The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-10-15

~. and only after dozens of such re-
ports have been investigated and
found to have no foundation. As fast
as one report is denied effectively In
one community, ii springs up in an
other, and a second report is circulat-
ed in the first place. Letters are re-
ceived daily from towns in Mime
sofa, Montana, North Dakota and
South Dakota telling of this thing or
that thing that is hindering Red
Cross work. In every instance these
reports have been found to be malici-
Gus. Even the larger cities are not
free from this hysteria. Almost
anything, it would seem, derogatory
to the Red Cross, can sweep through
the district like wild-fire.
The report that articles donated to
the Red Cross are sold, sometimes to
soldiers and at other times to
civilians, in q most persistent one,
despite the denial of every person
connected with the Red Cross.
Typical Story Gifted.
A typical story that has been circu-
lated with great persistency in Min
nesota and North Dakota is that a
young woman who placed a card
bearing her name in a pair OF socks
that she had knitted later received a
letter from a lumberjack saying that
he had purchased the socks in a COM
pany store. No one ever knows the
name Of the young woman, nor the
name of the town, nor the lumber
jack. This story has been, investi-
gated dozens OF times. The Red Cross
has been forced to believe that it is
a malicious lie circulated for the pur-
pose of hindering Red Cross work.
Locally, the story has taken on
various forms. In one instance, a
woman in Moorhead is supposed to
have received a card from a Chicago
man, saying he had bought a pair Of
knitted socks in a Chicago 40 cent"
store. OF course, nobody knows the
name of the Moorhead woman.
Every day this story reappears
showing that IL is being kept alive by
some enemy Of the Red Cross. Just
recently a letter from a Minnesota
town said:
I'VE have organized a branch Of
the Todd county chapter in our little
town and have got nicely started in
work for the soldier boys, but have
good deal Of trouble getting help
from the ladies as they claim very
little of the work we do goes to the
soldiers, that they have known where
men in the lumber camps bought
WOODEN nose Oh lIle EkHu AT0SS sOCleLyy
also ranchers in Montana obtaining
stockings that had been knit for the
boys fighting for our country. The
way they know women and girls
have put their names and addresses
in stockings sent and these men have
answered them"
No Truth Found in Stories.
Every variant of this story reach
ing the Red Cross is being investi-
gated. In no case has the Red Cross
as yet found any truth in the stories.
Here is an excerpt from another
typical letter:
"a young lady came home from
Minneapolis and told that one-half
of the supplies sent in were thrown
aside and not sent. Now If hospital
supplies are needed as much as the
papers state they are, why is this
done?"
Another letter reads:
I'VE heard today that about one
half Of the supplies sent in by the
chapters have been discarded because
they are not exactly perfect. We do
not feel that we can ask anyone to
help in the sewing and knitting in
our branch II the work is thrown
aside as worthless. We can't afford
to spend our money that way"
Nothing is Discarded.
It can be stated with absolute GER
tainty that nothing is discarded by
the Red Cross, and nothing is thrown