♦
Red Cross—Universal Sign of Mercy
Red cross workers are often at busy In peace time as during a war, as are the nurses shown above transcribing Braille
for the blind, and those at the registration desk taking applications for relief in a California earthquake. Inset, left:
Henry P. Davison, war time head of American Red Cross. Inset, right: Admiral Cary T. Grayson, chairman of the League
of Red Cross Societies.
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
S DEPLORABLE as, and per
haps even less excusable than,
deaths on the field of war are
the some 30,000 deaths which
result from automobile accidents In the
United States every year. If quick aid
could be given to the injured along our
highways, this staggering annual total
could be lessened materially.
In wartime it Is the Job of the Red
Cross societies to see that aen hurt
so severely that they may die are giv
en quick medical and surgical aid.
Now the American Red Cross is going
to bdng its noble ami efficient esrvice
■long the highway fronts in the war
against automobile deaths.
Within a few months, according to
the officials of the society, trained
members of the Red Cross will be sta
tioned at every possible polut along
the busy highways, ready to lend a
hand to save a life. Just how the cam
paign will be conducted was not avail
able at the time of this writing, for
plans were not yet complete, but it Is
more than likely that agreements will
be reached between the lted Cross and
the oil companies which operate gaso
line filling stations, to effect some sort
of co-operation.
Will the Iletl Cross be successful
In cutting down this wholesale annual
massacre of Americans?
Twenty-one years ago. before the
Red Cross began Its drive to teach
swimming and life-saving methods tc
all Americans who like to swim or
bathe, the national drowning rate was
ten in every 100,000. During the last
21 years there has been a 450 per cent
Increase In the swimming public. Red
Cross instructors have trained GOO.flMJ
persons ns life savers. The drowning
rate today is only five in every 100,000
Busy In Peace Times.
The Red Cross, you know, Is fa
from Idle when there Is no war going
on. Rather, there is always a war
going on for the Red Cross—a war
against the ravages of floods, dust
storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and
other national disasters; a war ngains;
the terrors of eternal darkness for the
blind, against demons of discourage
nient for the disabled veteran, a war
against countless tilings that bar the
road to happiness and health for whole
communities unless organized battle is
conducted against them.
This year more than ever before th<
battle lias been a terrible one. In the
average year there are 82 national dis
asters, one every four days. During
the last 12 months there have been
109! That Is an all-time record. And
the battle of the American Ited Cross
lias been noblv fought.
With all thia Impressive record the
American la one of the younger lted
Cross societies. There are G1 of them
Id as many different countries. Their
methods of operation differ surprising
ly little for the many kinds of papula
tions which they serve.
In one thing they are completely uni
form. Almost no matter where you
go on this old globe you will And that
the insignia which identities the angel
who relieves the soldier's suffering, is
the lted Cross on the Held of white,
Americans Spread the Light
Hapidly since the World war, the
activities of all of these G1 societies
have grown to be more uniform. They
have proved themselves to be as im
portant in the relief of human suffer
ing during peace time as they ever
were at the peak of wartime activity.
What has been responsible for such
developments? It Is good to be able to
say that, In large measure, Americans
have. For it is Americans who, in less
than twenty years, have been the lead
ers In the work of international cor
relation which has been conducted by
the League of Ited Cross Societies
whose modest headquarters stand
about 100 yards from the I’lnce de
l’Etoile in Paris.
It was dynamic personality of the
late Henry P. Davison, war-time head
of the American Red Cross, that ef
fected the agreement between heads of
the Red Cross In France, Great Brit
ain, Italy, Japan and the United
States, launching the league a few
months after the signing of the arm
istice. Davison was the first chairman
of the league.
John Barton Payne, another chair
man of the American Bed Cross, be
came chairman of the league to suc
ceed Davison In 1921 ; when Judge
I’ayne died early this year another
American, Admiral Cary T. Grayson
was unanimously chosen to succeed
him. And since 1931 another Ameri
can, Ernest J. Swift, has been the
league's secretary-general.
The league has brought about the
creation of 20 new Bed Cross societies
since it was formed, hut Its influence
has gone much farther than that. Al
most every one of the 01 member so
cieties Is today engaged not only in
keeping ready for the emergency of
war, hut In a regular day-to-day pro
gram of health and welfare work, dis
aster relief and other Important peace
time activities.
Plan Air Ambulances.
The highway service planned, end
already started In a small way In
America, Is being worked out along In
ternational lines. As aviation develops,
the possibility of air ambulance serv
ices Is interesting the league.
The league has widely publicized the
disaster relief organization perfected
by the American Itcd Cross and has
helped other societies emulate It. When
a disaster occurs on a scale so large
that the society in the nation affected
Is not able to cope with It alone, co
operation of other member societies Is
a recognized duty. As a recent Il
lustration, may be cited the earth
quake which wiped out the city of
Baluchistan, India, In May of this
year. Fifteen national societies. In
response to an International Bed Cross
appeal, Immediately forwarded contri
butions to Increase the resources of the
Indian Bed Cross.
