Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1918-04-23
HOME SERVICE
WORK LARGE
MANY DEMANDS ON LOCAL CIV
ILiAN RELIEF BUREAU, BY
SOLDIERS DEPENDENTS.

! The local field of the Civilian Re
lief work is large, and is becoming
| larger every day. As the number o,
;men in the service increases, so does
the Civilian Relief work. This branch
Of the Red Cross service. as time
i goes on, may prove to be the largest
part Of the Red Cross work. For the
one man in service there are several
dependents 1t home.
While it might be possible for the
government to supply the surgical
dressings and the comforts that the
Red Cross send to the soldiers, it
would be impossible to give the indi-
vidual attention, the personal touches
that keep up the morale of the SOL
diers families.
COMPENSATION, NOT CHARITY
The help given by the Home Ser
vice bureau of the Red Cross is in no
sense charity, and the recipients must
not feel that it is bestowed as char
ity. It is aid given to them as pa
triotic duty, as an additional compen.
sation or help to bridge the interval
until the allotment given by the gov
eminent arrives, as a help that a
family may need in the absence Of its
chief wage Garner, or OF one OF Its
! wage earners.
Already the Wapello county bureau
is giving fifteen weekly grants, of
various amounts to tide over families,
until the soldiers allowances or the
Many of these cases deal with de-
pendent parents, where the sons have
gone to the front. There are several
others where the father and husband
have enlisted Delay is unavoidable
In some cases, in the government
dealings with dependent families, and
the Home Service Bureau sees to 1t
that families need not suffer because
Of this delay 1t is not right that the
standard OF living Of family should
suffer because its wage Garner is
fighting for his country.
FREE LEGAL SERVICE
In connection with the bureau, a
legal department, q medical depart
mont and financial department,
have been organized to give free SER
vice to deserving families. Leading
lawyers, doctors and business men
compose these departments, and will
all gladly give their help.
the Home Bureau keeps directly in
touch with the War Risk agency. In
the case of casualties the bureau will
aid in making out the benefciaries
afhdavits, without charge.
( More than anything else the local
bureau hopes to establish itself as a
means Of, friendly help and comfort
to the families OF soldiers and sailors,
in order to give the additional COM
pensatiOn to which these families are
entitled.
MORE THAN 700 MEN
The bureau has been working to es-
tablish as complete a list as possible
Of the Wapello county men in any
branch Of the service. There are over
700 men on the list. In the checking
Of casualties this will be the most
authoritative list in the county.
The bureau hopes to maintain its
own once very soon. w. 8. Otis, coun-
ty chairman Of the Civilian Relief
department, now receives all callers
in his private ONCE. on the second
floor Of the Commercial club building.
The very nature Of this work makes
1t impossible to publish the most in
teresting details, as the help in all
cases is strictly confidential. II the
personal stories could be written /up
the work would be better understood.
and the intense need Of the services
of the bureau better appreciated.
NEED TRAINED WORKERS
The work Of the department is
by the lack Of trained
workers. The Civilian Relief 1nsti-
tute held here this winter was the
first of its kind in the west. Each
county in the state will soon hold
such an institute. Mrs. j. ]. Adams,
Of the Civilian Relief committee has
just returned from a four days insti-
tute at Iowa City. This was held for
the purpose of training speakers to
go to the counties. Director General
Persons Of the Civilian Relief, and J.
l.. Giilor of Chicago, director Of the