Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1917-12-14


is it's sole object, and it has never withheld
it's hand when there anguish to be
soothed But in this there is another object to
be attained-call it selfish If you will. In backing
up France and making her people stronger to en-
dure the Red Cross is saving the lives of Ameri.
can soldiers This was admirably expressed in the
great Chicago Red Cross conference by Henry r
DAWSON chairman of the Red Cross war council.
"You may ask how all this work among the
French people is of any help to our boys-how it
is saving their lives" said Mr.. Dawson. I'll tell
you: We ask General Pershing what he wants,
and he says, I don't want anything, for our boys,
but for Gods sake buck up the French. Give them
courage Hearten them They have been fighting
for three years, and If you want to do anything
for me and our boys make the people understand
that we are here and are going to take our places
in the line as soon as we can get ready
Then Mr. Dawson went on to show the strain
under which the French have lived Tor more than
three years, with the German terror holding much
Of their land and hammerng night and day at
their lines to break through and take Paris.
"And if that French line should break he said,
"you know what that means. There's nobody but
those boys of Pershings to stop the Germans,
and ready or not, they'll have to fill the gap II
we can help the French line to hold, our
own boys until they are all ready to take their
part"
Mr.. Dawson pictured the weary French soldier
coming out of the trenches for ten-day rest. He
is tired half to DEATH covered with dirt and vern,
his clothing worn. Does he go home? He has no
home, perhaps. Els wife and children swept
away before the German tide. His home is gone.
He says II can live in hell in the trenches, but
don't see why my family should be in hell too
But now the American Red Cross is in France.
1t meets the soldier when he from the
trenches, takes him to a house prepared with your
money, and he is made comfortable. He is given
bath, his clothing is cleaned and sterilized, his
hair cut, his whiskers trimmed and he sleeps for
an hour-maybe ten hours
Then he is taken to his family if the Red Cross
has been able to find his family. He finds his
wife and babes, or his old mother, in house
shelter of some kind supplied and furnished by
the Red Cross.
When the days of his leave up, that soldier
goes back to the trenches new man. He knows
that America with her millions and millions
of fighting men, and her billions and billions of
money and the tender care of her Red Cross, are
behind him. And he goes back into the war with
determination, and says, $50 long as live, /
will fight
And long he holds that line, he is taking
the place Of some American boy who is not vet
trained to take the trenches. That line must be
made to hold for months yet, for General Pershing
has said that if he help it, his boys shall not
go into the hard fighting before February
When they do go in, then will come the real
test of the American Red Cross-then will be the
days Of harvest of which today is the day Of SOW
ing. For when the wounded begin to stream from
the evacuation hospitals back to the bases, the
warehouses of bandages and pads and gauze and
splints and hospital garments and surgical sup
plies will melt away like mist before the sun. And
in that day, if the Red Cross have not member
ship of something near the desired 15,OOO,OOO,
trained to make and ship all these supplies in
great gathering stream, the American soldier
will be ashamed of the land for which he is fight
ing, and many will lose limb or life which could
have been saved
These are not the opinions of novice-they
are the convictions of men who are now at the
front in France and Belgium, and who see, every
day. the horrors of which it is the work OF
the Red Cross to mitigate. 1t is only a few weeks
since Maj. Grayson NJ. P. Murphy an officer OF
the regular army of wide experience and great
ability, now Red Cross commissioner for France,
cabled his convictions this subject. And what
he said was, in substance, that unless the Red
Cross Immediately sent vast supply Of all man.
ner of hospital supplies, the American army would
stand in danger of disaster and disgrace. lie
used those words-"disaster and disgrace.
Few who have not been through modern Taili-
tary hospital can conceive what enormous
amount of supplies it requires. French surgeons
report that it often requires entire box OF 1OOO
gauze dressings for single patient. There has
been such scarcity of dressings in France that
they have been driven to use these dressings over
and over, trying to boil and clean and sterilize
them as well they can, instead OF throwing
them away and putting on fresh
There has, at times been such dearth that
wounded soldiers have had their bleeding wounds
stanched with old newspapers, with the result that
they have always been infected, and gangrene and
lockiaw have claimed many poor fellow who
could have been saved.
Terrible as it is to think Of they have at times
been driven to operate in France without chloro-
form or ether-none was to be had.
These, nc doubt, are the things which Major
Murphy had in mind when he said that disaster
and disgrace awaited America less the supply OF
surgical necessities is FASTENED.
Even if the lads who about TO go into the