World War I 100 Years Ago This Week: May 1-8

From The Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, May 5, 1915: The Indiana Committee of the Commission for Relief in Belgium has opened its headquarters at 753 Lemcke Annex, 145 N. Pennsylvania. The committee will undertake the work of providing a cargo for an “Indiana ship” to be sent to the relief of the famine stricken Belgian noncombatants — mostly women, old men and children, left penniless and starving by the destruction of the harvests and the seizure of practically all foodstuffs. Since December they have been living entirely upon food from the United States. It is hoped that the “Indiana” will carry food stuffs giving the most nourishment — whole wheat flour, peas, beans, cornmeal and rolled oats — valued at half a million dollars (2014: $11,530,333.90) this fall. The commission chairman is Herbert Hoover and the state committee chairman is Charles W. Fairbanks.