Semi-weekly herald., 1913-05-15

DlSCrlDuteO nunuTeuS OF sewing ma
chimes and wagons.
Paid for repairs to damaged houses.
Bought scores of railroad tickets.
Paid hospital bills for hundreds.
Temporarily paid rents for thou
sands.
Completely restock small dealers in
groceries.
Restocked several barber shops and
merchandise stores.
Gave laundress a washing ma
chine.
Re-established deserving boarding
house keeper.
Furnished aged German cabinet
maker tools to resume his work.
Bought food, clothing and medicine
for thousands.
Relief operations following great
disaster fall naturally into two pc
riods. First, there is the period Of
emergency relief, when every possible
resource must be strained to save life
and to prevent suffering by swift
provision of shelter and clothing. Suf-
erers are dealt with in the mass. The
one question is: How many per-
sons are to be rescued, sheltered, and
fed?"
Then follows the period of recon-
struction or rehabilitation. This calls
for complete change of policy. We
must now consider the needs of the
sufferers, family by family, in order
that so far as relief funds allow, we
may provide for each especial service
which its own particular needs re-
quire. In the period of emergency
we emphasize speed, with thorough
ness in second place; in the period of
rehabilitation we emphasize thorough
ness with speed in second place.
The emergency period of the pres
ent flood relief operations, with all
its splendid record of courage, action
and sacrifice is closed and the period
of rehabilitation is now in full swing
in fully one hundred cities, towns and
villages in the states of West Vir-
ginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky
and Nebraska. More than sixty of
these places are in Ohio.
Surveys have been made by local
relief committees and agents of the
Red Cross and the number of fami-
lies which will require help to "get
over the hill'' and go on their own
way again, is rapidly being deter
mined. Close on the heels of the
army survey the local committees and
the Red Cross agents are making al
lotments to individual families which
the survey shows necessary. "Back
to normal" is the slogan of the re.
habilitation period. The thing to dc
for each family is that which viii
give it start toward its old, familiar
settled methods of life and employ
ment. When we have done this fol
the flood sufferers in a community
we have also done it in a large meas
ure for the community itself. To ac
complish this the Red Cross uses tn,
utmost elasticity of method. 1t ask!
the question, what does this fam
lily most need to set it going?" Ane
when the answer is found, the Rex
Cross tries to provide exactly what il
} required.
Throughout the flooded country to
day, the answer to this question is be
ing sought in relation to fully 5000,
families. 1t has been found and an
swered in perhaps 10000 families, an,
the relief funds which have been give,
SO generously by the American peopl
are being poured out through hun
dred channels to provide the nev
start for which all are waiting. An,
! what is the answer? Sometimes it il
an outfit Of tools; it may be sew
ing machine, or wagon, or a small
stock of merchandise or a peddler'
pack or repairs to damaged house
. or railroad ticket or hospital car,
or the temporary payment of rent, o,
any of the hundred other things which
, fit the individual needs of familie,
and set their usual wheels of lif,
, grinding again. Because this partic
ular disaster was a flood, it is, o.
course, necessary in almost every in
stance to provide simple furniture 1,
addition to whatever else is granted
, In one town a dealer in butter an,
eggs lost his stock and fixtures ant
with them his ability to make living
By buying him an ice box, a pair o.
scales and some shelving, and ad
vancing him few dollars for a new
stock of goods, he was made entire
ly independent and promptly beear
i. serving his regular customers. A bar
Der lost all his equipment. A new
chair, some razors, towels and fixture,
solved his problem. A hard workinp
'aundress received some furniture anr
to her great joy new washing ma.
chine and necessary adjuncts. An in.
dustrious and deserving BOARDING
house keeper was re-established with
the furniture, dishes, etc. necessary
to enable her to take her forme,
boarders "back to the old place. A