/ 
 
 A CRY FOR HELP FROM 
 
 BELGIUM 
 
 Are You Tired of Giving? 
 
 YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE TIRED 
 
 t 
 
 By courtesy of N. Y. Tribune 
 
AN URGENT APPEAL FOR AID 
 
 Terrible Conditions Exist Today in Belgium—Prompt 
 Action is Necessary if Real Service is to be Rendered 
 
 O UT of misery and desolation there comes today from Belgium a pitiful 
 appeal for aid. So terrible are conditions, so desperate the needs, 
 that, in many instances, it is a matter of days only if the lives of 
 Belgians are to be saved by help from America or sacrificed to German 
 frightfulness. 
 
 Urgent cable messages are received each day from Europe telling of the 
 desperateness of conditions, of the widespread destitution and suffering and 
 urging immediate and generous action on our part. Nothing in the world’s 
 history is more tragic and terrible than the story of Belgium’s invasion and 
 persecution. It is a story that runs through all but four years, a story of 
 violated womanhood, of persecuted children, of murder, pillage and de¬ 
 struction. However bad conditions may have been in the past, they are 
 today infinitely worse—they are terrible beyond all power of description. 
 
 Due to German Frightfulness 
 
 This present situation of increased desperateness is due directly and 
 entirely to the latest campaign of frightfulness launched by the Kaiser’s 
 hordes. Just as it has strained France almost to the breaking point, so has 
 it placed a still heavier burden of crushing, grinding misery upon the Bel¬ 
 gians. Sources from whence relief had come are now closed to them, for 
 France and Great Britain must now give every atom of energy and ounce 
 of resource to their own fight for existence. 
 
 America today is Belgium’s only hope. Belgium is our ally, and never 
 was there one more heroic or loyal. It is a nation that rings true; its people 
 lived up to duty, sacrificed all save honor and bravely stood firm in the face 
 of death until overcome by sheer numbers in whose ranks were treachery 
 and murder. 
 
 Belgium now needs our help—not only for the future, but today. It is 
 the most urgent necessities of life these victims of the Prussians ask us to 
 send. Search your memory for a more worthy object or a better reason 
 for our help. You can do your part to save lives if you act promptly. Join 
 us in conveying a real message of loyal sympathy to Belgium by. sending 
 us today a generous contribution to relieve the suffering of that heroic 
 country’s war ^Otims. 
 
 M 
 
 
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 cl ? S ’? 
 
 I T is in the name of the Charities of the Queen of Belgium that we appeal 
 to you in this emergency. Than Queen Elizabeth, martyr Queen, 
 there is no figure nobler, more courageous or more devoted in all the 
 records of the war. Since the first German guns sounded death and destruc¬ 
 tion for Belgium, Queen Elizabeth has stuck by her stricken people, worked 
 for them, sacrificed for them and today she is a ministering angel to their 
 sufferings and needs. 
 
 Belgium, free cf German domination, is only a little strip of land held 
 by the unconquerable army of that country. King Albert is at the head of 
 his army in the field; Queen Elizabeth is with her people, sharing their dan¬ 
 gers and hardships as she cares for them. Dressed i n the uniform of a nurse, 
 she is the actual working head of the committee which bears her name. 
 She knows what the needs are and where they exist; it is by her own hands 
 or personal direction that these needs are met. 
 
 Queen's Hospital at La Panne 
 
 At La Panne, the Queen has established a hospital of 1,500 beds which 
 are always occupied. There the wounded soldiers are restored to health 
 and given back to the Allies’ fighting service. There the soldiers who are 
 permanently maimed or blinded are cared for and eventually taught trades 
 and occupations that again make them useful citizens. Also there is a de¬ 
 partment where artificial limbs are made for those crippled in battle. 
 
 While this is only one phase of Queen Elizabeth’s work, we ask you 
 if it is not worthy of our help. These soldiers of Belgium are still holding 
 their place in the Allies’ line, they are fighting for you and liberty and, “with 
 backs to the wall,” will “fight to the last man.” Can we do less than aid 
 them when the Germans have made them helpless? 
 
 Women, Children and Aged 
 
 But it is also the women, children and aged people of Belgium for whom 
 their Queen is working. There are vast numbers of them who have lost 
 everything on earth they possessed, who were fortunate to escape perse¬ 
 cution and death at the hands of the Germans. For many months they 
 have eked out a scant and cramped existence, but the latest German drive 
 of frightfulness has closed to them practically every source of aid. Their 
 plight i_$„ desperate and we shy again that America is their only hope. 
 
 We can do a great deal" for these sufferers if we act promptly. - 'Won’t 
 you help by sending a generous contribution for them? It may be the 
 direct means of saving .a human life. 
 
 T*; 
 
 -pi u 
 
T HIS appeal is made by the National Allied Relief Committee, Inc., 
 on behalf of the American Committee Collecting for the Charities of 
 the Queen of the Belgians, a sub-committee of the first-named organiza¬ 
 tion. At the head of this Committee, the purpose of which is to aid the 
 Belgian Queen’s charities, is Mrs. Charles H. Marshall, of New York City. 
 Associated with her in the work are Mrs. Charles B. Alexander, Mrs. E. H. 
 Harriman, Mrs. Thomas F. Ryan, and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, of New York; 
 Mrs. Bayard Thayer, of Boston, and Mrs. Marshall Field, of Washington. 
 
 We know these terrible needs exist today among the Belgians. We 
 know they can be remedied by prompt and generous action on the part of 
 Americans. 
 
 We ask you to send us a generous contribution today for the relief of 
 these suffering people. 
 
 BACK HOME IN BELGIUM 
 
 A Belgian baby and its grandparents. The mother was killed by the Ger¬ 
 mans. The father is fighting today for you and liberty. 
 
 Make all checks payable to James A. Blair, Jr., Treasurer, Na¬ 
 tional Allied Relief Committee, Inc., 2 West 45th Street, New York 
 City.