New Britain herald., 1919-03-07

b pnly one check since her
Hrs d went away year ago last
|. Inonth u. One could spend an evening
Hela ting cases of delayed allotment
Md allowance, and each case would
h AA& a. different aspect from any of
the othefs.
THE second wave came in the lat
ter part of October, when kilograms
were in constant evidence. Soldiers
at camp were anxiously seeking in
formation about the family at home,
and company officers were sending
word home Of the sickness or death
of the soldier at camp. Then, there
were those other kilograms that read,
Deeply regret to inform you, etc Ii
the boy died at camp there was some
thing definite and tangible for the
family to do, but when the ocean lay
between the family and their loved
one there seemed nothing but dunno
sorrow. Not knowing where else to
40, these fani lilies have sought our
| help. 1t has been q privilege to share
to a small extent their sorrow. Calls
have been made in a large mum Der of
these homes by our visitors. Many
of the families have come to us for
assistance in fling claims for insur-
ance. compensation and other claims.
AFTER the signing Of the armistice.
narents eagerly waited for news Of
their bows over there. Day after day
went bv and nosWOrd came. Bye and
bye letters werc returned marked
Wounded or Not able to locate
Then came the third type Of work
when fathers. mothers and wives
came to our office again and again.
Thousands Of letters were sent to the
bureau Of Communication in those
days with hope Of securing some in
formation of the soldiers welfare.
''SoIdiers began about this time to
have a strong desire to get back into
civilian life. Families sought our
aid in securing discharges They
die not realize that the Red Cross
| could not give it's affidavit of home
| conditions Our instructions were
| that upon request from the company
| offices We could forward a report to
aid the family in its claims.
"A few weeks later the wounded
| and the shell shock patients began
| to arrive in this country. Letters from
army hospitals came to us through
| division headquarters asking us to
! visit the family to encourage them to
| allow the man to take vocational re-
education. In case the soldier has
been discharged without having ap-
piled for compensation we have
sisted in that also.
The soldier himself has been re-
turning. Upon his discharge he has
been told to go to the local homo
service office when he returns homo.
! Large numbers have sought our as
sistance. The soldier from over
there is wonderful. He is SO modest,
so appreciative. He has only words of
praise for the service of the Red
Cross in France. We take up with
him the matter of the allotment and
allowance where the family left off in
their efforts. Letters for Liberty
bonds corrections on discharge pa
pers. back pay and other matters are
written. Applications for citizenship
papers which were promised but not
received have been filed.
1.-The question of unemployment has
doomed large during the last month.
We have no positions to offer the men.
We can only cooperate with the
United States employment bureau
Sometimes q quiet word of explana-
ton goes a long way toward securing,
the necessary REIMBURSEMENT to civilian
life.
always from the beginning have
been the families which have been
visited by our staff of visitors, and
who have been to our office to talk
over their needs and plans, Ten babies,
were added to our list during Novern-
Der and Decembe
The number of office calls during
the last four months are as follows:
November, 1926; Decem Der, 394; jan
uary, $50; February, sos.
During the same months the house
visits have been as follows: Noven
Der, 100; December, IT'S; January,
149; February, 1877.
The greatest number of volunteer
visitors was in December, when there
were eleven. At present there are five
volunteer ViSit0rS Who have ciror,