Smyrna times., 1908-11-25
SMYRNA WOMEN TALK OF
ORGANIZING A RED CROSS
MOVEMENT INAUGURATED AT
THE CENTURY CLUB FRIDAY
Miss E. P. Bessell of Wilmington,
Talks In Interest of the Red Cross
Society May be Organized Here

Society May be Organized Here
Miss E. P. Bessell, of Whining
ton, Secretary of the Delaware
Branch of the American National Red
Cross lectured to the Century Club
Friday afternoon on the Red Cross
Christmas Stamp as an aid to stamp
ing out tuberculosis in our State.
Miss Besell said in pat 1.-THE Red
Cross is a great national organization
with branches in each State formed to
act in times of crisis and to render
aid in war, pestilence. and famine.
tuberculosis, the great white plague,
is the most terrible pes thence in
the known world, claiming one death
out of every seven. The Red Cross
has taken up tuberculosis work
therefore, as part of the "peace
activity" The present time is one
Oa crisis in the war against consump-
tiOn. Each State needs education
and awakening in the subject, and
money for the work. The Red
Cross, therefore, with the approval
of the postal authorities, took up the
Christmas stamp last Christmas and
tri d it in one State.
Where The Stamp First Started
This was the little State of Della
ware very small, very conservative,
not given to enthusiasms, and having
only few shacKs in a woodland
meadow, near Wilmington as a tn
berculosis hospital The State as a
whole was ignorant and uninterested
on the subject, yet the stamps,
printed and put on the market only
eighteen days before Ch istmas,
amazed everyone by its sensational
record Fifty thousand had been
printed to sell at one cent apiece.
They went in a week, and then the
stamp got into Philadelphia where
the Pennsylvania Red Cross Society
welcomed it and backed it up and the
North American" gave it splendid
Yaid. The Delaware Schools sold it
the Women's Clubs in Delaware took
it up, the newspapers gave columns
?, to it, the department stores, banks,
drug stores and hotels sold it. 1t
was sold in the corridors of the Will
mington Federal Building by permis-
sion from the Government though not
at the post Office itself. The presses
in the last few days before Christ
mas ran night and day to supply the
demand. People used the stamps on
packages and letters, and business
firms on their correspondence. Near
ly four hundred thousand were sold
and nearly three thousand dollars
cleared from this small, unobtrusive
penny stamp.
What The Stamp Did For Delaware
With this money the Delaware Rec
Cross first brought an educational,
anti-tuberculosis exhibit to Delaware
which was visited by twenty thousand
people in ten days. The clubs,
oranges, city boards, teachers,
clergymen, labor unions, State off.
cials, were all specially invited or
special days, and the whole State
was walked up. A nurse was sent tc
the Sanitarium and a free dispensory
supplied with milk and eggs, drug:
and visiting nurse for the consump.
tive poor, and this has gone on al
year. One thousand dollars has beer
set aside as a nucleus toward building
hospital. Delaware is now decided
= ly interested in tuberculosis work
and all this was done in eighteer
days by penny stamp.
The Plan Decided Upon For 1908
The American National Red Cros:
this year has decided to issue the
Christmas stamp in every State A
beautiful stamp has been especially
designed by Howard Pyle, the famous
artist, who gave his work as a con-
tribution. 1t bears a wreath of holly
and Merry Christmas" and "Happy
New Year. 1t will be on sale at
the Red Cross headquarters in each
State, and will be sold in sheets like
an ordinary stamp ana also in small
books 9 for 10 cents and "a for 25
cents and 48 for so cents like the
government stamps. The Christmas
stamp-is not good for postage. II
will not carry any kind of mail, but
any kind of mail will carry it. Each
one who uses this holiday stamp will
help stamp out the White Plague.
1t has been printed by the million to
supply the demand. Nobody makes
any profit on the Christmas stamp.
t During the run of the stamp last
: year, Jacob Refs wrote a congratu-
latory letter to the Delawar Red
t Cross and Governor Stuart of Penn