The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1918-03-27

Ine DOQleS ana mlnuS OF french and
American soldiers and their families
at home, me, through t,S it, established in
routes followed by the American
troops in France; through it's CAN
teens ct the Front, at railway juno
tions, and at Paris; through it's hos
.pital distributing service, supplying
3423 French military hospitals, and
its surgical dressings service which
supplies 1000; through an artificial
limb factory, and special plants fol
the manufacture Of splints and nj
trouss oxide gas; through it's casualty
service for gathering information il.
regard to wounded and missing;
through its children's refugee hospit,
els IN the War zcnc, it's medical center
and travelling dispcnsary to accommo,
date 1900 children in the reconoueret;
sections of France. $4,000 children
throughout France are being cared
Ter III some measure by the Red Cross.
When the war opened, there were
24,OOO physicians and surgeons in the
French Republic. $4,000 of them went
to war, and DO per cent of these 49,
goo have fallen in the last three and a
half years. There are communities IN
france of 25,00O population, without
a competent doctor TO meet this
emergency, Red Cross relief work
mas mas included the equipment OF
and in addition, there are now w
throughout the Republic probably
three hundred clinics and minor dis
pcnsaries operated by the Red Cross.
IN addition to this work, seven hos
pitfalls for children and tubcrcular pa-
ticnts are being conducted.
1t has included relief to the physi-
cal discards after they are returned
from conquered territory from Ger
many, through Switzerland. and
reaching France at Evian. Up tc
January 1, 1918, more than three hun.
dred thousand rcpatriatcs had passed
INTO France through this town near
the Swiss frontier, and the stream
continues unbroken, at the rate Of
more than thousand day. These
repatrlatcs, all helpless, many sick.
some dying from lack of necessary
medical attention, are cared for by
the Red Cross.
Red Cross relief has included ware.
houses and stores to serve as ccntcrs
for relief distribution in Belgium; re-
construction work i'm reconuuercd
territory; supplying rcpatriatcs will,
temporary dwellings,, tools, furniture.
farm animals end supplies essential
to giving them fresh start in life.
rms relief work includes an organ
lZed effort for the removal of Bclria,,
children from territory under bonn
bardment, for the establishment and
maintenance of them i'm colonies.
Ihis relief includes the supplying Of
surgical dressings to Italy; the open
ing OF relief headquarters in nine re-
glonaI districts of Italy; the establish.
ini; and extensive work among rcfu-
gees in all parts of Italy.
The relief work of the Red Cross
has extended to Roumania. Surely
the story of this little kingdom pre-
sents what is probably the saddcst
example of the tragedy that follows
IN the wake Of warfare. Three mil
lion of the eight million once pros.
porous inhabitants, are dcad-victims
of battle and disease. In Jassy, the
provisional capital, the Red Cross
Commission found civilians sick, and
wounded soldiers, dying in the
streets: There was no room for them
to die indoors.
tunatc ones, were lying three in &;
bed in the hospitals. The less fortu-
nate were piled one upon another on
the cold floors without proper cloth
ing or covering. There was no means
or dlslnfecting clothes or dcstrovinp
Vermln. An epidemic Of tyDhus had
already started
On the streets one found the So
called "convalescent" soldiers, dis
charged prcmaturely from the hos
pltals to make room for the constant
stream OF incoming patients, wander.
ing drearlly around, mere shadows
or men waiting for the relief of
death. With the civilian it was the
same story. Food and medicine were
at premium. Only the strong, those
who had surplus Of vita;itv' could
expect to survive.
:. IN the little village of Scltiu, in the
district of Putna, the Commission
found squa!id shack of wood ana
mud occupied by three children. Their
mother had succumbcd to typhus.
!hclr father was soldier at the
front. The eldest, a girl Of ten, was
acting as mother to boy Of four and
a little sister of seven. The boy was
lying helpless on a bag on the stone
floor, his face partly eaten away by a
malignant skin disease. The bones
stuck out all over his tiny body. The
glrl was little better off. There were
neither relatives, friends nor any gov.
eminent agency to give relief to.
lief TO these unfortunate babies.
1T was no easy thing to get relief
to Roumania. Transportation faciIi-
ties had broken down. IN Roumania
itSell money was practically worth
less, as no food or medical supplies
were left in the remnant Of the king
dom. Everything had to be brought
by way of Russia.
! What has the Red Cross done? De-