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Show m RED CROSS 3y Ovaries Lqq Dry5oiv - -? MiJ j . a t i ' - , T-v. JrkJ 4 S N'OW conslituted, the American Him Cross is but 12 years old. It was chartered liy congress hi 1005, and is protected 1.V various laws passed shun; Unit dati'. Rut it owes lis $ y existence to the convention of Geneva, liclil in 1,Si;:i, and the 3LJ;. treaty often called t lit' Keil Cross treaty of I.St $4, at which IL-r ij-tt a iiuinlier of civilized nallons nrced that each should form I "n oi'Kaiiizalloii for Hie relief of the wounded in war, and that Fi orKanl.atioii of each should lie respected by all the others. I j The most powerful Immediate force maliliif; for this sj Lx treaty was a Utile paper written by Henri Dunant, a Swiss, desorlbin the horrors of tin; battlefield of Solferlno. He visited that balllel'ield after the French, Italian and Austrian nrmlcs had fought over It and had left IIO.OOO wounded to die tincarcd for. gave up hope of pence. When, finally, the nation declared war, the .'ib' base hospitals were completely complete-ly organized, equipped and supplied, and back of them was a great body of men and women trained to the work of keeping them supplied. That is how the Red Cross works in all its manifold man-ifold activities. The heads of the organization -and that means the heads of the nation determine deter-mine what is needed, and through (lie division directors to the chapters goes the word of what Washington wants nnd instantly the people, on whom rests the Red Cross, begin to supply it. Belgium was violated, and ten millions of helpless help-less civilians left starving and freezing. The Red Cross to the rescue, and at "President Wilson's call money and supplies were "raised and sent over, to be there distributed by Red Cross agents. Serbia was crushed, and stricken with typhus fever. There went the American Red Cross, with strong and capable surgeons and skilled nurses, backed by money and medicines and supplies furnished fur-nished by the Red Cross. It cost the lives of some of the finest of the Red Cross workers, but typhus was stamped out and thousands upon thousands saved. There was an earthquake at Messina, Italy. The American Red Cross was there with surgeons and nurses, food and clothing yes, even with . portable frame houses "made in America" to house the victims until they could rebuild their homes. There was a great famine In China. There, too, was the American Red Cross, not only helping feed the starving, but with a commission of some of the most famous engineers of the war department, depart-ment, to whom China intrusted the .task of spending spend-ing $50,000,000 on a system of works to prevent the overflow of the great river which yearly destroyed de-stroyed crops and caused famine. That is how the Red Cross works. Why the work Is done by the Red Cross Is easiest of all to explain, though perhaps least understood un-derstood by the public. It Is because the work of preparing beforehand to meet unforeseen emergencies, emer-gencies, and of alleviating human suffering, has never been undertaken by any other agency. In the words of the old saw, "everybody's business is nobody's business." It seems almost incredible, but after all the centuries cen-turies of war and agony, no nation in history ever went to war with an organization capable of caring car-ing for the men wounded on the battlefield, to say nothing of the victims of rapine, disease, famine and pestilence that stalked across the land after the armies. Never, until this present year of grace, has there ever been a base hospital organized, In time of peace, to care for the wounded after a battle. There is a small medical corps with the army, yes; but It can merely pass the wounded back to field and evacuation hospitals, giving only a temporary dressing often not even that. There are always home hospitals, too. But the gap between them, now filled by base hospital organizations, has never heretofore been filled until thousands lay -on the field dying of thirst and fever and loss of blood for lack of that very thing. After the battle of the Marne, in the present war, the Red Cross facilities were so limited that men lay In the scorching sun on the battlefield for two, three, four, and even five, days with not even a drop of water, nor a bandage on their wounds. It cost thousands of arms and legs that could have been saved, cost many a life needlessly spent, and the anguish endured can never be voiced. That is why the Red Cross is here. It may be said that the governments of the various countries coun-tries should have met the need. True but they never did. All governments are more or less bound down by precedent, constitutional and legislative leg-islative limitations, politics and short-sightedness. And it has now been found that the Red Cross, protected and encouraged by the government, can do quickly and well many things which the government gov-ernment could not do for itself. Speaking locally nnd selfishly, there are strong personal reasons why every American should help the Red Cross. In this war. it may be you or me, - your brother or mine, whose life Is saved by the bandages the Red Cross is making. Here at home, It mny be your house or mine blown up or storm-wrecked or flood-swept; your family or mine left destitute by any one of a score of disasters. disas-ters. And in that case we ourselves would benefit by the ministrations of the Red Cross. From the standpoint of the business man. a strong and active Red Cross Is nn Insurance policy. When disaster comes, it Is always the business man who is called from bis office or store to take up the unfamiliar task of raising funds, Investigating cases of destitution, overseeing the purchase of supplies and their distribution, nnd getting the survivors back to where they can earn their living again. But with a trained Red Gross the disturbance of normal life Is at a minimum. Almost before a citizen's committee- could be called together, capable nnd experienced men. directed di-rected by the head of a division, himself under orders from Washington, lays a firm nnd steady hand on affairs, nnd relief Is given surely, swiftly, Justly, and the business man does not have to spend valuable days nnd weeks at work for which he has no training. Nationally nnd locally, the Red Cross is the best accident insurance any people can have. nmid ago. lies that cannot be told. Neither surgeons, sur-geons, nurses nor comrades paid any heed to those .'