New-York tribune., 1916-02-26
THE RED CROSS.

Under TIE RED CROSS FLAG AT HOME AND
ABROAD Hy Mabel r BoSrdmsn. Chai,nan
National Relief Roard. American RED Cross WIN
furcwort hy Woodrow Wilson. President y
lusirsied Syo. 10. SS2 Phnadelphis The }.
Il. Lippinco,i COMPANY
LETTERS FROM A FIELD HOSPITAL. By Mabel
peArmer With a Memoir .. the Autho, oy
stephen Gvynn. Emo. ID. ls2. The Macmillan
Company.
From the destruction Of life TO its
preservation--it is a welcome change
And with il comes the change from the
courage Of carnage TO the self-sacrihe-
ing courage Of loving service. Mrs.
Boardmsn's history OF the Red Cross
is already passing through its second
edition, sufficient evidence Of the pop
ular reception which II so fully de-
serves. Still. even now. II will not be
amiss 10 point out briefly its value. IL
is. first of all, the only complete his
tory Of the international Red Cross 10
appear in English; and, IN the seconG
place. the first history of the American
Red Cross. Furthermore, the book
gives q brief but most interesting sur.
vey Of the development Of the care OF
the wounded and sick in war since the
davs of Alexander the Great and the
Roman legions; and. finally, II gives
tho reader a clear idea OF the wide
scope OF Red Cross work in peace as
well as in war. OF the organization :
instant readiness at any time TO go 70
the front. whether Il be IN nine
disaster a calamity like the eruptions
in Martinique and az Messina. an cpl
Serjc of plague in China, the horrors
Of Cuban concentration camps, the san
Francisco catastrophe, or at the fronts
in this world war
There is the unceasing service OF the
American Red Cross in the battle
rs;1st disease in times of peace,
against the preventible loss Of life IN
;rdustrv; its campaigns Of hygienic
teaching among the poor-the reduc-
tion of the infant death rate. BOOK
81 service. this. but also book OF
scientific efficiency, of preparedness IN
q far wider sense than that expressed
in ammunition. battleships 9nd trained
fighting men alone.
No American, and there are many, 20
whom even to-day the words Red Cross
mean only the intermittent nursing OF
The wounded in war, con afford TO leave
Snread this record of achievement anu
aspiration. II will tell him that ne
too. can serve, must serve Tor the
honor as we'll as the greater weiare
of the nation. Mrs. Boardman draws
some pointed comparisons, not 10 our
credit:
With its proud history Of its
noble deeds in the past. with its
great purpose and its efficient or
eanization. what Of the future OF
our American Red Cross? As yet
this national organization Of ours,
which belongs 20 the country and
the peor In its infancy. Lusty
and VIC it g true, but lack
inq still l.e size and development
II must attain before it is worthy
representative Of the United States
of America. 1t has 22,OOO men,
bers. Eighteen hundred thousand
men, women and children Of japan
constitute the membership or the
Japanese Red Cross. Hundreds OF
thousands manifest their love OF
country in other lands by adhesion
TO the ranks of their national or
ganization. Our American Red
Cross has less than S1,00OOO0 en-
dowment fund. The permanent en-
dowment Of the japanese Red
Cross is nearly S13,00O00O The
Russian society, before the present
war. had a reserve capital of Sl9,-
5000, and the funds Of several
other European associations are
far greater than those OF our own.
In a country of such wealth, Of
such patriotism and humanity as
this, the American people cannot