one morning in antwerp i saw women with string bags filled with all sorts of small packages, some with larger boxes in their arms, hurrying toward a door over which was the sign “le petit paquet”—the little package. in the hallway many others were trying to decipher various posted notices. one black-haired woman, empty bag in hand, was going through the list marked “kinds and quantities of food allowed in ‘le petit paquet’ for our soldiers, prisoners in germany.”
this, then told the story—husbands and sons were in prison—wives and mothers were here! the posted notices, the organizations within achieved by 24 [187]devoted women—the mountains of little brown packages each carefully addrest, approved for contents and weight, and ready for shipment—these connected the two sad extremes.
this morning the receiving-room was crowded, as it is every morning, i am told. the directors had been standing back of the long counters since 7:30; women of every class pressing along the front, depositing their precious offerings.
each prisoner is allowed a monthly 500-gram parcel-post package, and a 10-pound box, which may contain, beside food, tobacco and clothing. the permitted articles include cocoa, chocolate and coffee; tinned fish and vegetables and soups; powdered milk and jam. soap may be sent with the clothing. one mother had arranged her parcels in a pair of wooden sabots which she hoped to have passed.
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such a rush of unwrapping, weighing, re-wrapping. there seemed hardly a moment for breathing, and yet somehow there was time to listen to stories, to answer questions, give courage to hundreds who found in these rooms their closest connection with their loved ones. one could see that they were loath to go—they would have liked to stay and watch the final wrapping and registering—to actually see their tokens to the train!
on this day there was a special gift box from cardinal mercier for every prisoner from the province. antwerp has 6,000 prisoners in germany, and through the offerings of relatives or friends, or of the city itself when these fail, each one receives a permitted gift.
one sees at a glance what an enormous task the bookkeeping alone entails—record of contents, addresses of senders, distribution, registering of re[189]ceived packages, and numberless other entries. and each month the instructions are changing, which renders the work still more arduous.
and one is astonished over and over again at the amount of sheer physical energy women are putting into their service. belgium has some 40,000 prisoners in germany. in brussels and other cities other women are repeating what the directors in antwerp were doing that morning.
