ALWAYS THE PUPILS OF THE NATION
Cleanliness is definitely lacking at the Sanatorium des Marmousets

The school holidays are coming to an end. Little Parisians sent to colonies at the sea or in the countryside by charitable works are beginning to return to the capital and parents will be able to see the benefits of this stay in the great outdoors.
But have we, this year, given the children all the necessary care and the surveillance which should be exercised very actively around these young beings, has it not relaxed in truly painful conditions, in certain camps vacation?
A few weeks ago the Press echoed the complaints of outraged parents who had noted that their children, entrusted to the care of a holiday center, were living in a stable, without corners, and in a state of promiscuity. heartbreaking.
The fact that was reported to us was all the more odious as they were wards of the nation. It was said that veterans had rights over us. What can we say about the duties incumbent on us towards these children whose fathers have fallen on the field of honor?
The famous Sables d’Olonne camp
It was at the camp of the wards of the nation, in Sables-d'Olonne, that the scandal we have described broke out. We remember that the children sent to this beach, to the Marmousets sanatorium, were abandoned without hygiene in filthy premises. Mr. Dubreuil, director of the establishment, wrote to us, following this article: “with the intention,” he said, “of putting this matter to rest. »
According to him, the facts had been somewhat exaggerated, and if the children had been housed in an old farm, it was to temporarily keep them away from some of their comrades suffering from angina.
Alas! new revelations brought by Mr. Jean Varenne, municipal councilor, and president of the section of the wards of the nation of the 18th arrondissement, confirm what we have already published, and the complaint, filed with the Public Prosecutor, must follow its course. According to recent testimonies, the children were sleeping poorly and had to share a small, basic bed in pairs. Uncleanliness reigned in the dormitories, the rooms and among the children who were covered in vermin. If an epidemic broke out, it was certainly the result of the lamentable hygienic conditions and the lack of the most basic precautions.
The investigation will continue
At the Departmental Office of the Seine, these findings aroused, as one can imagine, strong emotion. It was pointed out to us this morning that similar facts were fortunately isolated and unique, and that it would be unfair to generalize.
From the holiday camps where the wards of the nation have been sent, the best news has arrived and the children return delighted with their stay; their good looks attest to the benefits of the open air and the care with which they were surrounded.
The Departmental Office fully agrees with the public in denouncing and prosecuting those responsible for scandals such as those at the Marmousets sanatorium.