Middletown transcript., 1921-10-22
$50 DISASTER DEATH
TOLL FOR ONE YEAR
Red Cross Gives $1,871, 900 Re-
lief When $4,000 Families
Are Made Homeless.

he death in the United States Of $50
persons and the injury Of $500 called
for emergency relief measures and
the expenditure of $1,871, 900 by the
American Red Cross during the fiscal
year ending June 80, 1921, says an
announcement based upon the forth
coming annual report Of the Red Cross
These disasters caused property dam
age estimated at $3O,OOO,0OO, affected
sixty-seven communities and rendered
5000 families homeless.
The years disa sters were Of vary I
ing types, including several which pre-
viously had never been thought OF
as falling within that classified
tion. 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 epidemics, the most serious be-
ing that at Salem, Ohio, which at.
fected 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 $1O5,OOO 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-
tions, public-spirited citizens brought
the total contributed for Pueblo's re-
habilitation to more than $3.50
The terrible havoc wrought by the
1ood waters is matter Of record.
More than 1890 homes were affected
and 1851 persons were left homeless.
Estimates of $5OO,OOO 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-
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 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 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 Is, in the bor-
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
$1,OOO,OOO 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 communi-
ties and to be prepared in case Of
disaster In others of the 3,402 active
Chapters, network of communication
has been formed through which instan-
taneous relief may be dispatched to
any mart Of tho JInitod StataS
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