Omaha daily bee., 1917-11-08
Red Cross Yarns
BIZ Freag,c j. Hasktn

By FTeaerlc j. HdSkln
Washington, Nov 6-Who is telling tales
about the Red Cross? Who is responsible for
starting the half dozen stock fables ahoat all over
the country, whose sole object is to convey some
| damaging insinuation about the Red Cross or
ganization? Is he pro-German pachst, a
malicious practical joker? Or are the stories
started by hidden but extensive organization OF
| some sort? Nobody knows The stories are in
! circulation though, and they present curious
! problem.
There is no truth in any Of them. They are
all designed to hamper and bring into disrepute
the Red Cross knitting campaign, which is a
movement deserving all the support any American
| can give It, A knitting campaign is rather a
curious object for any hostile power to select as
| the object of underhand attack. The stories
themselves equally curious, in their mingling
of able and artistic lying with absurd details that
stamp them instantly as not only false, but i'm
possible, to one who has any knowledge of the
Red Cross work.
A typical tale, and one OF the most widely cir
culated, might be entitled "A Pair of Socks for
Sammy, or How the Lumberman Got Stung."
According to this tale, young lady has knitted
a beautiful pair of socks for soldier, and en-
trusted them to the RedCross for delivery to any
lad in khaki. Moreover, the young lady being
OF romantic temperament, has put note with her
name and address in the toe of one of the socks
A Jew weeks later she always gets an answering
note from man in a lumber camp. The answer
assures her that the socks are fine job and the
lumberman appreciates them 1t closes by say
ing. They are the best socks ever bought for
$3.50 in my life"
From this tale an Intelligent public is sup
posed to deduce that the Red Cross is taking the
socks young ladies knit for soldiers and selling
them for $3.50 a pair The most striking fact
about the yarn, and all its brethren, is that it
crops up in exactly Nhe same form in every sec
ton of the country. The national headquarters of
the Red Cross have received literally thousands
of letters, each reporting that this tale is abroad
east and west, north and south, with hardly de-
tail changed. The lumberman who was mulcted
of $3.50 sometimes works in Maine, sometimes
he works in Louisiana Or Michigan or Colorado
or Washington. But the rest of the tale doesn't
vary. This in itself is enough to throw it out of
court with those who can weigh evidence. 1t
bears a family resemblance to the thousands of
identical kilograms that flooded congress when
the question of declaring war was pending But
who started it!
Another tale is that of the devoted mother
who knitted sweater for her soldier boy. She
gave it to Red Cross chapter to forward but
her boy never got it. She went to the chapter
again to report. and the Ady in charge told her
the sweater had been sent. But the keen-eyed
mother in question noticed that the lady was
wearing sweater herself. A second glance, and
she recognized the sweater as the she had
made for her son. THAT is my sons sweater"
she accuses, and to. prove it to you, will show
you the $40 bill that | sewed in the collar"
Which she triumphantly does
There are several holes in this tale. The
largest one is the fact that no Red Cross sweater
has collar. They aren't made that way. An
other is, that the policy of the Red Cross is not
to accept gifts for individual soldiers but to re-
serve the right to give them where they will do
the most good. Anyone who wants to send a
lSa n
has only to address the package, afix postage
stamp and make use of the well-known parcels
post.
And yet this $l0-bill-in- -the-collar story is 60
ing up and down in the land, and thousands of
women are hearing that it happened to friend
of friend Of friend Of theirs. and are writing
to the Red Cross about it. 1t does not encourage
the knitting campaign. Who started it?
There are five or six of these tales, and they
are always whispered so much alike that the Red
Cross officials know them all by heart. The other
day Washington man heard one of them and
feeling that he had uncovered something mpor-
tant he fastened to national headquarters to tell
an officer of the Red Cross. When he had gotten
about 10 words out the officer interrupted. Let
me tell you the rest OF it." said the officer. And
he did.
Whoever evolved the stories seems to have
been fascinated by the idea of sewing up cash in
hidden places. Did you ever as Schehezerade
said to the Sultan, hear the tale OF the Red Cross
packer and the enchanted pajamas? The packer
in question was boxing lot of contributed pa
jamas for Red Cross hospital in France, when
he felt something hard in one of the seams. He
investigated, and 10! it was $40 gold piece that
some kind soul had thus secreted for wounded
soldier. What followed? Why, the word went
abroad among the packers and since then they
rip up all the seams in all the pajamas before
they pack them, looking for more gold pieces, and
hence it is use making pajamas for the Red
Cross. Whoever conceived this tale may have
been German agent, but he had literary ability.
Another common tale is that American SOL
diers in France have to pay heavy import duties
on the things the Red Cross sends them This
is such a gratuitous slander of friendly power
that it deserves to be nailed seriously and nailed
hard. France has suspended all import duties on
gifts to American soldiers, even the duties on to-
bacco and playing cards. both of which are stiffiy
protected government monopolies and among the
principal sources of the national revenue.
The Red Cross has never beek able to trace a
single one of these stories to its origin. Though
there are only few of them, they crop up thou
sands of times; yet they are always things that
"a friend of mine heard" or someone l know
knows woman who" and so forth.