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Show I ! RED- CROSS NURSE THE REAL POWER BEHIND THE LINES ; Her Symbol Genuine Crimson Badge of Courage Performing a Task That Cannot Be Done by Men and Furnishing the Gift of Mothei Instinct Which Every Man Craves When Wounded Is an Angel of Mercy Among the Afflicted and Oppressed of All Nations. I ' By EDWARD A. GOEWEY. . I1 jr v HIS is a talc of the woman I 1 among women, the Red Cross j nurse; indefatigable worker and angel of mercy among the afflicted and oppressed the Spartan of ! her sex. The average American visualizes the war nurse only as she appears upon the posters or the magazine covers beautiful always, invariably dressed in immaculate , gnrb of snowy white ; sometimes stretching stretch-ing forth her arms in an appeal for aid or, again, bathing the brow of a wounded ' warrior. These pictures arc pretty, oft-times oft-times striking, but arc practically devoid de-void of anything which would convey some understanding of the real human and humane, hu-mane, brave, earnest and self-sacrificing creature who has made and is making the tiny crimson cross a genuine "red badge of courage." i Perhaps we should not blame the artist for the popular misconception, for he has endeavored to typify the splendid qualities quali-ties of the wa:- nurse by making her counterfeit such as will appeal to the eye. Only the fellow workers of these noble women, the men df battle whose sufferings have been relieved ,by them, or the millions of downtrodden, abused and outraged who have received succor at their hands, can truly paint the better, the finer side, and they can do it most effectively by word of mouth, free from the restrictions of brush and canvass. The badge of the Red Cross to-day Is known in every nook and corner of the civilized world, and yet not one in every hundred thousand persons would recognize recog-nize the name of Henri Dunant, who was, in a vary real sense, the loundcr of the i . . great movement. Duuan:, a Swiss, anu a native of Geneva, whose works mad him one of the greatest humanitarians of the nineteenth century, was born in 1S2.Q Travelling through Italy in 3S59, at the time of the fearful slaughter at Solferino, in which 22,000 Austrians and 17,000 allied al-lied French and Italians were killed an J wounded after fourtccen hours of fighting upon a battlefield twelve by six miles in area, he reached the scene immediately after af-ter the conflict. Both armies were wretchedly equipped to care for the tremendous number of wounded, and the young Swiss was amons: the volunteers who for ten days acted as Good Samaritans and assisted in passing pass-ing the wounded from one improvised hospital hos-pital to another and helping the peasant women nurse the afflicted Later ho wrote "Un Souvenir de Solferino," which was a classic of its kind, and out of his observations and suggestions, printed in the book, came the movement to form, in all civilized countries, an organization which should be ready ever to care for those in distress, whether wounded upon the fields of battle or injured in great catastrophes. When Alfred Nobel, the manufacturer of high explosives, founded the Nobel Fcacc Prize, cue-half of thr first award was given to Henri Dunant to provid for him in his old age. It remained for tho Huns, following tho lead of tho present Emperor of Germany tho perverted and physically marked offshoot off-shoot of Frederick tho Great not only to deliberately violate the purpose of the Red Cross symbol when worn by thoso caring for tho wounded of their adversaries, but also to disgrace It when worn by themselves. them-selves. The stretcher bearers of the Gcr- man Red Cross dcllbcrntely violated the canon3 of tho organlsaitlon by going upon the battlefields armed, and ln Innumerable Innumer-able proved Instances they either shot and killed tho allied wounded or beat them to death with clubs tipped with spiked metal ends. .Most persons would have imagined that the Hun nurses would havo retained suf-ricicnt suf-ricicnt womanly Instinct to be above the irutalitlcs of their masculine assistants, -but they did not take into consideration the truo character of tho Prussian people, male and female alike. Wounded from the Allies brought to Ger-, Ger-, nan hospitals wcro cursed and reviled by he nurses, refused a drink or given dirty tvater. Often theso persons would hold vessels of water near the mouths of half-famlshed half-famlshed sufferers, only to snatch tho liquid away with a laugh when an effort was mado by tho wounded to drink. These aro but few of tho countless instances of brutal ly which can bo placed squarely at tho doors of tho Red Cross of Germany and her allies In all other countries, according to tho records complied to date, the women of the red symbol havo worked truo to their obligations, and In many of tho neutral nations, particularly in Switzerland, tho nurses went over the border to meet tho trains bearing allied prisoners, so 111 that the Germans desired to rid themselves of them, and circulated among the men, cautioning cau-tioning them to say nothing to dlspleaso their Hun guards until tho safety zone had been reached. There no longer remains a doubt that tho real and much needed power behind tho lines In tho great struggle for world peace is the trained nurse. nd America la riohiir her sharo ln seiiCIInir theso an cols of mercy to Europe. That they are doing their full duty and moro Is testified to from a thousand sources, though their task has been mado doubly hard because the Germans refuse utterly to respect tho Red Cross symbol, no matter where and by whom displayed, behind tho lines of their adversaries. Not long ago ono splendid American nurse. Miss Beatrice McDonald, attached to tho Presbyterian Hospital unit under Dr. Gc(frgc E. Brewer, was working In an advanced dressing station In Franco when tha Bochcs began to bombard tho allied hospital quarters. Miss McDonald was too busy doing service for a wounded soldier to stop to put on her helmet and a piece of flying shrapnel struck her in the eye. Although blinded in the Injured eyo, three days later alio returned to her tasks, wearing a black patch as a mark of the Hun raiders' brutality. For a tlmo certain authorities at Washington Wash-ington did all that they could