s of France; and these had to be clothed as
well as fed.

In common with other ladies of Paris, both French and American, Madame
Goujon established ouvroirs after the retreat of the Germans, in order
to give useful occupation to as many of the destitute women as
possible. But when these were in running order she joined the
Baroness Lejeune (born a Princess Murat and therefore of Napoleon's
blood) in forming an organization both permanent and on the grand
scale.

The Baroness Lejeune also had lost her husband early in the war. He
had been detached from his regiment and sent to the Belgian front to
act as bodyguard to the Prince of Wales. Receiving by a special
messenger a letter from his wife, to whom he had been married but a
few months, he separated himself from the group surrounding the
English Prince and walked off some distance alone to read it. Here a
bomb from a taube intended for the Prince hit and killed him
instantly.

Being widows themselves it was natural they should concentrate their
minds on some organization that would be of service to other widows,
poor women without the alleviations of wealth and social eminence,
many of them a prey to black despair. Calling in other young widows of
their own circle to help (the number was already appalling), they went
about their task in a business-like way, opening offices in the Rue
Vizelly, which were subsequently moved to 20 Rue Madrid.

When I saw these headquarters in May, 1916, the oeuvre was a year old
and in running order. In one room were the high chests of narrow
drawers one sees in offices and public libraries. These were for card
indexes and each drawer contained the dossiers of widows who had
applied for assistance or had been discovered suffering in lonely
pride by a member of the committee. Each dossier included a methodical
account of the age and condition of the applicant, of the number of
her children, and the proof that her husband was either dead or
"missing." Also, her own statement of the manner in which she might,
if assisted, support herself.

Branches of this great work--Association d'Aide aux Veuves Militaires
de la Grande Guerre--have been established in every department of
France; there is even one in Lille. The Central Committee takes care
of Paris and environs, the number of widows cared for by them at that
time being two thousand. No doubt the number has doubled since.

In each of the rooms I visited a young widow sat before a tab