The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-11-22
More About Sweaters

well covered by the following from
the st. Petersburg Independent:
More About Sweaters
Members of the local Red Cross
chapter who have labored hard all
summer and fall to make sweaters
for the soldiers and sailors, were
righteously indignant that Secretary
Baker and Secretary Daniels should
say that the work they have been do
ing is not necessary. The ladies have
given their time and energy ana
money to the cause and they resented
criticism There has been in the
country considerable debate over the
sweater question and to determine
whether or not the energies of the
women are being used in the wrong
direction, the New York Tribune sent
one of its staff reporters to Washing
ton to talk with Secretary Baker and
Secretary Daniels. The interviews
published in the Independent yester-
day were given to the Tribune re-
porter 1t is not at all probable that
the officials We're misquoted. The in
terviews appeared last Thursday.
Since. then, in the Official Bulletin of
Saturday, Secretary Baker has this
statement:
can apparent misunderstanding
has arisen in some quarters regard
ing the attitude of the war depart
ment toward the knitting of sweaters
and comforts for our soldiers. The
department has in no sense discour-
aged the furnishing of such gar
ments through the American Red
Cross and is appreciative of the spirit
which prompts American women in
their knitting for the troops. It is
true that sweater is not included in
the regular equipment of the army
and it is not regarded as an abso-
lutely essential garment. However,
knitted sweater is garment of
great serviceability and constitutes a
welcome addition to a soldiers equip
ment, particularly when the soldier
is on duty in the rigorous climate of
France. While the department itself
has not officially called upon any or
ganization to supply sweaters, GER
tain divisions of the army have made
such acquisitions and have been
gratifed that the supply was avail
able. The work of American women
who desire to add this comfortable
article to the clothing supplied the
soldier by the war department is
worthy of encouragement"
This statement was intended to
tone down the statement given to the
| Tribune, but in the main it is about
what the secretary said in the Tri-
bune. He is rather backing up in his
second statement, realizing that he
would stir up lot of trouble by his
first statement.
Coming on top of Secretary Dam
iels' and Secretary Bakers state
ments came an urgent appeal to the
women of the country for more knit
ted sweaters, socks and wristlets for
the soldiers and sailors. This was
issued by the Red Cross War Council
in statement disclosing that the
Red Cross has been obliged to buy
half a million machine-made sweat
ers to meet immediate demands.
at is imperative that all of the
| sweaters, wristlets and socks that
can possibly be made by the women
of the country should be turned in to
the supply department at the earliest
possible date. With the cold weather
coming on, the demand for sweaters,
especially, has been beyond the ca
pacity of all our resources to supply.
The requests of our organization in
France for sweaters and knitted
goods have had to remain unsatisied
on account of our inability to secure
enough for men in our own army and
navy. We call upon the women to
give up their very best effort from
now until at least January 1, that we
may be able to furnish our men with
these comforts and have some to
| spare for the dire needs in France"
The women of st. Petersburg pro-
pose to keep on knitting and feel tina,
their work is appreciated by the sol.
diers and is we'll worth while Anc
it is worthy of special notice that the
knitting is not in place of any other
work, but is in addition to the regu.
lar Red Cross work in hospitals
eve are frozen out on the oper
pier and in the open boats, especially
at night, and a boy win steal 6
sweater rather than gold watch"
! This is the kind of letters received
constantly by the comforts commit
tee of the Navy League, and which
convinces the women who are knit.
ting for the sailors that their labo,
is not wasted
4 Said Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee
chairman of the comforts committee
"Stop knitting? Certainly not. We
are going to keep right on, and We
are working harder than ever, now
that winter is so close at hand"
To Offset the secretary's statement
women all over the city were indig
nantly producing letters from CRATE
| full soldiers and sailors in which they
described the discomforts of life II
the open and the joys of the sweater.
i 1t seems to the Star that the ques
ton of who is responsible for the
noisy engine at tho CITY n1anf Sha11Ir