Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-21
What a Penny Will Do.

What Penny Will Do.
! penny spent for a Red Cross Christ
mas stamp bring: several results. Ii
places in the hands Of the purchaser a
very bright little Christmas greeting to
| place on a letter or Christmas parcel
1t carries good cheer from tile sender to
| the person who receives the mail. The
| penny goes to swell the white plague fund
and in the end it is spent to help save the
! life Of some person who is afflicted with
| NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
| When a person buys a stamp the pur-
chaser expresses confidence i'll the work
| of the Red Cross. 1t means, too. that
| the purchaser widens his circle of friends
until it embraces the friendless element,
among whom the Red Cross Is doing
! much of it's philanthropic work
While the penny in itself is a small
amount of money. to multiply il by mill
lions means the rounding up OF great
sum for the maintenance of a great work
-open-air camps for the cure of tubercu-
losis 1t is the philanthrOpic sentiment
behind the Red Cross stamp that makes
this little Christmas ''stcker" intensely
popular throughout the United States.
Reception of the Stamp.
The Red Cross Christmas stamp, doubt
less the most prominent little factor in
the holiday activities of the United States
today. traces its ancestry back to Bos-
ton, where stamps, or 'stickers,' were
first sold in this country TO raise money
for philanthropic purposes. In 1862 the
United States sanitary commission con-
Quoted great fair or bazaar and used
the money raised to care for sick and
wounded soldiers in the civil war. Some
resourCeful person conceived the idea Of
selling special stamps as one means of
swelling the proceeds of the bazaar. From
Boston the idea spread to many other
cities In the east.
Mrs Roardman ard Mrs. T. n Nc
I.aughlir are looking after the work of
the District Red Cross in the Christmas
stamp campaign. They have taken an
Office in the CoTcoran building, and for
a week or more they have been at
work preparing packages of stamps with
the assistance of a number Of young
woman volunteers BY Wednesday the
work of preparation will be completed
and everything will be in readiness for
| the sales. which will continue for d
month. Five thousand dollars is the
amount needed for the day camp of the
District Red Cross Stamps representing
that amount have been taken by the
local organization and must be sold.
Local Camps Successful Work.
The past season was unusually sue
cessfu one for the local tuberculosis day
camp. The sufferings OF hundreds of
consumptives in the District were relieved
| during the hot weather, and many were
materially improved by their stay at the
| camp. 1t was open from early in April
! until November 10. With the s.. 900 the
| District Red Cross hopes to obtain
| through the sale of the Christmas stamps
| the camp can be enlarged and greatly
improved in every other way.
! One of the features of the campaign
will be Red Cross free lecture Wednes-
day night at the First Congregational
| Church, 10th and G streets northwest.
The speakers will be Attorney General
Wickersham Miss Mabel T. Boardman.
! Miss Isabel Strong and probably Ernest
Bicknell. ..iss Boardman will tell of the
various branches of relief work in which
the Red Cross is engaged.
Mr.. Bicknell. Who is now at Cherry,
| ILL.,, representing the National Red Cross
at the mine disaster. will, IL he is able
to return to Washington in time, speak
on the work at the scenes of the va
rious disasters of the past few years.
Will Interest District People.
! II Washingt onians want to know just
what their local tuberculosis camp
amounts to. how it is run and what is
being accomplished by it they will be
interested in what Miss Strong has to
say. Miss Strong is in charge Of the
camp She knows all about all the pa
tients who go there. what il costs to run
the camp and what is needed to make ii
bigger. better and more useful camp
Miss StrOngs topic will be What the
Christmas Stamp Has Done" She will
describe not only the work at the District
camp, but the work at the big camps of
New York and New England as Well
All the lectures will be illustrated with
interesting stereopticon views of Red
Cross work all over the world. Free
tickets may be obtained at the American
Red Cross headquarters in the War De-
partment or from the District Red Cross