Chapter II: Part 2

The next house we passed was a deserted little negro cabin whose wrecked chimney bore witness of the violence of the flood. This had been the home of an honest, hard-working colored man, who, with his family of five children, lived on the little rented patch of about 20 acres. His nine acres of corn would have fed his family and his animals. His seven acres of cotton would have yielded about three bales, which would have given him $120.00 as the cash proceeds of his year’s labor. With this he would have paid off his store bill of $50.00; $20.00 would have gone for rent, and after making a payment upon the horse he had just purchased, the husbandman would have had a small cash balance to see him through to next crop time. Now corn and cotton are both swept away; there is no money to settle the store bill, nor pay for the horse, and there is no food for the family to subsist on through the long winter months.

As nearly as could be estimated by those familiar with the local conditions, there were fully 200 families in the lower end of Marion County, renters and “lienors,” whose situation is about as hopeless as that of the family just referred to. Many, who like Mr. Richardson, owned more or less land, are in a position to obtain advances on their holdings, and though seriously crippled, can probably weather the storm. But for these other families, who are without such resources, some adequate relief measures will have to be undertaken.

The attitude towards customers and tenants assumed by the merchants and plantation owners bears high testimony to their generosity and public spirit. It is taken for granted that no claim for rent will be made and, as far as possible, credit will still be extended to the flood sufferers. But it is too much to expect that these men can assume the whole of the burden, for they have themselves suffered severely. Mr. Davis estimated that in an area of several miles there was only one of the flood victims who was not indebted to him for a larger or smaller amount. Some of these debts would eventually be paid; many of them would never be recovered. He said he had begun to figure out his losses, but they mounted up so appallingly that he had stopped short before he was half way through. I was told that he had advanced over $18,000.00 worth of fertilizer to the farmers trading at one of his four stores. If this was true, it gives some idea of the magnitude of his losses, and shows the impossibility of expecting men, under such circumstances, to do all they would normally be able to do for their poorer neighbors.

RELIEF MEASURES, COLUMBIA, S. C.

At the time of my visit to Columbia _The State_, in a paragraph announcing that the agent of the Red Cross was in the city, stated that Columbia would consider herself disgraced if she could not do all that was needed for local flood sufferers, without further aid from the Red Cross Association.

At the last census Columbia had over 21,000 inhabitants; its population now numbers some 25,000 people. It is the State capital, and has some thriving cotton mills. Taking Captain Gonzales’ estimate of 100 destitute families as being approximately correct, it would seem that with employment easily obtainable in the fall and spring, it ought to be possible for the people of Columbia and Richland County to undertake such local relief measures as would make further outside aid unnecessary. The dangers of creating a large relief fund, and extensively advertising its existence, are very obvious, especially as most of the people affected are negroes who would very readily accept a position of dependence.

Captain Gonzales told me that the securing of regular monthly subscriptions towards the relief of cases of genuine need had been suggested. This plan seems to be an admirable one, and would be less apt to result in weakening any attempt at self help that might be made by the flood sufferers. If properly and systematically managed, it would also probably be adequate to meet the requirements of the case.

FLORENCE.

From the foregoing report of conditions in this section it will be readily seen that no outside help is necessary at this point.

MARION AND MARION COUNTY.

The activity and interest displayed by the local Relief Committee at Marion have already been noted. Probably one reason why they had accomplished so much more than had been done at the other points was that the situation in Marion County was apparently much more serious than in either of the other places.

Immediately following the disaster wagon loads of supplies had been promptly dispatched to the districts affected. The men to whom the distribution of these supplies was entrusted told me that they hoped nothing more would be sent at present. Indeed, Mr. S. U. Davis had asked that a contribution of $200 that had been offered be placed in bank and held for later distribution. He and Mr. F. Davis know personally every family in that section and both urged that no more relief be sent at present. Mr. F. Davis said that as long as the supplies lasted that were sent to his store, the negroes collected around and refused to do any work. When work was offered they said, “We all don’t have to pick no cotton, do white folks am gwine to feed us.” He also told of a white man who had $700 in bank but who, nevertheless, had sent his brother to see if Mr. Davis did not have “something for him.” In this connection it may be noticed that however poverty-stricken a colored family might be nothing would induce any of the girls of the family to accept positions as house-workers. Both Mr. S. U. Davis and Mr. F. Davis urged that hereafter relief be sent direct to individual cases of distress, upon their recommendation, after thorough investigation had proved that help was necessary.

It might be thought that possibly these statements were colored by the anti-negro bias with which the Southerner is usually credited, but though fully alive to the weaknesses of the negro, everyone with whom I talked manifested genuine sympathy with all cases of real distress, whether the sufferers were white or colored. Everyone with whom I spoke agreed that during October and November, while work was plentiful, all relief should be withheld, except in the special cases alluded to above. After this will come the winter months when work is scarce and there are few sources of income except a little fur trapping, or odd jobs. Mr. Davis had already written to a lumber company which has extensive timber holdings throughout the lower part of the county suggesting that if they could see their way clear to commence operations in that section at once the opportunities for employment that this would offer would be a veritable Godsend to the community. But, however favorable conditions may shape themselves and however generous may be the local responses to the need for help, it still would seem to be a certainty that outside assistance will be needed for this section. The destruction has been so great—the committee estimated that from 1,500 to 2,000 bales of cotton had been destroyed within the flooded area—and the loss has fallen so heavily on rich and poor alike, that it does not seem possible that the community can grapple with the problem unaided.

All relief work has been done, so far, through local committees who are thoroughly familiar with every detail of the circumstances of those who need help and if this policy be maintained there is very little possibility that any funds will be unwisely applied.

