The Dolores star., 1917-12-14

Wy ~ million members! That means TO-
100000 new members, and the Red
I'D Cross has set out to get them before
~ the sets Christmas day.
They are to be known as Christmas members
these 100000 new ones. and It Is In the Christ
mas spirit that they are to be recruted-the spirit
OF unselfishness. Of caring for the afflicted. Of
alleviatlng suffering.
While It is getting these new members. the
0OOOOOO who now wenr the Red Cross emblem
are giving all the Christmas cheer they can to the
boys In khaki They need II. Tens Of thousands
OF them, and 1t may be hundreds of thousands, are
now In France with Pershlng, facing the terrible
Germans across the desolate waste Of No Mans
Land. Millions more are to go after them, and
other and still other millions until the foe which
Claims the world for Germany is willing to go
home and behave civilized nation
They will have CHEEKY Christmas this year.
Every man In France will have little packet
from "home." with the love and good wishes Of the
American people-and that lot to the
Young fellow who perhaps never before spent
Christmas away from his home folks. It will put
II ~''.r't into him for the task ahead. III
The men on this side, waiting in the training
camps for their turn to go across, will also have
as merry Christmas MS the Red Cross can pro-
vide. Christmas trees with gifts of some kind.
bearing world Of cheer and hope from the great
hsaFt q the Ainericah; people. will greet every
m4n In uniform, wherever he may be.
Thie christmas Wits Be, a. merry one for the
whole Of the army and navy The boys have
nQt Ueen long eWays1rOm nome, they nave nuO
almost none Of the hardshps Of war, and they
come TO the feast with light hearts
War has taken almost NO toll from them thus
far. Belgium and France Serbia and Roumanin
Great Britain and her colonies, Russia, and Italy,
have borne the brunt of frightfulness and our
Christmas for them.
Next year 1t will be different The pinch Of
privation will be felt in the land-voluntnry.-t TO
great extent, but 1t vii, be felt There will be less
a. nrAn r.uu o. A-xA rslN 20 kA RaA
and clothed who no longer produce. aud all the
nation will save all 1t can to give to those 'whe
are fighting. and to those defenseless ones on the
other side who have nothing
And there will be gaps In the ranks, and there
will be full hospitals. There is where the Red
Cross comes in-wherever there is disaster The
hospital buildings. the equipment the surgical sup
piles. the surgeons and nurses and orderlies. the
ambulances and the drivers and the stretcher
shoulders OF the Red Cross. twill carry It. be-
cause It has the backing of the American people !;
and In the meantime it must carry the load OF
the nations which have already suffered more
than three years Of frightfulness.
81 Here some Of the things the American Red
Cross Is right now doing In France: where 1t has
spent $10O0OO00. These extracts were taken from
a report by the Paris headquarters to Henry p.
Dayison.- chairman Of the Red Cross war council.
which raised a fund Of 800 100000 for Its work:
I'VE have just given $1,00OOO0 for needy sick
end wounded French soldiers and their families
"Our hospital distributing service sends supplies
to 8,428 French military hospitals, and is laying
In large stock for future needs
..Our surgical dressings service supplies 1000
French hospitals and is preparing immense sup
plies for our own armies
I'VE nretoperatng ut the front line. in co-opera-
ton with the French Red Cross, ten canteens,
and are preparing for 20 more; and Mt six cam
teens for French soldiers mt railway stations we
are serving about 10000 men a day.
Eve have opened children's refuge and hos
pital at a point where several hundred children
have been gathered to keep them from danger OF
sas and shell fire. At another point have
established medical center and travelling dis
pensary to accommodate 1900 children.
ave are making arrangements q large scale
to help refugee families through the winter with
clothing, beds. shelter and for this work the en-
lire devastated portion of France has been divided
f,tn SIX dtstricts with resident Red Cross dele
gAte IN each. Warehouses have been established
atfoHr points to which are shipped food. clothing,
beddIng BEDS household utensils and agricultural
implements.
I'VE have large central warehouse In Paris,
and distrfbution warehouses at important points
from the Swiss border to the sea. Two hundred
tons Of supplies are arriving in Paris daily. and
I25 tons are shipped to branch warehouses"
Il Efop other authorities word has come that the
0erInAns are driving back into France, through
Hwitseriaad, the rugged. SICK hungry and home
81 srrnce ut the rate OF 10000 a month. Held in
captivity for more than three years, they are
M: hrtrsn forth even from the ruins in which