Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

se horses. Many of them made a trip to Alexandrowsk, a journey of twelve to thirty miles, in the vain hope of being granted special long time credit. Finally at four o’clock on a rainy Wednesday the first forty-eight horses arrived in the village of Chortitza, muddy, wet, and tired from their four hundred mile trip from northwestern Russia. An American farmer would have had only contempt for them. They were small and ugly compared with the average farm horse in the United States. But any one of them might prove the deciding factor in helping a family rise out of dire want, and they were almost passionately wanted by hundreds of farmers. Until late in the evening, hopeful farmers inspected and discussed them where they were stabled for the night. The next morning they were all brought together at ‘the farmstead of a Mr. Penner of Rosental where a com- ‘mittee of three, composed of two well known horsemen and a veterinarian, divided the entire lot into four groups according to their value. Uniform prices for each group were then determined so that the purchase prices and all costs would be covered. Although it was still rainy, sev- eral hundred interested men were in attendance, about seventy-five of whom were eligible to draw lots for a horse. -About an hour was given for further inspection and it PERSONAL REMINISCENCES 363 seemed that each farmer had to see each horse from every angle. Eyes glowed and faces assumed a wistful aspect as each picked out the one he would choose if he had first. chance. Slips were prepared and drawn by the eligible buyers, their choices being made according to numerical order. The drawing of these slips was a tense process. The man who drew “number one chose a rawboned black, which the judges had placed in an inferior group because of a defect on one of his legs. The next two chose a pair of greys, rough also but bearing promise of developing into the best horses of the lot. Several men decided, when their turn came to choose, that they did not care for any of the horses that were left; but nevertheless the last horse was led away and still eager buyers were left in line, asking when the next lot of horses would arrive. Vesta Zook Slagel was born at Topeka, Ind., March 26, 1891. Graduate of Goshen College and Lewis Institute, Chicago. When called to go to Constantinople as relief worker she was holding a professorship at Goshen College and the position of Dean of Women. She sailed from New York on the S. S. “Regina de Italia,” March 26, 1921. She ably served as supervisor of the Children’s Home at Con- stantinople for over a year. After the work there was closed she returned home, arriving in New York August 1, 1922, and for one year again took up her work at Goshen Col- lege. Mr. and Mrs. Slagel are now living at 5616 Ellis Ave., Chicago, III. Nina Cory Mrs. A. W. Slagel There came to the Children’s Home, one day, soon after the Home was opened, a woma