In conclusion, I should like to say a deeply appreciative word concerning the kindness and courtesy of the Relief Committees in the three cities. Though, during the investigation, I traveled over many miles of country, in no case was it necessary to use Red Cross money in hiring livery rigs, as all this was arranged for by the committees and individuals interested. I would make special mention of the kindness of the committee at Marion, who entertained me while I was in their city, and of the courtesy of Mr. S. U. Davis, at whose home I was entertained and who spent a day and a half in showing me the situation in Marion County, placing at my disposal his invaluable and intimate knowledge of local conditions. I also take great pleasure in expressing appreciation of the active and energetic co-operation of the State President, Mr. A. C. Kaufman, who arranged my itinerary and who, by letters of introduction, paved the way for me in every city visited.

A SHORT SKETCH OF THE RUSSIAN RED CROSS

BY MR. J. DE THAL.

The first initiative to give private aid to the wounded on the battlefield was taken in Russia in 1854, during the Crimean War, when Grand Duchess Helen Pavlovina (a sister of Emperor Nicholas I) formed a party of trained nurses, who, under the leadership of the afterwards celebrated surgeon, Pirogoff, went to the war and cared for the wounded.

In 1867 was formed a Society for the care of the wounded and sick warriors, which changed its name in 1876 and was then called the Russian Red Cross Society. From its very start the Society was taken under the august protectorate of the Empress Maria Alexandrovina, wife of Emperor Alexander II, and many persons of the imperial family and prominent statesmen became its members.

At the very first, lack of funds prevented the Society from the activity along the broad lines which it desired. Not being able at the start to found its own communities of nurses, with its own hospitals and surgical clinics, the Society for a number of years had to place its nurses, for the purpose of training, in the military, civil and municipal hospitals. Only after the Turkish War in 1876-77, in which the immense utility of the Society’s activity was proved, was its popularity assured. Thus the number of communities of Red Cross nurses from 5 in 1878 rose to 99 in 1906. The total number of hospitals and clinics of the Red Cross at present amount to 148. In 1906 the number of persons cared for in these institutions was 1,294,547.

In 1868 the Russian Red Cross had 35 institutions of all kinds and in 1906, 920.

On the first of January, 1907, the Red Cross Society of Russia consisted of the following institutions: 1 Chief Board of Administration; 8 Boards of District Administration; 95 local Boards of Administration; 509 local Red Cross Committees; 40 Committees of communities of Red Cross nurses; 60 communities of Red Cross nurses; 90 ambulatory clinics; 6 emergency hospitals; 5 asylums for former Red Cross nurses; 1 asylum for invalids; 9 asylums for crippled soldiers; 1 asylum for soldiers’ widows; 3 asylums and 3 sanitariums for children of disabled soldiers; 7 convalescent houses; 1 maternity hospital.

Any person entering into a community as nurse is not obliged to take any kind of oath, but gives only the promise to submit to a vigorous discipline, to acquit him or herself conscientiously of all duties and to nurse the sick carefully. The feminine personnel is divided into two categories—sisters of charity and nurses for surgery.

The surgical nurses have to pass a three years’ course, the sister of charity a one-and-a-half year’s course of studies, according to a program established by the Chief Board of Administration. The courses to be followed are theoretical and practical, which consist chiefly of lectures at the sick bed, held mainly in the hospitals of the Red Cross, and partially in military, municipal and private hospitals, according to arrangements between these hospitals and the Red Cross. Having finished the courses, the surgical nurses enter either the institutions of the Red Cross or hospital institutions maintained by the government or municipalities. The sisters of charity are delegated to the military hospitals, which the Red Cross has undertaken to supply with nurses, to other hospitals and to private nursery. In 1906 there were 3,819 of these Red Cross sisters, and since 1875 there have been graduated 2,000 of the higher class of trained surgical nurses.

The care for disabled soldiers after the war includes the furnishing of means for cures at health resorts, as well as furnishing them with warm clothes, artificial limbs, crutches, etc., or provides for their care in asylums of the Society.

The asylums for invalids in 1906 received 737. Among other sums granted, the Society paid in 1906, 10,940 roubles to the former defenders of Sabastopol, during the Crimean War in 1854.

In St. Petersburg the Society possesses six stations for help in emergency cases, with twelve ambulances and sixteen attendants.

The Russian Red Cross Society has taken part in all wars and military expeditions which have occurred since 1868.

During the Franco-Prussian war, the Russian Red Cross sent to Basel a party of 30 surgeons and large quantities of supplies which were equally distributed to the belligerents.

It sent a generous contribution to both parties during the Civil War in Spain in 1873. In 1876 surgeons and nurses were sent for assistance in the Turkish-Martemgian War, expending $42,000. During the Turkish-Servian War it expended over $263,000 and sent 115 doctors, 4 pharmacists, 118 nurses, 41 medical students, 78 assistant surgeons, besides hospital equipment for 200 beds.

At the time of the Russo-Turkish War in 1876, the Russian Red Cross rendered wonderful service. Contributions flowed into its treasury, over $8,000,000 was received and expended, and the gifts of supplies were equally great.

During the war the Society transported on its ships and trains over 100,000 sick and wounded; 230,000 were cared for at the ports of evacuation, and 18,000 severely wounded at the port. The Red Cross institutions in Russia cared for 116,268 sick and wounded. In the troubles of 1879-81 in Asia, the Red Cross expended $300,000. In 1885 in helping the sick and wounded of both Servia and Bulgaria, expended about $87,000. It assisted Japan in the Chinese-Japanese War of 1894.

