The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-01-29
ORIGIN OF THE RED CROSS
AND ITS SCOPE OF WORK

Since so much interest is being
manifested in the activities of the
organizations recently created by the
U. S. government, and every one of
them so essential to help win the war
against the Huns: "Hooverism," with |
tmeatless, wheatless and sugarless"
days; "Garfeldism," with 'scoal-less'
days; "McAdooism," with "passen-
gerless" days, and the "Council of !
National Defense" which has regis |
tered all the females possible be-
tween the ages of 16 and "over 81 -
and classified them according to
their capabilities, trained or untrain- |
ed, filed away their names to fill the |
vacancies in the business world
caused by the men who were called to
the battle front, and other PLACES if
more men are called later, and to as
certain how many women in the var
ious organizations are available for
home and foreign duty, it may not be
amiss, on the eve of the Red Cross
day outing benefit on the beautiful
Ocala golf links, to give resume of
the origin, history and scope of the
Red Cross work
The Red Cross membership includes
/ all nations, all sexes, all ages and it's
field OF. work is the whole world and
will last until the end of time. The
American Red Cross. has member
ship of twenty-five millions with
headquarters at Washington, D. C.
There are a number of subdivisions,
each subdivision embraces several ,,
states
The Southern division, under whose
jurisdiction the Ocala and Marion
Ecounty auxiliaries work, includes
Florida, with membership of 50,~
900 and 65 auxiliaries; Georgia, with
a membership of 10000 and 165 aux
iliaries; North Carolina, with men,
bership of 10000 and 118 auxiliaries;
South Carolina, with membership
of $4,000 and 81 auxiliaries, and
Tennessee, with a membership of Co.,
900 and 81 auxiliaries, a total of
$4,000 members, and 483 auxiliaries,
with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.
The remaining 21,680,000 members in
| the United States are similarly divid-
| ed
The following excerpt from the
New Year greeting of Mr.. w. L.
Peel, the Southern division manager,
Ms most interesting history:
"As most of our readers know, the
idea of the Red Cross was conceived
by a wealthy philanthropist of Swift
zerland, Henri Dunant, who happen
ed to be in Solferino when the great
battle was fought in 1859. He was
overcome with horror at their suffer-
ing. and for ten days and nights
ministered personally to the wound
| ed, organizing the peasantry into re-
lief squads, and doing everything
possible to alleviate suffering. Mr.. |
iDunant not only wrote books on the |
subject. but visited the courts of Eu-
rope, enlisting their interest in plan |
| for world society of protection and
service. Owing to his efforts, the
first international conference was
held in Geneva in 1863, and the next
year at the famous Geneva convene
ton the Red Cross was founded, Au-
gust %, 1864. AS the flag of Switzer-
land is a white cross on a red field, |
out of compliment to that country,
where it originated, it was decided to
reverse the Swiss flag, and have a |
red cross on white ground, as a |
sign for this order.
1T was due to the persistent eff
forts of Clara Barton that the Amer
lean Red Cross was established in |
1881, after nearly ten years spent in |
what is. now called propaganda She |
was made first president and it was
due to her that an amendment was
passed including all suffering from
fires, floods, earthquakes, famine and |
other forms of disaster, which amend |
ment has since been adopted by all |
nations.
CLARA Barton was called the |
fAngel of the Battle Field, and was
IS fearless under fire as any officer |
IA the army
The enrolment of twenty two mil
hon is an expression not alone of pat
riotism, but of the fine sympathy and |
idealism of the modified heart and |
spirit Of the whole American people. |
The American Red Cross is carrying |
a message of love and sympathy to i
American soldiers and sailors and to /
the troops and civilian population OF
our allies in all parts of the world; it |
lis seeking to shorten the war, and it |
is seeking to lay foundation for
more enduring peace when the war is
over.
'In this hour of the worlds trag-
edy there can be but one thought in
the minds of the twenty-five million
members of the American Red Cross
and that is to serve and sacrifice as
never before"