fl calories, as a standard meal; and this is a very simple system for dealing with food. Thus cocoa counts 6, flour 5, condensed milk 4, and so on. All the food is stored at one ware-' house, and as the number of children at each centre is known, requisi-. tions are made in "Nem" quantities. The various varieties of foods have", their number values. Quantities are weighed out and dispatched. So', accurately does tbe system work; that, notwithstanding the enormous quantities handled, at the month's stocktaking there was less than 2001b difference in balancing. All the food is eaten on the premises. Where it is supplied to the children .not a scrap is wasted, and there is no possibility of the nourishment going elsewhere than to the child intended. The children are selected on doctors' certificates from the schools, without discrimination of race,, nationality, or religion. There was x certainly not much difficulty in selecting these children—they were of all sizes., shapes and conditions, without colour in their faces or fat on their bones. "Feel that arm," said my guide. It felt like a walkingstick. The children are given tickets for a month. They are weighed and, examined from time to time, and show surprising improvement. The one meal a day given is supplementary to their home feeding and in-" tended to restore to the normal those who have suffered most. Suggestion to Australasia. Two hundred thousand children are given a meal a day in Austria, alone, to. say nothing of other countries, where the numbers must be still greater. The reflection is forced on one that this is only the merest particle of the vast need of. i suffering Europe. It would be "a magnificent thing if only Australasia could have a hand in such a truly great and humane work as this. No wonder America is making such inroads into the heart oft Europe! It has been stated by child specialists that this work has been taken in hand in time to save vast numbers of children from permanent injury and degeneration. Another point of interest to mc was to find-a young American of fine idealism engaged in this great work. He told me he was a Rhodes scholar and had de-

cided to dedicate his life to strengthening Anglo-American friendship and extending the benefits of their' ideas and ideals throughout the world. He will undoubtedly accofci* plish much good, with his ability, energy, devotion, and generous selfsacrifice.