Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-04-18
THE RED CROSS.
Noble Work of the Association.
From the Worcester Spyl


Miss Clara Barton president Of the Amer
lean Association of the Red Cross, was en-
rloycG during the month of March in rclicv-
ing the distress of the sufferers by the floods
in the lower Ohio. Food supplies were fur
nished promptly by the national govern
ment through the war department, and also
by private charity through improvised or
CARNATIONS. But help of other kinds was
needed, and this the Red Cross association
undertook to distribute. Thousands of
families were driven from their homes with
the loss Of all their furniture and
household goods. Thousands of homes
were destroyed, and families short
time ago comfortable and prosperous, were
left without shelter or means of living
Farmers lost their cattle with their barns
provcnder and seed for the next crop. The
furious tempest which swept over that rc!ion
while the food was at its hcight, destroyed
much which the w&,cis had spared, so that
along the lower course of the river, on both
sides, the low lands were almost entirely
stripped Of everything which mans labor
had erected, and only The land itself ~ its
primitive nakcdness remained when the
waters subsidized. Here was work If re-
ref demanding instant attention Il WAS
80 great IN the number of sufferers and
the extremity of their destituiiOn, and in
the extent of the area over which they
were scat ered as to exceed the scope OF the
ordinary resources of charitable effort. 1t
was for such emergencies rs this that the Red
Cross ass citation was established. 1t hal or
ganizitiOp, means, agents trained in relief
| work, friends everywhere, and the conf
deucc OF charitable people in the integrity,
| efficiency and discretion of its management.
| Promptly contributions Of all sorts from all
| quarters If the Union flowed into the chan
| ncls prepared for them so sOOI rs the assO-
| citation gave notice that they wCrr needed
and that It would undertake the task Of dis.
| tri5uiOn Garments of all descriptions, bed
clothing, boots and shoes, needles, thread
and buttons, household goods of various
kinds, coal for fuel, and money in large
sums, were put ct the disposal of the ass ),iI-
| ton. A steamboat, the John V. Thr)op,
| Was chartered at Evansville, and started
| down the river. Wherever inundated villa
yes were seena landing was made, The suf-
icrers sought out and their needs supplied.
AS an example of the Kind of work done on
this rip the case of family near Cave-in-
thc-Rock, Illinois, may be cited. Here was
q widow with six young children. Tleir
house had been destroyed their farm.
stock drowned, except twenty-five hens
aud everything they had in the worC
WAS lost They were living in {
corn crib on higher ground, where the
ncighbors had supplied them with chail
or two and a table and two beds. Even
this wrctched house was as neat as it wa
possib to make it, but the prospects of the
family were cherries enough. They hac
been self-sustaining, the widow with th,
help of her boys managed to cultivate little
farm Miss Barton supplied them will
clothes and bedding, and little money
with which the widow thought she Cour
restore her house. And SO T..
worthy family was relieved from IT.
distresscs and put in the way t.
be self sustaining again. The work on lh,
t Ohio closed with the month If March, auC
now the steamer Matte Belle, to which TIT
e flag of the Red Cross Association has beef
= transferred, Miss Barton is dong simlla
0 work on the lower Mississippi The value O
Y this relief Organization cannot be over. est
mated. The association had for It's origina
purpose the relief Of suffering in war Ii
equally adapted to such emergencies as thos
which summoned Miss Barton to her preser
task. 1t is vastly more prompt and eflicer
: than any implovised organization can be.