Mountain advocate., 1921-12-02
$50 DISASTER DEATH
TOLL FOR ONE YEAR
Red Cross Gives S1,87l,00o Re-
lief When $4,000 Families
Are Made Homeless.

the expenditure Of Sl,S7l,OOO by the
American Red Cross during the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1921, says an
announcement based upon the forth
coming annual report Of the Red Cross.
These disasters caused property dam.
age estimated at S30,00O,000, affected
sixty.seven communities and rendered
65,O0O families homeless
The years disasters were Of vary
ing types, including several which pre-.
vlously had never been thought Of
as falling within that classifica.
tion. The Red Cross furnished
FIVE floods, seven tornadoes or cy-
clones, one devastating storm, three
explosions, including the one In wall
street one building accident, twJ
typhoid epldemics, the most serious be.
ing tina. at Salem, Ohio, which at
fectcd o per cent of the population;
one smallpox epidemic, in the republic
of Haiti one train wreck, the race riot
at Tulsa, Okla; the famine IL China,
emergency relief in famine among the
Indians of Alaska, the grasshOpper
plague in North Dakota ard 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 flOad 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 witt!
a grant Of Sl0j0O0 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-
tion Of relief in its hands.
In response to appeals from Pres.
dent Harding. Governor ShOup AMI
other governors of western states and
through local chapters of the Red
Cross and other community Organiza-
tions, public-spirited citizens brought
the total contributed for PucDiO's re
mobilization TO more than $32I,OOO.
The terrible havoc wrought by the
flood waters Is a matter Of record.
More than 230O homes were affected
and 1871 persons were left homeless.
Estimates Of $JOG.OGO as an absolute
minimum for rehabilitation were made
by Red Cross officials in charge Of tha
relief work.
Fast Work in Wall Street
The Wall street explosion was nota-
BILE 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 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 a major disaster.
This occurred on April Is, In the bor-
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
II 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
S1,000.000 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 w'th the administra-
tion Of disaster relief measures, an in
creasing effectiveness on the part OF
cies was manifested during the past
year. In 32S Chapters OF the Ameri-
can Red Cross there have been formed
special committees 10 survey the re-
sources of their respective communi-
ties and to be prepared in case OF
disaster. In others Of the S,402 active
Chapters, a network of communication
has been formed through which instan.
taneous relief may be dispatched te
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 Its Annual Roll
Call, to be conducted this year from