Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-21

director, in his address. said of the for
est fires in Michigan, that as he was just
inspecting the relief work being done for
the forest fire victims in Minnesota, at
the time of the forest fires in Michigan
he was. with one or two railroad men, the
first outside person to reach the burned
district in the latter state. AS he Travelled
several hundred miles through the burn
ing forests the cars were filled with the
smoke and the heat was felt even through
the double car windows.
He told how the train that was sen,
TO carry away the women and children
was DELAYED for several hours, as many
waited to try to save some of their
household treasures. and then when l,
left some of the rails had been warped
by the heat and the dense fog of smoke
made it impossible to see this. so that
the train was wrecked in the midst of the
fire and seventeen persons burned to
death while the others only escaped by
fleeing into an open field and lying FOL
hours with their faces on the ground
Telegraph and railroad communication
was for time cut oft. so that the news
was slow in spreading.
Relief Work Commenced.
When once the extent of the disaster
was known relief work was commenced
Mr.. Bicknell proceeded to Detroit to get
in touch with the state Red Cross. lie
with the governors committee. on which
they were represented. Mr.. Bicknell, al
the request of the committee, spent nearly
three weeks in the burned district. as
ssting in the organizing of the relief
work. The most important part of WORK
was the building of houses for shelter
some villages, notably that Of Metz. being
swept from the face of the earth. In
two weeks time after the fire simple
houses had been constructed for thirty
or forty families and the work was pro
ceedng we'll and satisfactorily when he
left. The women of the Red Cross
branch had done good service in the col
lecting and forwarding of clothing and
household furnishings.
Mr. Bicknell said all this demonstrated
the need of such an organization as the
Red Cross and the good work 1t could
do No outside need was asked by the
state as it felt able to deal with the
matter unaided, and so the National Red
Cross issued no appeal.
Report on Day Camp.
DR.. T. q. Smith made a report on the
Red Cross day camp for consumptives.
He told of the work already accomplished
and said that tho attendance is beginning
to increase, and he believes that in a
short time some of it's patients will be
able to return to their work. If the Christ
mas stamp meets with sufficient success
this year it Is hoped that DR.. Smiths sug-
gestion that another summer night camp
can also be organized at the day camp
for the benefit of workingmen with in
cipient cases of consumption. Only two
of the nurses who were on duty at Hat
tiesburg were able to be personalities
Hewitt and Miss Bowman. To them was
presented by Gen. George w. Davis.
chairman of the Red Cross central COM
mittee. service bars, on which the name
Hattiesburg and 1908 were inscribed. To
the bars are attached the regular Red
Cross nurses pin. Gen. Davis expressed
the appreciation of the society for the
good work done by the nurses. and told
them that the bars would always stand
as a token of appreciation.
Among those present were John w. Eos
ter, Simon Wolf and Mrs. Wolf, DIR. Rad
cliffe, DR.. Ober. Rabbi Stern, Mrs. John
Hay, Medical Director Wise, U.S.N.; Ad-
miral Van Reypen. Gen. John M. Wilson.
Gen. and Mrs. Gillespie. Mrs. Henry c.
Sharp. Mrs. j. Ellen Foster, Mrs. ..len
Spencer Mussey, Mrs. Charlotte Main,
Mrs. Hennen Jennings. Mrs. Fremont
Smith. Mr.. and Mrs. Archibald Hopkins
and Dr.. Kober.