The Washington herald., 1907-07-14

TO point to the universal work done under
the sign OF the Red Cross. and forever
stiIl his pessimism. For countless cen
turtles the wounded on the fields Of battle,
either because Of the Indifference OF the
/ army they served or because there wa.
insufficient medical aid. have been al
/ lowed to lie neglected and uneared for
Sometimes the enemy came on the field to
torture or put to death the wounded
! Certain Arab tribes Of North Africa put
TO death their own men who were NOR
tally wounded practice that has had
| its advocates even among more civilized
persons Throughout long ages Of battles
hunger and thirst and torture have
/ preyed upon the wounded. Lying among
the dead. often q prey 10 proving ami
mails. the physical and mental anguish
the wounded have suffered can never be
known.
a Swiss gentleman happened to walk
! across such a battlefield Immediately aft
CT a great struggle. and was appalled, by
the sight Of suffering that confronted
/ him He gave such help as he could and
| pressed the people Of the countryside
/ into service Realizing the total mad
equacy Of his work, as well as that CT
! the armies he went away later heart-sick
and discoura ged. But from this expert
/ ence grew great work, and on this bat
/ tlefield of Solferino. on June "a. 1889 came
the inspiration that has since found an
echo in the hearts Of the majority Of the
worlds people, and has brought about
+ the greatest practical proof Of altruism.
/ This Swiss gentleman, ". Henri Dunant.
/ turned from that battlefield, with its
/ 5000 killed and wounded, thoroughly de-
! termined TO do something TO relieve the
/ horror Of such situations.
/ He wrote and iectured and Travelled
through his and other countries in the
effort to enlist the sympathies Of people
/ in his cause. The Society Of Public Util-
( ity, in Geneva. listened to him. IN the
/ fall OF 1863 Switzerland called a meeting
OF all the leading countries 10 determine
{ some cooperative plan for lessening the
/ horrors OF war. Several nations responded
I the following summer and, with perm&-
nent headquarters established IN Geneva.
and plans for a meeting every 1--WE years,
4 this worldwide resolve TO care for those
: who were wounded in battle became a
/ reality Dunant was one OF the first re-
4 cipients OF a Nobel prize
! August p. 1868. is the memorable date
on which ten nations signed the famous
/ ''Taeaty Of Geneva" BY this treaty it
was agreed that warning nations should
I hold neutral all sanitary supplies. ambu-
+ Iances. surgeons. nurses, and the sick
or wounded Of either side, provided they
were under the sign Of mercy adopted BY
] the convention. Protection and neutral
I ity should also be guaranteed 70 the in
I habltauts Of the battlefield neighbor-
I hoods. provided they helped care for the
sick and wounded The wounded were 10
receive the same consideration, whether
+ friends or enemies. The insignia adopted
BIZ the convention was a red cross on a
white field, this being a compliment 70
{ Switzerland, whose national flag is a
white cross on a red field Wherever the
I work Of the Red Cross has spread since
/ then. and there are now forty-four nations
in the international agreement, this cross
Is the badge assumed, Turkey being the
one notable exception. Her signature was
. subscribed only with the understanding
that her Moslem crescent might still be
used In preference 10 the Christian cross.
Japan and other nOn-Chri5tia nations
have accepted the Red Cross as an en-
blem without protest. and have proved
the efficiency Of the work on many fields.
The United States was invited 10 send
representatives 10 this Geneva meeting OF
1853. and, though the American minister
in Switzerland was empowered to repre-
sent her, this nation was too busy just
then with a war Of her own to take time
to consider any movements for ameliorat-
ing its pitiful side, and II was not until
Nav. 1851, that the Tsed Cross had an &C.
tive society formed IN this country under
the permission Of the United States gov
eminent. Always with the suggestion
Of Red Cross work comes the name OF
Clara Barton. As q nurse with the Army
Of the Potomac in the civil war, Miss Bar
ton had seen much OF the suffering of the
wounded After the war she lectured in
Now York on her experiences. and re-
ceived $15.O00 for helping locate the graves
Of the dead at AndersonviIle.
She went 20 Switzerland in 1870, and, as
the Franco Prussian war was then in
/ progress, she volunteered as nurse. IN
/ the field she soon saw the practical side
Of Red Cross work. II is said that Miss
! Bartons was the inspiration for much of
its work in strasburg and in Paris, and
when she returned 10 America it was with
the deeply-rOOted intention Of eniisting
/ the interest OF the United States author
| tiles in a similar work on this side. II
( took Miss Barton many years TO get the
national sanction she needed, but when il
/ came this country went to the forefront
with other nations OF the world in an
earnest desire to prove her own advance
ment in kindness.
To the United States Is due that clause
In the Geneva treaty, as Il now stands,
which provides for the utility of the Red
Cross organizations in war, pestilence,
and famine. It was seen that many Of
the worlds great disasters were not the
outcome of a conflict of men, but that
often they were the result Of pestilence
or Of great commissions Of nature. Like
the other nations, the United States as
! s0ciatiOns established central stations.
where supplies could be collected or
money sent, and from which needed
nurses or supplies could be forwarded on
short notice to places where some calam-
ity-had left people wounded or dead or
/ beggared. Such help was soon needed. IL
/ 1882 the Mississippi overAowed, and money,
clothes. food, and medical supplies were
needed. The following year the Ohio
| crept out of its banks and brought
death and poverty in its path. while a
! cyclone wrought havoc in Louisiana. In
/ 1855 came the Texas drought and the
/ Charleston earthquake in 1887, the Mount
| Vernon. l., cyclone; = 1855. the yellow
/ fever in FLORIDA; in 1859. the Johnstown
/ food, and in 1881. the disasters In the Sea
/ Islands In each instance the Red Cross
was quickly notified and readily respond