In 1896, as the Italian Red Cross declined assistance, it expended $75,000 for Abyssinia relief, and in 1899, as the United States Government declined its offer of assistance, it gave aid to the Spanish Red Gross for the veterans of the war. As England declined assistance, it expended some $56,000 for the Boers in 1899. During the Boxer trouble in China the Red Cross provided most valuable assistance at a cost of over $600,000. Its greatest work was rendered during the late terrible war with Japan, during which it expended over $15,000,000 in relief work, providing hospital trains, ships, field and reserve hospitals, a large medical nursery and administration personnel.

THE CHRISTMAS STAMP

Late as the January BULLETIN is in going to press, it is not possible to tell of the result of the Christmas Stamp sale. This must wait for the April issue, but that the result promises to be remarkable is shown by the fact that the wholesale orders received up to December 15th at Red Cross Headquarters from the State Branches and Anti-Tuberculosis Associations authorized by the Red Cross to sell these stamps aggregated twenty-five millions and it has proved most difficult to have the stamps printed rapidly enough to fill these orders. It was not possible when the orders were pouring in at over a million a day to reply as rapidly as was desired. Neither Red Cross Headquarters nor State Branches anticipated any such remarkable demand. For the season of 1909 a new stamp will be issued, for the design of which a prize will be offered. Regulations governing the competition for this prize will be formulated and issued later.

The Red Cross has received through the courtesy of Mr. Einar Holboll, Postmaster of Centofte, Denmark, a copy of this year’s Danish Christmas stamp. The coloring is dark blue with a yellow light shining through the corridors of the Sanitarium for Tuberculosis Children, built by means of the Danish Christmas stamps.

What Agnes Repplier Has to Say of the Red Cross Christmas Stamps

What does the Red Cross Christmas Stamp mean?

It means that you are asked to spend one cent more on every Christmas present that you send.

It means that this tiny fraction of money, multiplied by thousands, will yield a noble sum for the maintenance of a great work—open-air Day Camps for the cure of Tuberculosis.

It means that by using the stamp, you express confidence in the work of the Red Cross.

It means that you extend the circle of your friendship until it embraces the friendless, and that your good-will reaches beyond the few whom you love to the many whom you are bidden to love.

It means that the spirit of Christmas stirs in the heart of Christendom, and that you respond to this spirit by linking your Christmas gifts with the cause of the poor and the ill, with the work of wisdom and of mercy.

THE RED CROSS CHRISTMAS STAMP

BY E. S. MARTIN.

Buy me every chance you get!
Do you good? Just try me!
Lick me light and stick me tight!
Buy me! Buy me! Buy me!
All good luck and Christmas cheer,
All good will I carry,
I’m your friend and—never fear—
Truly sanitary.

I’m the Red Cross Christmas Stamp,
This that I propose is
To summon wealth to fight for health
And beat tuberculosis.
Beat the greatest plague of all,
Oust a pall of sadness,
Treat despair with food and air,
And lift it into gladness.

Buy me! Buy me! I’m your friend.
Help me win my battle!
Help me bring a scourge to end,
Men are more than cattle!
Help me help the suffering!
I’m their supplication
Skill that’s brotherly shall bring
Healing to the nation.

THE RED CROSS STAMP

BY IRVING SAYFORD.

Who’ll pay a cent with a square intent?
Red for their blood—and life is sweet;
White for the gleam of their winding sheet;
Green for their graves—and death, be fleet!
Who’ll pay a cent for a chance to cheat
The great white plague of its winding sheet?

One stamp for a penny—you’ll take how many?
Red’s for the glow of the Christmas cheer;
White’s for the peace of the brand-new year;
Green’s for the brow, not for the bier;
Who’ll drop a penny instead of a tear
To lessen the list in the brand-new year?

THE LITTLE CHRISTMAS STAMP

BY ARTHUR G. BURGOYNE.

(_Air: “Wearing of the Green.”_)

Nowadays for letter-writing
Here’s the popular receipt:
First with chit-chat that’s inviting
Coyer deftly ev’ry sheet.
Seal it neatly and address it;
Blot the superscription damp.
Then don’t mail the note unless it
Has a little Christmas Stamp.

_Refrain_:

Oh, the little Christmas Stamp!
Oh, the cheery Christmas Stamp,
With its message to the fireside and the workshop and the camp!
Trav’ling over vale and mountain, over lake and plain and swamp,
As a messenger of mercy goes the little Christmas Stamp.

Postal bureaus are not able
In their wisdom to invent
Any brighter, fairer label
On our letters to be sent.
They may try a new creation,
Or the old designs revamp,
But the meanwhile the population
Craves the little Christmas Stamp.

Stamps of England show the florid
Bearded visage of King Ed.
Stamps from Egypt’s deserts torrid,
Show the Sphynx’s grinning head.
Other stamps show deer and fishes,
Or a pictured urn or lamp,
But the one that bears good wishes
Is the little Christmas Stamp.

Russia sports her eagles mighty
On her postal guarantees;
Spain depicts her monarch flighty,
Germany her own main squeeze.
Other pow’rs use landscapes charming,
Which in narrow space they cramp,
But the one design heart-warming
Marks the little Christmas Stamp.

Now this stamp won’t pay for transit
On our own or other soil,
But ’tis plain to him that scans it
That it pays for Red Cross toil.
And to keep the white plague under
And upon that pest to tramp,
Buy the latest postal wonder,
Buy the little Christmas Stamp.

THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS

THE HARVEST OF DEATH

Throughout the entire action the Emperor Francis Joseph remained calm and composed. Towards the evening the Austrian centre having yielded the left wing, not daring to face the position of the Allies, a general retreat was decided upon and the head of the House of Hapsburg, who throughout the day had watched the bullets raining around him, withdrew with a part of his staff in the direction of Volta. The Austrian officers had fought like lions, many in their despair gave themselves up to death by the enemy’s hands, but not without selling dearly their lives. Most of those who returned to their regiments were covered with the blood of their own wounds or those of their enemies.

