The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-17
RED CROSS WILL SHIP DIRECT NO SOLDIERS GOODS Bridgeport Chapter An nounces Change in Deliv-
 cry of Articles to Men. CLEARING HOUSE
 FOR DISTRIBUTION Men Who Join From Bridge port, However, Can Get
 Outfits Here.

NO more sweaters, knitted good or other supplies intended for individual soldiers or saiolrs will be shipped di- rectly from Bridgeport chapter, Amer ican Red Cross, to distant camps or cantonments, it was announced today Following the receipt of an order from division headquarters.
 Hereafter Bridgeport chapter will handle it's supplies as follows:
 l. Outfits for soldiers or sailors en- listing from this city Cor joining the natioal army through the draft) to be handed personally to each applicant, at Red Cross Workrooms in the Sea side Institute.
 2. Supplies in bulk for soldiers and sailors to be shipped to the headquar- ters of the Atlantic Division in New York. Division headquarters in turn will see that all army and navy sta tions and cantonments in the division are properly supplied.
 '"This action is made imperatively necessary by orders from Red Cross headquarters" said Chairman Walter B. Lashar in explaining the new plan today.
 Heretofore every Red Cross chap ter, including the course our own chapter in Bridgeport, has been ship, ping knitted goods, comfort kits and other supplies to individuals in army camps or cantonments all over the nation. Somebody would have a friend or relative say, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, who had enlisted from Bridgeport. A request would be made that a sweater or some supplies be sent there. They would be sent by Bridgeport chapter. Meantime, sini- lar supplies for the same person might be sent by a dozen different other and might be furnished through Red Cross channels as well. There would be endless duplication, unnecessary packing and much waste of postage.
 'sUnder the new plan, each Red Cross division is made responsible for the well-being of the soldiers and sail otSi within it's territory and the Red Cross chapters will send their supplies to the division, instead of to the can tonments The division will then act as a clearing house and see that sup plies are furnished promptly, prop erIv and without waste or duplLca- tion.
 Meantime. of course, all the men vho join from Bridgeport will be sup piled with the individual outfits as before, by calling for them at the Red Cross workrooms. The new rul- inc. which comes to us from National headuuarters, means that the Red Cross things cannot be shipped out to distant points from chapters 10 lh- dividuals but must be hdhdle1 through the proper channels.
 "Bridgeport chapter has alreauy furnished, to individuals leaving the city for service, and to varlous army and navy camps and stations neafly
 50 00O pieces of knitted goods. ana countless thousands of bandages and surgical supplies"
 The following letter from G. E.
 Scott, director of Division Organl2a- tion. to Ethan Allen, director of the Atlantic Division, explains the need for the new plan and the necessity of keeping up the supply of Red Cross sweaters and other knitted goods.
 My Dear MT. Allen.
 This is to supplement the following telegram which I have sent to all division managers, to wit:
 ssManv chapters are making ship ments of knitted goods to camps at distant points. Please discourage this and urge use of such goods for nearby camps in accordance with lnstruc- tions from division headquarters. Dl- rect shipments from chapters have led to much duplication and contu- sion. We are distributing from na- tionaI headquarters tens of thousands | of sweaters where most needed but calls are bound to continue for some time as demand still exceeds supply by several hundred thousand" As a result of the decision of the ar Department not to include sweat CTS in the equipment furnished to sol
 diers. the Red Cross was unexpectedly 1 called upon to outfit the army with
 sweaters.
 The Red Cross has responded to the | call of the men and has undertaken this task. which involves over a mill lion sweaters.
 ] | knit as many sweaters as possible, and as fast as possible, and lrge or ders have been placed for the pur- | chase of sweaters. which are being turned out as rapidly as the manu- l lecturers can produce them. inc ! work of production will be stimulated
 by every possible means until the de- mand is met. Up to date, over 5OO,- | GOO sweaters have been distributed from headquarters, but as long as there are men who have not been out i fitted the demand will continue, and | letters will be received from the off l cers and men in the camps asking Tor | them.
 It has been determined that all
 sweaters produced in each of the Red i Cross divisions shall be distributed
 by division headquarters to take care
 of the needs of the camps in the dl- vision The purchased sweaters are
 being shipped in response to re- quests from the different divisions to the camps which need them most, and approximately 10000 sweaters have
 been shipped to every camp by head
 quarters, with the exception of four camps in the east, which are beins
 taken care of by local manufacturers
 Manufacturers are delivering sweat
 CTS at the rate of over 11,00O per day l The field directors are issuing the