Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-15
PURPLE CROSS"
PLANS GRIM WORK
Offers to Care for Bodies of
Those Who May Die
in Battle
Special Correspondence o, n. Eve~Ise LEDGER

WASHINGTON. Sept. IL.
ITNHE Committee on Military Affairs OF
Il the House of Representatives Is now
giving consideration to a bill which pro-
poses to have the War Department accept
the services of the American Purple Cross
Association, an organization recently IN
corporated in the District of Columbia
which offers to do for those who die on the
battlefield q service which in its humane
aspects may be likened to the service done
Tor the living by the American Red Cross.
1t is a phase Of the war question which
Is not often discussed because OF It's grue-
| some features, but hearings before the
House committee, in which prominent Phila-
delphians figured, have increased public In
terest in the proposal and aroused a con-
gressional sympathy which is unmistakable.
| Inc work of the Red Cross Is so well known
| tlat IL needs no elaboration here, but the
| Reu Cross idea, which took shape at the
| GcheVa convention of 1864 and was orig
| inaly for the amelioration of the condition
OF the wounded of the armies in the field
! was limited by subsequent convention
| that of i1906--so that protection of the
| dead" went so far only as TO include protec-
| tion against robbery or ill-treatment OF the
| BODY and the Identification of the property
| found upon the body. Its recovery for rela-
| tlvcs or fits preservation was not provided
| for.
| In other words tho commendabe work
| or the Red Cross ended with aid and COM
| fort TO the living soldier and the identih-
| cation Of his effects. After that II is up
| TO the Government by whom the soldier is
| employed 20 care for his body At this point
! the American Purple Cross Association pro-
! poses TO step in and volunteer its services
We will cmbalm and preserve the body"
| say the advocates OF this new movement,
| and with the consent Of the Government
| VIII undertake. n Ia 10
| tho relatives in recognizable condition for
decent burial at home"
In their testimony before the Committee
on Military Affairs, leading embalmers and
unuertakers of the United States, headed
by Professor H. S. Eckels DR.. J. H. Now
bray, General J. Lewis Good and ex-State
Senator James T. Nuty, of PHILADELPHIA
told so interesting story of what may be
termed the art of embalming" that the
committee extended It's session to hear IL
ALL
Coroner T.. F. White Of Chester. who
Is also president Of the Board of Trade of
that busy industrial city, made this clear
IN the opening address. lie said the I'M
dertakers and embalmers worked under a
great disadvantage in n popular or patri.
otic sense, because Of the very nature of
their business. which was always op.
pressed by the sorrow and bereavement OF
relatives. But the service, he said was
indispensable and should have its proper
recognition in war when shadows were
moro likely to darken the Individual homes
Of the land than in times of peace. The
coronerS statement was given special at
tentlon because OF his introduction to the
committee as "ono who had received
bodies from tho Philippines and who re.
Gently handled and embalmed by team.
work in three hours tho bodies of IOJ vic
Tins Of the Eddystone explosion" If such
quick and effective work could be done
Tor tho relatives of munition workers, it
was argued, why not apply it to soldiers
and sailors In foreign lands?
Civil War Anxieties Recalled
Relatives of Civil War veterans will re-
member the efforts made after great battles
had been fought on Southern battlefields
10 recover the remains of the soldier dead
concerning whom the official reports were
inadequate. Expeditions were sent forth,
based upon clues dropped by surviving
comrades as to the probable whereab bouts
OF some hero who had gone to an unmarked
grave, and they occasioned much sorrow
ana expense. Sometimes the inability to
locate or 10 recognize the rcmains even
IL found, involved legislation and affected
the settlement Of estates but over and
above all was the lingering desire of
parents relatives and friends TO recover
the body and bring it back home for decent
lnterment That was the H. man side of It,
ana That 1t was not always successfully
managed by the Government is indisputably
shown by the records and by the isolated
cemeteries where long and dismal rows
Of whitened headpeces mark the burial
places of heroes who did not live to tell
OF thelr NaIor' but who, in proof of it,
died unknown"
1t may be. and doubtless will be. that
the Red Cross will do everything that can
be done to alleviate tho hardshps and to |
relieve the pain and agony of our wounded
soldiers and sailors, but the Purple Cross
points TO the sad story OF the unknown
dead" of the Civil War and TO the nm |
recognizable dead Of the Spanish-Amercan |
War, and even of Vera Cruz, as evidence
that the work OF humanity in war should |
not stop until the preseryative art of the |
embalmors and undertaliers Is encouraged |
and accepted. And they argue that the |
need for their services is greater now than
it was In preceding wars because our sturdy |
American boys are being sent into foreign |
lands where the unsympa thetic work of |
armies in action may take small account |
of those who fall Wars stern necessities |
so far away from home, they say, may !
compel the Government to overlook those |
humane considerations which the volunteers |
of the Purple Cross movement have I'm |
mind and which they offer TO perform in |
foreign lands without expense to the Fed |
eral Government
Attitude Of. the War Department
AS most ptTSOHS are SLOW 10 talk about |
the disposition Of their estates or to dis |
cuss burial lots, SO tho army and navy |
officials are reluctant TO discuss this most
important matter of the disposition of the |
dead who fall in battle In the hearings
before the Military Affairs Committee IL |
developed that the Purple Cross moyemen, |
had been before the War Department and i
that tho Secretary of War had paid hign !
tribute to those who desired TO volunteer |
their services.
But it was evidently the War Department, |
view that "a Graves Registration Service. |
made up of officers and men Of the regular |
army, would meet all tho requirements that |
humanity tfemanded 1t was exnIainaa |