The Washington herald., 1918-05-19
10000 PARADE
AS RED CROSS
DRIVE OPENS
Greatest Mother on Earth
Has Many District
Followers. ...
PARADES In u. S. 1000
Occasion Was Observed
Throughout Country;
Motor Professions.

Twenty thousand children Of the
greatest mother on eartn"-the Amer
lean Red Cross-yesterday marched
through the streets of Washington,
opening the local drive in the weeks
campaign Of the Red Cross fer its
second war fund OF 800, Coz. go.
Clad in white. with their badges of
service, thousands of women Red
Cross workers and additional hum
dreds of men engaged in alleviating
the sufferings of the war, led by the
Marine Band. marched down Six
teenth street from Scott Circle to La
fayette Park. east on H street to
Madison place, thence to Pennsylva-
mia avenue TO Seventeenth street, and
south to the Red Cross Building.
where they heard messages from
Henry P. Dawson and Marshal Foch,
allied comnander-in-chief in France.
and a letter gent from Gov. Whitman,
Of New York, to President W ilson.
No fewer than 1000 Red Cross
Harades We're held in cities and towns
throughout the country. &C ;ording to
advicCs received at the national head
CHARTERS of the Red Cross here yes
!crday. Considerably more than 5,be0.-
ca -marchers took part In thsT1.
In some places throughout the
country other parades will be held
today. In several places automobile
parades were held, running from one
end of a county to another. There
were three hundred parades in which
more than four hundred thousand
pcrsons marched, in the Pacific divi-
sion, comprising the States OF Cali
fornia, Nevada and Arizona. the no
( tional headquarters announced last
night.
Swinging by at a rapid stride, in
close ranks, the marchers, led by the
Marine Band and the national officers
and stan of the Red Cross, preceded
by mounted police. took one hour and
hfty-eight minutes to pass a given
point
Eight floats were In the parade and
/ each Of the eight divisions into which
the parade was divided was led nv
band. The paraders sang as they
marched. each division singing The
same song as they passed certain
points along the route.
Songs u Feature.
Just after the start, as each diyi-
sion fell into line and started down
sixteenth street, they sang "Ameri-
ca and as they came to the end of
the route at the Red Cross Building
eacn sang THE Star Spangled Ban
ner. Onward Christian SoIdiersD
and "Red White and Blue" and other
hymns and patriotic songs were also
sung.
women marchers were dressed
In white shirtwaists and. skirts
with dark blue wells with a small
red cross, the emblem of the great
organization on their forehead. The
men who marched wore, in the
main, dark suits and straw hats,
as requested by the committee in
charge, but there were several who
still wore the felt hats of winter,
Every government department in
washington was represented in the
parade, and every Red Cross auxil-
lary also had representatives in the
parade.
Line after line swept by with the
steadiness and regularity of veter-
ans marching fast. So fast did the
parade move that the mounts OF the
poIice were walking fast to keep
the pace. The days of drilling,
which has been put in by the or
ganization showed plainly yester-
day. s-..-.. -..- .....-..'.---
Street car traffiic on Pennsyl-
V&nla avenue and on H street was
heId up until the conclusion of the
parade. Thousands packed the line
OF march and broke into cheers
as one or another division or a
particularly striking float passed
by.
Famous Turkey There.
In the parade was a turkey that
has become famous the country over.
Presented to a Red Cross chapter In
Texas the bird has been auctioned
and re-auctioned until already 800. 600
has been brought into the Golfers of
the Red Cross through 1t. 1t has
been presented to President Wilson.
who has announced that he will place
it on auction once more at Keith's
theater-during the coming weeks
campaign.
Two floats representing THE Great
est Mother on Earth"-the American
Red Cross-were in the parade. One
was In the Treasury Department, Sec
ton and the other was in that COM
posed of the National HEADQUARTERS
workers. When the last marcher
swung past. hundreds of those who
had stood watching tell IN behind
them and marched to the end Of the
parade. where they heard Henry
White, former American Ambassador
to France, read messages from Cen
erai Foch. Henry p. Dawson ani
Governor Whitman, Of New York.
America has come into the war
with the allies" Gen. Foch cabled
the american RED Cross ..Sha has