The roads were filled with army wagons, carts and reserve artillery. The first convoys of Austrian wounded, consisting of the less serious cases, commenced to come into Villa-Franca, the more seriously wounded followed. The Austrian medical staff dressed the wounds hastily and in a perfunctory manner gave a little nourishment to the sufferers, and then sent them on by rail to Verona, where the crowding was most fearful. Although in the retreat the Austrian Army sought to carry away all the wounded possible, and this at the price of much extra suffering to the poor men, thousands were left behind lying on the ground, still drenched with their blood.

Towards the close of the day, when the twilight shadows were creeping over this vast field of carnage, more than one French officer, more than one French soldier wandered here and there, seeking some missing friend or compatriot, beside whom, when found, he knelt endeavoring to restore him to consciousness, to staunch the flow of blood, to dress the terrible wounds, to bind his handkerchief around a fractured limb or to vainly seek for water to quench the agonizing thirst. What silent tears must have been shed on that unhappy night!

During the battle flying ambulances were stationed on farms, in churches, convents, in the open air, or under the shade of the trees, which received firstly wounded officers and non-commissioned officers, attending to them in great haste, and afterwards came the rank and file if the medical staff had time to spare for them. Such as could walk betook themselves to the ambulances; others were carried on stretchers and hand-barrows.

During the fight a pennant planted on a slight elevation marked the position of the dressing stations for wounded and the field hospitals of the regiments in action. But, unfortunately, the troops seldom knew their own hospital pennants nor those of the enemy, with the result that shells rained down, sparing neither doctors, attendants, wounded nor the wagons conveying supplies of food and lint.

The heights extending from Castiglione to Volta were dotted with the twinkling lights of thousands of fires fed with the debris of the Austrian gun carriages, supplemented with the branches of trees broken off by the cannon balls or during the storm. Round these fires the soldiers made an effort to dry their soaking garments, then tired out they stretched themselves on the stony ground to sleep.

There were whole battalions without a particle of food. Water, too, was lacking and their thirst was so intense that soldiers and even officers were content to drink from the muddy rain-pools, oft-times stained with blood. Everywhere wounded men were crying piteously for “Water!” In the silence of the night could be heard the groans, the stifled cries of anguish, the despairing appeals for help. What pen can describe the agonies of that horrible night!

The sun of June 25th, 1859, rose on one of the most frightful spectacles that the most vivid imagination can conceive. The battlefield was strewn with the bodies of men and horses, and with the battered forms of men in whom the spark of life still remained, they filled up the roads, they choked the trenches and the ravines, they lay piled in heaps in the bushes and the fields, everywhere for miles around the village of Solferino.

The crops were utterly destroyed, the corn was trodden under foot, hedges were piled up, orchards ravaged. Here and there were pools of blood, formerly prosperous villages, now deserted, bore the marks of shot and shell; apparently deserted houses, whose walls were riddled with bullets, stood shattered, gashed and ruined. Their inhabitants, who for the most part had passed the twenty-four hours during which the conflict raged in their cellars without food or light, now began to issue forth from their hiding places, the vacant expression and blank countenances of these poor peasants witnessing eloquently to the reality of the fright they had endured.

The ground was covered with wreckage of all kinds, broken weapons, accoutrements, camp furniture, and blood-stained articles of clothing. The unfortunate wounded who lay around were pale, livid, and utterly exhausted with their sufferings. Some, very badly wounded, had an imbecile expression, seemed not to understand when spoken to, staring with haggard eyes at those who brought them succor, and others in a state of nervous excitement shivered with a convulsive ague. Yet others, with deep, gaping wounds, in which inflammation had already set in, were delirious from their pain, and implored that they might be put out of their misery, and with drawn faces twisted themselves into indescribable positions in their supreme agony. Besides these there were unfortunate men, who had been struck by cannon balls and grape shot, or whose arms and legs had been shattered by pieces of artillery.

In many cases the bodies of the dead and wounded were robbed by marauders, and thousands of poor fellows, who still lived, were thus despoiled of all their savings, to say nothing of the little trinkets, the gifts of mothers, wives and sweethearts.

Besides these tragic scenes were many dramatic incidents witnessed by Monsieur Dunant himself of which he tells; there an old officer on the retired list, General Breton, wandering over the battlefield in search of his wounded son-in-law; here Colonel Maleville, wounded at Casa-Nova quietly breathing his last, Colonel Genlis with a terrible wound that has produced a high fever, Lieutenant de Selve, just out of St. Cyr, whose arm has been shot away; a poor sergeant-major, whose two arms have been shattered, and of whom he writes: “I saw him again at a hospital at Brescia, but he died in passing Mont Cenis.” Officer after officer gave up his life because of wounds in which gangrene set in through lack of attention.

The scarcity of water was acutely felt, for the burning summer sun had dried up almost all the moisture. Wherever the smallest spring was found sentries were placed, who, with fixed bayonets, guarded it for the need of the most urgent cases.

Wounded horses, that had lost their riders, wandered pitiably about through the night. Whenever opportunity afforded they were mercifully shot.

Among the dead were some whose features bore a calm and serene expression, these were those who had been killed outright. But those who had not immediately succumbed had their faces drawn and distorted by the agony they had endured, their hands clutched the ground, their haggard eyes were wide open and their teeth clenched.