to prevent letters from tho American Red Cross nurses working on the other sldo from being made public. Their reasons for such action never have been explained, but finally tho embargo was lifted and to-day communications from tho nation's women workers on the war fronts, containing con-taining matter which is both Interesting and enlightening, arc finding places ln the public prints. And theso talcs, written writ-ten on tho spot and truthful In detail, give a genuine "close up" viow of tho human and humane sldo of tho work of these angels of mercy. One of the most pathetic stories Is told by an American woman,, a graduate of ono of tho most celebrated colleges for women in New York, who was In England at tho beginning of the war. She at once volunteered for Red Cross work, having completed a courso In nursing hero beforo going abroad. After a time sho was assigned as-signed to one of the units in charge of a flcl'd hospital just back of the lines held by the Canadian troops, and sho paints this graphic word picture of an Incident which took place whllo there: "It had been a tcrrlblo day for us From early morning until late at night tltoi' tirwl Vtnnn Virlnnlnr. Unli V. n t..ftn.wlA.l Canadian hoys for us .to look after. Whei ilmost ready to drop frOm fatigue I wen outside the hut. In which wero" bein; placed those most seriously injured, to go: a cup of coffee, but returned almost Im mediately, when I saw another form on j stretcher. being carried through tho tlnj doorway. Just as I was entering a physician phy-sician stepped outside and, Jerking hl. thumb over his shoulder, said: "That lasi Ind can't live. He's beyond us, but he"? only a kid, so you might try and make il easier for him. "Inside I saw our latest patient, wounded wound-ed unto death, lying on the little cot. whlto" and motionless and with his oyer closed Only his labored breathing told that ho still lived and. afraid of disturbing him, I busied myself ministering to the other wounded ln the room. "So numerous wcro tho call? upon my servicos that, for a few moments I forgot the youth, but turning suddenly, as I recollected him. I saw that his eyes were wide open and that ho was gazing steadily at me. Taking some cool water in a glass, I gave him a drink, assured him that he was doing nicely and asked If 1 could do anything for him. " "Listen, nurse,' ho said. 'I havo been watching you for some time and I know that you're American and the right sort. You needn't tell me that I'm going to get well, for I know lhat my game is nbout played. I don't want to tako you from the other boys who've got a chance, but you'll do mo tho greatest favor on earth If you'll tako down tho name and address of my mother, and write her a letter from me when you have time.' I wrote the name and address he gave me. and then he would say no more until I had ngaln mado a round of the cots and attended to the wants of those ail about us. " 'It's a short story.' he said when I returned to him. 'I'm only nineteen years old. I lived down on tho New York river front most of my life, and mado a lot of mistakes. Once the police almost caught me for something, and I went to Philadelphia. I got a letter there which showed that I'd "most broken my mother's heart, and begging me to come back and make good. The war camo and my oldest brother, who always was the best of us hoys, went over the lino, enlisted with the Canadian troops and came over here. A friend of ours went with him, and later from him we learned that Joe had been killed. Not killed In action, mind you, but hy a dirty German dog in the Hun ambulance ambu-lance service. Joe was wounded and loft on the field, as was his chum. " 'When tho German stretcher bearers camo round looking for the wounded they shot all of our boys not badly wounded. When ono of them came to Joo ho had no more ammunition, so he did for him , by hitting him over the head with the butt end of his revolver. Joo's chum pretended pre-tended to be unconscious, and was left to die. Later ho was picked up by our Red Cross and, after he recovered, wrote all I'm telling you to my mother, who 3cnt the letter to me. I had been afraid to go back to New York till then, but that : letter settled it for me. "That night I reached home, saw my i mother, told her that I was going to make I good if I li-cd and that if I could get la the Canadian army I'd get ten Huns to pay for Joe's death. I'll cut the rt e! ' tho story short. I got one more than tu before they got mo. but I want you to ! wrlto my mother and tell her that BQl mado good, as he promised, and fcu Z3 kick coming. i "Tho boy died that evening, but IhvJ.j tigntcd and learned that he had beta cas of the most daring scouts with his cor- , pany and that his comrades who accompanied accom-panied him on expeditions at night iii reported that ho seldom returned wlthrcl leaving behind at least one less Geipir Here Is a quotation from a letter ptaatJ by an American woman who Is strricf her second year in a hospital In Parls'-"Nevcr Parls'-"Nevcr have I been ?o affected and movfi , In my life as at tho hospital this moraine. An American lad right from the frozl was operated on, and while comln; oit of the ether he lived over those mJnutti before ho was hit. It was the superlative , of tho dramatic, and so terrible that It made our hearts beat faster; for no lonsr ' was I In a civilized hospital, bat a veritable veri-table hell of mud and fighting. 0b. I J havo heard French soldiers, and I h't ' them, 'out to hear It In our own dear American slang mado me realize that after all It cannot be but one's own country coun-try first. He kept crying. 'Ah, I got that j one. Don't tell mother I killed him; don't, ; oh, don't Damn this mud. After thea, boys! Fix bayonets that a boy Aal then, with clenched fist and shaking Wi flno young head. 'Damn tho Muni-tha dirty Bc-ches, Ah!' (a gasp of horror). They are coming, waves on wave,? of 'era My writing can't possibly make you picture If Tho room darkened on account of tha raid, tho ether smelling, the tossing fi'FJ" n and the young volco. And there are s f ' Ing to be hundreds of them, thousands oi ' them, with youth and the same splendid spirit in them. And he kept repeating endlessly. They can't lick an American,' ind I knew then that they couldn't-not possibly." |