before the war the big music-hall in antwerp offered a gay and diverting program. every night thousands drifted in to laugh and smoke—drawn by the human desire for happiness. here they were care-free, irresponsible; tragedy was forgotten.
to-day it is still a music-hall. as madame opened the door—from the floor, from the galleries, from every part of the vast place floated a wonderful solemn music—1,200 girls were singing a flemish folk-song that might have been a prayer. we looked on a sea of golden and brown heads bending over [150]sewing tables. noble women had rescued them from the wreckage of war—within the shelter of this music-hall they were working for their lives, singing for their souls!
and all the time they were preparing the sewing and embroidery materials for 3,300 others working at home. in other words, this was one of the blessed ouvroirs or workrooms of belgium.
off at the left a few tailors were cutting men’s garments. high on the stage, crowded with packing-cases, sat the committee of men who give all their time to measuring the goods, registering the income and output of materials and finished garments. on the stage, too, was an extraordinary exhibit. three forms presented three of the quaintest silk dresses imaginable, elaborately trimmed with ribbons and velvets and laces, and all designed for women of dainty figure. i laughed and then rather [151]flushed, as i remembered the stories of the white satin slippers and chiffon ball gowns that had been included in our clothing offering of 1914. i murmured something of apology, and referred to the advance the commission had made in 1915, when it had sent out the appeal for new materials only.
but madame protested: “oh,” she said, “these are here in honor! and we know that somebody once loved these dainty dresses, and for that reason gave them to us. we love your old clothes! our only sadness is that we can not have them any more. one old dress to be made over gives work for days and days, while the new materials can be put together in one or two. what will become of all my girls now that i shall have no more of your old clothes to furnish them? how shall they earn their 3 francs (60 cents) a week? at best we can allow each but eight days’ work out [152]of fifteen, and only one person from each family may have this chance.”
“but these three dresses we shall not touch!” and she smiled as she looked again at her exhibit.
here the whole attitude toward the clothing is from the point of view, not of the protection it gives, but of the employment it offers. without this employment, without the daily devotion of the wonderful women who have built up this astonishing organization, thousands of other women must have been on the streets—with no opportunity (except the dread, ever present one) through these two years to earn a franc, with nothing but the soup-lines to depend on for bread. of course, there is always dire need for the finished garments. they are turned over as fast as they can be to the various other committees that care for the destitute. between february, 1915, and may, 1916, articles valued at over 2,000,000 francs were given out in this way through this ouvroir alone.
the antwerp music-hall, now a sewing-room
here hundreds of women are being saved, by being furnished the opportunity to work two weeks in each month, on an average wage of sixty cents a week
[153]
but one could endure cold—anything is better than the moral degradation following long periods of non-employment. so it is not of the garments, but of the 9,500,000 francs dispensed as wages, that these women think. the work must go on. “see,” madame said, “what we do with the veriest scraps!” a young woman was putting together an attractive baby quilt. she had four pieces of an old coat, large enough to make the top and lining, and inside she was stitching literally dozens of little scraps of light woolen materials. another was making children’s shoes out of bits of carpet and wool.
in one whole section the girls do nothing but embroider our american flour sacks. artists draw designs to represent the gratitude of belgium to the [154]united states. the one on the easel as we passed through, represented the lion and the cock of belgium guarding the crown of the king, while the sun—the great american eagle—rises in the east. the sacks that are not sent to america as gifts are sold in belgium as souvenirs. each sack has its value before being worked. many of them—especially in the north of france—have been made into men’s shirts, and tiny babies’ shirts and slips.
before july, 1916, in the charleroi ouvroir, over 30,000 sacks had been made into 15,000 shirts at a cost of 25 centimes per sack, and a sewing price of 30 centimes each.
each monday the women may work on their own garments, and on tuesday all the poor of the city bring their clothing to be patched or darned. a shoe section, too, does what it can for old shoes. such shoes and such remnants of socks [155]and of shirts as we saw! but the more difficult the job, the happier the committee!
during the week, courses are given in the principles of dressmaking and design. in the evening there are classes for history, geography, literature, writing, and very special attention is given to hygiene, which is taught by means of the best modern slides. these things are splendid, and with the three francs a week wages, spell self-respect, courage, progress all along the line. the committee has always been able to secure the money for the wages, but they can not possibly furnish the materials—sufficient new ones they could never have.
they are living from day to day on the hope that the c. r. b. may be able to make an exception for the antwerp ouvroir, and appeal once more for her precious necessity—“old clothes!” this [156]the c. r. b. may be able to do—but will england feel equally free to make an exception to her ruling that since the germans have taken the wool from the belgian sheep, no clothing of any kind can be sent in?
as i was leaving, a thrilling thing happened. picture this sea of golden and brown heads low over the heaped tables—every square foot of pit, galleries and entry packed, lengths of cotton and flannel flung in confusion over all the balconies and from the royal box like war banners—and then suddenly see a man making his way through the crowded packing-cases on the stage to the footlights! he was the favorite baritone of this one-time concert hall, and he has come (as he does twice a week) to stand in the midst of the packing-cases behind his accustomed footlights to sing to this audience driven in by disaster, and to teach them the beau[157]tiful flemish folk-songs. they sing as they work. for several minutes neither madame nor i spoke. then she smiled swiftly and said: “yes, it is sadly beautiful—and you know, incidentally, it prevents much idle chatter!”
