Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-06

ALeeeiiis III o. Louis, ana marked tno emu
OF a quiet strusglesiamong two patriotic
societies Of wemenssfor supremacy, the
Woman's Relief CORDS and the Ladies Of
the G. A. R. The latter comprised those
women who desired chat none other than
the relatives ofsUnion soldiers and sailors
should be admitted t0lan order auxiliary to
the Grand Armysof the Republic, and whose
ieaders mad withdrawn from the convention
in Denver.
With the legal andiundivided support Of
of the Womans Relief Corps was assured.
II went forward in 4ts philanthropic and
charitable work, branching out as the
good OF the order demanded, until its in
nuence is felt everywhere.
AS age began 70 tell upon the veterans 1t
became evident thatKsome provision must
De made for them in the way of homes
Eniisting with the Grand Army Of the Re
1,a IN TINS mission. state legislatures
were invaded, and through the active la
bors of the Grand Army of the Republic
ana the Woman's Relief Corps, state SOL
uler homes have been established in about
d dWeIry n9rthern states; where honorary
spend their declining years together and in
comfort II not in luxury, and not look upon
IL all as Charity" While national homes
nave peen constructed on the order Of pal
aces, with all modern appliances, and the
inmates have luxuries that they never had
IN the walks of private life, these homes are
almost prisons to the old fellows, for no
eNCI enters tnen. military IuieS
are In force. and are probably necessary,
put IL is said the veterans in their old age
cna1e under them, and they would rather
s.arte on a pension pfttance of 80 to slZ
month IMAM live apart from the wives who
nave stood by them, In many instances
through the storms and vicissitudes of
more than forty years. The state homes
oeing constructed for families" give the
veterans much greater satisfaction, and
TINS Is one of the greatest works that the
Two organizations have ever accomplished.
The Wopan's Relief Corps and other or
CARNATIONS of patriotic women usually join
In furnishing the libraries and reading
rooms Of these homes They make cush-
ions for the easy chairs, send pictures and
orlc-a-brac, and regularly forward stand
ara magazines and papers for the veterans
10 ENJOY They make large quantities OF
Jellies and preserves for the hospitals Of
these homes, and furnish the touches that
only women can apply.
Work in the Schools.
In the schools of the country the work Of
the relief corps and the other patriotic
organizations has been far-reaching. They
first labored for state regulations concern
Ing the hosting of the flag above the
school houses during school hours. and
some fifteen states have responded with
state laws to that effect. They dipped into
the histories taught the children of the
nation, and in hundreds of instances found
the textbooks in use all but reasonable in
their utterances upon matter pertaining to
the war of the rebellion They Immediate
ly set themselves to work to have these
textbooks made to agree with the official
data, easily accessible to all in the archives
of the government. There is much work
yet to be done in this direction.
The next great work undertaken was that
Of patriotic instruction The ignorance of
the children in the public schools as brought
to light upon constitutional matters, the
adoption Of the design for the flag, the
causes which involved the country in it's
several wars, the distinction of parties, and
more particC~irly their ignorance Of the
great men who have been the bulwark OF
strength in times Of great national crises,
was regrettable. The first work done was
among the waits of New York city, but
they were scarcely less ignorant than the
well-dressed boys and girls of the other
sections Of the city. The crusade COM
menced in the metropolis was extended till
1t covered the wholesUnited States.
A national patriotic instructor was ap-
pointed al the national convention held in
indianapolis ins1s93 Department patriotic
instructors were appointed the same year,
thirty-eight in all assistant patriotic In
structors were named in every corps In the
United States. in al about 1000 women.
selected for that particular purpose. began
a systematic work along the lines indicated.
They went intosthe public schools in almost
every county IN thesUnited States. and la
bored for instraction along patriotic lines.
They secured recognition of flag day, June
&, d
states. They also secured partial recogni-
ton of the birthdays of noted characters in
national history. among them being Wash
ington. LincolrT andkGrant Hand IN hand
with the patriotic efforts Of the Woman's
Relief Corps Is humane work
The Woman's Relief Corps has built and
Is operating a national relief corps and
army nurses home in Madison, Ohio,
where dependent army nurses and wives Of
old soldiers are received. 1t has accepted
as q gift from the Department of Georgia,
G. A. R., the old AnderSonville prison
grounds. and has beautified and made them
interesting to all who journey there.
Preparing for Memorial Day.
While Memorial day was an institution
of the Grand Army of the Republic, the
burden of preparing for its observance falls
heaviest upon the Woman's Relief Corps.
Thousands of the graves Of Union soldiers
lie south of Mason and Dixon's line, and
for these graves a mony provision has to
be made as the flowers must be bought,
and where no Grand Army post exists a
detail of members of the order Is sent from
the nearest post to scatter the flowers.
Nearly So, 600 year is expended by the
relief corps for this purpose alone. The
average annual expense Of the corps of the
for flowers for Memorial day is
SIS, 600
The amount of money expended by the
corps for relief Of needy veterans and their
families is surprisingly large The sum
last year amounted to $163, 25S. 60.
Besides this the corps of the country have
turned over to the posts to which they are
auxiliary during the twelve months $50. 1853.
This average increases annually, because
the posts in the country districts are
gradually growing less able to keep up
the running expenses, and this is part Of the
work which the relief corps was organized
to do. Since it's inception in Denver, in
1888, the Womans Relief Corps has ex-