HOWREDCROSS
GAVE RELIEF
BEYONDflAVE
For a year Italians had looked upon
the provinces of the North with tear
filled eyes and heavy hearts, for they
were under the domination of the
enemy. From time to time reports
came out of that dark land telling of
the misery and suffering of the in
habitants. The information was mea
ger, but sufficient to stir the imagina
tion, and everyone south of the Piave
carried a distressing picture of the
plight of the unfortunate people who
I had been unable to flee—old men,
women girls and children, left behind
in the great hegira which followed
upon Caporetto.
When at last the hour of deliver
ance came for these occupied prov
inces the advancing victorious troops
of Italy found conditions worse than
even imagination had pictured. For a
year the people had been under enemy
rule, and had been systematically de
spoiled of everything of value they
possessed. In many places German
troops had been succeeded by Hun
garians, and these in turn by the Aus
trians, separate periods of tyranny by
three alien races, and all reports agree
that the German domination was the
most cruel. For one long year the
invaders had been gradually taking
away from these people their crops,
their money and their household arti
cles, leaving them barely enough
coarse flour to live on, a flour mixed
with chestnuts or acorns, bran and
straw.
When the retreat of the enemy be
gan this systematic sequestration de
generated into an organized loot.
There was little left for the common
soldiers in the way of plunder, but
such little as there was they took—
clothing from the women, shoes, linen
and bed clothing, small keepsakes, and
all the remaining food supplies.
During the year of privation many
died of slow starvation. As an in
stance, in the city of Oderzo, where
2,500 people had remained, the village
priest told the writer that in the
course of the year past he had buried
more than two hundred children. In
the last weeks, and especially in the
last few days, the rate of mortality be
came higher. In one village the writer
was informed that fifty perBonB- had
died within a fortnight of starvation,
and in another village one hundred and
fifty had been the reckoning. It was
in this condition that the people were
found by their returning compatriots.
The advance of the Italian army was
rapid. All stores were needed for the
troops who were pursuing the enemy,
and there was neither opportunity nor
means for caring for the civilian popu
lation.
a strange story was tutu uy a priest
in one of these towns. He said that
when the Austrians left and the people
had absolutely nothing to live on they
still refused to abandon hope. In some
mysterious way the word reach them,
prisoners though they were, that Amer
ica was coming to their help, and they
repeated among themselves patiently,
with-starvation facing them, “It will be
all right now; the Americans will soon
b^ here.” And so it was that when
into this town there came two men
in the uniform of the American Red
Cross with the supplies of condensed
milk and condensed soups, and dried
vegetables, and sugar and coffee, these
people justified their faith by saying,
“Did we not tell you so? You see, the
Americans are here.”
Within a few hours after the enemy
had left, Red Cross stores and kitch
ens had been established in ten of the
principal centers of the devastated
district. In some of the places the
Red Cross men occupied, in the even
ing, houses that the Austrians had
quitted in the morning. These Ameri
cans followed the advancing troops as
far as they could go, and even while
the armistice was under discussion,
before it was known to be a fact to
the soldiers generally, one rolling
kitchen of the American Red Cross,
in charge of two Red Cross lieuten
ants, pushed on through the Austrian
lines and did not stop until It had
reached Trieste, on the other side of
the Adriatic, the goal of Italy’s ambi
tion for five centuries.
The armistice and all that followed
came so quickly that it was beyond
human power to avoid confusion. The
Austrians immediately released the
Italian prisoners that had been taken
--the figure has been estimated at
about 600,000—and these were soon
pouring pell-mell,- unorganized, unin
structed, into the Invaded country
which had been swept clean by the
enemy.
One of the most serious problems
that Italy or any other nation has had
t? face was the sudden, unexpected
care of the starred civilian popula
tion In the newly-liberated districts,
and added to this was the care of her
returning soldiers who had been cap
tured. Railway transport did not ej
1st; the returning soldiers straggled
along the roads by the thousands,
walking for days without food, sleep
ing in fields or in shell-ruined houses,
making their way back to Italy. Many
of them fell by the roadside. As soon
as it was possible the Italian govern
ment established concentration camps
in order to care for these men. But
the care of this unorganized horde
was beset with tremendous difficul
ties, for peace had not yet come and
their army must be cared for first;
the fighting men must be fed in a
land swept as dry and barren as if a
plague of locusts had fallen upon it.