Three days and three nights were occupied in burying the dead on the field of slaughter. Some few bodies, hidden in the thickets, were left unburied, not having been discovered until a fearful stench polluted the air. Terrible as it may seem it is highly probable that in this haste some of the living were interred in the same common grave with the dead.

Monsieur Dunant takes us over this dreadful scene. Here is a youth, the idol of his parents, carefully brought up and well educated, whose mother all his life had watched his slightest illness; there lies a gallant officer, beloved of his family, who has left a wife and little children at home; over yonder is a young soldier, who so short a time ago said farewell to all his dear ones. Behold them, stretched out stark and stiff in the mud and dirt, and drenched with blood. Knocked on the head, the face of one is absolutely unrecognizable; he has expired after cruel sufferings and his body, black, swollen, hideous, is cast into a hastily dug trench, and barely covered with a little earth. Hands and feet protrude and on these the birds of prey presently descend. The bodies of the Austrians in their capots besmeared with mud and their white tunics dyed with crimson stains, were strewn by thousands on the hills and valleys, and hovering above them were clouds of crows ready to feast upon these victims of man’s insensate enmity. Poor mothers in Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, how terrible your grief when first you learned of the death of your dear sons in the enemy’s country without care or aid, without a caressing hand or any words of consolation.

REPORT OF CHAIRMAN OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Fortunately, most of the emergencies arising during the year were not of a magnitude very much greater than were easily met and suffering relieved locally. In several cases, however, national relief was asked, and was freely and very promptly rendered.

A brief summary of the principal events respecting catastrophies occurring during the year resulting in losses of life, personal injuries, destitution and destruction of property may be thus stated:

DECEMBER 2ND.

A mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, killed 359 men, who left about 700 dependents. For many weeks the Red Cross had an agent there assisting the local committee and studying and planning for the future of the widows and children, this help being gratefully acknowledged by the local committee.

APRIL 12TH.

The Chelsea fire occurred, when the homes of 18,000 of its population were destroyed. Miss Loring, the Secretary of the Massachusetts Branch, took charge of the department of supplies and distributed about 120,000 articles. The local relief committee asked, and secured, the services of Mr. Bicknell, our National Director, to advise on the completion of the relief operation.

APRIL 25TH.

A cyclone of great violence wrought extensive havoc in certain localities in Mississippi and other Southern States. Major C. A. Devol, and later Major Wendell L. Simpson, of the Army, both of whom had much experience with the relief operations in San Francisco, were sent to the scene of the disaster by the War Department and kindly offered to act for the Red Cross. Needing $2,000.00 for immediate use, this sum was at once telegraphed and his requisition for twelve trained nurses instantly filled; this number soon after raised to eighteen and supplied by the New York, Pennsylvania and District of Columbia Branches. Hospitals were established, and the injured and helpless, both white and colored, properly cared for. The local authorities expressed their grateful acknowledgments for the assistance rendered, which being more promptly available than was the government relief, was especially appreciated.

MAY 25TH.

A flood in the Trinity River, Texas, swept away many homes. Our Texas Branch installed two emergency hospitals and secured locally the necessary doctors and nurses to care for those requiring aid. This Branch annually installs a hospital and tents at the State Fair Grounds. This year 1,000 persons injured or taken suddenly ill were treated in this emergency hospital.

JUNE 23RD.

Upon a telegraphic call from the U. S. Consul at Canton, $2,000 was cabled to the local committee for use in relieving the distress caused by flood in South China. Later a surplus balance of $34,000 in the hands of the United States and British Consuls at Shanghai, pertaining to the North China Famine Fund, which was partly derived from Red Cross contributions made last year, was forwarded to South China for relief of the sufferers from the June inundations.

AUGUST 5TH.

Fires in the Canadian forests wrought great distress to the inhabitants whose homes were burned. The Red Cross made a contribution of $1,000 to their aid and received the thanks of the authorities.

Floods in the Carolinas and Georgia swept away the homes and crops of many. The Red Cross promptly responded to calls for help.

The San Francisco Home for the Aged, Infirm, Poor and Helpless Refugees, built and equipped by the Relief Corporation of that City at an expense of $377,000 was on August 5th, 1908, formally transferred to the City of San Francisco. This institution is dedicated “TO THE NATIONAL RED CROSS AND THE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONALITIES WHO, BY THEIR GENEROSITY, RELIEVED SUFFERING AFTER THE GREAT FIRE OF 1906.” It has a capacity for the accommodation of 1,200 persons.

OCTOBER 1ST.

The Committee secured the services of an expert in relief work, who, in the character of National Director, is able to proceed at once to the scene of any disaster and concert with the local relief agencies those measures which may be deemed requisite to meet the emergency conditions. The lack of an agent to act for the Red Cross on such occasions has often been felt. The Committee considered itself especially fortunate in having been able to secure the services, as National Director, of Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell, who for several years has been at the head of the charity work in the city of Chicago.

Mr. Bicknell’s engagement dated from October 1st, and his initial work was a visit to Minnesota and Michigan to carefully study the situation in the territory devasted by forest fires. It is Mr. Bicknell’s belief that the States and local agencies may be depended upon to render such assistance as the conditions require.

The Central Committee has given much attention to a development of an organization so as to better adapt it to the purposes for which the Association was created.

The preparations required for the relief of suffering caused by war will be generally confined to the elaboration by the War Relief Board of plans for providing the requisite personnel, apparatus and supplies and their application under the direction of military and naval authorities. For emergency relief the instrumentalities of the Red Cross will unfortunately be frequently called into activity, and we should be ready instantly the catastrophe has occurred to have our agents on the spot with the requisite personnel, supplies and resources to undertake the emergency work which Congress has assigned to the Red Cross of America.

