The Elk Mountain pilot., 1917-12-13


Its hand when there was anguish to be
soothed But in this there is another object to
he 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 1t
is saving their lives" said Mr.. Dawson. "Ill tell
you: We ask General Pershing what he wants,
and he says L 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 and our boys, make the people understand
that nre here. and are going to take our places
In the line soon as we can get ready"
Then Mr. Dawson went on to show the strain
under which the French have lived FOR more than
three years, with the German terror holding much
of their land and hammering night and day at
their lines to break through and take Paris
"And II that French line should break" he said.
"you know what that means. There's nobody but
those boys of Pershing's to stop the Germans.
and, ready not, they'll have to fill the gap If
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 a ten-day rest. He
is tired half to death. covered with dirt and vermn
his clothing Does he go home? He has no
home. perhaps. His wife and children were swept
away before the German tide. His home is gone
He says, II can live In hell In the trenches. but
don't why my family should be In hell too"
But now the American Red Cross is in France
1t meets the soldier when he comes from the
trenches takes him to house prepared with your
money, and he is made comfortable He is given
bath, his clothing is cleaned and sterzed. his
hair cut, his whiskers trimmed. and he sleeps for
hOur-maybe ten hours.
Then he is taken to his family. II the Red Cross
has been able to find his family He finds his
wife and babes. his old mother, in house
shelter of some kind supplied and furnished by
the Red Cross.
goes back to the trenches man. He knows
now that Amercn. 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 with a
new determination. and says. $50 long as live.
will fight"
And so long as 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 can 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 VIII ne the
days OF harvest of which today is the day or SOW
ing. For when the wounded begin to stream from
the evacuation hospitals back to the bases, the
warehouses of bnndages and pads and gauze ana
spnts and hospital garments and surgical sup
plies will melt away like mist before the sum- And
in that day If the Red Cross have not a member
ship of something near the desired 15.OOOOOO'
trained to make and ship all these supplies In n
great never-faltering stream the American soldier
will be ashamed of the land for which he is fight
ing and many will lose limb life which could
have been saved.
These are not the opinions of novice-they
are the convictions of men who are now Mt the
front in France and Belgium, and who see, every
day the horrors Of which 1t is the work OF
the Red Cross to mitigate 1t is only few weeks
since Maj. Grayson NJ P. Murphy an officer Of
the regular army of wide experience and great
ability, 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. He
used those words-"disaster and disgrace"
Few who have not been through modern mill
tnry hospital conceive what an enormous
amount of supplies 1t requires French surgeons
report that it often requires an entire box of 1,OO
gauze dressings for n 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 ones.
There has. at times, been such dearth that
wounded soldiers have had their bleeding wounds
sanched with old newspapers. with the result that
they have always been infected and gangrene and
iockjaw have claimed many poor fellow VINO
could have been saved
Terrible as it is think Of they have at times
hecn drivc; TO operate in France without chloro-
form ether-none was to he had.
These. 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 hastened.
Even If the lads who about to go into the