The Washington times., 1914-03-23
By Mss lGABEL 7. BoARDMAN.

That the organization and work Of
the American Red Cross IL nation
wide known to many. In . more
or less vague sort Of way. In time
Of war and disaster the name Of the
society looms large In the columns
OF the daily papers. and the tales
Of night and day work by the train
ures, and its broadest appeals for
funds and supplies are pushed we'll
to the front.
Such work. in time Of national ca
lamity. commands the attention OF
the country: but 1t II Of another Tine
Of work. work that 10 going on every
hour Of the twenty-four regardless
Of 2 public call. which is pro.a6ly OF
that tho particular attention Of the
public IL invited to.
In the line Of it, usefulness In the
country'1 every day hfe I want to
dwell on only what the women con-
nectod with It are accomplishing.
The first aid department. under Ma
jor Patterson. q. 8. A.. Il another
Tho general supervision Of the na-
tional relief WORK comes under the
national relief board, Of which am
Earnest p. Bicknsal, Red Cross ma
tional director, takes charge OF all
active relief In the field in cases OF
disaster. Under the same board
L carried on the town % ana S;t.1ay eGtnsry
Reid - chairman Of its COMMITTEES
and Miss Fanny F. Clement 70 the
superintendent
Special Corps Of Nurses.
The duty of this branch Of the
work II the organizing Of q special
corps of trained nurses. who have
taken q poSt-Gradu4te course ar
ranged by the Red Cross to ny mem
for the most efficient service IN
small communities. -
The town and country nurses Weaf
q special uniform and . distincuve
emblem on q chain about the neck.
for ready Identification and as .
standard Of the society they repre-
sent, It has been likened 70 the
stamp "sterling" upon silver. a 2
guarantee Of worth, for none nay
wear 1t without authority, ana au-
thority il not given unui emcieneS
The service provides the training
for the nurses, and whem their long
course il over, they arc sent out Iaf
and wide in answer to calls nom
various communities that are ready
to support such a nurse. To receive
one of these nurses. It II necessary
for a local committee OF httic
town or hamlet to affiliate with S1e
American Red Cross, and make fof.
NAL application for the detail OF the
nurse. The application II acted upon
as soon AZ possible. and the nurse
or nurses are sent without delay.
Not sCharity" Nurses.
These nurses are not to be con-
sidered as charity nurses. While 1t
js true that they stand every ready
to render assistance to all. they ask
n ANAL fee for their service, SO that
those who cannot AFFORD The entire
time Of a private nurse may obtain
their services.
These nurses are upon the same
plane of ethics a. are doctors. They
char9e q fee to those who can pay.
and when there is need for their
services and no money to pay for IT.
they 70 for nothing.
There are thousands Of people who
are not able to pay the usual Zee OF
private nurses. although the need OF
the service may be just a. great.
ana vet they properly do not wish to
accept the services Of . charity
This service Is the ''bstwixt-and-
between" The nursing cannot Be
surpassed, yet these women charge
ouly from Is to 50 cents q visit. and
their efforts are mainly directed to-
ward showing the people clearly
what measures are necessary for the
GOOD of the patient, what precautions
10 take and what to do. In this way
thew disseminate their hard-earned
knowledge, and are really In a posi-
tion to do a larger amount Of good
than a private nurse, for there are
frequently many places to visit each
day.
for these nurses. the records being
sent through their local committees to
fhe superfntendent Of their corps.
These records show frequently that
fine nurses make several hundred
calls a month. The cards. besides
showing their work, provide valuable
data for public health records. The
Red Cross provides inspection OF their
work without any extra charge to the
local communities, 80 that each COM
munity and each nurse feels herself In
touch with the great national organi-
zadon
In many cases the town authorities
appropriate money to aid In the
maintenance Of this nursing service,
and the nurses are used In connection
With the school inspection, in addition
to their other work.
They understand the requirements
of anti-tuberculOsiS work ana paoy