(O.oiHI whose tortured bodies lay for days on the field, until death relieved those who could not crawl away. But liunant saw and heard the horrors there, and lie told so much of It that he was able to get the leading nallons to send delegates to the Geneva Ge-neva convention, and so started the movement which has now developed Into the Red Cross. A flue account of this achievement was In the Red Cross Magazine of May, 1017. Though now acclaimed a leader in humanitarian humani-tarian work, the I'nilcd Slates was then so little Interested In the Red Cross that the treaty was not signed until 1SSJ. But in 1005 the government awoke, at least In part, to the opportunity, and chartered the American Red Cross as it is today." The president of the United States is the active bead of the lied Cross, and presides at its meetings. meet-ings. But so little lullueuce has politics in this work of mercy that former President Tuft Is chairman of the central committee, by appointment appoint-ment of President Wilson. And the present writer wishes to say that, (hough he has been connected more or loss closely with headquarters of the central division for two and n half years, he actually does not know the politics of another officer of either national or local- organization, hike snakes In Ireland, politics In the Red Cross Is not. L Tho government of the American Red Cross Is vested in n central committee of eighteen members, mem-bers, six appointed hy the president of the United States, the others elected by representatives of the members. And since the president himself Is chosen by the people, the policy of the entire Red Cross Is united very closely alike to the government gov-ernment and to the people. Since a central committee com-mittee of eighteen Is too unwleldly to transact routine business with dispntch, power Is further concentrated In an executive committee of seven members, of whom five constitute a quorum. The chairman of the executive committee must, by law, be the chairman of the central committee. J How closely (.U ''l'0.?S la l3pDtIfiefl with the - f j - v. v-.- - , r , government Is shown by tracing, briefly, the positions posi-tions held by Its oillcers. As has been said, the president of the United States is president, nnd be appoints the chairman of the central committee and six of its members. The chairman of the central cen-tral committee is also chairman of the executive 'committee of seven. The treasurer of the Red Cross is John Skelton Williams, comptroller of the currency of the United States, nnd the counselor of the Red Cross is John W, Davis, United States solicitor general. : Under former President Taft on the central committee are such men as Brig. Gen. Charles Bird of the United States Army; Rear Admiral William C. Unlisted, surgeon general of the United States navy ; Maj. Gen. William C. Gorgas. surgeon sur-geon general of the United States army; Robert Lansing, United States secretary of state; Franklin Frank-lin K. Bane, secretary of the interior, and Judge W. W. Morrow. The work of the national organization is carried on under three great departments: One for military mili-tary relief: one for civilian relief, and one for chapters. The composition of each will be briefly outlined. ' Tlie department of military relief is under Col. Jefferson Randolph Kean, United States army medical corps, a grandson of Thomas Jefferson. Under him nre the medical bureau. In charge of the medical personnel of base hospitals, the first-ale", first-ale", instruction; the nursing bureau, In charge of nurses and nurses' aids for base hospitals, and women's classes In training; the service units to care for soldiers and sailors ambulance companies, com-panies, base hospitals, nurse detachments, sanitary sani-tary detachments anJ general hospitals; and the Red Cross supply service, for the buying, storing and shipping of all kinds of supplies. The department of civilian relief Is under Ernest P. Bicknell. director general, with a long record of personal service in disaster relief. His department depart-ment controls all relief work at domestic and foreign for-eign disasters of fire, flood and pestilence; the relief of noncombatants in war. both here and abroad ; the care of the families of soldiers and sailors; the town and country nursing service; and the sale of Christmas seals for the stamping out of tuberculosis. The department of chapters is under E. H. Wells, director of chapters. It deals, through the directors of the nine territorial divisions, with the organization of new chapters, and the membership campaigns In those already formed. The Red Cross Magazine, at flrt little more than a monthly bulletin which told, briefly, the doings of the organization, has now grown into a splendid publication (valued recently nt $1,000.-(Xri), $1,000.