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Show I The Red Cross Looks Back Over Three-Guariers Of a Century of Service to Suffering Mankind; Regardless of His Race, Nationality or Creed By Edward Kenneth Stabler (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) ITS after compartment flooded by the inrushing sea, the submarine Squalus plunged to the bottom off Portsmouth, N. H., on May 23. The United States navy, assuming charge of rescue operations, waged a successful success-ful two-day battle against time and the elements in bringing to the surface alive the 33 men who survived the sinking. But the tragedy of the Squalus was not confined to the sea. The many relatives and friends of the entombed men, who came hurriedly to the New England town, were equally victims of catastrophe. catastro-phe. They required housing, attendance, information and, in some instances, medical care, during the long hours of waiting. Three weeks later a tornado writhed its way across a rural section of Minnesota, visiting its wrath upon the town of Anoka and villages nearby. In its wake 10 persons lay dead and 90 injured. in-jured. The toll of property damage dam-age included 35 homes destroyed, 110 damaged, and 200 barns completely com-pletely or partially wrecked. There was instant and widespread wide-spread need of food and shelter for the victims, of medical and nursing care, and, in the long days ahead, rehabilitation of families and homes. By press and radio the story of such disasters spreads. We feel a sharp, quick sympathy for those fellow humans and we have an instant impulse to aid. 'the Red Cross Is There.' The feeling of sympathy remains re-mains but the human impulse passes almost as quickly as it came. It fades in the face of our realization of detachment and of our individual inability to help. In another moment we are caught up again in the current of events that eddy round us. That we do not then carry with us an inescapable in-escapable sense of futility is due to our confidence that the disaster dis-aster victims are receiving succor suc-cor as prompt and competent and complete as man has yet been able to devise. Which is to say that we know the Red Cross is there, doing all that can be done. It may never have occurred to some that this assurance, which holds good at all times the world over, lis a comparatively recent and a somewhat miraculous thing; that the organization which we join as a member each year is the largest and most far-reaching far-reaching in existence, annihilating annihilat-ing distance and the man-made barriers of nationalism and prejudice prej-udice and creed; that in its diverse di-verse and largely voluntary functioning, func-tioning, in war and peace, whenever when-ever and wherever there is human hu-man suffering, it is one of the most effective and remarkable agencies of mankind. This year marks the seventy-fifth seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the International Red Cross at Geneva, Switzerland, August 22, 1864, when the representatives of 12 nations signed the Geneva convention, con-vention, or Red Cross treaty, setting set-ting forth the humanitarian principles prin-ciples of the organization. During these 75 years the In ternational Red Cross has expanded ex-panded until today there are Red Cross societies in 62 nations which have a world-wide enrollment enroll-ment of more than 34,000,000 adult and junior members. Although the United States was represented at Geneva and cooperated co-operated in framing of the convention, con-vention, the traditional reluctance reluc-tance of this government and its people to participate in international interna-tional agreements involving treaties trea-ties with European powers, prevented pre-vented ratification by the United States and establishment of its own national Red Cross until March 1, 1882. The secret of the constant, far-flung far-flung preparedness of the American Ameri-can Red Cross of today is the secret of training and organization. organiza-tion. Its secretary, Miss Mabel T. Boardman, once asked by an admiring but mystified questioner, question-er, "How does the Red Cross get to the scene of disaster so promptly?", replied: "The Red Cross does not have to get there; it is there." It is there in the personnel of its 3,716 chapters and 8.200 branches, each with its committee commit-tee on disaster prevention and disaster relief. It is there in the machinery of co-ordination, established es-tablished through regional and national na-tional headquarters, under the direct di-rect supervision of its national chairman. Norman H. Davis. It is ready v .th disaster relief workers, work-ers, by n.ga " --. proj 1 ' - 1 I I ' f 1 , A j ) f v ' A X " V vi- j-f is A major obligation of the Red Cross is in work for veterans and service men. This picture shows a Gray Lady, one of the thousands who aid sick and disabled in our hospitals. mental and other agencies whose facilities are at hand, if needed, to supplement those of the Red Cross. In 58 years the American Red Cross has assisted the victims of more than 2,200 disasters and has expended approximately $140,-000,000 $140,-000,000 in disaster relief, most of it since the World war. During Dur-ing the past 15 years it has served in an average of 92 domestic do-mestic disasters annually, and during the year ending June 30 last, it rescued, clothed, housed, fed and gave medical, nursing and rehabilitation aid to 100,000 persons, victims of 148 disasters in the United States. Record of a Year. Some conception of the magnitude magni-tude of this continuing peacetime task can be had from the summary sum-mary of reports covering the 12 months ending June 30 of this year. During that time the American Red Cross has: Through its civilian home service, serv-ice, assisted 116,000 families affected af-fected by economic and other forms of distress; Provided service for 165,000 war veterans or their families through its chapter home service serv-ice sections and national liaison representatives; Through chapters, field directors direc-tors and hospital social workers, extended help and medical social service to 40,000 men of the yV : V. I - fr, - ; m - t - A ! 