The Ited Cross Is one of the few hu
manitarian organizations which have
been born In a war. Its origin Is
traced to the battle of Solferlno, In the
Italian war of 1859. Henri Punant, of
Geneva, saw that bloody battle, and In
Un Souvenir de Solferlno described the
tragic suffering of the wounded sol
diers so vividly and powerfully that his
words were read throughout the world.
These sufferings, he pointed out, were
largely the result of Improper care.
He suggested the possibility of organ
izing In nil civilized countries “per
manent societies of volunteers which
In time of war would render succor to
the wounded without distinction of
nationality.’’
Punant’s Idea caught on with Gus
tave Moynier, Genevese lawyer and
social worker. He appointed • com
mlttee of five Genevese to meet and
construct a plan of carrying out the
Dunnnt suggestion. At the invitation of
the committee delegates from 14 na
tions met at Geneva on October 20.
1802. They adopted resolutions laying
the seed for the formation of the Ked
Cross as we know it today, although
most of the duties with which they
charged members were associated with
war emergencies. One of the most
important acts of the convention wns
to declare, concerning the volunteer
societies:
Uniformity of Emblems.
“They shall wear, In all the coun
tries, a white band around the arm,
with a red cross upon it, as a distinc
tive and uniform badge."
The first of the new Red Cross so
cieties was organized in December of
the same year at Wurtemberg. In a
convention at Geneva in 1804 delegates
from 12 nations signed a treaty pro
viding for the neutrality of ambulances
and military hospitals and adopting the
red cross ns the emblem and distinc
tive sign of the sanitary service. Vir
tually every civilized nation has since
acceded to It. The Hague pence con
ference of 1899 extended It’s terms to
naval warfare.
Although the convention, of course,
had to he International In nature, the
Red Cross society in ench country Is
entirely national nnd Independent. It
makes Its own laws and is directly re
sponsible for the work In its own
country. The international committee,
comprising IS Swiss residents of
Geneva Is the oflicinl medium of com
munication between the national or
ganizations, an Important function In
time of war, when It becomes the
neutral channel for relief of prisoners.
When the first convention was called
at Geneva, the United States was In
the throes of Civil war, and the people
of the North, the recognized govern
ment, were caring for the wounded. It
was not until 1809 that the real founda
tions of the American Red Cross were
laid.
Miss Barton Is Founder.
An American, Miss Clara Barton, In
that year met the founders of Red
Cross In Geneva and they prevailed
upon her to foster the work in the
United States. She Interested Presi
dent Garfield and James G. Blaine,
then secretary of state, In 18.81 and
steps were taken for the United Srates
to ratify the treaty. In the same year
the "American Association of the Bed
Cross" was organized with Miss Bar
ton as Its president. President Gar
field was assassinated, but in 1882
President Arthur signed It.
The American organization has been
clnrified several times. Its charter
now calls for a yearly audit of Red
Cross accounts by the War department
and for federal supervision through
official representation on the Red
Cross governing body.
With Americans leading the work of
the League of Red Cross Societies, the
number of members of the Red Cross
has steadily Increased, even through
the depression years, until today there
are In the world 15,000,000 adult mem
bers and an equal number of Juniors.
And perhaps no sign Is so universally
recognized as the sign of the Re£
Cross.
e Western NewspUnion.
LJ I-—- --- “
“By Golly, I Got It! I Got a Way Out of Golnfl to School Clrcua Day."
Poetry
By James J. Montague
1 REMEMBER reading, rather skep
tleally, a poem by Don Marquis,
which after reciting the trials and
tribulations of various foreign conn
tries closed with: ‘‘They had no poets,
and they died.” I was minded to re
monstrate with Mr. Marquis about
this assertion. 1 doubted the depend
enee of civilization upon mere rhyme
sters. On doctors, yes. sometimes. On
butchers and grocers, certainly. But
why poets? How could they keep a
race from extinction? I looked upon
the fellow who said he would rather
write the songs of a country than
make its laws as wobbly In the bean.
And then to give Mr. Marquis a break
—I aim to be fair minded—I began
trying to think of any poetry which
had ever done any good in the world.
To my astonishment I located one of
them Inside of fifteen minutes of in
tensive cerebration. Ft was a piece bj
Rose Harrwick Thorpe, and if by any
chance you are not familiar with the
works of the lady, the name of It was
“Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight.” It
is quite an exciting poem, with a happy
ending. It tells how a young woman
whose lover is about to be executed—It
doesn’t say what for—at the ringing
of the curfew, climbs up into the old
church tower, grabs the clapper of the
bell, and when the sexton pulls on the
rope, swings to and fro, so there isn't
any ringing of the curfew that eve
nlng, and Cromwell, who breaks Into
the poem Just at the right time, lets
the young fellow off.
So now i win explain now mai poem,
years after It was written, really con
tributed to human happiness.