It is always the case that local, state and municipal authorities are ready to either assume entire management of relief measures within their jurisdiction, or to co-operate with those who bring help from abroad. Sometimes the outside aid required is many times greater in magnitude than the localities are able to provide. For two independent relief agencies to operate for a common purpose at any scene of want and suffering means duplication and waste and possible friction. It is to avoid such situations that the Central Committee plans to elect the stronger and more efficient charity organization societies as institutional members for the purpose of securing their trained personnel to take charge under the National Director of the necessary relief measure combined.

In furtherance of this general idea of better efficiency, and to provide an authorized official channel through which the aid of the philanthropic and charitable may flow, and be so applied as to yield the maximum benefit, the Committee has organized an emergency relief board of fifteen persons to be appointed by the President of the Red Cross and empowered to study, prepare for and supervise emergency relief throughout the States of the Union and exterior possessions.

Carrying out this general idea of specializing in work of the Red Cross, it is expedient to commit to a separate board the study, preparation for and supervision of relief applied in foreign countries. The organization of such a Board at an early date is contemplated.

It was found by experience that the By-Laws adopted on February 8, 1905, require amendment in several important particulars. Accordingly the necessary amendments were adopted at the annual meeting December 8th.

The general membership has been somewhat increased during the year. This is largely due to the generous co-operation of several of our members who contributed considerable amounts to a fund from which the expenses of a propaganda were guaranteed. Large accessions, it was hoped, would be secured by means of printed circulars and historical data generally distributed. While the propaganda resulted in the accession of several thousand new members, the net result of the efforts did not justify the hopes that had been entertained of a very large increase in membership. The cost of this work was paid from the fund created by the donors and without any inroads upon the resources of the Association.

At the International Conference, held in London last year, it was agreed that the Red Cross throughout the world should assist in the campaign against what has been aptly called “The Great White Plague,” i. e., Tuberculosis. Several Day Camps have been established by our Branches and are efficiently applying with most gratifying results the curative and preventative means for combatting this disease that have been advised by expert practitioners.

A Red Cross Christmas Stamp has been designed and will be sold during the holidays at one cent each, the profits thereby secured to be applied in aiding the tuberculosis campaign in localities where the stamps were sold.

A prominent military surgeon, who is a member of the Red Cross, has prepared a handbook for the Association on First Aid to the Injured and this book has been placed on sale. It is hoped that the Y. M. C. A. will adopt this work as a text book, a wish there is reason to believe may be realized and that every family in the country will be glad to have one. At the request of a prominent railroad official, we are preparing, for travelers and railroad employees, to be hung up in stations, a card containing suggestions for preventatives and remedial measures in respect to accidents.

Special instructions of relief columns have also been commenced. A plan is being developed through which the Federation of Trained Nurses may become affiliated with the Red Cross so as to provide qualified nurses as may be needed in cases of calamity, epidemics, etc.

The evidence is overwhelmingly convincing that where a great disaster has occurred contributions of the people are willingly and generously given to relieve suffering, but unlike the people of some foreign countries, our own do not seem to be as ready to join the Association in great numbers and by their annual dues supply the means for maintaining our organization in a constant state of readiness to respond instantly on call for help. Fortunately, the ordinary general expenses of conducting the business of the Association in Washington are small, since we have no rent to pay and no salaries to pay, save to the National Director, the Secretary and Treasurer, and for one or two clerks, but the stationery, Quarterly Bulletin, printing, telegraphing and postal charges are considerable. The annual revenues available for administration, derived from the half of the yearly dues, are not sufficient to properly conduct the work entrusted to the Association. The income from the Endowment Fund is also small because the fund is small and to the increase of this fund it seems to the Committee special effort should be directed.

Considering to what proportion the endowments of certain public institutions and beneficent organizations have grown through donations and legacies, it does not seem to be an unjustified expectation that the Red Cross Endowment should certainly reach a million dollars, yielding at least $40,000 a year, which sum, with other income, would be sufficient and ample to meet all administrative expenses and leave a considerable balance for application to emergency relief, before measures could be matured for securing gifts from the general public directly appliable to such relief.

With respect to this matter the Committee does not ask for enlarged powers, since the Central Committee a year since took action looking to the appointment of a Committee on Endowment, but for reasons all appreciate the time was not deemed propitious for undertaking the propaganda to this end, but members of the Board of Incorporators can, in their individual capacities, do much to forward the interests of the Association by their suggestion and personal influence.

The statement presented by the Treasurer will show the financial history of the Corporation for the year 1908.

REPORT OF THE TREASURER

For the Fiscal Year Ended November 30, 1908.

BEEKMAN WINTHROP, _Treasurer_.

ENDOWMENT FUND.

RECEIPTS.

Balance December 1, 1907 $ 2,516.25
Contributions from:
Mrs. Russell Sage $ 25,000.00
Mr. F. A. Keep 1,000.00
Admiral Robley D. Evans 400.00
Miscellaneous 121.00
----------- 26,521.00

Life membership dues:
Through propaganda $ 875.00
Through Branches 3,875.00
----------- 4,750.00

Interest on investments:
West Shore R. R. 4% 1st. Mortgage Bonds $ 720.00
Lehigh Valley R. R. 4% 1st. Mortgage Bonds 40.00
Provident Loan Society Certificates 54.17
Bank Balances 82.83
----------- 847.00
-----------
Total $ 34,634.25

DISBURSEMENTS.

