The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-10-24
THE RED CROSS WORK.
"hat Miss ilOardman Has Done TO
Relieve Suffering Humanity.

Ana If war should come, there is
little lady who will play n part in if
us important as that Of the command
ing general The speaker. q member
OF the general staff of the army. and
HIS companion, Il newspaper CORE
Spondcnt, were standing in front of
'hc state, war ana navy building.
iheE mad just salutcd a modishly at
'lrcd woman who, with a pleasant
smile. was hurrying past them into
the building. In the literal sense Of
'he word, she is not little" He had
used the term in aifectionate admira-
tlon. She is tall and slender. Her
eyes, large and keen gray, are set
widely apart in the brow of an intel
lectual--a dreamer.
Rich, her own mistress, this wo.
man yet chooses to 30 to an office at
y O'Clock every day in the year. ex-
cept during the oppressively hot pc
riOd.
What salary does she recei, o :?
None.
Why does she do it? For the love
If service.
This is Mabel Thorp Boardman.
member of the central committee of
the American National Red Cross
chairman of the American National
Red Cross and Of the Red Cross Ma
tional Relief Board.
Upon the occasion of her beino dec-
GRATED in 1909 by the King Of Italy for
the notable service she rendered in
alleViaticn of the suffering of the
Mess ma earthquake victims, she was
asked why she chose to work as she
does. In the words of Abou Ben
Adhem she answered: "Write mo
down as one who loves his fellow
men,"
And so not only Italy has written
her down, but Japan and Sweden and
the American Institute of Social
Sciences.
1t was Miss Boardman who in
duced former President Taft to or
Sanize the American National Red
Cross and procure its incorporation by
Congress. During the eight years
that have passed since that time the
n fl,n
for her 'use in the state, war and navy
building have collected and disbursed
in the interests Of humanity s7.510.-
III.
And is Mabel Boardman efficient?
She is. She believes that money con-
tributed for the alienation of specific
should be expended for that
specific purpose and no other. She in
sists and sees to it that no more than
two per cent. is spent on administra-
ton.
But to illustrate this efficiency: One
half hour after the reports of the dis
lstrous Ohio floods of 1913 had been
received in Washington, Miss Board |
man was bound on special train to !
the devastated district. She covered
The flooded area personally, and with |
in tWenty-four hours had the Red
Cross organization working in the !
field. 1t was her reports that guided
the war department in it's relief activi- |
ties. Her first word to Washington
was that the loss of life was greatly
overestimated. She assessed il at ap-
five hundred, and this in
the face of newspaper and other esti- |
mates running into the thousands. She |
was right.
When at next Christmas time you
buy q Red Cross stamp to afliX to
Your gifts and letters, you will be
furthering the realization Of one OF
Mabel BOardman'S biggest dreams =
the Obliteration of tuberculosis. That
little red stamp is her idea. 1t has
brought more than 100000 to the
national battle against the white
plague and is certain to contributc
much more in years to come.