The circus was coming to town,
and It was coming on a week day. It
had come on a week day now for four
or five years. And If you had sug
gested to a parent of that time that It
would be a nice thing for him to write
to the principal and tell him you
couldn't go to school on circus duy, on
account of the patent necessity of go
Ing to the circus he would not have
been able to control his astonishment
—or his temper. As to taking In the
night performance, well, bed time was
half past eight o'clock every night, and
how was anybody to get around that?
For two weeks 1 had tried to catch a
cold—Just a severe enough cold to
keep me out of school, but with no luck.
I went to school without m.v rubbers,
sloshing through the gutters on the
wuy, but nothing happened. I slept !
in a draught—and in those days sleep
ing In a draught was regarded as a
wanton invitation to destruction. Still
nothing happened. I even thought of
falling out of a tree and breaking my
arm, but that would have kept me out
of ball games for the rest of the sura
mer, so I abandoned the Idea, s
And then, taking my moody way to
school one morning I met Bill McMor
row. Naturally we fell at once to
discussing the situation, but without
any luck, till suddenly Bill's reader
slipped out of his grasp—a grasp
which the seriousness of the situation
had rendered nerveless and shouted:
“By golly. I got It!"
“Got what, the book?"
“Naw, not the book. 1 got a way out
of going to school circus day."
“You ain’t really?"
“Sure 1 have. Llssen. You know
that piece I gotta speak next Friday?”
“The one about the Curfew and all
that?"
“Yeah, that’s the one. Suppose the
old bell don’t ring on circus day morn
ing. We don’t haft to go to school,
do we?"
"But how can you stop the bell ring
ing? Me an’ you and Shep an' Carl
Parker an’ half a dozen others can’t
keep that Janitor from ringing the
bell?
"We ain't big enough. And besides
If we are to throw him and tie him
wouldn’t we all get sent to Jail?"
“1 ain't meanln’ to tie him,” said
Hill. “But supposin' the bell don't
ring, then what?’’
“But why won’t It ring?”
“Because It won’t have no clapper
Into It, that’s why.”
“Gosh 1 That’s right. But how
would you get the clapper out of It."
“Llssen. Tonight you an’ me will
go down to Waugbtal's blacksmith
shop an’ hook one of them big pairs
of pinchers he holds the horse shoes
with when puttin’ the caulks onto ’em,
an’ then we’ll climb up Into the belfry
the night before circus day, an' we'll
Just plumb pry that clapper out of
the bell.
“The Janitor’s deaf, so he won't
know whether It’s ringin’ or not, an’
the principal he's pretty deef, too, an’
never starts from his home till the
first bell, an' the teechers that gets
there first will wait for him, an’ when
he don’t come they won’t know what
to do unless'n they go up to bis house
an’ ask him Is he sick or something,
an' by that time It will be too lafe to
find us, because we’ll all be down
lookin’ at the parade."
The logic was convincing. Those
were the days before telephones were
Invented, and when the hard faced
creatures called truant officers were
unknown.
At nine o'clock that night I slid
down the section of the lightning rod
that was near my window, and a min
ute later saw a dark figure swarm tho
fence that surrounded his house.
“Got the pinchers?” I said.
“Here they are.”
“How are we going to get Into the
school house?"
“They don't ever lock the doors.
What Is there In a school house that
a burglar can want?”
A reasoning mind, had this com
panion of mine.
The school house door creaked as It
swung open, but there were no passers
by to hear It.
Cautiously we climbed to the top
story, and made our way up the
ladder that led through a trap door
to the belfry. Then for an Instant we
fell back In terror. A swarm of baby
bats, left there while their parents
were forth In the search for food,
fanned the air about our beads, and
emitted squeaks that curdled our blood.
Even the Intrepid Bill started down (he
ladder. Then his hand encountered
one of the creatures and he observed
“Pooh, bats.” But I, scared cold, was
glad to notice that his voice trem
bled.
Well, there Is nothing much more (o
tell. It was heavy work prying that
clapper out, and once, when the pinch
ers slipped In Bill’s hand It hit the
bell, which gave forth a solemn single
toll which sent us scurrying for (he
door.
But at last we got It out, and to
make assurance doubly sure, took It
home wltb us and burled It deep In
our back garden, where, for all I know.
It still remains.
All manner of theories were ex
pressed around our breakfast table
as to why the bell didn't ring. But
when at last the principal had gath
ered hia wits together and sent the
janitor on a house to house campalgu
there were no children to be found at
home. Nor were they to be found till
supper time that night, when they all
hungered to tell of the wonders they
had seen, but held their tongues dll
asked where they had been, and then
replied: "Oh Just walkin' around
town, and wlshln’ we could of gone to
the circus.”
And so dear reader. If you, like me,
hare held the value of poetry Id tight
regard, here Is one truthful Instance of
Its value to humanity. For had It not
been for Rose Hartwlck Thorpe. ■
hundred or more deserving little chil
dren would never have eeen a truly
marvelous circus.
I ©. Ball Sradical*—WND Sarvlaa.