The Washington herald., 1913-05-04


Foundation sent out post haste advance
report as q practical handbook to char
/! fly organizations in and near the strick-
en- regions.
The Relief Survey emphasizes the I'M
portance of the long, slow work to re-
store people to their normal standard
of living after the excitement ana
enthusiasm of emergency relief is over,
1t is divided into six parts: Organiza-
tion and Emergency Period; Rehabiii-
tation: Business Rehabilitation; Housing
Rehabilitation; After Care; The Aged
and Infirm
Nothing can take the place, the edi-
tors of the Relief Survey testify. OF
the spirit and devotion Of the local
committees. At San Francisco the citi-
zens showed splendid self-reliance and
faith in the future. which enabled them
to rebound from fortunes sudden blow.
and show what sustained and co-opeS
rative effort can achieve. But the most
important factor, especially for perma-
nent rehabilitation, is a trained stan
This the American Red Cross, through
the cooperation of charity organization
societies throughout the country, Is
constantly prepared to bring together
on short notice. Mr.. Bicknell repre-
scented the Red Cross at San Francisco
after Mr.. Devine's departure. and was
thus unusually well equipped to plan
the methods which the Red Cross has
devised for emergency use.
How the Red Cross Works.
A young man who appeared to be a
poorly paid clerk came to the Red Cross
office in New York at the noon hour last
Friday and pulled from his pocket five
dollar and one dollar bill. The person
in charge asked him II he was not Civ
Ing more than his share, and suggested
that he keep his share and suggested
said he, I've kept some small change
for carfare and lunch, and tomorrow s
payday" One letter accompanying d
contribution read:
Just one short year ago, when the i'll
fated Titanic deprived me of mine ALL
the Red Cross Society lost not mo-
ment in coming to my aid. Through you
1 now wish to give my widows mite
to help the stricken ones In the West
and | only wish | could make It a
thousand times as much
How are the Sied Cross funds spent
Spontaneous contributions through va.
riety of channels are usually sufficient
for immediate needs, and the Red Cross
followed its customary policy of reserv-
ing as much of its funds as possible for
permanent rehabilitation.
In the food and tornado stricken
regions the Red Cross has given splen-
did evidence of the effectiveness OF its
scheme of organization and o. its meth
DDS as worked out on the basis OF expe-
rience at San Francisco. and as tested
by the Minnesota and Michigan forest
fires, the Cherry mine disaster, and the
Mississippi floods of last year.
When a disaster comes in any part of
the country the nearest institutional
members of the Red Cross-the largest
and ablest charity organization through
out the country-at once dispatch train
ed members of their stats to the scene.
Each organization has an emergency
box containing. convenient for carry
ing, an equipment including detailed
printed instructions, record cards, Red
Cross flag, expense sheets. vouchers. &c.
The use of this equipment especially
the uniform record cards. which have
been carefully prepared on the basis OF
the San Francisco experience, means that
help is not lost or wasted, but gets to
the people who need il most Even more
important. it means that help is given
not merely to keep victims OF the disas-
ter from starvation and exposure during
the weeks Immediately following, but to
AFFORD a reasonable lit on the road to
the recovery or the standard OF living
maintained before the disaster.-The Sur
yey,