Evening star., 1925-12-13
REDCROSSSTARTS
WORK ON BUILDING
Finishing Touches to Be Put
on Beautiful Memorial
After Long Delay.

AFTER lapse OF nearly eight years,
one Of the most beautiful memorials
in Washington is soon to be completed
as originally planned.
The classic beauty of the white
marble headquarters of the American
Red Cross has been admired by thou
Sands. But few realized it was never
finished. Erected as perpetual me
mortal TO the heroic women of the
civil War, il was occupied in its pres
ent form in 1917. Up TO that time the
entire Red Cross organization had
heen housed in a single room of the
State. War and Navy Building.
shortly after the Red Cross took
over its beautiful new home the
United States entered the World War
The tremendous war operations of
the Red Cross required every avail
able space in the new building and
three temporary anneXeS that were
erected on the site.
In the stress of the vast work of
the Red Cross during and after the
war the completion OF the memorial
as originally planned had to he ahan-
don@d. Few of the countless thou
sands who have visited the building
since realized that IL had never been
Woman Donates Money.
Within the past week. however,
work was started to make It a fin
ished memorial. Through u contribu-
ton made by Mrs. James A. Scrym-
ser OF New York the original design
of the architects is TO be carried out.
These pans provide for a marble bal
ustrade on either side of the main on
trance on Seventeenth street and the
erection Of two tiagStaffS with bases
or ornamental bronze on the lawn.
Mrs. Scrymser is the widow of Col.
James A Scrymser, the Civil War
hero, who inaugurated the plan Tor
the memorial building, the history o
which Is a romantic story dating back
70 the Cos.
A Civil War volunteer nurse, Ara
bella Barlow, was the bride of Sergt.
0ater Brig. GEM Francis Barlow %
the 18th New York Regiment. Gen
Barlow was thrice wounded and thrice
Mrs. Barlow appeared and nursed him
back TO health. She contracted typhus
and died in 1864, but in the mind o.
her husband her gallantry and devo-
ton lived as a symbol of the like
service of all women in the Civil War
Predicted Action Later.
Shortly before his own death in 1890
Gen. Barlow predicted, in the pres
ence of his friend and comrade. Capt
James A. Scrymser, that some day
grateful Nation would erect a beaut'
full monument to the memory Of these
heroic women
Remembering his friends prophecy
Capt. Scrymser In 1911 took definite
steps to bring it into actually. lr
1912 a bill was introduced into Con,
gress to appropriate s400.o 900 tor a site
and building. provided that private
citizens contribute an additional sum
of not less than $500 900. By Capt
Scrymser. Mrs. Russell Sage, Mrs. +.
II. Hartman and the Rockefeller
Foundation s400, 900 was given
In October, 1913. the bill was passer'
and erection of the building started
-Four years later. and on the eve o
the United States declaration of wa
with Germany, it was ready for occu
pancy. Now, after more than half
century. through the generosity
Mrs. Scrymser the dream of her hus
band and his comrade-in-arms is to bf
fully realized in the completion of on'
of the most beautiful memorials in
the National Capital.