Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1921-10-06
$50 DISASTER Death
TOLL FOR ONE YEAR
Red Cross Gives s1,871,0o0 Re-
lief When $4,000 Families
Are Made Homeless.

Forty-three disasters, resulting in
the death in the United States Of $50
persons and the injury Of 1880 called
for emergency relief measures and
the expenditure Of S1.S71, 600 by the
American Red Cross during the fiscal
year ending June so, 1921, says an
announcement esed upon the forth
coming annual reiort Of the Red Cross.
These disasters caused property dam
age estimated at S30000000, affected
sixty-seyen communities and rendered
$4,000 families homeless.
The years disasters were of vary
ing types, including several which pre-
viously had never been thought Of
as falling within that classified
ton. The Red Cross furnished
relief in seventeen fires of magnitude,
five floods, seven tornadoes or cy-
clones, one devastating storm, three
explosions, including the one in Wall
street; one building accident, two
typhoid epidemies. the most serious be-
ing that at Salem, Ohio, which at.
fected 8 per cent of the population
one smallpox epidemic, in the republic
of Haiti; one train wreck the race riot
at Tulsa, Okla; the famine in China,
emergency relief In famine among the
Indians of Alaska, the grasshopper
plague in North Dakota and an earth
quake in Italy
Pueblo Most Serious
BY far the most severe of the dis
asters in the United States during the
period covered by the Red Cross re
port was the Pueblo flood early in
June 1921. The rehabilitation prob
lem confronting the Red Cross in
Pueblo was one of the most difficult
in recent years. When the first news
of the horror was flashed throughout
the country, the American Red Cross
National Headquarters responded with
a grant of S105,000 for relief work.
Governor Shoup of Colorado, appre-
ciating the long and successful expert
ence of the Red Cross in organizing
disaster relief work, placed the en-
tire responsibility for the administra-
ton of relief in its hands.
In response to appeals from Pres:-
dent Harding, Governor Shoup and
other governors of western states and
through local chapters Of the Red
Cross and other community organiza-
lions, public-spirited citizens brought
the total contributed for Pueblo's re-
Mobilization to more than S325,000
The terrible havoc wrought by the
flood waters is a matter of record.
More than 1890 homes were affected
and 1851 persons were left homeless
Estimates of 100000 as an absolute
minimum for rehabilitation were made
by Red Cross officials in charge Of the
relief work.
Fast Work in Wall Street
The Wall street explosion was nota-
Die in that relief workers of the Red
Cross were on the scene twenty min
utes after the disaster occurred. The
race riot at Tulsa also was unique in
disaster relief annals in that outside
of a small emergency relief fund con-
tributed by the Red Cross, the only
relief measures outside the city con-
sisted of the service of social work
ers, nurses and a trained executive
whose object was to assist local forces
in directing their own efforts.
In decided contrast with the pre-
vious year, only one tornado assumed
the proportions of major disaster,
This occurred on April 10, in the Dor
der sections of Texas and Arkansas
with the city of Texarkana as the
center. The significant feature of this
disaster relief work was the fact that
it covered so much rural territory as
to make necessary a large number of
relief workers.
The famine in China, necessitating
relief expenditures totalling more than
$1000000 by the American Red Cross
was by far the most serious of the
foreign disasters In which the Red
Cross gave aid.
Builds Up Its Machinery
In connection with the administra-
ton of disaster relief measures, an in
creasing effectiveness on the part of
the Red Cross to deal with emergen-
cies was manifested during the past
year. In 32S Chapters of the Ameri-
can Red Cross there have been formed
special committees to survey the re-
sources of their respective commune
ties and to be prepared in case of
disaster. In others of the 3,402 active
Chapters, a network of communication
has been formed through which instan
taneous relief may be dispatched to
any part of the United States,
That its work in this field may be
continued with ever greater effective
ness, the American Red Cross is ap-
pealing for widespread renewal of
membership during it's Annual Roll
Call, to be conducted this year from
November IL to "a.