Life — October 25, 1917 — page 8: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SEEING EUROPE AFTER THE WAR Life’s Fresh Air Fund Inclusive of 1916, Lire’s Fresy has been im operation thirty yea ended $161,919.2 given @ fortnight in the country to 38,190 poor city children, The Fund is supported entirely by bequests Nuntary contributs high are ace dged in this col Previously acknowledged J. L. Perkins... Church School at Dartmouth College. rion A. Moore. $10.19, 5.00 23.70 1.00 ampton, The New Freedom Riga has been freed. —Kaiser Withelm, ELGIUM entered a telephone booth circumspectly, and dropped a nickel in the slot with a backward glance at the German sentry in the distance. “Give me Riga, please,” she de- manded in hushed tones when Central responded. The moments passed. A_ sinister buzzing and clicking emerged from the interior of the telephone. Finally a tremulous voice responded weakly. “Hello,” said Belgium warily. “Is this Riga?” “Yes,” said the voice. “This is Belgium,” came the an- swer. “I hear that you have been freed, and I want to congratulate you on your good fortune.” “Thanks,” said Riga lifelessly, “Isn't it exhilarating,” continued Belgium, casting another apprehensive look at the German sentry, “to know that you can be just as free as you wish from 8:00 A. M. to 7:30 P. M, provided that you use certain streets and speak only German, eat no meat on Mondays, Wednesda: d Fridays ; fall on your knees whenever a Prus- sian lieutenant passes you on the street, and do not sing any songs that haven't been passed by the Berlin war office?” “You bet!” responded Riga. We, too, are free,” declared Bel- gium. “Our men are free to be torn from their families and sent into Ger- many to be starved and broken by disease, and our public officials are free to be stood against stone walls in the pink flush of dawn and shot to death for imaginary wrongs. Our women are free to be insulted by swine in field-gray uniforms, and our children are free to make obeisance to the Prus- sians, or to be imprisoned and tortured for insubordination “You are indeed free,” replied Riga. “ Congratulations!” “Don't mention it,” whispered Bel- gium, Does your freedom corre- spond with ours in allowing you to pay enormous sums of money to the Ger- mans as indemnities for God knows what, and does it give you the privilege of having the Germans break their words to you whenever they find it in- convenient to keep their promises?” “Certainly,” sighed Riga. “It also allows them to inflict freely on us their warped theories of government, their rotten educational ideas, their decayed psychology and their fiendish art. I must be going now, or the Prussians will imprison me for five days for us- ing the telephone longer than four and one-half minutes. Three cheers for freedom!” ° “Freedom iiber alles!” echoed Bel- gium. Cautiously emerging from the tele- phone booth, she hurried home to find out whether the Germans- had burned down her home or mutilated any of her children in her absence. Kenneth L. Roberts. “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting ” Daniel, Chap. 5 comicbook ey