HELP FOR THE FISHERMEN 



the demands grew greater, special appeals were made 

 to the benevolence and generosity of the public, and 

 these appeals, never made in vain by the Mission, 

 met with a prompt and liberal response which 

 shoved how warm-hearted was the appreciation by 

 the public of the efforts of the fishermen in their 

 country's cause. 



Substantial financial help was forthcoming, the ad- 

 ministration being mostly left to the society, though 

 in certain cases subscribers took upon themselves the 

 maintenance of one or more prisoners of war, week 

 by week, up to the point covered by five shillings a 

 head. This sum, though not great in itself, was 

 yet sufficient to augment considerably the inade- 

 quate provision made by the Germans for their 

 prisoners of war ; it provided just those comforts 

 which were essential to the health of the captives, 

 while as for their happiness, it was possible to do 

 much with supplementary gifts of tobacco and boots 

 and clothing. 



mpathetic letters, too, were written, and cor- 

 respondence maintained between the prisoners and 

 their homes. So it happened that in the homes 

 wives and families knew how their husbands, 

 fathers and sweethearts fared, and in the prison 

 camps those who were in bondage heard of what was 

 happening at home. 



There were prisoners who became fathers, yet 

 knew nothing of their children except what a photo- 

 graph showed or a letter told; and there were babes 

 who grew up and first lisped of the " daddy " tt 



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