New Britain herald., 1917-05-24
JOIN RED CROSS Is
 AGAIN THE SLOGAN

NuA6lV UAVHNAu6O VVAAAlAttVV l Members Advised to Affiliate In view of the coming campaign for Red Cross members in New Britain the local surgical dressing committee takes pleasure in again calling atten- ton to the following communication rom the Now England chairman of turgical dressings committees, Mrs. Frederick s. Mead: ~<a
 Tn the event of our country be- coming involved in war the Rcd Cross, is. as you know, the only relief or. ganixation authorized by our govern
 ment. In this present crisis the ser vices of the Surgical Dressings Gom- mittee were placed at the disposal of
 MT. Eliot Wadsworth, acting chair man of the Red Cross. I hope, more-
 over. that all members of the Surgical
 Dressings Committees will join the
 Red Cross individually and take part in the Red Cross activities. We be- Aeve that there will be no need to retain for use in this country the dressings made in the surgical dress ings branches at the present time, but should the United States really need surgical supplies on Q large scale, the women of the surgical dressings com mittee will, I am sure, be the first to place their supplies and their services
 at the disposal of the Red Cross for tho country's needs.
 Mrs. Clifford Brigham. one of our
 workers at the Peter Brent Brigham
 depot, who has recently gone to Paris
 to work with the Surgical Dressings
 Committee there, has written the fol-
 lowing letter to the New England
 section Of that committee:
 have been asked to write a few
 of my impressions in regard to the
 Paris section of the National Surgical
 Dressings committee. came from
 America in February with the pur-
 pose of working at their headquarters.
 had a most indefinite idea as to the
 kind of work expected of me. as I
 thought that this was only place
 where surgical dressings from America were received, unpacked, and reshipped to the hospitals in France.
 That is, in a way, the foundation of the organization. But from that has grown . very complete working unit, where every kind of surgical dressing and appliance is made. When de- mana comes for articles which we do not receive from America, or not in sufficient quantities, Mrs. Austin can not refuse to supply them, and 50 they must be made here, at once, whenever possible. The work is carried on in an unusually nice, new apartment house, lent for the purpose by Madame Coulon, the treasurer. The cellar is used for the cases which arrive from America. On the first floor is the bureau, where Mrs. Austin and the secretary Miss Goodwin. have their desks. large room out of this is used for many different kinds of work. The fivs packing and shipping rooms are also on this floor, the lln- gerie room, where old linen is sorted and repaired, when necessary, and a room with seven sewing machines busily at work. On the floor above are eight large rooms, where every kind of gauge compress. bandage, pad, sponge. wick and Carrel cushion. splint and chausson is made, and on this floor are also the ster1lizing
 rooms. Chaussons are large covers
 for the feet, made of some thick
 wooden material, or velours, and are
 sent to the front. The thing that the
 soldiers suffer from most is surgical
 shock and it Is absolutely esential that their feet should be kept warm. T9eir
 boots are taken of at once and their
 poor, worn-out socks If they have any
 left. and these warm coverings are
 put on. The French government has
 realized Mrs. Austin's executive
 ability and has asked her to supply
 the trains regularly with pillows for
 the wounded. These pillows go to the
 front. where they are of inestimable
 comfort to the soldiers. Five hundred
 pillows a week are promised. 260 for
 the trains and 250 for the stretchers.
 and two pillow cases for each pillow.
 The pillows are made at the Bastton,
 where the government has given the
 different relief organisations huts for
 their work. These huts are built in,
 and near the old ramparts of the city.
 A picturesque little canteen is run
 here for the convenience of the
 workers. wish you could zee us at our work. There are aeout 25O women, 50 of them paid workers. mostly refugees. the rest are volun- teers. All wear the long. white apron worn by the French nurses. but toned in front from head to foot, and the white veil, with small red cross in front. It would be such good plan if our workers in America could wear this uniform I think 1t has two advantages. It gives a neat. sani- tary appearance to the workrooms. 1 and in this way one loses ones in- dividuality and becomes more truly I a part of an efficient whole. Here each person provides her own apron and veil, which can be put in small l cotton or creton bags and hung on a 1 hook in the dressing rooms with g l number attached. The numbers are ] given out when the volunteer regis l ters her name. If were asked what