Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1918-05-24
SP0KEF0R RED CROSS


oSSVAAA
count OF poor train connections at some
point in the southern part Of the state,
uaable to be here and Lieutenant Ber-
ger, on the staff Of tho Adjutant Gen
eral of the state, was sent to speak in
: his stead.
: America was sung by the audience at
. the opening of the meeting. s-"
In introducing the speaker, j.. K. Mar
tin gave an. explanation of the Red
Cross as an organization and the work
which it is doing. He also gave short
synopsis Of the work being done, in Nor
. rison county. -
: In opening his address Lieutenant
Berger expressed his admiration Of the
Red Cross parade, saying it was the best
he had seen for some time. MI. Bergen
has son in France and he said that
from letters he has received from him
he is of the opinion that the war will
last at least two more years. The
French think that the Americans are
wonderful from the work they have ac-
complished in France. The American
engineers have constructed and made
seaports out of towns where ships can
discharge supplies. They have built
large warehouses where these supplies
are stored and they have built towns,
real modern American towns in which
to live while in France.
Lieutenant Bergen spent some time at
Camp Lewis, WASH, the camp where our
draft quota goes tomorrow, and he said
that it is the most beautiful of all can
tOnments.
He explained the good work the Red
Cross does for a soldier from the time
he leaves his home until he gets to the
front line trenches. The Red Cross
even helps the soldiers if they are taken
prisoners by the Germans. And the
greatest service of all is rendered to a
soldier if he is wounded or taken sick.
As a summing up Of the work of the
Red Cross Lieutenant Bergen impressed
upon the peoples minds that the
Red Cross is constructive, war destruc-
tive, therefore we should give until it
hurts so as to help counteract the de-
structiveness of war.
The lieutenant read excerpts from a
pamphlet written by an old German cap
italist who escaped from Germany to
the Netherlands, as he knew the war
was coming. AS he was a peace loving
old German he wanted to live in neu-
tral country. He said in this pamphlet
that the kaiser offered him great tracts
of land in Austria, India and even in
the United States in exchange for a
loan Of money. l.'his set him to think
ing, as he knew that Germany had no
possessions in any Of these countries.
The only solution he could make of it
was war. so when war broke out in
hn IN hn Nofh lc
He also said that Germany urged Aus
tria to attack lServia, which she did in
1914. When Russia attempted to de-
fend Servia, Austria declared war on
Russia. This was the kaiser's chance.
He was under an alliance with Austria
and when he saw Austria in trouble
stepped into the trouble and took things
into his own hands. England and France
were soon in the war and although they
were bitterly oppressed at first, are
holding their own now. He also said
that Germany had money in American
banks to be used by agents in the Unit
ed States to destroy war material man
ufacturing plants. He also laid the
Mexican troubles to the Germans.
= Lieutenant Bergen, who is organic
ing Home Guard units throughout the
state, said in closing his address, that
he would be very glad to come to this
city and help in the organization Of q
units g. -~
Bastien's band played q few good
numbers before the speech and furnish
ed the accompaniment for the songs
that were sung. The meeting was clos
ed by the singing Of the Star Spangled
Banner.