So the American Red Cross had its
opportunity for work in an emergency
such as no one had anticipated. In
Trieste the situation in regard to the
feeding and housing of the men com
ing back from Austrian prison camps
was more desperate than elsewhere,
because Trieste is so entirely cut off
except by boat, and boats were few.
Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic,
is naturally the city to which most of
the returning prisoners would come,
and soon they were there by the thou
sands. The Italian government placed
them in a big concentration camp
along the magnificent docks which
form one of the glories of Trieste,
but it was not possible in the disor
ganized state of the railways, in thy
absence of boats, to obtain sufficient
food for the constantly increasing num
bers^ The suffering was intense.
There was danger of famine and of
The Italian troops had hardly en
tered Trieste by sea before Captain
M. S. Slaughter of Madison, Wis.,
American Red Cross delegate at Ven
ice, had obtained place on a boat for
supplies, both of medicines and of
food, and a few hours later he arrived
in Trieste, the first American to set
his foot there since the beginning of
the war. A few hours later the roll
ing kitchen of Lieutenant Rogers and
Lieutenant McConnell came overland,
and it was this kitchen, and the timely1
arrival of supplies from the British
Red Cross, which saved a desperate
situation, but for four or five days
Rogers’ kitchen struggled alone to co
operate with and help the military
authorities, who were facing an un
expected situation of extreme gravity.
No one in all the world had fore
seen that the collapse of Austria and
Germany would come so quickly. But
long ago the American Red Cross in
Itajy had made preparations for emer
gency work at the front in expecta
tion of an advance. From all its ware
houses throughout Italy food and med
ical supplies were taken and centered
in the war zone, leaving enough, how
ever, in the other districts to keep the
work going that had been started when
the American Red Cross came to Italy
a year before, which was the care of
soldiers' children and the care of sol
diers’ wives. Motor trucks began a
steady procession from the other dis
tricts up toward the front, and these
were used to follow the army and to
organize supply depots in the centers
of the redeemed territory.
It is a remarkable fact that with all
this confusion there was established
within a few hours a system of deter
mining the needs of the individuals.
Village priests, old men of known re
pute in the community, and some who
had held official positions under Ital
ian rule and who remained at their
posts when the Austrians came, were
called into this service, and lists were
made in ordfer that the food and the
clothing might be distributed to the
greatest advantage. Young women of
the Red Cross eagerly volunteered for
this new service—young women whose
war work had been solely in offices in
Rome or in other centers suddenly
found themselves encamped in half
destroyed, ruined towns, destitute of
light or heat or any comforts, and
these young women went to their work
as if they had been taught by long ex
perience No one complained of the*
hardships; no one complained of lack
of proper fdod, of discomfort, nor of
the exposure to disease which each
one ran; but every one went al out his
or her task with a devotion and en
ergy which accomplished the miracle
of feeding several hundred thousand
people during the days of confusion
before and after the armistice and be
fore steps could be taken to bring aid
through official channels.
It is not surprising that this condi
tion should prepare the ground for
an epidemic. The epidemic came al
most Immediately, In the form of Span
ish influenza. In one distMct Of three
3,000, 800 were ill, and other districts
suffered In almost the same propor
tion. As this is written the epidemic
is spreading, but fortunately the form
It is taking seems to be light and, in
spite of the weakened condition of
the people, not many deaths have been
reported. The hospital accommoda
tions are entirely inadequate. The
Austrians despoiled the civilian hos
pitals as they despoiled everything
else, taking from them beds and linen,
glass from the windows and metal
work, even to the locks on the doors.
The military hospitals that exist are
still occupied by soldiers, many of
them Austrian soldiers deserted by
their comrades when the rout came.
Whenever it is possible civilians who
are suffering are admitted to these
hospitals, and as fast as human energy
can accomplish it civilian hospitals
have been opened.
All Italy has been suffering from
the Spanish influenza, and this has put
a severe tax upon the nurses and doc
tors. The American Red Cross, how
ever, has been able to open hospitals
in the reconquered territory, supplying
them with beds, linen, surgical instru
ments and drugs, and has sent out
many nurses to the various districts
tvho, besides superintending the nurs
ing at these hospitals, pay visits to the
homes to advise the people on proper
care, in order to prevent the further
spread of the epidemic.