1 1 Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red Cross in 1864. This picture pic-ture was made at the time he was the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. army, navy, marine corps and coast guard; Continued the campaign against injury and death in the water, on the highways, in factories, by training 100,000 new life-savers and 313,000 new first-aiders, bringing the total of Highway First Aid stations to 2,720 and of mobile first aid units to 2,424; Through 2,126 of its' chapters, continued activities in home and farm accident prevention to lessen less-en the annual loss of life and number of injuries; In co-operation with physicians made 1,000,000 public health nursing visits to or in behalf of the sick, examined thousands of school children for physical defects, de-fects, and trained 50,000 women and girls in the home care of the sick ; 9,000,000 in Junior Red Cross. Through the Junior Red Cross, stimulated the interest of more than 9,000,000 school children in health education, character building, build-ing, international correspondence and better understanding and peace among nations; Through the work of volunteers, volun-teers, produced 330,000 garments for disaster victims and others in need, 4. 600. 000 surgical dressings ,- w-nl hospitals, and 720,000 ifjading matter in VMind. and diversified peacetime activity of the Red Cross, which grows steadily and benefits greater numbers year by year, has gained impetus in all lands since the establishment in May, 1919, of the League of Red Cross societies, with headquarters headquar-ters in Paris. Founded through the vision and initiative of Henry P. Davison, wartime chairman of the American Ameri-can Red Cross, with the support of the Red Cross societies of the United States, ' Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan, the league has grown steadily in importance im-portance and strength until it now includes all of the national Red Cross societies. Its chairman is Mr. Davis, chairman of the American Red Cross. The league, however, is but one of the two agencies of the world family of Red Cross societies. The other and older is the International Inter-national Red Cross committee, with headquarters in .Geneva, where it was established in 1864 under provisions of the Geneva convention. Each of these bodies preserves its individuality and its own field of activity, corresponding roughly rough-ly to supervision of wartime activity ac-tivity by the international committee com-mittee and of peacetime activity by the league. They co-operate on a basis of constant, mutual consultation, which is furthered by an exchange of delegates. The services of these bodies, together to-gether with the International Red Cross conferences, held every four years, provide the channels through which the 62 national Red Cross societies function as one gigantic and unified organization, organi-zation, the International Red Cross. Tribute to Pioneers. Observance of the seventy-fifth anniversary of this organization in every civilized land is a fitting tribute to the heroic endeavors of the men and women of every member nation, who labored long and successfully in the establishment establish-ment and the promotion of the national Red Cross societies and the International Red Cross. The names of some of these individuals individu-als are famous, others are unknown; un-known; but the names of all of them are legion. One among them all, however, has prior claim to praise and recognition rec-ognition in this anniversary year. For the International Red Cross is his living memorial a perpetual perpet-ual tribute to his humanitarian-ism, humanitarian-ism, his vision and his industry. His name, too little known since his death in 1910, is Henri Dunant, Du-nant, and his story is the story of the origin of the Red Cross. It is one of remarkable individual effectiveness in the field of humanitarian hu-manitarian endeavor. It begins in his native city of Geneva, where he was a successful success-ful young banker; takes him to the Plains of Lombardy in northern north-ern Italy, where he was an eyewitness eye-witness of the Battle of Solferino, one of the bloodiest engagements of the Nineteenth century; carries car-ries him into the nearby village of Castiligione, where he labored heroically for days at the head of a small band of volunteers in doing do-ing whatever could be done for the unattended thousands of wounded and dying; finds him in temporary seclusion, while he writes letters to influential friends and a small volume vividly depicting de-picting the horrors he had witnessed, wit-nessed, setting forth proposals for a permanent, neutral, volunteer organization in all countries, which could be counted upon to care for the sick and wounded of war and the victims of catastrophe catastro-phe in time of peace; and it follows fol-lows him through the capitals of Europe where he pleaded and fought for his plan, back to the council tables of Geneva, where, at long last, he saw his brain child born, a healthy infant, destined des-tined to grow and prosper in the service of humanity. |
