CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN THE WAR
mans, created the most difficult and distressing conditions for the civil population and there was practically no preparation to meet these conditions. Therefore, it was deemed right to send all the help possible into these areas.
This the Committee did in many instances by giving a lump sum for the use of a particular town or region, this sum to be distributed by trustworthy channels such as the Comité de l'Aisne, and the Comité Lyon-St.-Quentin, to whom the sum of 25,000 and 5000 francs were given respectively, at a time of great stress.
After the German retreat the sum of 30,000 francs was given to the city of St. Quentin and to a region west of this place which had been practically destroyed in the recent fighting, and out of this money, among other things, twenty sewing machines were purchased and placed in various centers. They were known as the “Village Machines” and were used in turn by all the inhabitants. The sum of 30,000 francs was also sent to the village of Wavrin, some ten miles south of Lille. This village, which before the war had 5000 inhabitants, all of them superior mechanics, was occupied by the Germans for four years, and in October, 1918, all the inhabitants were evacuated and sent into Belgium. The Germans then put a bomb in each house, and on leaving the town blew them all up. The inhabitants returned on foot from Belgium towards the end of December, a few at a time, and when the chairman of the Comité Français visited the place on December 20, some 2100 people were camping in the ruins, without beds or bedding. The French authorities were able to send only a consignment of food to keep them from
58
