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Show FIX BAYONETS I HALF MILLION PEOPLE AIDED BY RED CROSS IN HURRICANE RELIEF Porto Rico and Florida Victims Helped by Prompt Action; ' $5,000,000 Given by Public One of tlit greatest disaster!, In point of lou of Ufa and devastation of homei, In which tbe American Rod Crosg has ever carried relief waa tbe Wait Indies hurricane of September last, which twept acroti Porto Rico, parts of tba Virgin Islands, tha coast of Florida and north to and In torrential tor-rential rains, flooding streams In half dozen itates. Tba known dead In all of the areas affected was 1,359, although It was admitted that the complete total of dead In Florida would never be known. Tba number of Injured was estimated at J.170. Approximately Ap-proximately 20, COO buildings ware destroyed de-stroyed and damaged. At tha height of tha emergency the Red Cross was earing for 808,410 peoplethat peo-plethat Is, feeding and clothing them and arranging tor whatever shelter was obtainable. As long as three weeks after tba hurricane struck Porto Rico and riorlda, tba Red' Cross was aiding 20,236 people who were sldu of these 236 In Florida and the remainder In Porto RIjo, where Influenza and malaria were being be-ing treated to prevent epidemics of more drastlo diseases. Large numbers num-bers of Red Cross nurses were active at both points. In Florida more than 11,000 persons applied to Red Cross tor assistance, and a great number of people In Florida Flori-da and also In Porto Rico still ware being cared tor In the matter of food, clothing and shelter as long as two months after the hurricane, while they awaited maturing crops which would enable them to again become self sustaining. For this relief task, the American public gave the American Red Cross a fund of $5,000,000 the sura set forth in a proclamation issued by President CooUdge a few days after news of the bnrrlcane was received The relief given by the Red Cross In this groat emergency, spread over such a wide territory of tea and land, waa everywhere commended and especial es-pecial emphasis was placed npon the promtltude with which the organisation organisa-tion responded. The hurricane struck Porio Rico September 13, and the first brief cabled word of It came September 14, to both Red Cross and the news agencies. Before nightfall, the national director of disaster relief re-lief for the Red Cross and a staff of tour trained men bad left Washington for Charleston, South Carolina, to board a navy destroyer which npon Instruction of the President of the United States had been placed at command of the Red Cross by tbe Secretary of the Navy. And although the next day was Sunday, a Red Cross man arrived In New York to purchase thousand tons of food for the Porto RIcans, already reported to be starving, starv-ing, and the Navy again placed a ship tor the cargo at Red Cross command. Late on Saturdar evening there came another cable a Red Cross nurse at St. Croix, In the Virgin Islands, addressed ad-dressed a plea to the mother organisation organi-sation In Washington and gave first warning of the plight of the people of the American possession, where no family In a population of 11.000 bad escaped Injury. In the meantime the Red Cross bad notified Its Florida Chapters that It stood ready for any service. In event the hurricane, beaded toward them. did any damage. Not content with this, tha Red Cross on Sunday night entrained a disaster relief director and Ix workers tor Florida. Money, food, clothing were dispatched dis-patched Immediately to both points, and before tbe end of the week tbe Red Cross was feeding a half million people. This prompt response waa made possible by the disaster relief organisation organi-sation the Red Cross has brought together to-gether and trained through a eerles of such national calamities. Support ot this work Is through tha annual Rett Call for memberships. The goal la the twelfth annual Boll Call to be held Armlstloe Day to Thanksgiving Day, November U to It, Is 1,000,000 member. |
