Evening star., 1925-09-20
WAR DRIVE BEGUN,
RED CROSS IN LEAD
Countrywide Campaign for
Sweaters to Safeguard
Invalid Veterans.

In every nook and corner of the
United States, in the far-off Philip
pines and Hawaii in Porto Rico an6
along the palm-rringed Canal Zone q
great army is assembling.
Composed largely of veterans, il
will require little if any training. Its
equipment is light, but efficient. II
does not consist of rifles, artillery anG
machine guns, bayonets and hand
grenades.' The armament of each OF
these soldiers" is simply two lone
SliverS of bone,
The headquarters in each section to
which the recruits of this army are
reporting to duty are flying two flags
One is the Stars and Stripes. The
other is large white flag in the cen
ter of which are five equal squares OF
red in the form of a cross.
There are more than 5000 recruiting
stations for raising the army. They
are the chapters of the American Red
Cross, scattered all over our broad
land and in our distant possessions
The army f1ocking to the stations to
enlist for duty is the womanhood OF
America.
Another War Drive" Is On.
1t is another war drive" for it is
most in our behalf, in the greatest of
world upheayals. Not since the war
itself have the women of this country
heard and answered an appeal so
poignant.
In three days they have mobiiized by
the thousand to do the work they
learned so well during the anxious
days of 1918. Red Cross chapters
all over the country report their en-
rn1ln0Pnt hooks he
names of volunteers answering to this
great huma litarian call. The race
against Win ter is on,
In the Government hospitals for
disabled and sick veterans are nearly
10000 men. One of their great needs
and practically the only one which a
grateful Government does not meet, is
sweaters. The Red Cross, as the
official relief agency of the country,
must supply them. These men, who
sacrificed so much for US, must not
lack single comfort. The exhaustion
or surplus supplies of sweaters made
by the toiling womanhood of America
during the war has precipitated the
present crisis. Two long siivers OF
bone, a ball of wool and thousa nds OF
flying fingers will prevent its becom-
ing acute.
Red Cross Rushing Plans.
Red Cross chapters. assured of the
immediate and generous response OF
It's wartime volunteers in this recall
TO duty, are rushing plans which will
give to the nationwide impulse a prac-
tlcal outlet. Already chapters are buv.
Ing the wool for the volunteer knitters
and within a week the campaign will
be well under way. Those who cannot
Knit may cooperate in equal measure
by buying wool, which will cost ap-
proXimately S2.75 for each sweater
with sleeves and $3.50 per sleeveless
sweater.
A vast ma ajority of the veterans in
hospitals are married and have fam.
lies TO support. Thus, even to those
receiving Government compensation,
the purchase OF a sweater which can
not be duplicated for SO or S12 is a
large item. To those sick men who are
not receiving compensation it is an
iLnpoSSlDlllty. Therefore to both
classes the gift will be a real BOOM.
The Red Cross sweater, as the sery-
Ice men have come to know the gar
ment, is standardized product, and.
ODDLY enough, the veterans in hospi-
tals do not want any other kind. They
continue to regard the Red Cross as
the greatest mother in the world, -
and know that her gifts are good.
Many incidents, with elements of
D"'ii p'tilOo anu HulllOI, nave been re-
ported by Red Cross workers in the
Government hospitals to illustnate
both the need for the sweaters bd
the affectionate regard with which Me
men hold them.
sweater Bequeathed TO Buddy"
One veteran, who realized that he
was losing his long fight against
tunercuiosls, proceeded to make his
VIII, IN which he devoted a whole
paragraph to the disposition of his
Red cross sweater. He bequeathed it
to buddy" in another hospital The
bequest was carried out-the sweater
sterlllzed and dispatched to the friend
from home
incidentally, 1t is to the veterans i'll
of tuberculosis that the sweaters
prove the greatest boon In nearly
every instance the treatment consists
of being outdoors all the time. Even
the bed-ridden men must be kept out
SIDE. where the crisp and wholesome
air Is the doctors surest therapy in
combating the scourge, which, in the
case of nearly every veteran, is di-
rectly traceable to the rigors and ex-
posure of his war service.
Many of the men who are admitted
to the veterans hospitals for treat
ment are destitute as well as Ill.
They cannot afford a sweater, which
they often regard as a real luxury.
Their pleasure in receiving one from
the Red Cross hospital worker is often
so unexpected that they find 1t diff
cult to realize that it is a gift.
Spirit of Self-Sacrifice.
Even among the poorer boys,
however, the tendency is to leave
their Red Cross sweaters when they
are discharged from hospital. This
spirit of self-sacrifice in the interest
of buddies still confined for treatment
is one of the finest manifestations of
the true camaraderie between our
war veterans.
1t is the hope of the Red Cross
that its volunteers, with the support
of the public, will be able to have
ready within the month the 0,000
sweaters needed in the Government
hospitals. Quotas have been assigned
Its chapters on this basis of a thou
sand-a-day production. Every woman
in the country who can knit is urged
to go to her nearest Red Cross chap
ter to report for this urgent humani-
tartan work. Those who cannot knit
can make some sick veteran happy
by buying the wool for q sweater and
DONATING II tp tho Ped Cross rb1ptpr