The Washington times., 1915-12-26
Life Of Clara Barton
Inspiration to America
Friend of Presidents and Crowned Heads, and Bcnc-
factress of the World-Biography of Her Notable
Addition to Literature of the Day.

which is solid and saxon" she wrotS,
There is no truth, no IiXedness of prr-
pose. nothing .reliablc. nothing sensible
In France. and it only disgri3ts one that
they have always claimed tho leader
snip Of the world and that so stupidity
u mas been conceded to them. ! do
nope the ierman bayonots have punch
cd hole IN that bubble large enough
to burst it,
Upon her return TO America Miss Par
ton worked zcalously for recognition Of
the Red Cross by the United states but
met rebuff after rebuff from White
House and Department of State Finally
she won over President Garfield
sna attcr "a bis assassination President
respect to il. On March IT,. 1882. the
Senate ratified the treaty Of Geneva
and for nearly a ptRrtcr Of century
thereafter she, gave her service. heart
and soul to the work OF the American
Red cross. She was made president OF
the organization-indeed. there was no
ether person in the country who under
stood its purposes so fully and sympa-
thized with them SO deeply as she. Il
would require years of labor to prove
to the Government and the country its
worth. in the beginning she maintoincd
the cost to her totaling $4,000 drrir@
her entire presidency
Miss Barton represented the United
states at the international Red Cross
Conference in Geneva in 1884. and caused
an amendment to the convention TO be
adopted which provided for humani-
tartan work in times of peace
On "Hyphenated Americans"
The next conference was held in Ger
many. There occurred an interview be-
tween the German Emperor and Miss
Barton, which is interesting at the mo-
ment because of present agitation over
'hyphenated America nism." When the
Emperor asked II Germans in the United
States made good citizens she replied:
THE best that could be desired; indus
trious honest and prosperous. and, sire.
they are still yours in heart true to the
Fatherland and its Emperor
Clara Barton was on n Red Cross mis-
sion to Havana when the Maine was
blown up. She returned to the States,
and her prepa arations made her ready on
tho field of battle to give first aid to the
wounded. An officer once approached
her with request for delicacies for sick
men in his regiment Can buy them
he asked.
Not for a million dollars" answered
Miss Barton.
But my men need these things" be
repeated anXiously. Il think a great
deal of my men: | am proud of them
And we know we are proud of YOU.
colonel but We cant sell hospital sup
plies"
Then. how can I get them
Just ask for them. colonel"
So Colonel Roosevelt just asked for
sack. and took them along with him.
Miss Barton was seventy-eight, but
worked like a woman of thirty in the
Cuban campaign. Once she refused the
.nlY available shelter for the night. a
postoffice room. feeling instinctivcly
that danger lurkcd within She
"crouched under the stars and dew all
night and the postmaster died ''in the
very cot she would have occupied"
Hundreds of thousands of people in
Europe. Asia. and America benefited
from the American Red Cross under
Miss Barton's direction. Tho list OF
fires, floods, famines, cpidemics. tidal
waves, earthquakes. and cyclones to
whose victims she carried aid is long.
Among her mercy missions was one to
Armenia. But at last the institution
became so great, its recognition by the
Government and the people so full. that
men began to think Of the time when
Miss Barton would he no moro, and all
resulted in the resignation Of Miss Bar
ton as president on June l6, 1901.
Opposed Big Armament.
The society was reorGanized by Con-
gress. doing awav with the centralized
authority about which the Red Cross
had in the past swung" In Europe it's
presidents were crowned heads. In
America thereafter its chief officer was
TO he the President of the United States.
Her work was complete. He only was
great enough to fill the place she
created. and for twenty-five years fill
ed ="
Clara Barton was a lifelong advocate
of equal political rights for women. II
believe ] must have been born believ-
ing in the fun right of woman to all
the privileges and positions which ma
ture and Justice accord TO her in com
mon with other human beings" she de-
clared
She was opposed to large armaments.
what OF the increasing flotilas Of
battleships and dreadnaughts?" she was
asked.
She replicd: Each one is a men
ace to the peace of tho world. With
each new hattlcship everv nation car
rics a chin on its shoulder. No! We've
done with war Let us struggle for
peace. Feace is the question now-no
longer war"
Miss Barton looked askance at Eng
have faith in the former and to have
Britain she wrote: Her style of neu-
trahty is something Wonderful. It's
aCts--Io: Are they not written in the
book of the heart OF every soldier who
fought in the armies Of Abraham"
She saw the difficulties of preserving
peace through arbitration. and refer
rcd to France as an argument. And
how much legislation" she asked,
would it have taken to convince the
world what p worthless bubble or as
sumption was France. so utterly un-
worthy the leadership she assumed and
to have laid her in all respects so
open before the world that it should
with one voice repudiate her leader
ship. and refuse to follow her as here
to fore in frivolitY. immortality folly.
fashion vice, and crime"
Altogether Mr.. Epler's volume OF 4GS
raGes is a notable contribution to the
literature OF the day No story or
America in the past century would he
complete without a life OF Clara Bar-
ton and this has been supplied in a most
admirable wav bV the author Her entire
career. from childhood till she dIcd
in her ninety-tirst years. is reviewed
sEmpathe tical!y, but not uncritically.
f. l., {.