The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-01

l TN a little pamphlet book entitled | This Side of the Trenches With the
 S American Red Cross" in the second
 chapter there is an exposition of the req
 son and mission- of the Home Service
 Department which is we'll worth perus-
 Ing:
 Read this carefully Nand you will un-
 derstand perfectly the object of the
 Home Service Department" which is
 one of the most important and effective
 branches of the splendid humanitarian
 work done by this great organization. Thus the writer says.
 Every soldier and sailor would like | to leave four things with his family 1 when he enters the service of the coun- | try.
 1 The first of these four things is mor- | aie, the very same grit and cheerfulness ] which the man himself needs when he is | at the front on shipboard, the pluck,
 the courage, the ability to do for oneself,
 the initiative, the self-relanee that peo- pie have in mind when they say that this or that person. this or that family is
 made of the right stuff.
 Morale is a spiritual quality It is not th1ng to be given in moment and at | will to the folks at home, either by the | man himself or by anybody else. It comes down through the generations, is 1 born with the souls of those who have 1t, and is then nouriShed and strength
 ened by wholesome family life It ex- ists in nearly every body, in some in such small degree as scarcely to be recogniz- able; in others in such abundance that no crisis seems to be great enough to daunt them.
 The morale of an individual or
 household can be strengthened and pro- tected just as> the morale of the army and navy is safeguarded by the home service of the Red Cross. Whatever as- sociation the Red Cross has with fami- lies is influenced by the desire to foster this spirit in them.
 "The three other things which the sol- dier or the sailor would like to leave with his family-and which many men are able to leave-are friends, credit and money. Friends in such number and variety that no matter in what perplex- ity the family may find itself there will be some one who can supply just the ! right sort of advice, friends in every profession and business, friends with | every kind of ability and skill, friends | with unlimited resources. Credit not merely at the grocery store orS with the l coal dealer, but credit as 1t has been de- | fined by a great financier, the credit of | character, of good name, of standing 1 in the neighborhood and in the town. Money enough to meet emergencies and l to assure the household that it will lack none of the necessities of life. The man | who confident of the morale of those at | home, can also leave with them such l friends, such credit, and money, can in deed go to camp with the assurance that
 his family Is prepared to meet whatever l fortune may bring. It is such friends, such credit, and money that the home service of the Red Cross aims to pro- vide.'
 It is perhaps little known throughout the Birmingham district just what splendid work the Birmingham home service department of the Red Cross has done and is doing.
 Although Home Service" is conduct ed almost entirely by volunteers, 1t re- qures a more especial training and
 preparation than other activities of the
 Red Cross, and it is well for Birming- ham to realize just here that the local home service department is very forum
 ate in having as an executive secretary