The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-03-02

France is hospital supplies. Unless
they are rushed Immediately in great
quantities the consequences to civili-
cation may be so grave that we do
not dare to contemplate them"
This Is the message brought from
France by Mrs. George Lathrop, pres
ident of the American Fund for
French Wounded. At the request of
the officers at Camp Meade, Mrs. La
throp addressed 5000 men, her hear
|ers including British and French Off
GERS. At the conclusion of her talk
the officers collected $4,000 for her
work. Said Mrs. Lathrop:
Everyone in France anticipates a
great German offensive this spring.
Unless the French can withstand it,
what will be the outcome? Americans
do not realize how great is the dan
ger. At present this war is anybody's
fight. Germany has lost men, but she
is still the invader, fighting on the
soil Of France. The French army
desperately needs hospital supplies.
The people of the United States have
been asked to give them precedence
over all other supplies, but they have
not needed the warning. Do they
realize that the whole outcome of the
war may depend on our doing our ut
most to rush those supplies in time
to meet the great demand which must
come? There is still opportunity to
ship them to France Later on Gen.
eral Pershing may want to use all
the tonnage for men and munitions,
and then we will not be able to send
them. Delays may be fraught with ia
tai consequences. If each American
woman will do her utmost, we may
feel, in my opinion, that we have
saved the day.
Remember it is the fighting man
who must win this war. Our first
thought must be the wounded men;
women and children come afterward.
Many Of the finest medical specialists
the United States has produced are
working with the Red Cross in
France. The French have the men to
put in the field, but they are depend
ing upon us for supplies, since they
have practically ceased manufacture
ing. We must send them rubber and
wooden goods and all the medical
supplies we can assemble"
Mrs. Lathrop, who has been in
France doing war work since Aug. 6
1914, says it is German propaganda
that "France is bled white" "The
magnificent showing the French army
has made in Italy shows that this is
not the case" she says. France has
a very old and very wonderful civili-
zation. She has been tempered like
fine steel Her people are strong to
Withstand. The strength of the Brit
ish is in their tenacity. They have
stick" We will win the war;" a
British officer said to me, because
we will still be manufacturing NUM-
,tions 10 years after 1t is over"
french children have suffered ter
rlbly in the invaded sections. Owing
to their being kept in cellars and to
malnutrition, many thousands OF
them are afflicted with pernicious
anemia and tuberculosis. AS the Ger.
mans retreat they release the civilian
population whom they have driven
along with them. The condition of
these refugees is unspeakabfe. Many
of them have been driven imbecile by
their experiences. Tuberculous and
bone ulcers are common among the
children. Vermin add to their miser
ies. Reconstruction work must begin
with this rising generation in France.
The Fund for French Wounded estab-
fishes emergency dispensaries at
which wounded men and refugee
women and children are cared for.
We are working hand in hand with
the Red Cross. In some cases we have
been the first relief organization to
get up to the fighting line. We estab-
lished the first canteens for the Unit.
ed States soldiers, later turning them
over to the Y. NJ G. A., VINO now op,
crate them"
Mrs. Lathrop says it is none too
soon to be doing reconstruction work
that must come later, she says.
French women can be depended up
on to do the greater part of the neces
sary war work; for us Americans
there remain the less picturesque,
more monotonous, but no less neces,
sary work here at home. We should
dc cur utmost to keep our army and
that of our allies supplied with all
that is necessary for their health anil
efficiency. 1t is not enough for the