Gradually in Trieste and in the con
quered provinces order is being re
stored and other aid is coming, so that
the people are now being fed, although
their rations must be meager for some
time* to come. The work of the Red
Cross is going on, meeting emergen
cies where they arise, and continuing
in the care of the civilian population
as well as aiding the returning sol
diers. There is no telling when it will
end, but for many weeks or probably
months to come there will be the
greatest demand upon all the re
sources of the American Red Cross in
Italy.
Peace came at the beginning of win
ter, when it was not possible to labor
in the fields, and it will be a long
while before Nature begins her yield
for these stricken people. During that
time they must be cared for, for they
are practically helpless. Even if work
were at hand, they are too weak to
work. After a year of slow starvation
it will be several months before these
people can return to their normal life.
-«
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The Burkhardt
Hand Laundry
and Bath
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Neatly Fitted up with Large
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Clean and Sanitary. Open All
Night Phone tl—three rings.
“Bevo” Is Here
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Delivered to the trade or families in
large or small quantities
— '
1 FREI) HAEF, Distributor
KENNY HOLDEN’S
Pool and Billiard Parlors
CIGARS, SOFT DRINKS AND TOBACCO.
FIRST-CLASS BARBER SHOP
IN CONNECTION
MUSIC EVERY NIGHT PHONE 15
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CHAS.GOI & COMPANY
of Juneau, Alaska
Offer to the trappers and dealers of the North
the followinig prices for No.*l Prime Furs:
Lynx, extra large No. 1.$35.00 to $37.50
Lynx, large No. 1. 30.00 to 35.0C
Lynx, small . 20.00 to 25.00
Mink, dark coast skins. 5.00 to 7.00
Mink, dark coast skins, small. 3.00 to 5.00
Mink, fresh water. 5.00 to 10.00
Land Otter..\.... 12.00 to 15.00
Red Fox, No. 1 large... 30.00 to 35.00
Cross Fox, according to heauty. 50.00 to 100.00
Muskrats.^5 to 1.50
Silver and Black Foxes, as to color
Wolverine .5.00 to 12.00
Wolves. 5.00 to 20.00
Ship ub your Furs! Ab soon as recelrod we will Khd* and
wire our best offer. If our prices are not oattefaotory we will return
the fura and pay transportation chargee on aame both ways.
Reference*: Any bank In Alack*, Dexter Horton National Sank, Se
attle; National Bank of Taooma, Taooma, Waeli.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
We operate the largeet fur Manufactory north of Ban Franclooo.
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BRAND-NEW BIT OF BANKING SERVICE ! jj
AVAILABLE TO ALL—WITHOUT COST | jj
j: i ::: f ■ i m i hi i insii:i i m 111 isiiii:,] 11 hi nil 11 LsuiLiiti.: n m-i,jhi i rLjjjiilSsililiSil i a [jjjiii i n'in if: i I:
f i i •
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i THE PI AN We will receive your Liberty Bond j ij
J _ * . in any amount for deposit to the
credit of your bond account. i j
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No OhstrfifC ^or this service and it
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! | _THEl—__ I \
II FIRST BANK OF CORDOVA H
• Pioneer Bank of Co rdova and Copper River Valley *
• _SECURITY_SERVICE SATISFACTION t
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Sixty Steam-Heated Rooms, Electric-Lighted
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
With or Without Bath
Cordova House
DOOLEY & GREENIG
Headquarters for Railroad and Mining Men
Satisfaction Guaranteed :: Rates Reasonable
ALASKAN GRILL
FRANK A. DOUGLAS, Proprietor
“The Home of Quality and Attention”
The Popular Restaurant of Cordova. Every
thing First-Class. Special Attention Given
to Parties
ONE VISIT TO THE ALASKA GRILL WILL MAKE YOU A
REGULAR PATRON
SOLICITING The patronage of .
THE EPICUREAN
and discriminating public, I desire to call attention to a few of the
reasons which I am confident make this Grill a popular one and en
titled to their kind support.
BETTER COOKS—BETTER COOKING—BETTER SERVICE
TABLE8 AND BOOTH8 FOR LADIES BANUET ROOM
UNDIG’S GRILL
Phone 30
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MRS. JOHN NELSON
JUST RETURNED FROM THE EAST WITH A COMPLETE
LINE OF
LADIES’ FURNISHING GOODS
v V
AND WILL HAVE 8AME OPEN FOR SALE TOMORROW.
LATEST STYLES. REASONABLE PRICES. f
ACROSS STREET FROM MO DERN LAUNDRY