Invested in Provident Loan Society Certificates $ 25,000.00
Interest on investments and bank balances transferred
to Administration Fund 847.00
-----------
Total $ 25,847.00
Balance December 1, 1908 8,787.25
-----------
$ 34,634.25

NOTE—The Endowment Fund on December 1, 1908, is thus stated:

Invested in $18,000, par value, 4% West Shore R. R. Bonds,
cost $ 18,771.50
Invested in $1,000, par value, 4% Lehigh Valley R. R.
Bonds, cost 1,000.00
Invested in $25,000, par value, Provident Loan Society
Certificates, cost 25,000.00
Cash 8,787.25
-----------
$ 53,558.75

GENERAL EMERGENCY FUND.

RECEIPTS.

Balance December 1, 1907 $ 52.04
Contributions:
*Mississippi Cyclone Relief 695.25
*Georgia and South Carolina Flood Relief 1,146.96
Miscellaneous 241.17
Repayments 1,850.93
Balance of Chinese Famine Fund (closed) 5,047.53
Balance of Russian Famine Fund (closed) 862.43
Balance of Monongah Relief Fund (closed) 7.58
-----------
$ 9,903.89

DISBURSEMENTS.

Mississippi Cyclone Relief $ 2,767.38
South Carolina and Georgia Flood Relief 942.05
Chinese Flood Relief (Canton) 2,000.00
Canadian Forest Fire Relief 1,000.00
Michigan and Minnesota Forest Fire Relief 300.00
-----------
Total $ 7,009.43
Balance December 1, 1908 2,894.46
-----------
$ 9,903.89

* These contributions to special objects of relief are credited here instead of to Special Emergency, because disbursements from General Emergency Funds began before contributions were received. These _emergencies_ were, therefore, treated as _general_ instead of _special_.

SPECIAL EMERGENCY FUND.

RECEIPTS.

Balance San Francisco Relief contributions $432,037.33
Balance Chinese Famine Fund 5,046.78
Balance Russian Famine Fund 862.43
Balance interest accumulations 46,841.90
Contributions:
Chinese Famine Fund .75
Calabrian Earthquake Fund 233.60
Monongah Mines Fund 3,789.69
Interest on bank balances, all special funds 12,876.70
----------
Total $521,689.18

DISBURSEMENTS.

San Francisco Relief $199,835.00
Calabrian Earthquake Relief 233.60
Monongah Mines Relief 3,782.11
By transfer to General Emergency Fund:
Chinese Famine Relief Fund (closed) 5,047.53
Russian Famine Relief Fund (closed) 862.43
Monongah Mines Relief Fund (closed) 7.58
-----------
Total $209,768.25
Balance December 1, 1908 311,920.93
-----------
$521,689.18

ADMINISTRATION FUND.

RECEIPTS.

Balance December 1, 1907 $ 4,651.53
Membership dues:
Proceeds special propaganda—Life $ 875.00
Proceeds special propaganda—Annual 3,530.87
---------
4,405.87
Remitted by Branches 3,590.55
Interest on investments of Endowment Fund 847.00
Repayments 1.43
Donations 1,350.00
Proceeds, sale of Christmas Stamps 1,627.95
Proceeds, sale of badges, text-books, etc. 57.95
-----------
Total $ 16,532.28

DISBURSEMENTS.

Salaries $ 2,979.08
Clerical services 382.75
Traveling expenses 72.57
Publication of BULLETIN (part) 1,936.36
Printing and stationery 554.05
Postage and minor office expenses 450.00
Telephone service 65.36
Telegraph service 85.84
Badges, text-books, etc. 105.00
Refundments 116.73
Transfer to “Guarantee Fund,” for special propaganda 2,500.00
Life dues received through special propaganda,
transferred to Endowment Fund 875.00
-----------
Total $ 10,122.74
Balance December 1, 1908 6,409.54
-----------
$ 16,532.28

FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE RED CROSS

Preceding the annual meeting a meeting of the Central Committee was held and the proposed revision of the by-laws discussed. The Committee voted unanimously in favor of the revision.

The morning session of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Red Cross was held on Tuesday, December 8th, at the Hubbard Memorial Hall. It was presided over by the Chairman of the Central Committee, Major General George W. Davis. At this meeting reports were read from the Branches, the subject of the Christmas stamp was taken up and an interesting address on the Assistance of the Press was made by Mr. Leigh Mitchell Hodges, of the Philadelphia _North American_. The revision of the by-laws was informally discussed. The officers, incorporators and branch delegates were kindly entertained at luncheon by the First Assistant Secretary of State and Mrs. Bacon.

Hon. William H. Taft, President of the American Red Cross, presided at the regular session in the afternoon. Besides the reports that are given elsewhere the most important work of the session was the adoption with a few minor changes of the revised by-laws as presented by the Central Committee. The report of the officers and those on Red Cross work are somewhat long so that the publication of the new by-laws will be given in the April BULLETIN, but any one desiring a copy will receive one on application to Red Cross Headquarters.

Mr. Taft, greatly to the satisfaction of the Society, consented to be re-elected President, and Mr. Robert W. De Forest, of New York, was elected to the newly-created office of Vice-President. Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell was appointed October 1st, National Director, and the other officers were all re-elected. To fill four vacancies among the Charter Members, John M. Glenn, Henry Stockbridge, Robert W. De Forest and Mrs. Douglas Robinson were elected. The two new members of the Central Committee elected were: Hon. H. Kirke Porter and Mr. John M. Glenn. Mr. John C. Pegram and Miss Mabel T. Boardman were re-elected on this Committee.

