From the reports in the daily papers, Madame Vandervelde said, one knows little of the overwhelming nature of the tragedy. She told many interesting stories of the land which had been ravaged by the horrors of war, and the murderous raids of the Zeppelins. Her mission was not a political one; it was a plea for help. She arrived in September, bringing good letters of introduction. Wherever she spoke--in private houses on Long Island, at Beverly, Mass., or Dublin, New Hampshire, or in cities--she was so attractive, and her appeal was so pathetic, that people wept and opened their pocketbooks. In the big cities of Canada she spoke in halls and churches, and was most enthusiastically received. From Syracuse she went to Chicago, also to St. Paul and Minneapolis, starting committees where they did not already exist. At Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston she was especially successful in raising money. She was present at the sailing of several of the food ships, when hundreds of people crowded the docks, speeches were made, and patriotic music played. Three thousand people attended the mass meeting at Tremont Temple, in Boston, and over a thousand were turned away. She went to Providence and then to New Haven, where she was introduced by ex-President Taft. She was introduced in Boston by Bishop Lawrence, and in Baltimore by Cardinal Gibbons. A large meeting was held for her in Cooper Union Hall in New York. During her stay in Washington she visited the Belgian Minister and his wife. Where committees were already started, she turned over the money she made to them. She sailed for Europe on the third of April, having raised about three hundred thousand dollars. Her last lecture before sailing contained these words: "We, the Allies, do not want peace. We appreciate the well meaning, high minded, noble Americans who are planning a conference at your national capital whereby the neutral nations shall decide on some peace plan to be submitted to the belligerent nations without armistice, but we cannot hear of peace at this or any other time until Prussian army caste has been wiped from the face of Europe. We want peace, but only peace with honour, and lasting peace. Peace now, before militarism has been conquered, will not be lasting peace. At the most, it would only be for five or six years, until Prussian militarism could reconstruct itself, and then the whole reign of terror for all Europe would begin again. We can scarcely understand an attitude that would even suggest peace at this time. Such an attitude is embarrassing." [Illustration: MADAME VANDERVELDE.]