Men and women, old and young, who crowded the Hebrew Institute yesterday, listened intently to the account given by Mr. B. Horwich of his sojourn in the various cities of Poland; of the things he saw and heard on his mission for the Joint Distribution Committee.

Mr. Horwich spoke of hunger, and the diseases resulting from it, a misfortune which has beset great numbers of our brothers and sisters there. Every now and then sobs could be heard coming from men as well as women who were crying and wiping the tears from their eyes.

Scenes described by Mr. Horwich cast a depressing mood upon everyone present. "More than half the Jews in Poland are on the verge of annihilation; should we not send immediate aid--bread to eat, and clothing to cover their naked bodies?", Mr. Horwich asked. "Hospitals are crowded with the sick, there is 2no medicine to effect cures--there is neither bread nor milk to sustain life. Patients swell up from hunger and die.

"One day there came a faint knock on my hotel door in warsaw. Opening it I saw a pale, precocious looking thirteen-year-old lad.

"What do you want, little boy?' I asked him.

"Are you the emissary from America?' he inquired.

"'Yes,' I replied.

"'I heard that you came from America and gave food,' the boy began. 'I come to you from Pinsk. For eight days I have journeyed to ask your aid for myself and my children.'

"'You and your children,' I uttered, astonished.

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"'Yes, I and my children. Mother died of hunger a year ago and left me with five brothers and sisters to take care of. Father is in America. We have not heard from him; he does not know that mother has died.'

"I did what I could and took him to the commissioner of the American Food Commission, Colonel Groves. He proposed to give the lad two hundred marks.

"'What will I do with money, I cannot buy bread with it,' the boy replied. 'Give me rather bread for my children.'

"'I can give you flour, we have no bread,' the commissioner told him.

"'Let it be flour then. I will make bread from it somehow!'

"And the little thirteen-year-old, father and mother to five orphans, went happily on his way.

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"I promised to find his father as soon as I reached New York, and I did."

Mr. Horwich also related his difficulties in inducing the Polish government to provide matzoth for Passover for the Jewish soldiers in its army. This was his story.

"It happened in Warsaw at the Hotel Poliania. Thanks to the American government, I was able to procure a room because no Jews were permitted, with the exception of the Radziminer Rabbi. [Editor's note: Radzimine is the name of a Polish town.] I could find no reason for the honor bestowed upon the Rabbi until I saw him in my room.

"Such a person, such height, such a patriarchal appearance, and such a stature, I have never yet seen in my life. One glance at him, and you are awed. A yellow beard that hangs in long silky waves, sideburns also long and curly, brows high and delicately arched although rather heavy and thick; 5behind them are blue eyes, the shade of blue that is reflected from mother of pearl. That is his portrait. To this add a height of six feet and a high fur hat. You will understand why he was received everywhere.

"He came to request forty thousand marks for matzoth for Jewish soldiers in the Polish Army. My answer, that without the committee I could do nothing, did not deter the Rabbi. I suggested that I would endeavor to prevail upon the Polish government to grant the soldiers leave, to assign them as guests in various Jewish homes. But the Rabbi maintained that the hosts, in that case, would have to starve. In the end he had to content himself with my promise to secure forty thousand marks.

"Impatiently, without waiting for my colleagues from other sections, I prevailed upon the Polish military commander of warsaw's ranks to provide each Jewish soldier with eight marks a day and grant him permission to eat outside the barracks."

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At the close of this episode Mr. Horwich delivered the Radziminer Rabbi's blessing to all the Chicago and American Jews. May God help them to live well, happily and respected; may they never experience the tragedies of the Polish Jew.

He told further of tragic events in Siedlce, Wilna, and other cities visited. Everywhere misery, hunger, and death prevail. "Of the three hundred and fifty thousand Jews in Warsaw, at least one hundred and fifty thousand are on the verge of starvation, death and annihilation, managing to live only on a plate of warm water with a grain of out cereal and a few pieces of rotten potatoes." At these words tears choked Mr. Horwich. Recovering he ended, "They wait, there unfortunates, for your aid, because only you can afford [to give] it; living in America as you do, you are the most fortunate Jews in the world."

The entire speech made a deep impression. It is only a pity that a larger 7hall had not been obtained so that more persons might have attended.

A resolution that Chicago Jews should send a shipload of food to the unfortunate Jews in Poland, was proposed by Mr. S. J. Rosenblatt following Mr. Horwich's report. Mr. J. Hedismand of 1347 South Ashland Avenue was the first to pledge $500. The sum of $10,000 in cash and pledges was received.

Acting chairman of the Joint Relief Committee in Chicago, Mr. S. J. Rosenblatt opened the meeting. He also handed Mr. Horwich a check for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a sum collected prior to his return here.

Mr. Rosenblatt turned the chair over to Judge Harry M. Fisher who made a short address, and then properly introduced Mr. Horwich. His speech will not soon be forgotten by those who heard him.

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That no appeals for money would be made was intimated by Judge Fisher, but, good souls could not remain indifferent and the above-mentioned sum was collected. The first to donate was the Ladies Auxiliary of the Rachel-Laxeh Talmud Torah (school), $50.

Julius Sovitsky, manager of the Joint Relief office then gave a financial report of the organization. It had been audited by certified public accountants, R. Singer and Company. According to the report, the Joint Relief, in the period from July 1, 1918 to June 30, 1919 collected the sum of $398,211.83. During Mr. Horwich's absence, as emissary, the organization collected $166,920.53 for which he, as president of the Joint Relief, thanked the committee. The total sum includes $16,387.62 collected during the year at the office of the Courier.

Closing remarks were made by Mr. Max Shulman and Stanley Bero of the Central Relief in New York. In the name of several relief workers, Mr. Shulman 9presented Mr. Horwich with a golden medal, suitably engraved, for his devoted service and interest in Jewish war-victims.

Rabbi Shmoal gave his blessings to the assemblage.