As the new by-laws provided that those who have rendered specially meritorious or distinguished service to the association and have been approved for such distinction by two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting shall become honorary members, three names for this honorary membership were proposed, President Roosevelt being at that time the only honorary member of the Society. Those proposed were the Honorable William H. Taft, who since the re-organization of the American Red Cross has been its President and who has always, in spite of being a very busy man, has given his time and assistance to the Red Cross to its great advantage, was the first name proposed. Because of the work she did during the Civil War in the Sanitary Commission, that precursor of the Red Cross, and because of her generous aid in the way of a large contribution to the Endowment Fund of the American Red Cross Mrs. Russell Sage’s was the second name proposed. Dr. Louis Klopsch, Editor of the _Christian Herald_, during the great famines in Japan and China, raised very large funds for the purposes of relief, amounting to considerably over half a million of dollars, besides collecting moneys for the purchase of food supplies which were forwarded to China, and who sent these generous contributions through the American Red Cross, was the third person proposed for honorary membership in the American Red Cross. Mr. Taft on the proposal of his name made the request that it be withdrawn, as he had consented to stand for re-election as President of the Red Cross, and preferred to consider himself still an active, rather than an honorary member. At this request his name was withdrawn and Mrs. Sage and Dr. Klopsch were unanimously elected honorary members of the American Red Cross.

It was also unanimously voted to present special medals for the rendering of important and unremunerated volunteer services to the Red Cross to Dr. Edward T. Devine, Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell and Mr. F. W. Dohrmann for their services at San Francisco, in 1906, and to Major C. A. Devol, U. S. A., and to Major Wendell L. Simpson, U. S. A., for their services at Hattiesburg, in 1908.

In the evening a reception was given by Miss Boardman, at which the members met the President of the Red Cross and Mrs. Taft.

RED CROSS ENDOWMENT FUND

Balance on hand, December 1st, 1907 $21,516.00
Life memberships, 1908 4,750.00
Contributions to December 1st, 1908.
Mrs. Russell Sage, contribution 25,000.00
Mr. F. A. Keep, contribution 1,000.00
Admiral Robley D. Evans 400.00
Miscellaneous 120.00
---------
Total December 1st, 1908 $52,786.00
Contributions since December 1st, 1908.
Mr. Joseph Rathborne $ 1,000.00

In connection with Admiral Evans’ generous contribution the following letter from the Victor Talking Machine Company is of interest:

“Admiral Evans has lately made for this Company a record of his farewell address to the men of the United States Navy upon the occasion of his leaving the fleet in San Francisco. We are sending to you in Admiral Evans’ name, our check for $400, which he wished you to use for the benefit of the Red Cross Society, in any way you may deem best.”

RED CROSS FIRST-AID TEXT-BOOK

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS

The Red Cross Society is becoming more and more practical, and is getting closer and closer to the everyday life of the people. In the past it has been distinguished by affording relief in times of great calamities, famines, epidemics, floods, fires and plagues, but, as the organization spreads throughout the country and becomes localized its merciful missions reach the thresholds of the schoolhouse and the home. It is now circulating a little pocket edition of “The American National Red Cross Text Book; a Manual of Instruction; How to Prevent Accidents, and What to Do for Injuries and Emergencies.” It was prepared by Major Charles Lynch of the medical corps of the United States Army, who distinguished himself as medical attache with the Japanese Army during the late war with Russia and has recently been detailed to make a special study of possibilities of Red Cross aid to armies in time of war.

The book is published for the Red Cross Society, and is being circulated from the headquarters in the War Department with the hearty indorsement of Judge Taft, who was president of the Red Cross Society long before he was elected President of the United States. Brigadier General R. M. O’Reilly, surgeon general of the United States Army, writes the preface, in which he explains the necessity and the usefulness of the booklet, which, he says, “will serve to fill a place of its own in the ever-increasing movement for the relief of human suffering.”

“Notwithstanding the many excellent works already in existence on first aid instruction,” continues Surgeon General O’Reilly, “none of the writers so far as I know, have given much thought to teaching the prevention of accidents. While this subject is necessarily treated rather briefly here, at least enough is said to call attention to the importance of prevention as contrasted with cure, and, for this reason, it seems to me peculiarly appropriate that this book should have the indorsement of the Red Cross, as the beneficent mission of that association, like that of the good physician in treating disease, should be to go deeply into causes which are responsible for the physical sufferings of humanity, rather than resort solely to palliative measures.

“Another novelty in the present manual is that it treats not only of first aid as given by the individual but also of relief columns, bodies designed to administer first aid as organizations. Army conditions emphasize the necessity for the creation of organizations in order that first aid may be given with maximum efficiency. And there are many situations in civil life, such as vast concourses of people, great fires, railroad disasters, which equally demand first aid organizations instead of individuals, who, however well taught they may be, must, under such circumstances, work at cross purposes, unless they are united into a disciplined body in which the special duties of each are carefully defined.”

Gen. O’Reilly might have added something about the importance of the little book for the household, for it seems to contain directions for every possible accident that may occur to human creatures from concussion of the brain to chilblains. There ought to be a copy on every farm and ranch, in every factory and workshop, on every football field and in every gymnasium. There ought to be a copy in every automobile. Every railway conductor and brakeman should be required to carry it in his pocket, for it tells him what to do in every kind of accident. Organizations seek such books for the instruction and guidance of their members, but they must be brought to the attention of households, where, I think, this will be most useful in preventing as well as relieving the little accidents that occur daily and the little afflictions that children and grown people suffer. These are often thought to be so insignificant that no attention is paid to them, like mosquito bites, stings of insects, injuries to the eyes, poisons from ivy, burns and scalds, wounds from fish hooks or shotguns, and Dr. Lynch has explained what to do under every circumstance and condition.

The Red Cross book should be used as a text-book in schools, for it is full of practical physiology, and children can be trained to render effective first aid to each other. The ordinary text-books on physiology are doubtless full of important information, but as a rule they are too theoretical to be applied to ordinary everyday accidents.