Show to aid the american red cross association WATCH NIGHT MEETINGS one to be held at ogden many thousand meetings expected to raise permanent ahing fund crowned heads and wide celebrities will speak the hope oi the czar of russia voiced at the peace conference at the hague 1 I wish that the twentieth century might be a century of peace was the mother of the great plan for watch meetings which is now being pursued by the american national red cress association and which will occur in churches in the united states on the night of december 1900 and continue into the early morning of january ast 1st 1901 the opening of the twentieth century all over the united states there is this concerted movement going on and in the state of utah and in the city ot ogden they will take place even as in every other state and city in the nation the red cross society has a specially organized twentieth century department that baa this matter in hand with clara barton at the head ably assisted by frank D higbee mammoth meetings are already arranged tor in new york and many ot the leading cities in madison square garden and other great auditoriums to see the old century out and the new century in at madison square garden dousas sousas famous band will furnish the music and a grand chorus of one thousand voices will be heard in song until midnight interspersed with speeches and greetings these greetings will be a novel and unique feature of the epoch they ft will bo from the rulers of the world the old nations and the new from the celebrities 0 the day and year from every land they will bo from the czar of russia and the queen of england and thirty other sovereigns great and small and from popo leo XIII from tolstoi chamberlain dreyfus zola kruger sir edwin arnold hall caine anthony hope lord roberts and fifty others and it is from these greetings that the red cross society expects to its great sustaining fund all these have written speeches or greetings to be read at the great meetings on the night of December and they are messages on the hopes of the future congratulations on the progress of the past century and ot the promise of the twentieth century it will be such a grouping of the ideas and sentiments of the master minds 0 the material universe on the subject of greatest universal interest as was never before made the contributions promised to the red cross will form a most inspiring and impressive memorial all the originals of these greetings will be reserved in the congressional library at washington to be saved tor the nations posterity so it will he greetings from the old world to the on such an occasion and at such a time a time which never comes to a man but once except in exceptional cases the farewell to the century and the greeting to another one few people ever live to see but the one close of a century some have had their lease of life so prolonged but they arp not many this occasion therefore will be made as much of as is possible and how better could it be observed nan to begin it with a greeting in the hope that it will be a century of peace the red cross in other countries has been endowed by various means but in america in this nation it has lived in its voluntary life springing into when the necessity called tor it and doing its duty whatever comes now it Is the hope of the society to place itself in a position where it will always be ready tor whatever emergency which may arise it is to have an emergency or sustaining fund and it Is believed that at the dawning of a new century the people of the united states will gladly gather together in one grand mass meeting to watch the old century out and the new century in and at the same time to aid in the national international and work which has tor its watchword humanity the american red cross has for the farst time consented to give to the public an opportunity to contribute to a permanent sustaining fund for this broadest of charities the work of the red cross and of miss clara barton Is known to everyone la this nation and almost in the world and so Is well known what they have done tor the volunteer and other soldiers and other armies with tho provision of such a sustaining fund as is expected his society will be ever in a position to otter all kinds of relief to the sufferers of such a calamity as that of galveston for instance all this Is embodied in the circulars issued by the red cross society and further it is stated that it is thought halt a million dollars win be raised by this plan the following is from the new york journal most of the countries represented at the geneva conference of the red cross societies have large emergency funds japan has which lies in its treasury untouched except tor red cross work in emergencies of war or wave or wind little belgium has a large fund tor that purpose the united states has none when miss clara barton went to galveston to aid the suf ferera from tho september disaster there was no national fund upon which to draw in lieu of such a fund she drew her own check tor lack of funds crippled the red cross workers it was an old story the monotonous history of the red cross was repeating itself as it had countless times the watch meeting will remove this serious obstacle the promoters of whom miss clara barton Is chief and mr frank D higbee lieutenant expect that will be raised this will at once be converted into the national emergency fund of the american red cross society mr higbee it was who with credentials denti als from the state department at washington and a written encomium from miss clara barton in bis pocket went to europe crossed into asia and africa returned via south america and secured the written sentiments of forty three rulers and potent men and women of each country a sum reaching into the hundreds mr alg bees pockets bulged and his trunks were well nigh bursting when be returned last month dally by mall and express the belated expressions came there are those of poetic tendencies and with the utmost reverence who term this watch night meeting plan miss bartons swan song her health Is rapidly tailing her middle ago has followed upon youth and both have passed her health Is much impaired her workers coworkers co speak of the monster system of watch night meetings as her last grand work the originals of cheso greetings are regarded as much more valuable than their weight in gold after they have served their purpose tor the watch night meetings they will have a perma nent place in the congressional library at washington it is proposed to charge an admission fee to the watch meetings the churches and the people who hear these greetings must pay tor the pleasure the preliminaries will be arranged by the red cross society or the church organization which takes the matter up and the express companies will deliver the packages of greetings at the church or other places where the meetings will be head they will be read to all those who are there and this payment of admission is exacted for the greatest of humane purposes the perpetuating of the red cross eo i slety of america for the state of utah mrs ton of sandy has baen commissioned to contract tor the watch night meetings she has already arranged for one at provo and Is now working hard tor one at salt lake she will be la ogden next week probably arriving i wednesday and the matter will be referred to the red cross society in whose hands it will be pushed to a most successful issue everybody will be interested in the matter and it will be hard to estimate the number of people who will take advantage of the occasion to add their mite to the success of the grandest work on humanitarian principles of the age |