-(Xri), which tells by clear pictures and vivid stories the history of the Red Cross for ench month all over the world. Each member of the Red Cross above the one-dollar one-dollar class gets the Red Cross Magazine free, part of the dues going to the publication. The circulation, cir-culation, which was only 23.000 three years ago. is now about 200,f00, and growing by leaps of 50.000 nt a time. It has been predicted by men in the position to know best that within a few years it will be making 5250,000 a year clear profit for the Red Cross. Instead of costing $10,000 a month, ns it did until a short time ago. Under the national organization nt Washington, the territory of tho United States Is divided Into seven groat divisions, each under the supervision Of n. division director, responsible to Washington, nnd standing between the national officers nnd the the slate and local organizations. ' ' ' ' " ' ' Very briefly itated, the American Red Crot i an organization to relieve human suffering, and its aim is to prepare, in time of peace and quiet, for its relief work in war, disaster or pestilence. It works under the protection and with the aid of the government, and, being international in its scope, is recognized rec-ognized by and works in harmony with similar organizations organi-zations in all civilized countries. But its strength comes from the people directly, who give of their time, their money and their lives to it. Its reason for being is the same that has called into existence our hospitals, our asylums, our charity organizations organi-zations even our physicians because it stands for a work which must be done and which cannot be done except by preparation in advance. Until the Red Cross was organized, the wounded on the battlefield and the victims of civil disaster alike had to go without care until amateur relief could be organized after the need had become imperative. a large city or a county sometimes several counties. coun-ties. The chapter is governed, on a smaller scale, very much ns the Red Cross as a whole is governed. gov-erned. It has its chairman and other officers, its hoard of directors and its executive committee, In whose hands the active work is carried on. In large chapters an executive secretary usually does most of the active work of the executive committee. commit-tee. Each chapter Is divided into a section for military mili-tary relief and a section for civilian relief, much as the national organization is divided. And ench section has its committees to carry out the various activities'. The section for military relief has its committees commit-tees on: Red Cross; instruction; hospital supplies; sup-plies; warehousing and shipping; supplies for fighting men, and special committees for such work as organizing hospital companies, sanitary detachments, surgical sections and supply depots. The section for civilian relief has its committees commit-tees on: Care of families of soldiers and sailors; relief for noncombatants; care of discharged soldiers sol-diers ajid sailors ; training in volunteer civilian fefief, nnd special committees as needed on local (jisaster, care of refugees and other kindred subjects. sub-jects. How the Red Cross operates is perhaps best told by citing some of the concrete examples of Its work. To begin with, two of the most recent Instances In-stances of civilian disaster relief, take the tornadoes torna-does which devasted Newcastle and New Albany, Ind., at intervals of about two weeks. When Newcastle was laid in ruins with the loss of a score of lives, and several hundred persons made homeless and thrown out of work, the present pres-ent writer, learning the situation through telegraph tele-graph and long distance telephone messages to the press, notified Division Director John J. O'Connor O'Con-nor of Chicago. Within ten minutes Mr. O'Connor was calling for Red Cross nurses, surgeons, trained investigators,, and arranging with Washington Wash-ington for whatever funds might be needed to start the work of rescuing the survivors, feeding and housing them, getting them back to work, and collecting, identifying and burying the dead. All night long, from his room In Chicago, he was putting put-ting tills, that and the other agency to work nt the end of a wire, and the dawn of the next day saw order coming out of chaos. Then, and not before, Mr. O'Connor took train for the scene, and when he arrived, found his orders or-ders being carried out. He took personal charge, aided by the chairman and committees of the Indianapolis In-dianapolis and other nearby chapters, and the work of rehabilitation went swiftly forward. While the director wusstill at Newcastle he received a message that an even worse disaster had befallen New Albany. Again sending orders by wire for surgeons, nurses, Investigators and supplies, he took train for the scene of the latest calamity, nnd again he arrived to find the system already at work. The living were cared for nnd work found for them, the dead burled, and 'all with the least possible delay nnd disorganization of the daily life of the community. The June number of the Red Cross Magazine contains a succinct account of the splendid relief work accomplished. The work of organizing base hospitals illustrates illus-trates the forehanded methods of the Red Cross. With r clnrity of vision for which the country r.ow blesses him. Colonel Kean called last autumn for the Red Cross to organize for the army and navy with the least possible delay 3G bnse hospital units. He did not wnnt hospital buildings what he wanted was 36 units of surgeons, dentists, apothecaries, orderlies, nurses and assistants, with all the cots, mattresses, bedding, laboratory apparatus, appa-ratus, bandages, splints, surgical shirts, bed gowns, and the thousands of things that must be had before a single wounded man can be properly cared for. Each of these .1t5 bnse hospital units wns to be enrolled nnd trained, all their permanent perma-nent equipment bought, nnd all their consumable supplies bought or made, boxed, labeled and stored, so that the whole could be shipped by train or steamer on notice of a day or two. Instantly, all over the country, the division directors di-rectors pnssed the word to their chapters, and the various committees took up the work of forming base hospital units. Under the supervision of Washington Itself the surgeons and nurses were chosen nnd enrolled. Purchasing agents bought at the lowest possible price the equipment. Under Un-der each chapter engaged In the work a committee commit-tee on hospital supplies got standard patterns and specifications from the war department, and set hundreds and thousands of women to sewing on the bnndages, wound dressings and hospital gar- |
